Page 80 - What Doctors Don't Tell You - AU-NZ (February-March 2020)

HEALTHYHOME

The truth about . . . How to limit

your exposure

aluminum to aluminum

Don’t cook with
aluminum

Should you be worried about aluminum in your home? When you cook food in aluminum
pots and pans or wrap it in foil,
Here’s what you need to know
aluminum can leach into the
food. One study found that
cooking red meat in aluminum
WHAT IS IT? foil increased its content of

Aluminum—silvery white in appearance—is the third most common element the metal by 89 to 378

found in nature (after oxygen and silicon) and makes up nearly 8 percent of the percent, while poultry
1
earth’s crust, although it plays no essential role in living systems. Industry began showed an increase of
mining and processing it in the late nineteenth century, and today some 58 76 to 215 percent. The
million tons are produced annually. It’s one of the most widely used metals in higher the cooking time and
2
building construction and is also commonly used in medicine, food technology temperature, the higher the
10
and cosmetics. aluminum.
Parchment paper (preferably
the unbleached kind like the
WHERE CAN YOU FIND IT? products sold by the company If

In the home, aluminum can be found in cooking equipment; foil; food; food You Care) is a good alternative to

and drink packaging such as cans, cartons, water bottles and juice pouches; aluminum foil, while stainless steel and
baking powders; water; antiperspirants and other cosmetics; and drugs such as glass are safer options for cookware.
antacids and aspirin. Food is the main source of aluminum exposure in the home.
3
Aluminum can be naturally present in some foods but is also often used as a food Check your meds
additive. Furthermore, it can leach into food via aluminum cookware, foil, utensils
and packaging. 4 Aluminum can be found in a number of
drugs, such as antacids, buffered aspirin

T
WHAT’SWRONGWI T WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT?
THIT?
T
T
T
T
For many years, aluminum was not considered a threat to health Although single, low-level exposures to
because of its relatively low aluminum, such as eating food cooked
w bioavailability (absorption by the body). But
in 1965, animal studies suggested a possible link between aluminum in aluminum foil or using aluminum-
and Alzheimer’s dise ase. Since then, research has been containing antiperspirant, are unlikely
5
mounting to show to damage your health on their own,
w a clear connection between the two, and it’s
epted that aluminum can be deposited in the
now widely acc e the cumulative effect of smaller
brain, where it 6 exposures like these over time—from
t can have toxic effects. In fact, aluminum
has been lin ked to a host of neurodegenerative multiple sources—is cause for concern.
k
conditions besides Alzheimer’s, including amyotrophic What’s more, how much aluminum
lateral scle the body absorbs from exposure
erosis (motor neuron disease), Parkinson’s,
dementi a, Gulf war syndrome and multiple sclerosis. varies from person to person. Certain
7
There ’s also research suggesting that aluminum nutritional deficiencies, for example,

e involved in breast cancer. It’s been found in
may be can increase the rate of aluminum
9
the bre absorption.
east tissue of women with breast cancer—
and in It makes sense to limit your exposure
n significantly higher levels in the underarm
regio n near the breast, suggesting a possible link to aluminum as much as possible. See
uminum-based antiperspirants.
to alu 8 opposite for our top tips.

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