Drastically decrease your exposure to BPA by eating less packaged food

Monday, May 02, 2011 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: BPA, packaged food, health news

(NaturalNews) One of the best ways to avoid exposure to the toxic plastics chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) might simply be to cut packaged foods from your diet, says a new study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Plastic bags, containers, cups, wraps, and other types of food packaging often contain not only BPA, but other harmful plastics chemicals. But by eating only fresh, non-packaged foods, you can reduce your blood levels of these chemicals by up to 90 percent in just three days.

Scientists from both the Breast Cancer Fund and the Silent Spring Institute conducted their study on five families. The families were instructed to remove all packaged foods from their diets for three days, and instead eat only organic foods stored in glass or stainless steel containers. Measured before, during, and after the study, urinary BPA levels dropped an average of 60 percent after just three days. Those with the highest initial levels of BPA saw a 75 percent drop after just three days of non-exposure.

The team also evaluated levels of DEHP; a type of phthalate used in food packaging, and found that after three days of non-exposure, participants' levels dropped an average of 50 percent. Those with the highest initial levels of DEHP saw an astounding 90 percent drop, which indicates that simply removing packaged foods from one's diet, even for just a few days, can virtually eliminate some of these dangerous toxins from the body.

"Our study provides clear and compelling evidence that food packaging is the major source of exposure to BPA and DEHP," said Ruthann Rudel, lead author of the study and Director of Research at Silent Spring Institute. "The study shows that a fresh-food diet reduces levels of these chemicals in children and adults by half, after just three days."

Exposure to BPA is known to cause infertility, sperm destruction, hormone imbalance, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, among other things (https://www.naturalnews.com/BPA.html). Phthalates are also implicated in causing hormone imbalance and endocrine disruption, as well as obesity, cancer, and even autism (https://www.naturalnews.com/phthalates.html).

Sources for this story include:

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/04/25/eli...