I never trusted food in cans. Not sure why. Maybe it was the smell, the shape, or that it just seemed fake to me.
In any case, years ago I made a decision to stop eating canned food and quickly found that it was actually pretty easy to live without the convenience.
So if I could send a message from 2011 Jenny to the Jenny of all those years ago, I�d just say, �Good call!� (And also: �Buy Apple stock in 1980.�)
As for the �good call� part of the message, the Journal of the American Medical Association provides some frightening new numbers�
The scoop on soup
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a dangerous toxin and will someday be completely banned from use in consumer goods. But we�re still a long way from that day.
As I�ve mentioned before, BPA is a compound that�s found in a wide variety of plastic products (eating utensils, plates, bowls, baby bottles, pacifiers, etc.) and�the lining of many food and beverage cans.
Two years ago, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that high urinary BPA concentrations appear to be linked to increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and abnormal concentrations of liver enzymes.
Then just a few days ago, JAMA published another BPA study that gives us a good idea of the upper range of BPA concentrations.
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health recruited healthy subjects for the first randomized intervention study of BPA. Subjects who ate freshly made soup every day for five days had an average BPA level of 1.1 micrograms per liter of urine. Average BPA in subjects who ate soup from cans was an astounding 20.8 micrograms per liter!
That level is common for people exposed to BPA as an occupational hazard, but these subjects were mostly Harvard students and instructors. Even the researchers described the results as �quite surprising.�
They could have added �quite distressing� if they had seen another recent study from the Breast Cancer Fund. When BCF researchers tested six canned foods marketed to kids, all six tested positive for BPA. The highest levels were found in two Campbell�s products: Toy Story pasta in chicken soup, and Disney Princess pasta in chicken soup.
Of course, Campbell�s is a worldwide giant in food production, with annual sales that reached nearly $8 billion in 2008. That�s a lot of soup going out into the world. And with many Campbell�s brands costing less than a dollar, there may be millions of consumers pushing BPA levels that are closer to 20.8 than 1.1.
But I don�t mean to single out Campbell�s. Their BPA use is apparently no different than scores of other major food and beverage producers that sell canned products.
There are exceptions. More than 10 years ago (WAY ahead of the curve) Eden Foods went to great lengths to make the switch to BPA-free cans. Hain Celestial, Heinz, ConAgra, and other brands are beginning to phase out BPA use.
You can easily shop for BPA-free containers and feeding bottles for infants. Just google �BPA-free� and you�ll find plenty of products that won�t increase your diabetes and heart disease risk.
Sources:
�Association of Urinary Bisphenol A Concentration With Medical Disorders and Laboratory Abnormalities in Adults� Journal of the American Medical Association, Early release article posted 9/16/08, jama.ama-assn.org
�Canned Soup Consumption and Urinary Bisphenol A: A Randomized Crossover Trial� Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 306, No. 20, November 23 /30, 2011, jama.ama-assn.org
�BPA levels soar after lunching on canned soup� Karen Rowan, MSNBC, 11/22/11, vitals.msnbc.msn.com
Oh darn. I love soups especially in the winter. I like to make my own in a slow cooker (crock pot), but canned soups are so much more convenient. I've stopped buying canned soups mostly due to the sodium. I only get the ones with specifically less sodium. Now I must be diligent about BPA.
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- Jim
That which does not kill us makes us stronger. -Friedrich Nietzsche
I would love to know how to detox the BPA out but so far I've not found any information on it.
All the more reason to buy unprocessed food. Shop on the outside rim of the store and avoid interior products which are all processed. The outside rim of the store is where you'll get fruits, veggies, and meat.
Cook a bunch at a time and freeze the rest for quick meals later. Unfortunately glass jars break easily in the freezer so plastics #5,4,1 & 2 work well.
I'll steam up several pounds of vegetables and freeze it. I do the same with bean & rice dishes. Meat freezes well too. I pack my hubbies lunch everyday so I need food that is ready to pack for him.
I found this from Healthy Fellow. This would be an easy way to detox BPA. It is his article regarding wheatgrass. You should try to read the full article.
Quote:
Wheatgrass juice may: 1) promote detoxification and protect against damage caused by common toxins, including bisphenol A, a chemical found in plastic; 2) reduce chemotherapy-related side effects and toxicity in women with breast cancer �without diminishing the efficacy of chemotherapy�; 3) or, may not, decrease blood transfusion requirements in patients with thalassemia, a rare blood disorder characterized by a lack of hemoglobin and red blood cells; 4) provide symptomatic relief in adults living with ulcerative colitis, the inflammatory bowel disease; 5) safely chelate or remove excess iron due to high levels of select organic acids (oxalic and malic acid) naturally contained in wheatgrass; 6) be useful as a topical agent in mitigating skin toxicity in cancer patients undergoing radiation. However, wheatgrass cream appears ineffective at improving function and lessening pain in the inflammatory foot condition known as plantar fasciitis. While this isn�t a lot of information to go on with regard to wheatgrass, it�s certainly a decent starting point. There�s also some indication that at least a few scientists are genuinely interested in putting this holistic drink to the test. For instance, a study now recruiting will test the impact of 110 CC/day of frozen wheatgrass juice in patients undergoing chemotherapy. I think this is precisely the type of research that patients and physicians are ready and willing to receive.
So you've thrown away the can opener, stopped eating foods that come in plastic packages, and use only BPA-free containers at home.
Believe it or not, you could STILL have super-high levels of this endocrine-disrupting chemical -- because it's in positively everything, up to and including the newspaper you read this morning.
One more reason to go online for your news!
New tests find that common paper products contain up to 1 MILLION times the BPA of food containers -- with the highest levels found in newspapers and paper tickets.
You might think this isn't worth worrying about since you don't eat paper -- but BPA can actually enter the body through your skin. One study last year found that 30 percent of the BPA from paper receipts remains on the skin two hours after exposure -- and you can't even wash it off.
Because those same BPA-laced receipts are then tossed in with the recycling, this chemical is now found in just about every product made from recycled paper: business cards, napkins, paper food wrappers and toilet paper.
Throw in all the sources you already know about -- especially plastic food containers and canned goods -- and you could be exposed at every waking moment... from your morning newspaper to the can of beer at the end of the day.
Stop waiting for the government to act on this one -- if all these industries insist on using BPA, insist on buying other products instead. Hit 'em in the wallet hard enough, and eventually they'll get the message... or they'll be out of business.
Since it so readily excretes in the urine I bet that just laying off the stuff for a while will get rid of most of it. MMS would probably take care of it too as well as common protocols of detox... just my guess
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Shocking New Research About BPA in Canned Foods -- it's worse than we thought
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