Hello, Bisphenol A (BPA),
my name is Inigo Montoya.
You killed my father.
Prepare to die.
If you aren’t familiar with The Princess Bride, rent it today. Really. Go do it and don’t let your hubby or significant other persuade you otherwise – TPB, it’s not just for chicks anymore. Classic flick!
And if you don’t know what BPA is? Holy crap, Batman! What island do you live on? I wanna move there.
Tomorrow.
Have supper ready.
So Bisphenol A (BPA) is a plastic additive found in consumer packaging and polycarbonate containers (clear plastics). Think canned goods like any canned veggie or meat you consume, like tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes and tomato paste and green beans and until recently - baby bottles!
Like a character in HALO, I often feel like shouting, “It’s everywhere!” Because BPA permeates our environment. It’s not only in the materials that hold our food: cans, boxes, and plastics of one kind or another. It’s also in our water, because most of our houses have pvc pipes which contain, you guessed it, BPA. And in the air, thanks to shedding skin cells called house dust. But, why do I care?
BPA, a endocrine hormone disrupter is associated with a host of health consequences: breast and prostate cancers (hormonally driven cancers), pancreatic cancer, heart disease, metabolic disease, neurological and behavioral disorders, miscarriages and reproductive disorders and get ready for it.
Are you ready for it?
Obesity and Diabetes.
Yep, I said it. I played the fat card.
Obesity. Turns out that low levels of BPA cause pancreatic cells to release roughly twice as much insulin as normal in response to food, a condition that quickly leads to insulin resistance and whole host of metabolic disorders. Insulin-gone-wild as we’re finding out through research plays a big role in diseases of “civilized” western society.
But, but, but the food industry says BPA has a short half-life and humans excrete it through the kidneys very quickly! No harm. No foul. Right?
Not so fast…even though BPA may have a short half-life in your blood stream, the ramifications and resulting cellular disruption can act on your body for years and years in the future and those cellular disruptions are DOSE DEPENDENT. Yep, what you swallow today, can kill ya twenty years down the road! And the more you consume, the worse it gets. So even Eden Foods new tomato products might not be safe.
Imagine that? A human ticking time bomb. In fact, pre-natal exposure to BPA is linked to the expression of breast cancer in adult females. (Human breast tissue, not rats, not mice. Humans.) That can of tomatoes your mama ate when she made spaghetti sauce while she was pregnant with you can end up leaving leftover BPA in the breast tissue of the tumor they found in your 49 year old body today.
But even more frightening, if you have active cancer or if you've had a hormonally based cancer…and if you’re eating foods contaminated by BPA – foods like oh, I don’t know, tomatoes or if you’re eating canned green beans or canned soup – then stop it immediately!
BPA interferes with the action of many chemotherapy drugs such as cisplatin, doxirubicin and vinblastin, possibly making them ineffective treatment agents against the cancer. There is proof that it also jacks with aromatase inhibitor activity - the meds that help you after chemo.
According to an article from the Breast Cancer Fund, “Recent data further suggests that BPA leads normal human breast cells to behave like cancer cells, and indicates that BPA may also make cells less responsive to the cancer-inhibiting effects of the anti-estrogen tamoxifen (Goodson, 2011).”
People often wonder why I’m still so wigged out about my breast cancer. After all, “It’s gone already! You survived, right? Whaddayouwhininabout?”
LOL. It’s NEVER gone. Not today. Not in 10 years. Not 20 years from now. It can still rear its vicious head again. And life as I know it has forever changed. It’s not “simple” anymore. Something – breast cancer – the bitch – stole my “Simple” button. I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore. I want my “Simple” button back! Thank you chemical companies for polluting the hell out of my environment, for poisoning our food supply and helping to give me cancer. You biotches!
I can’t just go pick out a can of food at the grocery store, or buy a bag of microwave popcorn, or drink almond milk from one of those cool boxes any longer! Nope. I can’t use my beloved canned tomato products or canned marinara sauce, the Queen of Convenience thanks to the evil BPA! I even have to think twice about the frozen fruit on Isle 12 and think about the container that holds the body lotion I smear on my radiation-scarred skin.
So what’s a girl (or boy) to do? Simple. Strike back! Reclaim your life, grow a pair, quit whining and learn to freaking cook like our grandmama did! Yep, that’s right. Quit your bellyachin’ and start cooking again. *sigh* *hic* *sniff* Ok I will quit my bellyachin’!
Dammitjanet!
Ok, I will.
Oh and for Pete’s sake, get a carbon filter for your water, will yas? Remember the pipes have BPA too!
Now, go read my yummy recipe for homemade Roasted Marinara. Sure it takes a bit of time to make and there are a few steps, but it uses only fresh ingredients and it will free you from your slavery to canned tomato products of all kinds. You can use this method to make a number of tomato based dishes, too.
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| Photo by DANA NÖLLSCH at NewsReview.com |
my name is Inigo Montoya.
You killed my father.
Prepare to die.
If you aren’t familiar with The Princess Bride, rent it today. Really. Go do it and don’t let your hubby or significant other persuade you otherwise – TPB, it’s not just for chicks anymore. Classic flick!
