Heavy metal

Posted on Jun 6th 2008 9:05PM by Chris Sparling

Filed Under: Womens Health, HealthWatch, Healthy Kids, Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements, Men's Health

Not being much of a chef, I generally eat baked chicken breast and vegetables almost every night for dinner. Sometimes I'll go a little nuts and include a side of brown rice. Watch out, Emeril!! Generally speaking, everything eventually ends up in the oven, and because I'm also not much of a maid, I try to make clean-up as easy as possible by cooking my meal in aluminum foil.

And so it went in this fashion for quite some time; that is, until I just yesterday came across a study from Ondokuz Mayis University in Turkey, highlighting the danger involved with cooking food in aluminum foil.

Researchers found that baking meat in foil increases its aluminum content by 378 percent. What's more, when other, more acidic foods are also cooked -- such as certain types of vegetables -- causes an even greater degree of corrosion.

Suddenly I don't feel like chicken tonight.

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Tags: aluminum, brown rice, BrownRice, chicken, Chris Sparling, ChrisSparling, food, metal

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Alex 6-07-2008 @ 11:08AM

If you're ok with teflon, get a indoor grill. It will cook your food in a LOT less time than the oven, reduce your power bill (better for the environment!), the whole kitchen won't get hot, and you won't get aluminum in your food.

Victoria 6-07-2008 @ 8:40PM

Teflon freaks me out. It can KILL birds, so I don't imagine it is great for humans. I have cast iron pans and if properly seasoned, they do not stick and are great for retaining heat.

spdsk8 6-07-2008 @ 8:50PM

378% doesn't tell us anything.
What if it went from 1 part per billion to 3.78 parts per billion? The aluminum content of the meat would still be much less than the level that could hurt you.

This article COULD be totally inflamatory. Or it could be telling us of a real danger. But there is no way to tell from the article.

They should put it in perspective: how MUCH aluminum has been demonstrated to be harmful? What is the potential harm?

I heard that a few years ago, high aluminum concentrations were found in the brains of people with alzheimers. But then studies were done that did not link using aluminum pans to alzheimers. So the aluminum was an effect, not a cause of alzhiemers.

The world is complex. Sometimes when one study tells you something is unhealthy, it is proven not to matter much in later studies.

The moral of the story is to eat a large variety of things. This way no one toxin is likeley to build up in your system.

Jackk 6-07-2008 @ 9:26PM

Persons with ulcers take Amphojel tablets and liquid that are almost all aluminum compounds and have no bad side effects.

tim 6-07-2008 @ 10:33PM

hey spdsk8- are you a lawyer?

if not you should probably look into it- that logic was flawless

charles 6-08-2008 @ 3:17AM

You may taste the fish you fried last in the cast iron but wait until you try the copper bottom and the aluminum. Within one month of buying the stainless no more stomach trouble or medication. On the Teflon some guys got to burning scraps with lighters and people got sick and had to go to dr. The company issued a order that anyone caught using the Teflon in any way other than the designated use would be fired and it gave what burning it caused or chemicals it gave off. Now lets use some common sense. Alcoa and Kaiser are the 2 biggest producers of aluminum. Wonder if they have lobbyist in DC. Although later and Reagan’s diversify politics creating one huge monopoly where a company (example) could own parts of drug companies, hospitals, nursing homes, and funeral parlors as well a burial gardens do you think they or congress gave a dime about your health? If they do why do they not outlaw MSG in foods like Japan the country that founded it before WW2? Aluminum cans are same way. My opinion I think in future we will see warning in pvc pipe like on some water bottles. Let me give another example I have close female friends that have had breast cancers. It seems the body sensors (lymph nodes) in upper outer quardant and under arm were the trouble. They had been going to the doctor for mammy grams regular. After operations and etc. Doctors suggested they use (different brands) of under arm deodorant that contained no aluminum. Why did the doctors not suggest this beforehand? I hear $$ don’t you?

