October 30, 2016
It all started a couple of weeks ago when my awesome friend and client Beth Keil (to learn more about Beth and all the other “People I Like” click here) forwarded an article written by Dr Mercola describing how BPA (or “Bisphenol-A,” a chemical created in 1891 by a Russian chemist) has now irrefutably been found to mimic the negative effects of estrogen in the human body causing a HUGE array of health concerns. Up till that point I’d been aware of the prevalence of BPA in PLASTIC packaging but was (I’m ashamed to admit) a bit clueless about the extent to which PBA has now found it’s way into almost EVERY type of packaging, even cans.
Because I imagine you’re now wondering exactly what BPA can cause I’ll just give you the short list (so you don’t have to Google it and get so scared you forget all about my blog LOL!)
· Decreased or simply altered immune function
· Increased fat formation and risk of obesity
· Hyperactivity, aggressive behavior, and learning delays/differences
· Changes in gender-specific behavior, and abnormal sexual behavior
· Early puberty, disrupted reproductive cycles, ovarian dysfunction, infertility, and stimulation of mammary gland development (did you know that breast cancer diagnoses in men is at an all-time high and breast reduction surgery is not just for women anymore???)
· Increased prostate size and decreased sperm production
· Stimulation of prostate cancer cells
SCARY, HUH???!!! No wonder I started looking for BPA-free bottles years ago and in fact all of items I buy in plastic containers now have “BPA-free” featured prominently on the package or I don’t buy it.
But back to Beth and the reason she forwarded the article. Ostensibly she was wondering about the amount of canned tuna she’d been eating lately so I called her up, we talked about it, and I figured I’d simply file the article away as a possible resource for some future blog.
The next morning, though, I woke up with a start: “HOW MANY CANNED ITEMS DO I ACTUALLY EAT EACH WEEK???” I thought, and I did a quick head count…truthfully I probably consume 2 cans of coconut milk and 3-4 cans of salmon pretty much every week, plus a can or 2 of tuna per month.
“RUH ROH…now that I KNOW there’s probably BPA lining the cans of some of my favorite foods, what am I gonna do about it?” I thought. But again I’m ashamed to admit the next thing that happened: LIFE…in other words I got super-busy for about a week and forgot about my health/ethical dilemma.
(Yes I know that doesn’t sound like the end of the story…TUNE BACK IN NEXT WEEK AND FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED NEXT!)
For Dr Mercola’s full article click here
Photo courtesy of Dr Axe
