Kitchen Materials Affecting Your Health

Philip Pape 0:02

When it comes to cooking and preparing your food , there's one area most people aren't thinking about , and that is the materials that touch your food before it hits your mouth . I'm talking about microplastics that might be flaking off from scratched cookware , pfas , which are called forever chemicals from nonstick coatings and some plasticizers that might leach from food containers . And the question isn't whether these compounds exist in your kitchen . They do . The question is whether they're actually affecting your health , your hormones , your physique goals , things like that . So today we're going to separate the legitimate concerns from the fear-mongering , examine what the science shows about chemical exposure from cookware and packaging what I do personally and give you some steps to minimize risk without losing your mind over every container in your kitchen .

Philip Pape 0:59

Welcome to Wits and Weights , the show that helps you build a strong , healthy physique using evidence , engineering and efficiency . I'm your host certified nutrition coach , philip Pape , and today we're talking about something that we haven't covered before . It's at the intersection of nutrition , health and consumer safety , and that is chemicals that might be migrating from your cookware and your food packaging into your meals . And you might be thinking , wow , philip never really talked about this kind of stuff , because oftentimes it's in the realm of fear-mongering or selling you the idea that everything in your kitchen or you eat is toxic , and that is not what I'm doing today . Instead , I want to look at the actual evidence around microplastics , pfas , other compounds that could potentially affect your health . There's a lot of attention on these now and I personally in my family I don't want to be a hypocrite I have , over the years , gotten rid of , for example , teflon and nonstick cookware in favor of other materials . I've gotten rid of plastic Tupperware in favor of glass . I use glass water balls , things like that because I think there is a potential long-term concern here and I also think the bar is really low to make the changes . That could , you know , avoid any of the concerns altogether , versus other things like , let's say , doing a cold plunge every day or buying a sauna . That is in that 1% and is a high bar to change your behaviors . So I want to talk about what the research tells us and give you a framework today to make informed decisions about what touches your food , and I'll give you some specific recommendations of what to look for when you go shopping or you're looking to replace your cookware and kitchenware .

Philip Pape 2:33

So the exposures of these materials . Again , I don't want to fear monger . They're not going to make or break everything , but they can impact some people more than others and the toxin or the poison is always in the dose . So for those of us who are meal prepping or cooking our food at home , which I highly encourage , you're eating eggs , you wanna use nonstick pans and such , you're using those materials a lot and so the material is touching your food in multiple different ways at high heat . It is definitely important to make smart choices and kind of stack your odds in your favor for the long term . So when we talk about chemical exposure from cookware and packaging , I'm going to break it into three main categories and understand the science of these is still developing , but we also have decades of research in some areas as well .

Philip Pape 3:20

The first category is microplastics Very hot topic today . I see it everywhere . I subscribe to some magazines like Scientific American that are talking about it all the time . It's in the oceans , it's everywhere , right , whether it's a big concern is what's being discussed Now . These are very tiny plastic fragments . They're smaller than five millimeters . They can be released from synthetic materials through the use of those materials . Now , many of us just intuitively when you sit back and think about okay , we're making petroleum-based synthetic plastic compounds and everything in the planet is made from these things and it touches everything .

Philip Pape 3:54

There is some just common sense , I'll say , behind that , whether you subscribe to that or not , as evidence that they're probably interacting with our food supply in some way . Right , but we know that they do to an extent . In your kitchen , what happens ? Right ? This comes from plastic containers , especially when they get scratched , worn out , nonstick coatings , even synthetic cutting boards right , we all have those synthetic cut and you've got scratches all over them . Well , what has come off from that ? That has potentially gotten into your food as well , right ? So what we know from the research , animal studies , lab work they're not always longitudinal , sometimes they're correlational . We've got to suss through all that . It's difficult , but what we think is that microplastics have some impact inside the body , whether it's inflammation , oxidative stress , disruption of the gut barrier , things like that and we don't have clear evidence of what these mean for long-term health at the exposure levels most of us experience . It's like how we've studied aspartame to death . We've studied artificial sweeteners and we know that the level of exposure of those is so high you don't need to be concerned . But the level of exposures to these microplastics may be lower to cause that concern , and many humans might be experiencing high levels because of how we use this cookware and the heat behind them , right ? And so when they test these things in the studies , they often are using huge doses or higher order of magnitudes that you would get from you know , let's say , just cooking your eggs in a pan , but still the cumulative effect is where the concern is . So that's microplastics .

