BPA, or bisphenol A, is ubiquitous. Simply put, just about anything you eat that comes out of a can — from Campbell’s Chicken Soup and SpaghettiOs to Diet Coke and BumbleBee Tuna — contains the same exact chemical.
The exposure to BPA from canned food “is far more extensive” than from plastic bottles, said Shanna Swan, a professor and researcher at the University of Rochester in New York. “It’s particularly concerning when it’s lining infant formula cans.”
BPA is the key compound in epoxy resin linings that keep food fresher longer and prevents it from interacting with metal and altering the taste. It has been linked in some studies of rats and mice to not only cancer but also obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
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One scientist helping to lead the charge against BPA is Yale University physician, professor and researcher Hugh Taylor. His research has shown that the chemical alters the way genes react to estrogen, and could open the door for infants in utero to develop cancer much later in life.
“I tell my pregnant patients to avoid products containing it,” he said. “Even a fleeting exposure in pregnancy can cause lasting damage.”
The studies by Taylor are certainly eye-opening. They have shown that the chemical alters the way DNA operates, a process known as an epigenetic change.
On each strand of DNA a group of carbon molecules binds to receptors that help turn genes on or off. In the presence of BPA, though, many of those carbon molecules can be removed from DNA, and with them the switch.
Think of the carbon groups as a kind of lock, and the DNA receptors as a gate. When the lock is removed, the gate can swing open, greatly increasing the risk for estrogen to flow through later in life, interact with DNA and cause cancer.
Exposure to pesticides used on common kid-friendly foods — including frozen blueberries, fresh strawberries and celery — appears to boost the chances that children will be diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, new research shows.
Youngsters with high levels of pesticide residue in their urine, particularly from widely used types of insecticide such as malathion, were more likely to have ADHD, the behavior disorder that often disrupts school and social life, scientists in the United States and Canada found.
Kids with higher-than-average levels of one pesticide marker were nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD as children who showed no traces of the poison.
~ JoNel Aleccia, MSNBC.com health writer
read the full article here
Of course pesticides are harmful. One of the Total Health Makeover® steps is to live using as few chemicals as possible because we just don’t know the long-term effects, even at low exposure rates, especially for children. Food without chemicals is a safer choice.
The experts in the article suggest buying organic and washing your produce.
Buying organic food * We know that family budgets don’t always allow for eating organic. And there are parts of the country and the world where organic foods aren’t readily available. If you have to make a choice, check here for information on when to choose organic versus conventional produce.
Washing your produce * You don’t need a fancy product to wash your produce. Thick-skinned fruits and vegetables (apples, citrus, potatoes, root veggies) can be scrubbed with soapy water and a brush or cloth, and rinsed thoroughly, or scrubbed with a little baking soda (as an abrasive). Delicate produce (salad greens, berries) can be soaked in vinegar water (about 1/4 cup inexpensive (white) vinegar in a sink full of cool water) and gently rubbed by hand. Wash before you peel to ensure you’re not just moving the pesticide residue. Peeling is not always required.
For us to have healthy lives, we need a healthy planet.
Organic foods require clean land, free of toxic pesticides and herbicides. The nutrients in the soil are the nutrients that end up in the plants we eat (remember that elementary school experiment with blue food coloring, a glass of water, and a stalk of celery? That’s how it works.). Farmers must do extra work to clean up their land so they can grow healthy food for us. Support those farmers by buying organic when you can – and if you know any of those farmers, then be sure to thank them personally!
Your yard is just as important as a farm.
Choose your lawn care products carefully. Those chemical lawn services dump toxins on your yard (those little flags are warnings to keep kids and pets off the grass), and when it rains, the excess runs into your storm sewer and pollutes the water supply.
Put in a little personal effort. You can dig up dandelions and other weeds with a simple tool or an old fork. Put a little table salt in the hole left by the root. Consider an “old-fashioned” push mower (no motor, just blades) if your lawn is not-too-big. The walk will do you good, there’s very little noise, no fuel, and the lawn looks just as good.
Plant native grasses, flowers, shrubs and trees. Native plants will tolerate your weather patterns better, and usually require less care. Check with your local greenhouse, nursery or university extension service, or find a Master Gardener in your area. They can all help you find native plants that will work in your yard.
