Two health-hazardous kitchen stuff: that you should stop using now

Hi Friends
Do you know that?
Some of your kitchen stuff that you may probably think is health-promoting but actually, these so-called healthy kitchen stuff are the most hazardous for your health & taking you towards illness with their every use.
Yes
It’s true
There may be so many which you are using consciously or unconsciously
But here we will discuss two the most health-hazardous but yet mostly used kitchen stuff that you should discard straight away.
So without wasting time
Let’s straight jump to those 

Two health-hazardous kitchen stuff: that you should stop using now

Two health Hazardous kitchen stuff:

1. Nonstick pans

I know that nonstick pans are your favorite kitchen partner because you don’t need to spend as much time stirring or turning the food, requires less oil for cooking which leads to healthier cooking and easy clean-up.
But
Do you know that?
If you are using your nonstick cookware on a regular basis, you may inadvertently be exposing your family to hidden health hazards.
I know that it may come as a shock to those who are using their non-stick pots and pans on a regular basis to make their food.
But unfortunately, yes
It’s true that your kitchen’s best companion, in reality, be your family's one of the biggest health enemies. 

Why Nonstick Pans are so bad?

The reason for this lies in the nonstick PTFE coating popularly known as Teflon.
Generally in the synthesis of PTFE, a well-known environmental pollutant and toxic & carcinogenic chemical POFA are used.
Note: Because of POFA’s toxicity concerns, PFOA has been replaced with other chemicals such as GenX, but these new alternatives are also suspected to have similar toxicity.
This can prevent food from sticking in the pans during the cooking process and you can cook your food even without a drop of oil.
But in backdrop
Your Non-stick cookware takes less than 5 minutes to emit toxic fumes & gases at different temperatures.
*At low-normal cooking temperatures, your PTFE-coated cookware starts emitting toxic fumes and start releasing various toxic gases and chemicals from mild-severe toxicity and have been directly linked to the various diseases such as:

: Abnormal thyroid hormone levels,

: Toxicity to the brain, kidneys, liver & prostate.

*At high temperatures, the coating of non-stick cookware breaks down into another toxic chemical called PFIB that is highly toxic (about 10 times as toxic as the WW1 warfare agent phosgene), colorless &, odorless gases at room temperature. Its inhalation can lead to pulmonary edema that may be fatal.

According to the study published in the U.S. national library of medicine, Polymer fume fever is caused by inhalation of products of thermal degradation of PTFE. 

Healthy Alternatives of Nonstick Pans:

*Instead of those nasty nonstick PTFE coated cookware you can choose to use other metal cookware such as:

>stainless steel cookware;

>cast iron cookware;  

*For nonstick cooking you can use
>glass cookware;

These glass cook-wares are not just nonstick they are also environment-friendly & nontoxic. 

2. Aluminum foils

Nowadays Aluminum foil has been a favorite kitchen work staple to wrap your lunch/dinner/leftover food. Furthermore wrapping your favorite foodstuff in aluminum foil with a scoop of butter/oil is an easy and fastest way to cooking, grilling, and baking.

But

Do you know that?

If you are cooking/baking/grilling and even storing your favorite food in aluminum foil, you are introducing your own aluminum contamination in your food.

Because aluminum foil used in cooking/baking/grilling leaches into your food that can lead to various health problems over time.

Now a question arises that 

Why Aluminum contamination is so bad?

Although with a proportion of 7.5% Aluminum is the third most prevalent element in the earth’s crust and, in spite of its prevalence, aluminum is not known to have any function in human or animal organisms because no enzymatic reaction requires Aluminum.
We are exposed to Aluminum & its compounds by virtue of various food additives, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. In addition to this, aluminum also presents naturally in various foodstuffs as well.

According to the Scientific Committee for Food (SCF) and the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) published a provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) for aluminum of 7.00 mg/kg body weight (BW) per week. 

Besides all of the above facts if we cook/bake/grill or even wrap our food in aluminum foil then we are actually introducing our own aluminum contamination into our food and, increasing their aluminum concentration. 

Because exposing food in aluminum foil to heat via cooking/baking/grilling caused leaching of aluminum to occur in levels that would be considered above that tolerable daily/weekly intake and this excess intake of aluminum over time can lead to a toxic metal overload and erosion of our health.
Furthermore aluminum toxicity in human is also linked to various diseases such as:

*Metabolic bone disease,

*Neurodevelopmental delays

*Cholestasis, 

*Osteoporosis,

*Growth failure,

*Dementia,
According to a study published in the National center of biotechnology information (NCBI), substantial aluminum contamination may result in delayed bone development and development of anemia.
In today’s world, Alzheimer’s patients are increasing rapidly which is a serious concern especially since recent studies show that Al causes spatial memory deficit, influences emotional reactivity, and impairs various brain functions related to learning and memory. 

Healthy Alternatives of Aluminum foils:

For grilling: you can use reusable skewers or even a stainless steel grilling basket. 

For roasting: you can glass pans and in the oven, you can use a stainless steel cookie sheets

For Baking: you can use glass, stainless steel or cast iron pans and can wrap your favorite food with banana leaves instead of aluminum foil. 

Conclusion:

“Precaution is always better then cures”. This is the most all-time relevant phrase in the context of health and reminds us of the importance of precaution.
In the case of these two health-hazardous kitchen staples (Nonstick Pans & Aluminum foils), we can apply the precautionary measure as well by using their alternatives such as:
*Instead of those nonstick PTFE coated cookware you can choose to use stainless steel or cast iron cookware.
*For nonstick cooking you can use glass cookware as an environment-friendly & non-toxic alternative.
*For baking your favorite food you can wrap them in banana leaves instead of Aluminum foil & can enjoy the benefits of banana leaves as well.
So always think twice & choose wisely to stay fit & to bay the illness. Your health is always in your own hands.
If you have any queries or suggestion you can write it in the comment section or can write it at prajsanjivani@gmail.com.
Thanks
Ms. P Rajeshwari
(Aromatherapist)
Diet & Beauty Consultant