Philip Pape 5:21

The second category is PFAS . Pfas and these are usually called forever chemicals . These are man-made substances that are designed to do amazing things , right , they repel water , they repel grease , they repel stains , and that's what you'll find in nonstick cookware , coatings like Teflon and fast food wrappers , microwave popcorn bags , even some takeout containers . And the concern with the PFAS is twofold . First is that they persist in the environment and in your body , right , they just don't break down , and that is the forever nickname , and that's a concern to me for sure . The second is that when we look at large population studies , there are correlations between higher PFAS levels and changes in the population of thyroid function , cholesterol levels , hormonal markers . And again , we have to watch out for interpretation , right ? Because these studies can't necessarily account for all the lifestyle factors that might be driving both PFAS exposure and health outcomes . But still , the persistence of the compounds and the consistency of these findings across many different studies is concerning , and it has also led to regulatory action . Again , whether you trust governments or not , right , we're in a very heated climate when it comes to that right now . But we've looked at older forms of these chemicals , PFOA . Pfos are being phased out in favor of newer versions still being studied . It's kind of like , you know , refrigerant for air conditioning has evolved over years because we know it was poisoning the air , toxic to people , right ? So we just we've studied these enough to see that these effects happen . So the first . So that's , that's the second category .

Philip Pape 6:56

The third category is plasticizers and related compounds . So this would be BPA and BPS , which you've probably heard of , because there are a lot of companies marketing BPA-free hard plastic containers like for water bottles , and I personally use a glass water bottle . I don't even want to take a chance of any of these plastics , you know , leaching off in any way , especially if you send them through the dishwasher and they're experiencing heat . They can be on the linings of cans . You know people don't realize when you get a can of soda or beer or whatever . A lot of those cans , they're not just raw aluminum , they actually have a coating , a plastic coating , inside and if you're drinking multiple of those every day you're getting exposed to that Phthalates hard word to pronounce from very soft , flexible plastics . And then even aluminum can leach from uncoated cookware if you're cooking very acidic food .

Philip Pape 7:46

So if you look at the research here , we know that some of these compounds can be endocrine disruptors , can impact hormone receptors , at least in laboratory resetting . So again , you , the real world , impact . How ? How much is it for most people , you know , given our bodies can detoxify , I wonder that that that's where my skepticism comes from , but it's also where I say look , where can we make decisions that are easy in our life , that can avoid these concerns ? And the cost benefit is there , knowing that there's an , a level of uncertainty , right Like , why take the chance if it's easy enough to just get glass versus plastic , or easy enough to get ceramic versus , you know , other coatings on your cookware ? So I it isn't just theory , right Like , I think there's a practical perspective to this , for why I wanted to make this , this study .

Philip Pape 8:38

And we talk a lot about fat loss . We talk about metabolism , insulin sensitivity , we talk about inflammation , things like that . Any one of these things could , systematically and through a cascade in your body , be affected by something like oxidative stress from microplastics , right ? And it's not like that's the thing that's causing you not to lose fat . If you're listening to this , thinking this is a fat loss episode . No , that comes down to energy balance , consistency , other lifestyle factors , training , et cetera . That is outside the scope of today . But when we think of hormones , for example , et cetera , that is outside the scope of today . But when we think of hormones , for example , right , pfas levels correlated with lower testosterone or

Microplastics, PFAS, and Plasticizers Explained

Philip Pape 9:13

altered thyroid function , at least at the population level , I wouldn't be surprised if , over the longterm , we do discover these effects , because we are seeing much lower T in the population among men , hence the ranges have dropped . We're seeing fertility issues .