And if you don’t know what BPA is? Holy crap, Batman! What island do you live on? I wanna move there.
Tomorrow.
Have supper ready.
So Bisphenol A (BPA) is a plastic additive found in consumer packaging and polycarbonate containers (clear plastics). Think canned goods like any canned veggie or meat you consume, like tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes and tomato paste and green beans and until recently - baby bottles!
Like a character in HALO, I often feel like shouting, “It’s everywhere!” Because BPA permeates our environment. It’s not only in the materials that hold our food: cans, boxes, and plastics of one kind or another. It’s also in our water, because most of our houses have pvc pipes which contain, you guessed it, BPA. And in the air, thanks to shedding skin cells called house dust. But, why do I care?
BPA, a endocrine hormone disrupter is associated with a host of health consequences: breast and prostate cancers (hormonally driven cancers), pancreatic cancer, heart disease, metabolic disease, neurological and behavioral disorders, miscarriages and reproductive disorders and get ready for it.
Are you ready for it?
Obesity and Diabetes.
Yep, I said it. I played the fat card.
Obesity. Turns out that low levels of BPA cause pancreatic cells to release roughly twice as much insulin as normal in response to food, a condition that quickly leads to insulin resistance and whole host of metabolic disorders. Insulin-gone-wild as we’re finding out through research plays a big role in diseases of “civilized” western society.
But, but, but the food industry says BPA has a short half-life and humans excrete it through the kidneys very quickly! No harm. No foul. Right?
Not so fast…even though BPA may have a short half-life in your blood stream, the ramifications and resulting cellular disruption can act on your body for years and years in the future and those cellular disruptions are DOSE DEPENDENT. Yep, what you swallow today, can kill ya twenty years down the road! And the more you consume, the worse it gets. So even Eden Foods new tomato products might not be safe.
Imagine that? A human ticking time bomb. In fact, pre-natal exposure to BPA is linked to the expression of breast cancer in adult females. (Human breast tissue, not rats, not mice. Humans.) That can of tomatoes your mama ate when she made spaghetti sauce while she was pregnant with you can end up leaving leftover BPA in the breast tissue of the tumor they found in your 49 year old body today.
But even more frightening, if you have active cancer or if you've had a hormonally based cancer…and if you’re eating foods contaminated by BPA – foods like oh, I don’t know, tomatoes or if you’re eating canned green beans or canned soup – then stop it immediately!
BPA interferes with the action of many chemotherapy drugs such as cisplatin, doxirubicin and vinblastin, possibly making them ineffective treatment agents against the cancer. There is proof that it also jacks with aromatase inhibitor activity - the meds that help you after chemo.
According to an article from the Breast Cancer Fund, “Recent data further suggests that BPA leads normal human breast cells to behave like cancer cells, and indicates that BPA may also make cells less responsive to the cancer-inhibiting effects of the anti-estrogen tamoxifen (Goodson, 2011).”
People often wonder why I’m still so wigged out about my breast cancer. After all, “It’s gone already! You survived, right? Whaddayouwhininabout?”
LOL. It’s NEVER gone. Not today. Not in 10 years. Not 20 years from now. It can still rear its vicious head again. And life as I know it has forever changed. It’s not “simple” anymore. Something – breast cancer – the bitch – stole my “Simple” button. I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore. I want my “Simple” button back! Thank you chemical companies for polluting the hell out of my environment, for poisoning our food supply and helping to give me cancer. You biotches!
I can’t just go pick out a can of food at the grocery store, or buy a bag of microwave popcorn, or drink almond milk from one of those cool boxes any longer! Nope. I can’t use my beloved canned tomato products or canned marinara sauce, the Queen of Convenience thanks to the evil BPA! I even have to think twice about the frozen fruit on Isle 12 and think about the container that holds the body lotion I smear on my radiation-scarred skin.
So what’s a girl (or boy) to do? Simple. Strike back! Reclaim your life, grow a pair, quit whining and learn to freaking cook like our grandmama did! Yep, that’s right. Quit your bellyachin’ and start cooking again. *sigh* *hic* *sniff* Ok I will quit my bellyachin’!
Dammitjanet!
Ok, I will.
Oh and for Pete’s sake, get a carbon filter for your water, will yas? Remember the pipes have BPA too!
Now, go read my yummy recipe for homemade Roasted Marinara. Sure it takes a bit of time to make and there are a few steps, but it uses only fresh ingredients and it will free you from your slavery to canned tomato products of all kinds. You can use this method to make a number of tomato based dishes, too.
Susie, I wonder if the newer folks (like over on your MLCKC FB page) have any idea of the incredible bounty, not only recipes, but valuable information, like this write up about BPA, exists here? I'm gonna be doin' some link sharing!
ReplyDeleteI don't use many canned products, but containers like my hwc comes in, or unsw almond milk, or sour cream, or or or, comes in now seem like guilty suspects. Yes, what the chemical industry has done to us is such a soapbox issue for me, as well as the food industry in many cases. It feels like a constant fight.
Thank you for sharing so much valuable information with us.
Hugs,
Alice B.