A reader sent me a link recently to a study that found high levels of the toxin BPA on dollar bills and receipts.
The Washington Toxics Coalition found that the thermal printers commonly used in the retail industry for printing receipts use BPA in the ink.  Receipts shockingly contain BPA at levels 250-1000 times higher than that found in canned foods. (1)
Receipts placed in your wallet then easily transfer the toxin to paper bills as well as your own skin!
According to the study, 95% of money tested positive for BPA.
Even more alarming, BPA coming into contact with the skin penetrates to a depth that cannot be easily washed off!BPA, if you remember, is an acronym for bisphenol A, an organic compound widely used in the plastics industry. BPA has been found to be highly estrogenic, having the potential to disrupt normal hormonal function in both humans and animals. Â It has also been linked to obesity, cancer, infertility and other modern ailments. Â Canada recently became the first country to declare BPA an official toxin.
To avoid contamination, a staff scientist with Washington Toxics suggested refusing store receipts or storing them separately from the cash in your wallet. Â This suggestion seemed rather lame to me considering how alarmingly pervasive BPA has become in our environment.
Considering that we have to touch cash or receipts at least once in awhile and that the high levels of BPA we come in contact with from these sources doesn’t appear to readily wash off, we all need a better strategy for dealing with this toxin that is now everywhere.
I, for one, am not going to go through life wearing gloves.
I have a much better idea:Â Â Â Drink homemade kombucha!
Kombucha Prevents Toxins from Doing Damage
You see, this humble traditional, fermented drink originally from China and Russia contains glucuronic acid which is a powerful aid to the body’s natural cleansing processes.   The liver normally produces high amounts of glucuronic acid to detoxify the body.
This powerful acid which is not readily commercially synthesized binds up all manner of poisons and toxins like BPA and quickly moves them to the excretory system.  Once bound by glucuronic acid, toxins no longer can be absorbed by body systems so their toxic properties are in essence “deactivated”.
The powerful detoxification aspects of kombucha were discovered by Soviet researchers who were determined to find the reason why the districts of Solikamsk and Beresniki in the west central Ural mountains in the industrialized, post WWII era had hardly any cancer cases despite devastating environmental pollution.
Cancer cases in neighboring districts were extremely high in comparison. Pollution from potassium, lead, mercury, and asbestos mining was so bad that it was causing trees and fish to die. Production facilities were spewing as much pollution in the cancer free districts as in the high cancer districts.
What researchers discovered was that homes in the cancer free districts were never without fermenting crocks of kvass and kombucha! No other social or environmental differences were noted. The Russians from the cancer free districts even drank as much vodka as the other Russians but interestingly did not have the social drunkeness problems that typically go hand in hand with heavy drinking.
It seems to me that the best way to prevent pervasive environmental toxins like BPA from poisoning you day after day, year in and year out is to deploy a traditional weapon used for centuries – kombucha!
I liken drinking kombucha to having a second liver. With liver functions overloaded and stressed from our increasingly polluted environment, who can afford to overlook this easy, inexpensive way to keep these poisons from damaging our tissues and disrupting our hormones?
If you are interested in learning how to make kombucha yourself for just pennies a quart, I offer four free video lessons on traditional kombucha brewing in my archives. The first two are for beginning brewers and the second two are advanced topics for the pros.
What a delicious way to keep your body free of BPA!
Reference
Search for Health, Tom Valentine
Sara,
Thanks so much for the information on Kombucha. I had been aware of BPA in store receipts and have been declining them as much as possible. I like the Kombucha solution so much better! We’ve tried Kombucha from the health food store – very expensive. I hope to give your method a try. Thanks again.