Philip Pape 9:28

You know , people can't pinpoint a single root cause , but when , systematically , you're exposed to a lot of these things , you can call them toxins if you'd like . They're basically foreign substances that really shouldn't be in the body . The accumulation of these could actually be a concern , right , even if they're within normal variation based on what the studies have told us . If you're the type of person that uses these a lot more and cooks a lot more food at home and uses the microwave a lot more , then you might be of more concern than someone else . Longevity and overall health is probably where this is of most concern , because it's not one exposure we're concerned about , right , it's the accumulation over time , the cumulative load of stressors and I'll use the word inflammatory inputs basically just your body having to respond , right , the oxidative stress , your body having to deal with it , process it through your liver , process it at the cellular level . And if you're already optimizing the big pillars nutrition , training , sleep , stress , et cetera I do think this is one of those smaller pillars that can be helpful to just be conscious about , and that's why I wanted to make

Potential Health Impacts on Hormones

Philip Pape 10:34

this episode . So let's do that . Let's let's talk about what you should practically consider doing .

Philip Pape 10:38

That's easy , and the first one is cookware . So if you have old , non , if you have old scratched nonstick pans and the coating's flaking off , or you scratched , or just just that you scratch them a lot , I mean , when I cook , you know I've got , you know , either a spatula or fork or something scraping on in there and there could be small pieces that flake off on a regular basis . I would say that's worth replacing . I personally just don't use the traditional non-stick pans . What I use now it's actually from Chef's Foundry . It's a ceramic coating that doesn't chip and it has a lot of other cool features in the pans , like the handles come off and you can use it on different surfaces . You could put it in the oven . It's multi-use . I love multi-use stuff . Like we replaced our crock pot with the instant pot and also with another one that can do multiple functions , like a Dutch oven , right . So I love that kind of stuff because it's very efficient . So I would get something like the Chef's Foundry stuff and , by the way , they are a sponsor of this episode . So if you go to witsandweightscom slash Chef's Foundry , you can get 50% off Really good stuff . I use them myself .

Philip Pape 11:44

If you love to cook eggs or you like to sear your meat and you want a nonstick surface love to cook eggs or you like to sear your meat and you want a nonstick surface , that is an easy change to make , right , that is an easy change to make . If you're already in the market for them . Definitely check those out , along with wherever else you're looking , amazon , walmart , wherever you're doing your shopping and when it comes to cookware . So let me go through the different materials

Practical Cookware Recommendations

Philip Pape 12:06

. First , stainless steel is great . I have all clad for a lot of my stuff stainless steel . It's durable , it's non-reactive , it doesn't have any coatings You're good . But it's not non-stick right . So things will stick to it and that's the biggest not complaint . But like people who just want the convenience easy to clean , you know , easy to cook eggs and things like that it's not non-stick right . Cast iron is great . It has to be seasoned . It's really good for heat . It's great for things like steaks and grilling . It's naturally nonstick , but I've not known anyone , myself included , that can keep it that way for very long . So I wouldn't necessarily call cast iron nonstick per se . And then we get to the ceramic cookware and that's where it's a great material . I think ceramic's awesome . It avoids synthetic coatings entirely . Typically it could be more fragile , but , like I said , this particular product the P600 , again go to witsandweightscom slash chefsfoundry . It's much more robust than that and it's 50% off . So check that out .

Philip Pape 13:01

For food storage , the biggest win here is avoiding microwaving your food in plastic containers . Just don't do that . I mean , my wife convinced me of this years ago . You can get really nice glass containers that have rubber tops and then if you're going to store food , I think that's that's a little less of a concern to use plastic right , cause you're not heating it up , and you can get BPA free , very hard plastic containers . So I mean we just use the glass for everything . It's going to last forever . I mean we just use the glass for everything . It's going to last forever . And the reason is the heat and the fat increases the migration of compounds from the plastic into your food , especially soft Like I can't . I cringe a little bit thinking about this really soft plastic basically melting and re hardening right next to my food in the microwave . I don't know . I mean that's just more of a whether there's evidence on it or not , and I think there is , I'm just not going to do it right . So glass or ceramic containers eliminate this concern and oftentimes they work better in terms of heating . So try those out .