Reuse water for your yard. There are simple systems you can install to collect rainwater runoff from your roof. The water collects in a 55-gallon barrel, and you just hook up a hose to water the lawn. Don’t use runoff water on your garden – the roofing material may contain particles that you don’t want in your food. But the water is fine for your lawn, flowers, shrubs and non-fruit trees.
Cleaning the house is not our favorite thing to do. Ever. But we like living in a clean home, and it doesn’t clean itself. Here are a few ways we make it easier on ourselves, because every little bit helps.
Welcome mats! Place mats outside and rugs inside your doors to help remove particles and pollutants carried inside on shoes―one of the key ways toxins and dirt enter our homes. Clean these mats and rugs regularly. Consider asking friends and family to remove their shoes when they come in – you may want to keep some slippers or indoor shoes by the door, for people who like to keep shoes on. Remember: if it isn’t tracked into your home, you won’t have to clean it!
Open your windows! Every house has its own smell. You want yours to be a good smell, or at least a neutral smell – but air fresheners are generally not a healthy option. Bonus – EPA research has found that the air inside the average home is typically two to five times more polluted than the surrounding air outside thanks to tight energy-efficient construction that over time concentrates the toxins entering our homes. Flushing out those hazards with fresh air now and then will do a lot to keep your home healthier.
Use microfiber! Compared to rags and disposable options, microfiber cleaning cloths do a much better job of trapping and removing household soils and dust, the final resting place for many of the toxins that enter our home. With microfiber, you won’t kick that stuff back into the air, and you won’t need as much cleaning product either! Tip – never use fabric softener or dryer sheets with microfiber; they ruin the trapping property of the fabric.
Clean your bathrooms daily! Clean it while you’re in there – it’s really not much work to spray the toilet bowl after you flush, and swish it out after you shower. Squeegee or spray the shower just before you get out. Wipe the vanity and sink just before you leave the bathroom. Do a quick swipe of the floor sometime in there and you’re done. It’s an extra minute or two for an always clean bathroom. This is all work that’s easy for anyone over age 10, so delegate bathrooms to their primary users, and you’re good to go.
* and our favorite Marilu housekeeping tip *
Never leave a room empty-handed! Before you leave any room, do a quick scan – is there anything that belongs where you’re going? Does your jacket need to go back to the closet? Can that book you finished last night go back on the shelf in the family room? Everyone in the house should be trained (yes, sometimes that’s exactly the right word) to return all dishes to the kitchen, and to be rinsed or loaded in the dishwasher, and all recyclables to the recycling bag/box/barrel. If you put things on the stairs to go up or down, don’t leave them there – take them on your next trip up/down stairs.
Here’s a list provided by the Environmental Working Group of the most to least contaminated of 47 popular fruits and vegetables. The “scores” are calibrated off of the worst offender, peaches. If money is an object, use that money to buy organic versions of the worst offenders and buy conventional produce for the rest. Just remember to wash carefully, and/or peel produce as needed.
The scores given are a composite of numbers and amounts of pesticides found in the studies. The “worst”, peaches, was given a score of 100, and the others were calibrated from that. The fruits and vegetables were washed or peeled as most people use the produce – for example, apples were washed, bananas and oranges peeled. More information about this work is available at from the Environmental Working Group.
Pesticides on Popular Produce
(worst) Peaches – 100
Apples – 93
Sweet Bell Peppers – 83
Celery – 82
Nectarines – 81
Strawberries – 80
Cherries – 73
Kale – 69
Lettuce – 67
Grapes – Imported from outside U.S. – 66
Carrots – 63
Pears – 63
Collard Greens – 60
Spinach – 58
Potatoes – 56
Green Beans – 53
Summer Squash – 53
Hot Peppers – 51
Cucumbers – 50
Raspberries – 46
Grapes – U.S. grown – 44
Plums – 44
Oranges – 44
Cauliflower – 39
Tangerines – 37
Mushrooms – 36
Bananas – 34
Winter Squash – 34
Cantaloupe – 33
Cranberries – 33
Honeydew Melon – 30
Grapefruit – 29
Sweet Potato – 29
Tomatoes – 29
Broccoli – 28
Watermelon – 26
Papaya – 20
Eggplant – 20
Cabbage – 17
Kiwi – 13
Sweet Peas (frozen) – 10
Asparagus – 10
Mango – 9
Pineapple – 7
Sweet Corn (frozen) – 2
Avocado – 1
Onions – 1
Download the guide here as an iPhone app, or a PDF file.
