Thanks to the latest news, pretty much everyone knows that drinking out of plastic water bottles is bad because of the BPA and potential for other contaminants.
So what are the alternatives to plastic water bottles?
Until someone invents an environmentally friendly “force field” to contain our beverages we will need to stick with glass and stainless steel.
As a biochemist and long time “jar drinker” this just further supports my theory that we all need to get as much plastic out of our kitchens as possible.
Plastic is the latest EVIL VILLAIN of Dr. Nicole for upsetting the hormonal balance of all of her patients!
Especially cooking with plastic. Please only cook in glass, cast iron, or stainless steel.
Do not use teflon or any other “new” man-made products. The “new” thing today will inevitably be the banned thing tomorrow.
Nature is perfect. Man is not.
You would think that someone like me with such a love for chemistry would be a friend of chemicals…but you would be wrong. I view all man made chemicals as potential poisons, threats to our health, and threats to our environment.
Perhaps I was just irreversibly scarred as a child by Lily Tomlin’s performance in “The Incredibly Shrinking Woman” that resulted from the compilation of all the chemicals in her diet and personal care products. But it sure did get me thinking…
Most of the MD’s I worked with at Virginia Mason Medical Center quickly learned that my thinking was much more conservative than theirs. I don’t care what the latest studies say telling me that some chemical is safe. First of all…who paid for that study? Most often it is the company that made the product. Second of all, I like products that have passed the test of time, that are natural, and that intuitively just make sense to me. Third of all, the more money a product makes the longer it will be kept out on shelves as money can buy “research” that shows that it is safe.
*Dr. Nicole looks around in paranoia worried that she may be “offed” for her thoughts on the conspiracy theory scandals that run rampant in Biochemical Land.*
Frankly, plastic has never made sense to me.
Whenever a chemical we commonly use becomes re-called it just reminds me how skeptical to be of all chemicals. I know that God gave us livers and cytochrome p450 systems to filter out toxins, but why burden the liver anymore in an already polluted environment? From my biochemistry background I know first hand how easily chemical reactions can go backwards and forwards and backwards again. Sometimes they even go sideways or in full circles. The metabolites and products that are off shooted along the way may have a different physiological impact than their inert cousins. Who knows what is all somersaulting around in our systems?
Now which chemical were we testing again to ensure that it was “safe”? The original, the end product, or the millions of potential metabolites along the way?
The more I learn about chemicals in the environment, the I more I understand about biochemistry and human physiology… the more I think that perhaps the Amish have it completely right. Maybe it is time for me to pack up my covered wagon and head to Pennsylvania to make quilts by the light of some beeswax candles.
Well we can’t all pack up and join the Amish, and since I highly doubt they will let me bring my laptop, what are the more practical solutions?
Today’s tip is to take a look at our kitchens and start to figure out how to get as much plastic and teflon out as possible. This is especially important for those that are pregnant, have small children, have hormonal issues (plastic is thought to mimic estrogen), have cancer, autoimmunity, or other chronic disease. Getting your kitchen green is a wonderful gift to the whole family.
My friend Dr. Ben Lynch can set you up with a great new dishwasher safe stainless steel water bottle over at HEALTHeGOODS.com. I love these Klean Kanteen bottles because I can easily make up a big batch of green tea for the morning, and then switch over to using it as a water bottle for the rest of the day.
Children should also have these stainless steele bottles for school lunches because glass is just not a practical option for them.
Dr. Ben carries only high quality highly researched products in his store. He also cares enough about this issue that he actually called the owners of Klean Kanteen, and reviewed their lab safety testing to confirm that their products are without lead, aluminum and other contaminants that we do not need to be drinking all day long.
Take home message: Do NOT microwave in plastic…and heaven forbid DO NOT microwave plastic baby bottles! Purchase stainless steel drinking containers or drink out of recycled glass juice jars whenever possible.
Happy Water Drinking People!
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Dr. Nicole Sundene is the editor-in-chief of Kitchen Table Medicine. A graduate of Western Washington University for her undergraduate degree, and Bastyr University for her Naturopathic Physician degree, she also spent eight years working as a Medical Assistant for the world renowned leading institute Virginia Mason Medical Center. Throughout her education she had the invaluable opportunity to work side by side with many talented physicians specializing in Family Practice, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Otolaryngology, Cardiology, Dermatology, Urology, and Urgent Care. Her alternative medicine education along with training at Virginia Mason combined with the many years spent talking to patients as a telephone triage “nurse” have given her a diverse perspective on health care in America.
Good timing on this, the day before earth day! Not only is plastic bad for our bodies, but bad for the environment. The amount of plastic bottles littering our oceans is staggering. I just read an article a few days ago that caused me to get up and immediately throw out all of our reusabel plastic bottles. Of course I have guilt that now they’re ending up in a ladfill somewhere, but I just needed my family to stop drinking out of them. Had I known this years ago, I would have used glass baby bottles as well! Yes the stainless steel bottles seem expensive, but I know if I were to add up how much we spend on cases of bottled water, the stainless steel bottles will pay for themselves pretty quick.