Philip Pape 13:57

If you use storage containers , again , look for BPA-free . Always replace containers that are starting to show wear or it depends on how often you're doing it . But there are certain wrappers and like microwave popcorn bags and some takeout containers that they have a grease resistant coating inside that are treated with PFAS , these forever chemicals . So be careful , you know , and definitely don't heat them up in there , right ? Occasional exposure is probably fine , but if you're eating takeout multiple times a week and I know some people who just don't wanna cook and they eat out a lot , which people who just don't want to cook and they eat out a lot , which isn't great for your waistline when it comes to fat loss usually , but if you do , just watch out for those .

Philip Pape 14:46

So you might be wondering okay , philip again is the evidence-based guy he's talking about , with a lot of caveats are we sure about these health effects ? Are they of a decent enough magnitude to worry about this ? And I think it's a fair question , question that we should always be asking that question about everything in this industry , and I'm a fan of informed decisions and understanding even the small impacts that could exist out there , so that you can then decide . You know , if someone says broccoli is toxic because it has certain compounds , I'm going to ask you how much broccoli are you eating and does it affect you in any negative way ? And then , thirdly , if , if you're not eating that much and it doesn't affect you are much broccoli are you eating and does it affect you in any negative way ? And then , thirdly , if , if you're not eating that much and it doesn't affect you , are you still concerned or will it make you feel better to avoid broccoli , but without fear , mongering it , right ?

Philip Pape 15:25

It's very individualized and so when it comes to your cookware , if you're going to replace something , anyway , I would look . I would be thinking consciously okay , I've got a scratch pan , I need something new . Okay , let's go shopping . Let me listen to Philip's episode again on what to look for . You know , with the ceramic cookware , with the glass containers , things like that . Not to be paranoid , but just because it's easy to do , it might as well , right , just gets the uncertainty out of that . That's my thought on this .

Get Chef's Foundry Ceramic Cookware at 50% Off

Philip Pape 15:59

And when we're talking about forever , chemicals , microplastics that leach from nonstick services , and you are meal prepping and you're making food from home and you like nonstick pans , you're using it a lot , and that's my point . You're using it a lot because I do too , and I just got rid of that stuff . So , again , that's why I was interested when I hooked up with Dave at Chef's Foundry . So they are just full disclosure . They're sponsoring a string of episodes because I wanted to connect with them and share this change that people can make toward their meal prep . So it's called the P600 . It's a ceramic cookware system . It's basically three pans with some other goodies that come along . 50% off , go to whitsawastecom slash Chef's Foundry .

Philip Pape 16:33

And the reason I like these is because I've been skeptical a long time about ceramic anything because it chips . It's why we didn't get ceramic . What do you call it a sink ? When we built our house , we went for straight up stainless steel and a little bit is unfounded , but not always , because I've been to people's houses and they've got chips in there . They've got chips in their sink and I'm like , well , you're putting heavy stuff in there and washing it all the time . But if we talk about cookware , the coating a ceramic coating like the one I'm recommending here it doesn't have Teflon , doesn't have PFAS , doesn't have any plastic , right ? That's the basic thing we're looking for and it's Swiss engineered , which I don't know what that means , other than it seems highly , highly durable and doesn't chip Like stuff has on . It doesn't chip , it is genuinely non-stick and it'll just stay that way forever .

Philip Pape 17:20

You want eggs slide off , you want to sear protein and , you know , steer your roast on there at high heat and just easily clean it , like that is super convenient . And then again , I mentioned multi-purpose , this one . It works on induction as well as gas , which I know most pans do , but some , some pans have a hard time with induction , like electric stoves . And then the really cool thing about these is it has removable handles . So not only does it make it easy to store so you're not like flipping them around and getting them all locked in with each other with the handles but you can put it in the oven without a handle , like if you guys like to use oven mitts and you don't have a lot of room in your oven . It's really helpful for that . So performance and design is pretty cool .

