Attention! Class is about to begin.
Let’s get started with today’s lesson in healthy living. Operation Take Back Your Health is now underway:
Step 1: Walk to your kitchen pantry and open the door.
Step 2: Remove all canned foods especially canned soup. Yes, even the organic ones.
Step 3: Throw them in the trash.
Yes, the trash. That’s where they belong. Don’t give them away as this is simply passing on the curse of ill health to another unsuspecting soul.
Step 4: Do your very best to never, EVER buy anything in a can again.
Well done. Class dismissed.
Canned Soup Risks Toxic Chemical Exposure
If you’ve been a reader of this blog for any length of time, you know that canned food is something that is very much a detriment to your health. The reason is not just because the food is nutritionless due to the high temperatures and pressures required during processing.
Possibly the most worrisome problem of all is that almost all brands of canned food, except for a very few organic ones, contain the endocrine disruptor bisphenol A. This chemical, better known as BPA, is part of the can lining. It is a byproduct of the chemicals used to prevent corrosion. Those that don’t contain BPA contain a very similar chemical known as BPS, which is just as dangerous!
Why are BPA and BPS such a HUGE, HUGE problem, particularly for our children?
Because they are linked to massive hormone disruption with the serious problem of early puberty, ADHD, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and the list goes on and on and on.
Think this problem is overblown? Consider this.
Currently, as many as 10 in 100 white girls, 15 in 100 Hispanic girls, and 25 in 100 African American girls are experiencing breast development as early as 7 years old! The earlier a girl goes into puberty, the higher her chances of breast cancer later in life.
Canned Foods Much Worse Than Previously Thought
Now comes the news that the BPA in canned foods raises urine levels of this dangerous chemical much more than previously believed.
In a study published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, participants who ate canned soup every day for only five days had urine levels of BPA that were 1,221% higher than those who instead ate soup made with fresh ingredients and homemade broth.
Karin Michels, an associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard University and leader of the study, said, “To see an increase of this magnitude was quite surprising.”
Michels added, “We are concerned about the influence of [hormone-disrupting] chemicals on health in general, and BPA is one of them.”
The study included 75 people whose average age was 27. Progresso was the only brand of soup that was tested. This is the first study to actually measure the BPA levels in urine using randomized participants eating food that was either canned or fresh.
BPA in Mom’s Urine Risks Health Problems for Unborn Children
Study researcher Jenny Carwile, a doctoral student at Harvard made the following observation.
We’ve known for a while that drinking beverages that have been stored in certain hard plastics can increase the amount of BPA in your body. This study suggests that canned foods may be an even greater concern, especially given their wide use.
A number of studies have linked BPA with a host of health problem. In 2008, a study of 1,455 participants showed that higher urine levels of BPA were linked with higher cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and abnormal liver enzymes even when factors such as smoking and age were taken into account.
Other studies have shown a correlation between BPA in a pregnant woman’s urine and resultant health problems in her child.
How much more evidence is needed? Wise shoppers who are truly concerned about the health and the potential for estrogen dominance from exposure to BPA will consistently bypass all canned foods on their trips to the supermarket or the health food store!
Have no idea how to make fresh soup? Relearn this traditional culinary wisdom by learning how to make homemade stock and bone broths as an important first step.
One thing that bothers me is the big deal made over bpa in baby bottles but not the containers formula is kept in. Both liquid and powder are lined with bpa. I know not all bottle feeders use formula, and bpa is most easily leaked when heated but still it does transfer without heat.
Not hating on bottle feeding or formula just wishing they looked at the whole health picture.
that’s alarming. we phased out all of the canned goods a few years back (except salmon). now I feel kind of gulity for passing it all on to others. we try to store everything in glass.
I was just taking a break from rewriting the traditional green bean casserole to one that used homemade soup and homemade fried onions when I read this. Thanks for the heads up.
Eating canned foods risks major health problems. http://t.co/fuIwiUh4
I rarely but canned soup, but I will not buy it ever now. I had heard this before, but forgot this info ~ thanks for the reminder!
Sarah, I was wondering is it ALL canned goods (as far as the BPA)? Or just the canned ones that have the white inside lining? For example, we buy wild caught salmon in cans and the inside is kind of goldish not white. Also, what about tuna that just has metal can, not white lining?
Can anyone confirm if Trader Joe’s canned goods with the exception of tomatoes are BPA free? That’s where I’ve been buying my canned tuna and salmon. I just wanted to double check.
I don’t use canned foods much, but I do love canned green beans quickly saute’d in bacon fat … and what about pumpkin puree so widely used on the holidays? No way I’m going to deal with a whole pumpkin – what a mess that is. What about canned tuna? What’s the substitute for that? Shoot!
Well, maybe the pressure will force the food companies to come up with a safer product.
You can use frozen green beans to cook in bacon — I do that a lot. It’s not too big a deal to use a whole pumpkin — just cut in half, remove seeds, and roast with cut side down for about 30 minutes. Scoop out puree and away you go, no mess.
This is quite scary!
There is hope with one brand, that I know of: http://tinyurl.com/edenbpa
So you would be against canned coconut milk?
Native Forest has a BPA free canned coconut milk. Homemade is better though.