Issue 16
January 22, 2010

In This Issue:

• The Growing Concern Over BPA

• Fit Tips

The Growing Concern Over BPA

There's growing concern over the industrial chemical bisphenol A (BPA). BPA is used to make polycarbonate plastic (a durable and heat resistant type of plastic) and epoxy resins. Many food and beverage containers are made of polycarbonate plastic and many food and beverage cans are lined with epoxy resin. BPA can leach into food and beverages from these containers and cans.

BPA is an endocrine disrupter, which means it acts like a hormone, confusing the body's natural hormones. An increasing number of studies have linked exposure to BPA to a variety of health problems, such as heart disease, breast and prostate cancer, ADHD, autism, diabetes, obesity and decreased sperm count. Fetuses, infants and children are especially vulnerable to BPA because their reproductive organs are still developing.

Critics of these studies say that the levels of BPA that were used in the studies were too high to represent real-world situations. They point to other studies that show the potential leaching of BPA into food and beverages is extremely low and that human exposure to BPA from food and beverage containers is minimal and poses no known health risk.

On January 15, 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did an about-face on its stance with regard to BPA, saying that it has "some concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children," and that it would join other federal health agencies in studying the chemical in both animals and humans. This is in contrast to a report the agency released in 2008, when it deemed BPA safe.

On June 26, 2009, Canada announced that it is moving forward with proposed regulations to prohibit the advertisement, sale and importation of polycarbonate plastic baby bottles that contain BPA. Several U.S. states, counties and local jurisdictions have bans or restrictions on several uses of BPA in various products. Bills are pending in the U.S. Congress to do the same.

The bottom line is that some level of exposure to BPA is harmful to humans, but it's still unclear what that level is. BPA has a half-life in the human body of about six hours, but because we are continually exposed to it, nearly all of us have measurable blood levels of BPA. BPA is also just one of many endocrine disrupters that we are exposed to, and scientists are still trying to figure out how these endocrine disruptors collectively impact human health.

While it would be difficult to completely eliminate BPA from your life, here are six ways to reduce your exposure to it:

1. Limit your consumption of canned foods and beverages. The liners in most cans contain BPA. You should especially limit your consumption of canned foods and beverages that are acidic, such as tomatoes, tomato-based soups, citrus products and sodas, and canned alcoholic beverages, since acid and alcohol can exacerbate the leaching of BPA.

2. Avoid plastic containers with the number 7 recycling code. Polycarbonate plastic carries the number 7 recycling code.

3. Don't use polycarbonate plastic containers for hot foods and liquids. BPA leaches out of polycarbonate plastic containers much faster when heated than at room temperature. Use glass, porcelain or stainless steel containers for hot foods and liquids. If you're going to use a stainless steel container, make sure it's unlined. Some stainless steel containers have liners that contain BPA.

4. Don't microwave polycarbonate plastic food containers. See #3 with regard to BPA and heat.

5. Minimize hard plastic utensils in the kitchen. Hard plastic utensils, such as stirring spoons, pancake flippers, blenders, measuring cups and colanders, are often made from polycarbonate plastic and regularly come into contact with both food and heat. All of these utensils can be replaced with wooden, metal or glass alternatives.

6. Filter your drinking and cooking water. Both tap water and bottled water can sometimes contain BPA. A high qaulity water filter will ensure that your water contains no BPA (or any other chemicals).

Fit Tips

• Greek style yogurt contains up to twice as much protein as regular yogurt. This once hard to find style of yogurt goes through a straining process that removes liquid and concentrates nutrients, making it thicker and richer than typical yogurt with fewer calories.

• Some studies have shown that drinking milk after a weight lifting workout increases fat burning by up to 8%.

• According to a Harvard University study, 96,000 is the number of preventable deaths each year world-wide because of omega-3 deficiency. Good sources of omega-3 are fatty fish, fish oil, flaxseed and and flaxseed oil, walnuts and soybeans.