Philip Pape 18:03

As an engineer , I like to see something that is high quality , that serves what you want but also is multifunctional . So right now they're offering the P600 at 50% off and these free accessories . You go to witsandweightscom slash chef's foundry and , whether you grab their cookware or not , check out the page because they have a guide there about cookware materials . You know the safety . That complements what we're

Glass Storage and Container Safety

Philip Pape 18:25

talking about today . Check it out , witsandwheatscom slash chefs foundry .

Philip Pape 18:29

All right , let me continue here and talk about the regulatory environment for a second , and I know again , there's a lot of mistrust right now about government agencies and administrations and whatnot . The food safety agencies here in the US and in Europe have been aware of PFAS and microplastics for many , many years and they're still trying to update the guidelines and regulations . This stuff never ends right . The challenge that I found looking into this is toxicology testing wasn't designed for a couple areas that they're trying to evolve to . One is the persistent compounds that accumulate over time . Right , a lot of this testing is acute , or it's what am I trying to say ? It's like isolated . Right , it's hard to look at the long-term impacts of compounds that accumulate . It's also hard to look at mixtures of chemicals interact in what you'd say are complex ways , so regulation is always catching up to the science . Then , that creates uncertainty for all of us , and my goal at Wits and Weights is to give you a little more clarity .

Philip Pape 19:25

Ceramic cookware , glass containers , glass water bottles is a great place to start . And the compounds that we've been discussing today we know a lot about them . They've been used for decades . Right , I'm not gonna fear monger over some massive health problems they're gonna cause , but if you're using them a lot , it's worth being concerned , especially from the endocrine disruption and the oxidative stress perspective , and you could always test yourself before and after . I don't expect you're gonna see a huge difference in the short term . Long term , though , I think it could help , you know .

Philip Pape 19:59

Let's talk about your hierarchy of kitchen safety . Just to wrap this up , level one is basic food safety . Use the right cooking temperature , avoid cross-contamination , wash your hands right , stuff like that . If you get eggs from chickens , like we do , we wash our eggs to avoid , you know , any salmonella or anything like that , so you don't get those acute illnesses , those bugs , those food poisonings , things like that that none of us love . So that's level one .

Philip Pape 20:24

Level two is , I'll say , quality food and ingredients . Right Now , again , it depends on what you can afford and I actually spoke to a rancher on the show not long ago about beef and organic and all the different labels . And really , if you , if you get whole foods , that's a huge step up right to begin with , regardless of someone's claim as to their quality . But it's up to you to kind of decide okay , what is quality for me and why am I choosing this food , without , again , without the fear-mongering . And then level three is what we're discussing today and that's just minimizing external exposures to things like chemicals , all these , all these great products we make over the year , over the decades . Unfortunately , some of them have things that might be getting into our food that provide benefits over the longterm . So why not reduce your exposure to those ? And I would say it's a hierarchy , so you focus on level one , then level two , then level three .

Philip Pape 21:09

If you're looking for new cookware , check out the guys at chef's foundry , witsandweightscom , slash chef's foundry

Hierarchy of Kitchen Safety

Philip Pape 21:14

. And then , before we wrap up , I want to address the psychological aspect here because I don't want you to develop anxiety around food safety . I don't want you to develop that . Okay , and I know some of the language is marketed that way and that's marketing . That's marketing and I hope I haven't used that language myself .

Philip Pape 21:30

If you're worried about everything you do every day , that's going to cause you stress . Right , if you focus on the big pillars make your own food , eat adequate nutrition , train , you know , maintain your social connections and relationships those are the best ways to kind of keep that stress down . The goal here is informed awareness , not hypervigilance . So just to recap , for cookware , replace your nonstick pans when they're scratched , when the coating is degrading , or if you're looking for new cookware , consider stainless steel , cast iron or my favorite , ceramic WoodsonWeightscom slash Chef's Foundry . Check those guys out . Don't panic about using something else occasionally , right , especially newer versions that may not have some of these chemicals . Things are always changing , but if you want something long-term , stainless steel , cast iron , ceramic are a great way to go For food storage .

