Nonstick cookware could lead to weak or broken bones
Once you reach a certain age, nothing can change your life faster than a bone break.
That’s because you know that one bad fall or fracture won’t just leave you laid up for months — it could actually cost you your independence.
But if you’re like millions of seniors racing to protect your bones, there’s a new warning you won’t want to miss.
Because it looks like the biggest threat to your bone health may not come from old age or even menopause.
It comes from your kitchen.
Especially if you cooked fried foods a lot, getting all that leftover residue off your cookware could wear out your arms in a hurry!
But then nonstick cookware came along and changed everything — and not for the better.
I started warning you years ago how a chemical called PFOA in DuPont’s nonstick Teflon was linked to all sorts of cancers in animal studies, especially of the pancreas.
The government finally phased it out just last year, although these Teflon pots and pans are still sitting in millions of kitchens across America.
But it looks like the new chemicals they’re using aren’t making your kitchen — or you — any safer.
They’re called PFASs, and recent research proves they may be downright toxic for your bones.
Scientists at Wright State University recently crunched the data on more than 1,900 people to look at both their bone density and the levels of PFASs in their blood.
And what they found might explain why bone-building drugs have become a billion-dollar industry for Big Pharma.
Turns out that the women who had the highest blood levels of these chemicals had the lowest bone density and were much more likely to develop osteoporosis. We’re talking about bone breaks just waiting to happen!
And while it may seem hard to believe that something as simple as cooking with a nonstick pan could put your bones at risk, it’s not all that surprising.
Another study found that these chemicals can actually travel to your bones and accumulate there. And if you’re using nonstick cookware every day — and lots of people are — you’re talking about a pretty serious buildup over time.
It’s just another bigtime bait-and-switch — just like the one I told you about earlier today, when food packagers and bottlers started replacing the plastic hardener BPA with something called BPS that may be even more dangerous for our health.
And considering how long it took our government to get the original Teflon out of the marketplace, well, you can bet that we’ll be dealing with these PFASs for decades to come.
The bottom line seems to be that when something is slick and nonstick — be it a sandwich wrapper, pizza box liner, microwave popcorn bag or your favorite fry pan — a toxic chemical was probably used in its production. (Last year, the FDA finally banned three of these grease-resistant substances used in food packaging.)
While it’s not possible to totally eliminate our exposure to PFASs at this point, it is important to reduce it as much as possible — especially for the sake of our bones.
And the most important way to do that is to ditch your collection of nonstick pots and pans and kitchen utensils. I know that can be a little heartbreaking, but your bones will thank you.
Look for stainless steel (not aluminum) cookware instead. Even though you may need to start buying those scouring pads again, I think you’ll find that keeping your bones healthy is well worth it.
Sources:
“Is this cooking habit killing your bones?” Leah Zerbe, January 5, 2016, Rodale Wellness, rodalewellness.com
