Another Case Against CANCER IN THE KITCHEN
November 13, 2021
Another Case Against CANCER IN THE KITCHEN
If you’ve found yourself reading this newsletter, it’s likely you care about holistic health and wellness. If instead you signed up for comic strips about superheroes, you’re in the wrong place… but you’re still welcome in my home.
For the rest of us who are aptly aware of the true impacts of items of our environment and how they can impact our health… today we’re going to spotlight another concern for common kitchen items.
This is ONE OF THE MOST COMMON QUESTIONS I get asked on a regular basis.
People have maybe heard about “toxic cookware” or “plastics in food” or that they can reduce their “plastic exposure” for healthier hormone regulation. But, most people don’t have a clear picture for what all this means for the everyday adult – who isn’t a biological chemist or environmental medicine researcher.
Do me a favor and share this with a friend or on social media to others who are interested in holistic health education for more natural, healthier living :)
Mid_November here we are! (+ Thanksgiving Tips)
I’ll be leaving for a trip soon, and I’ll be back right before thanksgiving so as we look forward, I wanted to share a couple great tips and special holiday discounts from my friends at CookSmarts.
Interested in Getting Your Kids Active and Involved in the Kitchen with you this Holiday? Article here. I love these no-hassle, quick and easy tips, because it really doesn’t have to be as hard as what we make it sometimes! :)
Ps. these tips work for your kids or those pesky family members who usually want nothing to do with standing in the kitchen unless they’re being fed. Try these out on your friends too!
Also, if you’re expecting lots of leftovers this season, check out this helpful guide to make sure you can do your part and reduce food waste. And this article about repurposing food leftovers is full of other helpful strategies to use this season.
There’s always way too much food at the stereotypical midwestern people’s family gatherings (at least in my experience) and… while delightful and abundant as it may be… it is incredibly inefficient, costly, and poses some concerns for questioning if we’ve lost the focus for the real reasons we intend to gather in the first place.
Truly, we’ll be full with gratitude and our plates will always be enough when we simply enjoy our time with one another. It’s not about the food per se, so try to highlight the real reason to enjoy the celebrations together. Relish the food, cherish the people! :)
Sale ends 12/01/21 - Here’s to your happier, healthier, educated and empowered kitchen!
Stepping into the Kitchen
So now, let’s open up this discussion (which could include hundreds of different chemicals) focusing on just 3 common items we find in our kitchens that would be top of mind, easy steps to improve our healthy kitchen space.
BPA - Bisphenol A
– a common polymer plastic, used in the manufacturing process of epoxies. You’re probably aware that BPA can be found in cans and baby bottles in the past, but also food jars, food packaging and elsewhere. It’s critically important to NEVER HEAT your PLASTIC in the MICROWAVE (or elsewhere: oven, stovetop, etc.).
(Choose glass, ceramic, stainless steel, cast iron)
PFOAs - Perfluorooctanoic Acids
– almost EVERY PERSON will have trace amounts of PFAs and PFOAs in their urine when tested, but this is absolutely NOT NATURAL or should be normalized at all. These chemicals are developed by behemoth chemical companies like we’ve talked about before and have been linked to pose potential risks for liver and kidney disorders, liver dysfunction, increased cancer risk, reproductive disorders and much more.
It’s a very sticky situation when we look in the kitchen at our fanciful magical “non-stick” cookware that use these PFOAs … we assume them to be modern day chemical miracle cures to our pesky sticky stuck on food that sits in our pans (maybe some of us need to re-learn how to use cookware) but we shouldn’t be normalizing toxins just because it is a minor boost in convenience.
Destroying and disrupting biology has massive invisible effects that most people will never have the chance to know… and it’s so sad how they’ve been taken advantage of by falling for these “modern-day miracles.” It’s no surprise the same companies used the same kind of branding and marketing messages from “miracle seeds” to “miracle non-stick pans.”
N-Nitroso Compounds (NOCs or Nitrites)
– in this context, you’ve probably heard of nitrates and nitrites in meat linked to cancer in the past perhaps, right? And then you maybe heard or read somewhere that nitrates were naturally in the meat, “so how could it be bad?”
Well, let me hopefully clear up some confusion here: 1) chemical companies synthesize non-natural chemical compounds to mimic what they noticed in nature, 2) synthetic compounds are not the same as naturally occurring (such as nitrates / nitrites in beet greens! I mean beet greens, c’mon!? They can’t be cancer causing can they!?) and 3) In the meat industry, NOCs are added (aka additive) as a preservative often as sodium nitrite with preserved and processed deli meats like bacon, hot dogs, bologna and others.
Also, as a bonus, synthetic nitrates are also often added as a synthetic fertilizer to food crops and feed crops, even though extreme nitrate runoffs continue to pollute our water systems and countries around the world have been concerned about this for decades. France even recently released another report on nitrate related cancers specifically linked to colon and bowel cancer.
This is why so often we hear “reduce meat intake” when it comes to cancer risks, but I also want to highlight that many water systems near strong farmlands have high nitrate levels too! And those of us here in America have plenty room to worry as well. And sadly, many misinformation studies have been completed to make this issue more confusing for consumers.
As you may know, beef and dairy industries are some of the largest lobbyists for national political agendas and funders for research (along with pharma). Lacking integrity, research can easily be manipulated to show signs of the positive results one would like to see. Everyone deserves a voice, not just the big paying lobbyists.
Everyone from top to bottom and side to side deserve transparency.
This report here suggests that some research has been particularly chosen to hide the risks of nitrate laden drinking water and risks associated with higher rates of colon cancer and stomach cancers. Covering up data to fit the agenda of the money makers… a sad story, and one that happens far too often.
SO WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THE DOOM AND GLOOM!!?!?
A few quick tips for you to takeaway – magical pills and chemicals cures as products sold to you are often too good to be true or free from risks or health hazards. It’s important to be aware, but not to be fearful. I want to harpen you to health education and health freedom through these insights.
1) Look for BPA free bottles, cans, plastics of all kinds for common everyday containers you can imagine you might come close contact with.
2) Choose glass, stainless steel, ceramic, and 100% cast iron when and where you can when you have cookware equipment and utensils touching food and used in heating. An investment in a great set of cookware can save you so much time and worry, excessive scrubbing and scraping those harmful chemicals from those not-so-perfect-afterall miracle pots and pans
3) Take time to learn the best strategies of cooking, cleaning pots and pans without worry of these gnarly chemicals. A few quick lessons can teach you how to season cast iron (and to never use soap!) and how to combine baking soda and vinegar to clean stainless steel and glass!
Ps. FYI - People NEVER used these chemicals up until the last 100 years, so I’m pretty sure all of humankind can exist onward, cooking just fine without them.
4) Also, if you ever do use plastic containers, make sure they are never heated, maybe only use them to hold non-food items or foods with non-edible peels, etc.
5) If you do eat meat, choose whole meat items without artificial additives, such as just simple organically raised animal organs or small amounts of fresh, humanely raised animal meats. Try to avoid all processed meats.
So there you have it, those are some of my latest and greatest simple healthful hints tips and strategies to help you live your best life possible.
Let me know a topic you’d like me to cover in the future!
Stay well, stay best, stay blessed!
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If you missed last week’s edition you can check it out here:
Truly, we’ll be full with gratitude and our plates will always be enough when we simply enjoy our time with one another. It’s not about the food per se, so try to highlight the real reason to enjoy the celebrations together. Relish the food, cherish the people! :)
Sale ends 12/01/21 - Here’s to your happier, healthier, educated and empowered kitchen!