I met actor and author Marilu Henner, who has written eight books on diet and health, at the 2010 Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim in March. Here’s her enthusiastic and very sensible endorsement of organic food.
We’ve all had those days when other people want to control us. We come home from work or school, or we walk out of a meeting or away from a partner, feeling less than ourselves.
When we’re feeling pulled in too many directions, or dragged against our will, there are things we can do… besides shout “you’re not the boss of me!” (You know you’ve wanted to do that…)
We can stick to the routine that makes us feel the healthiest – that makes us feel empowered.
Eat foods that make your body stronger – vegetables, whole grains, legumes, fruits, and lean proteins.
Exercise every day – get your heart muscle in shape and get fresh air into your lungs.
Go to bed at a reasonable hour and get enough sleep.
Skip the chemicals, caffeine, and alcohol. Stay hydrated with water..
Your mind and your body will be able to deal with life’s difficult situations when you take care of yourself. It’s the best way to take control of your life.
Now get up and get moving – this song is all about empowerment.
Consumers (that’s you) need to know the facts about chemicals, additives, and preservatives. An educated eater is a healthy eater. Usually. Because the thought of eating nitrate, sodium stearyl lactylate, and monocalcium phosphate for lunch isn’t really appealing, is it? That’s what you’re eating in a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread, with potato chips. For many of the foods we eat, food = chemicals.
Additives are “any substance the intended use of which results or may reasonably be expected to result in affecting the characteristics of the food.” Hmmm. Sounds like the whole intent is to change the food into something it’s not.
Of course, that’s not always bad. Herbs and spices are added to change flavors. Salt is a preservative, and has been for years (anyone who’s eaten lutefisk might say that’s not such a good thing, but we’ll keep that as the exception that proves the rule).
ASSIGNMENT – For every meal you eat today, pay attention to how much of the food is just the way it grew, and how much has been “enhanced” with chemicals, additives, or preservatives.
If you’ve been gaining weight each year and blaming it all on getting older, well, sorry, but that’s not a very good excuse.
Yes, it’s true that as we age, changes in our hormones make gaining weight easier. In women, they can contribute to decreased muscle mass and energy, and increased belly fat and insulin resistance. But, ummm, those things are all within your control, just like they’ve always been.
The more we eat clean, live clean, and work out, the better our hormone balance will be, and the healthier our metabolisms will remain. Yep. That weight gain is still related to our lifestyle choices.
Keep exercising. Whether you like doing it is not the question here. You need to do it for your health. You know, so you can continue to enjoy your career, travel, kids and grandkids, hobbies, friends… life. Your body needs exercise like it needs air and water.
Eat whole foods, preferably foods that are not loaded with pesticides, herbicides, and chemicals. Whole foods (“the way they grow” as opposed to processed or packaged) help fight disease and balance hormone levels.
Stay vigilant about your health for as long as you live, and you’ll live longer to enjoy it!
Did you know that the average consumer eats about 140-150 pounds of additives every year? Yuck! That’s like an entire human body full of chemicals!
These preservatives are put in our foods for the benefit of the seller not for us, the consumer. These foods could sit on the shelf for years! Some preservatives keep produce from spoiling (ever!).
Some additives give certain foods more color, some give it a different flavor.
These chemicals and additives have side effects, making us lethargic, sleepy or wired, headachy, and can even cause cancers and other life-threatening diseases.
We should all be reading those labels so that we know what to avoid. If you can’t pronounce an ingredient or if it sounds like something you used in Chemistry 101, you probably shouldn’t be eating it!
ASSIGNMENT – Read the ingredient labels on all the food you eat or buy this week. Do you understand what the ingredients are? Or does it sound like chem lab?