Sunny 6-08-2008 @ 7:57AM

WOW, that was so logical. Why don't you go work for who ever puts all this stuff up here for us to read. I for one would LOVE it. Thanks for putting this into proper perspective

F. Stewart 6-08-2008 @ 5:22PM

Veriety is the spice of life!!!

undrgrndgirl 6-07-2008 @ 9:39PM

and the problem is.....what??!!??
hello, where's the IMPORTANT part of the story??

michael 6-07-2008 @ 9:50PM

Aluminum has no business to be in our body. Long usage (over 7-10 years) of aluminum pots & pans or taking any supplements such as some antacids, or using some deodorants; specially being absorbed through the skin next to the highest presence of lymph nodes all and all is TOXIC. One of the main reasons for the type 2 diabetes is the toxicity to the pancreas. If your memory is not good; or perhaps the Alzheimer’s disease, then blame it on the Aluminum. The pitted Aluminum pots & pans or when you wrap food in Aluminum, and you see it has many hole in it the acid food had eaten it up and you are eating it! Those soft processd cheese has a lot of Aluminum... it is part of the process

David 6-07-2008 @ 10:26PM

No scientific study has implicated aluminum as the cause of ANY disease (and it ISN'T a heavy metal"). The gullible and paranoid "detox" with high magnesium doses, yet take selenium and "colloidal minerals" laced with lead and strontium at toxic levels to get healthy. Want to buy a bridge?

Gregory Dittmer 6-07-2008 @ 9:51PM

If you are concerned about the aluminum foil contributes to your diet, you better take a good look at the antacids!
I have had problems with heartburn most of my life. Were it not for antacids I think my body would have digested itself from the inside out. Okay, so that is a bit of a stretch, but I practically grew up on antacids. Also, for most of my life I also seemed to get strange swelling of just about any part of my body that I started calling stress bumps since no doctor seemed to know what or why I had it.
About 15 years ago, it suddenly clicked... I asked myself what other conditions seemed to coincide with my stress besides heartburn and bumps? It was my extreme use of anacids... in particular, those that contained aluminum along with magnesium and calcium. As it turns out, I was poisoning myself with aluminum. I still have unbelievable heartburn and take an inordinate amount of anacids, but since I have stopped taking those with aluminum, I no longer get my stress bumps.

Leslie Johnson 6-07-2008 @ 10:58PM

Selenium and sulfur are antagonists to aluminum and other harmful metals. For heartburn consider Betaine HCL, cider vinegar and/or Manuka Honey. I've been there. I've had my esophagus dilated three times, and I'm convinced that long term use of proton pump inhibitors opened the door to Crohn's disease. I cured myself with diet and supplements in spite of protests from the doctors. No more reflux and no more Crohn's.

Bob-O 6-07-2008 @ 9:54PM

I agree. At best this "study" wasn't much of a "study". Too many empty spaces where answers should be.

Maggs 6-07-2008 @ 9:55PM

So, breathing can kill ya [toxic air], sleeping is unhealthy [if ya don't get enough], and wrapping your food in foil is hazardous to your health....Gonna wrap myself in saran wrap and be freeze dried!

Jae 6-07-2008 @ 10:23PM

I no longer use aluminum foil or any type of aluminum with foods, because I had a hair analysis done and I had a very high aluminum level. But also beware, and be sure to read your labels, because aluminum shows up in all types of foods, lotions, shampoos, make up, lipstick and places where you least expect it.

Mary 6-07-2008 @ 10:23PM

If you think that using foil is dangerous, do some research on the sprays you use on your pans that you are baking in to avoid sticking. You will think that the foil is harmless. These sprays cause cancer.

DWS 6-07-2008 @ 10:48PM

Ok
I had enough
tossed out the teflon pans
Next
the Foil, OUT it goes.
I got to explore the spray for cooking next.
Is there anything left to use?

Dina 6-07-2008 @ 10:55PM

it would have been nice if you told us what the danger of aluminum is...Up until this point I assumed it was perfectly safe to use especially since there is foil made just so you can put food into it and cook it........they really need to choose better people to write these blogs! It doesn't have to be new york times material but come on, how about a little more detail!

Ms. Monica 6-07-2008 @ 11:09PM

Well everyone wants to know scientifically how harmfully foil is. Well, we need a guinea pig. Oh, wait! We already have one. Our blogger claims that they eat from foil quite often. And it seems that he is alive and well enough to write this blog about foil, right.

Thats the problem with studies one minute foil is bad for us and the next minute there is something about it that is good for your heart. Like the study about how drinking wine can cause your heart not to age. But then next week its killing your liver and your an alcoholic.

On the down side aluminum has been known to be in high levels in dementia patients.