Photo: “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” roughly 3 times the size of France
I hope through my articles or your time in the clinic with us you have realized that our health is dictated by far more than how much we exercise and our genetics. Along my quest to become an optimal human I have come across almost every topic of ways we are harming our health and longevity. Some of which are legitimate and have a body of scientific literature behind them and others are merely supported by anecdotes and personal beliefs. The topic I will discuss today has been one of the most alarming and has unconsciously infiltrated every aspect of our life.
Environmental Pollutants
For most of my life, I was completely unaware of the quality of food and water I was consuming, much less where they were coming from, and I did not care what they were packaged in.
About four years ago I read a book called Estrogeneration that changed the way I look at healthcare products, food storage, and water quality. This book takes a deep dive into the hormonal health effects of many chemical compounds we are regularly consuming and applying to our skin.
Plastic water bottles, packaging materials, and other household materials and products are constantly leaching harmful chemicals called estrogenic molecules. These chemicals when consumed act in place of our natural Estrogen hormones leading to a laundry list of health effects. Hormones in the human body are essential in regulating our function, growth, recovery, and development. We need to maintain a delicate balance of hormone levels to achieve optimal health and performance, however, most of us are currently overwhelming our systems daily with artificial hormones.
Here are a few of the main health effects of these chemicals:
Increased rates of Depression
Increased Weight Gain
Infertility (Men and Women)
Early-onset of Puberty in children
Developmental changes in infants and children
This is only the starting point of the negative health effects that we will discover. These however are not small effects. These chemicals are changing the structure and function of our children.
One study showed that the average plastic bottle of water contains over 24,000 chemicals. Think about that for a second. I have asked you to drink half your body weight in ounces of water daily. If you consume that much from plastic bottles you are looking at an introduction of over 100,000 chemicals every single day.
The bigger issue is that these chemicals are found in far more than just the water we drink.
This might sound like I am trying to scare you. Frankly, I am, I have talked to many people over the years about this subject and yet I still see them drinking out of plastic water bottles, and warming up their goods in plastic containers. Not to mention all the lotions, creams, and soaps we are applying by the hour.
What should we be doing?
Avoid drinking that has been stored in a plastic container
Avoid heating, cooking, or storing your food and water with anything plastic.
Choose healthcare products that are free of dyes, perfumes, fragrances, parabens, and phthalates
Drinking high-quality filtered water. I use a Berkey Water Filter.
The above is not a complete list as there is far more in our environment that is contributing to these issues. Below are two links to healthy products as well as complete lists of things we should be aiming to do/avoid for optimal health.
Dr. Jay’s Estrogenic Avoidance Plans
Take-Home Messages
Start changing the materials in your kitchen to glass, stainless steel, cast iron, and silicone
Use the product list about to transition yourself away from harmful skincare products
Start sourcing high-quality drinking water
Movement is Medicine. Food Is Fuel.
One Day or Day One the Choice is Yours
Andrew Cataldo CSCS
Director - Performance Division
andrew@primarypreventionpt.com
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