Sarah,
I read this post this morning and have since been spending ALL DAY doing research about Kombucha. I watched your video on how to make it and everything. I really want to try it, I just have read some things about it that aren’t so good. What I’ve read is that there have been a few deaths linked to Kombucha due to acidosis. I’ve also read that there have been no scientific evidence for any of the claims about it. Here is a link to one of the articles about it: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/kombucha-tea/AN01658
Anyway, I have been reading such conflicting information about it and I just want to do what is best for my family. How do you trust something that has caused deaths? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not attacking or anything. I REALLY want to try it. I’m just curious what your take on it is. By the way, I LOVE your blog. It has been so helpful for me and my family!
Hi Rachel, just remember that Big Pharma doesn’t like kombucha as it keeps folks well and healthy. There is plenty of scientific evidence … it is just in Europe and not in the USA. The Soviets studied kombucha extensively and it was part of the Olympic training program for their athletes as kombucha clears lactic acid from sore muscles and helped them train harder.You are always going to find conflicting info in the internet. Just know that kombucha has been used for CENTURIES.
There have been a few deaths from people drinking too much WATER for heaven’s sake (called hyponatremia). History is the best teacher here. Modern science doesn’t have a clue about stuff like this nor does it want to as it won’t make Big Pharma any money so they diss it and spread misinformation about it.
Thanks Sarah, I’m still a bit leery of trying it, since I don’t know what kind of conditions the “mother” would be exposed to before it got to my house. Also, I would have to convince my husband of it because he’s not entirely on the natural foods bandwagon (I’m still trying to convince him to let me try the kefir thing). Anyway, I really appreciate all the videos and posts you have done, they make the Real Food thing a lot easier!
Why don’t you buy a bottle of kombucha from the store first then to try? Also, If you buy the culture from a reputable outfit such as what is listed in my Resources section (see tab at top of blog), then you have no worries about quality.
How much would you have to drink daily to get the benefits?
Hi Chris, no idea. I personally drink as much or as little as I wish. Some days its a whole quart (in the summer when it’s really hot as kombucha is super hydrating) and other days a small glass only.
Does Kombucha have caffeine in it? I’m suffering from postpartum anxiety and caffeine would throw me off the deep end 😉
Thanks for your wonderful blog. I LOVE reading it!
Hi Milena, the caffeine is used up in the fermenting process as part of the synthesis of cleansing acids (I read this in Betsy Pryor’s book on Kombucha years ago). I am super sensitive to caffeine as well and have no trouble with it.
I’ve never had kombucha before and prior to reading this article had no desire to try it. I’m big into fermenting things though, so I guess I’ll start reading up on it and give making it a try.
Hi Nancy,
We have been making our own Kombucha for over a year. It tastes and feels much better than anything we bought from a store. If you must buy from a store, GT Daves organic raw kombucha is the same as it always was, and tastes the same. Only the unflavored version is the same though, and the others have been changed.
Hi Nancy, I do think the homemade is better than the store version now that it has been reformulated. I do not like the new formula and do not experience the same digestive boost that the old one provided and that homemade provides as well. It’s a shame as the old product was so excellent. Leave it to the FDA to wreck things as usual. At least our kitchens aren’t regulated yet!!!!!!
Sarah, where do you suggest getting a scoby/mother? Also, is it a form of fungi? I have a severe mold allergy and can’t find info about whether or not it is ok for someone like me to drink Kombucha. Also, wanted to tell you that I really appreciate your previous post about sodium benzoate and how it’s interaction with citric acid creates benzene; truly unbelievable and unconscionable!
Hi Joyce, if you click on the “Resources” tab at the top of my blog, you will find a company called “Cultures for Health” where you can mail order a scoby for a very reasonable price.
Yes, kombucha is a symbiotic relationship between yeast and bacteria BUT the yeast are beneficial yeasts not pathogenic yeasts like mold. Folks with mold allergy are, in my experience, fine drinking kombucha. There are always exceptions, but the majority are fine with it.
I think part of the confusion may be how the scoby is sometimes referred to as a ‘mushroom’.
As if debt-created currency wasn’t already toxic enough! Informative post — thanks.
Hi cj, the sugar is used up during the fermentation process. If you leave it to ferment 10-12 days, there is negligible sugar left.