I’ve been warning about them for over 20 years now. Plastics contain bisphenol-A (BPA), which disrupts hormones throughout your body.
BPA suppresses testosterone production in men and disrupts the hormonal balance in women. It’s also been linked to metabolic syndrome and an elevated risk of heart disease.
Yet, doctors rarely discuss how you can protect yourself.
Plastics production now exceeds 450 million tons annually.1 Minuscule microplastics are found at the highest point on earth, Mt. Everest2 — and the lowest point, the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean.3
They’re everywhere, including in us! BPA has been detected in the blood of 95% of everyone tested.
The CDC pretends the health consequences are a deep mystery. It claims the impact of BPAs on your health are “unknown.”4
This feigned ignorance is an embarrassment, and it needs to end right away.
Especially now that researchers for the first time discovered BPAs cause alarming disruptions in your brain.
BPA’s ‘Alarming’ Effect on Brain Neurons
Researchers at the University of Bayreuth in Germany wanted to know how BPAs affect the brains of vertebrates.5
So, for one month, they exposed fish to environmentally normal levels of BPAs … then monitored changes in their nervous-system response.
The neurons exposed to BPAs were much more prone to transmit impulses. Researchers described this “excited state” as “alarming.”
They also tested bisphenol-S (BPS), a common substitute for BPA. The neural disruption was the same, strongly suggesting that “BPA-free” plastics are just as dangerous.
Researchers warned BPAs and BPSs “change the delicate balance between excitation and inhibition… the basis of several neuronal disorders.”6
Unpacking Your Toxic Load
So, how do you reduce your exposure to BPAs?
Rule No. 1: Never heat food or liquid in a plastic container. This triggers the release of BPAs into your food. Ceramic or porcelain plates are much safer for food storage.
Not handling receipts and cutting back on plastic water bottles and canned foods is good advice. But I’d also suggest you avoid fast-food like the plague. Fast-food lovers harbor up to 40% more contaminants.
But, even if you do everything right, you’ll still be exposed to these chemicals. So here are three other things you can do to protect yourself:
- Use the “flesh test” – Many fruits and vegetables have high levels of hormone-disrupting pesticides, some of which are carcinogenic. So, here’s a simple rule of thumb when shopping for fruits and vegetables: If you plan to eat the skin, buy organic. This “flesh test” tells you, for example, you need to buy organic when shopping for blueberries, strawberries, celery, and tomatoes. But foods like bananas, melons, and avocados are less susceptible to pesticide contamination.
- Filter your water – It’s a little-known fact that many city water pipes are lined with materials containing BPAs. Most municipal water officials don’t even test for them. So you owe it to yourself and your family to get yourself a good water filter. Activated carbon, reverse osmosis, and distillation are types of filters that work well. Look for filters certified by NSF International or the Water Quality Association. And, change those filters on a regular schedule to avoid toxin leakage.
- Supplement with glutathione – Chemicals that disrupt your hormones also make your glutathione levels plummet. This is critical because your body needs glutathione, often called “the master antioxidant,” to detoxify itself and shield your vulnerable DNA strands from free-radical attacks. While glutathione is available in asparagus, spinach, and avocados, these food sources are broken down before your body has a chance to absorb it. For many years, trying to supplement with glutathione was useless for the same reason – poor absorption. But the introduction of “reduced glutathione” was a game-changer. “Reduced” simply means it’s already activated and ready to go to work in your body. So, look for a reduced glutathione supplement. And for even better absorption, try liposomal glutathione. Wrapping the glutathione in tiny bubbles of fatty acid protects it from rapid breakdown. Just one week of liposomal glutathione increased levels in the blood by up to 40%.7
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD, CNS
References:
1. Lim, X. (2021). Microplastics are everywhere — but are they harmful? Nature, 593(7857), 22–25.
2. Napper, I. E., Davies, B. F. R., Clifford, H., Elvin, S., Koldewey, H. J., Mayewski, P. A., … Thompson, R. C. (2020). Reaching New Heights in Plastic Pollution—Preliminary Findings of Microplastics on Mount Everest. One Earth, 3(5), 621–630.
3. Microplastics in farm soils: A growing concern. (2020, August 31). Retrieved May 24, 2021, from EHN website.
4. Bisphenol A (BPA) Factsheet, CDC (2019). Retrieved May 25, 2021 from the CDC website.
5. Schirmer, E., Schuster, S., & Machnik, P. (2021). Bisphenols exert detrimental effects on neuronal signaling in mature vertebrate brains. Communications Biology, 4(1), 1–9.
6. Schirmer, E., Schuster, S., & Machnik, P. (2021). Bisphenols exert detrimental effects on neuronal signaling in mature vertebrate brains. Communications Biology, 4(1), 1–9
7. Sinha, R., Sinha, I., Calcagnotto, A., Trushin, N., Haley, J. S., Schell, T. D., & Richie, J. P. (2018). Oral supplementation with liposomal glutathione elevates body stores of glutathione and markers of immune function. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 72(1), 105–111.