Non-Toxic Cooking

Toxins are everywhere in our environment, this is why detoxes have become all the rage. As soon as someone goes on a slight liver cleansing supplement or regiment, they instantly feel more energized, sleep better and notice allergies dissipate. 

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What are some toxins we encounter in the kitchen?

Pots and Pans

• Chemicals: Teflon® is made of Polytetrafluoroethylene. According to Cancer.org, one of Teflon®’s main ingredients is a man-made chemical called Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), or C8. PFOA or C8 is a chemical is recognized as a “forever chemical,” meaning it stays in your body forever once ingested, no matter how small the amount. To make matters worse, they also never break down in the environment.

• Heavy metals: In addition to Teflon®, traditional non-stick cookware can also include ingredients like lead, cadmium, and other toxic materials. 

• This chemical is introduced into our environment and our body in a few wats:

  • Mechanical abrasion: Scratching Teflon® with anything that causes an abrasion releases toxic chemicals in the the food with every contact onto the scratches surface as well as small particles.

  • Temperature: One 2019 study found that it only takes traditional non-stick pans 2.5 minutes to heat up to 500 degrees, the temperature where the chemicals begin to break down and release into your home. Many stoves heat up to 1600° on high heat, meaning you are (most likely) leaching chemicals with every meal you make in your cookware.

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What can you do about it?

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By opting for a mineral-based ceramic coating, you instantly have a 100% non-toxic cookware, but are able to release up to 60% less CO2 into the environment compared to traditional non-stick cookware. Because ceramic is a naturally slick surface, you can still enjoy those slide-off-the-pan eggs while also cutting down on cleaning time. Now that’s a win-win!

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To purchase non-toxic, non-stick ceramic coated Caraway brand pots and pans click here. 

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Plastics

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The chemical of concerns when it comes to plastics is BPA. Many of you have probably heard about BPA by now. If you have not, BPA stands for Bisphenol A, and is a synthetic chemical that mimics our hormone: estrogen. You read that right. BPA is known as an environmental estrogen, and is one of the most common synthetic chemicals which enter the human body from plastic bottles, food packaging (cans and tetra paks), dental materials as well as through touching receipts (heightened absorption through alcohol via hand sanitizers then touching receipts). Eating foods from these packages increases your BPA levels 10 fold. Levels in urine above 5 micrograms per liter (mcg/L) double the risk of diabetes. Gradually, BPA can clog the liver, block insulin receptor sites, damage the genes and undermine DNA repair and recovery. ("The Toxin Solution", Dr. J Pizzorno). 

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More importantly, eating fatty foods and acidic foods in these types of packages, increases BPA content as it is fat soluble and enters acidic foods more readily. ie Coconut cream, or tomato products  in Tetra paks or cans.

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Solutions?

As much as you can avoid these types of packages. Look for the BPA free label on plastics. Drink from your own steel waterbottle rather than plastic water bottle. Do not store foods in a plastic a water bottle to consume. Note that Juices like orange juice are often sold in plastic containers and there is usually no way to know which plastic containers contain BPA. When buying produce, take produce bags with you to reduce plastic waste and to reduce contact with fruits and vegetables.