Philip Pape 22:17

Use glass or ceramic when you microwave , replace plastic when it's cloudy , cracked or showing wear , and you know it's less of a concern storing in the fridge versus heating things up For takeout , for packaged foods . Just be aware of the frequency and like what these things are coming in and transfer the food into your own containers , plates , bowls , things like that . If you're gonna heat it up , use the glass . And then for water you could use a filter , because we didn't even talk about microplastics potentially in water . I personally have well water so I'm lucky because I avoid all that stuff , even though we do have a couple of filters on that . Tap water in most developed countries is quite safe , but I say that with a big asterisk because we know Right , don't leave plastic water bottles in hot cars , for example . That could heat them up Right , and the research on this stuff is evolving really quickly , and five , 10 years from now we're going to have maybe more long-term studies , maybe some more better analytical methods on for the toxicology and things like that , and so I just don't know where it's all going to go .

Philip Pape 23:20

But today these are the things you can do . I hope I gave you guys the right amount of nuance , because your body's ability to detoxify and process and eliminate compounds like that is pretty amazing , but sometimes you know there's a little too much load based on these wonderful inventions that humans have made when they interact with our food . And so you know the best way you can support yourself is living well , moving , eating mostly whole foods . You know you have a liver that detoxifies , you have a kidney , you have a really strong gut , you have a lymphatic system , and they're all improved when you have good foundational health practices , like we talk about on this show , and so your body can handle a lot of this . Right , you should be strength training that's one of the best things for inflammation and circulation and supporting your detoxification and your organs . Believe it or not , you should be moving around . You should be eating a lot of protein and whole foods right . Your liver needs the amino acids for what it does . You need lots of sleep , you know . You need to clear that metabolic waste from your brain by getting enough sleep . We haven't even talked about that too much on the show . It makes sense , however , at the same time , to minimize unnecessary exposure when it's practical when it's practical . So have a healthy , resilient body and then complement with some of these informed choices .

Philip Pape 24:42

So I want to leave you with one final thought before this episode gets too long , and that is that in our modern world , we are exposed to lots and lots of synthetic compounds that didn't exist 100 years ago . Some of these exposures are probably not a big deal . Some might actually be helpful , and then some might pose risks . So we want to have critical thinking skills to evaluate these based on evidence rather than fear . Make simple changes where they make sense and focus your energy on the factors that have the biggest impact on your health when it comes to what touches your food quality materials . Don't let perfect be the enemy good enemy of the good , you know , and just pay attention , folks , just pay attention . It's all about daily choices ,

Nontoxic Ceramic Pans + FREE Bonuses

Philip Pape 25:20

all right .

Philip Pape 25:20

So if you found this episode helpful and you're considering upgrading your cookware . Anyway , I mentioned Chef's Foundry earlier , their P600 ceramic system . It eliminates all these coatings that we've been discussing . Any of the microplastics just makes it easy . It's an easy choice . Definitely , shop around , tell me what you use , send me an email , hit me up on Instagram . I love something that is multifunctional , that looks good , that works well and that cooks my eggs without sticking to the pan . That's it , especially what we do in my family , where we cook multiple batches of eggs in a row and you know how that can get really nasty if it's a traditional like steel pan . So

Final Thoughts: Balance Without Fear

Philip Pape 25:56

quality cookware , good performing , you know food , food prep hardware , all that good stuff . Go for it . Until next time , keep easing your wits , lifting those weights and remember , when it comes to what touches your food , quality matters , what's on your plate matters , how you cook your food matters and , most importantly , how you show up for yourself . This is Philip Pape and you've been listening to Wits and Weights . I'll talk to you next time .