Health is greatly influenced by the food eaten and how it is cooked. The nutrient density of food can be easily damaged by overheating along with the damaging chemicals and heavy metals that leach into it from the cookware.
You can buy the very best organic food and inadvertently turn it into poison by cooking it wrong. It is important to realize that your choice of kitchenware can make a difference too, because they can contain chemicals which can enter into your food. Here are some cooking wares and how they are slowly killing you.
Aluminium cookware: Is one of the most common cookware to use, but can be very toxic as this heavy metal is absorbed into all food cooked in it. The aluminium released into foods during cooking ends up in your body. Excess aluminium has been associated with estrogen-driven cancers and Alzheimer’s Disease.
Cast iron cookware: Is very durable but iron is constantly leaching into the food, changing the enzymes in it. Iron can reach toxic levels in the body with regular use and becomes a pro-oxidant which causes stress, oxidation and eventually disease.
Titanium cookware: Seems to pose the least health risks and doesn’t react with food while cooking. Part of a good cancer prevention plan is to ditch all others and buy high quality titanium cookware. Premium titanium cookware is more expensive but inferior cookware will actually cost more over time.
Ceramic, enamel, and glass cookware: Are manufactured with lead. Lead gives these wares shock resistance and colour uniformity. The level of lead in each product is set by the manufacturer. Never cook with anything labelled “for decoration only”.
Copper cookware: Is the choice of many because it conducts heat so well. But copper cookware releases copper into the food to be eaten and usually also has nickel in the coating, which is another toxic heavy metal and can be very allergenic.
Stainless steel cookware: Is made from a metal alloy consisting of mostly iron and chromium along with differing percentages of molybdenum, nickel, titanium, copper and vanadium. But even stainless steel allows other metals to leach into the foods. The principal elements in stainless that have negative effects on our health are iron, chromium and nickel.
With all these, it is plain that huge number of cookwares are dangerous and none too good for the health, but here are few guidelines to using your cookwares.
Avoid non stick pans, pots, bakeware and utensils because they contain Teflon. Although non stick kitchenware is very convenient, Teflon is made from perfluorinated compounds which have been linked to cancer and reproductive problems.
If you use non-stick kitchenware and the coating is coming off, you should stop using it. Get new ones.
If you use non-stick kitchenware and the coating is intact, avoid heating them above 450F because above this temperature, they release toxic gases.
Avoid aluminium pots and pans as it may cause aluminium to leach into food.
Avoid ceramic dishware that is cracked or chipping because the glazes used in ceramic dishware often contain lead and cracked or chipping glazes may be more likely to leach lead into foods and liquids.
Avoid dish racks made of plastic-coated wire, substituting instead stainless steel dish racks.
