Buh-Bye BPA

So, I have been hearing stuff about how BPA is bad for you. I am part of a group that we’ll call ‘The Masses’. A bunch of spoiled people who believe that corporations won’t try to hurt their consumer with their products – and even if these corporations don’t care and do peddle poisonous products, our beloved government will step in with agencies and save the day and tell the big bad corporations that they cannot do that. HAHAHAHAHAHA- boy was I wrong!
Here’s an article to get you started.

According to this article (and the others I have read), BPA is…
"… a molecule that mimics estrogen and can leach from receptacles: injection of the agent into lab rodents has been shown to cause hormonal dysfunction and tumours, and scientists believe long-term exposure in humans could lead in some cases to infertility, early puberty, and even breast and prostate cancers."

I would like to remain cancer free, I would like to have a baby soon, and there have already been questions surrounding my hormones (I’m moody sometimes!;)), so BUH-BYE BPA.

I have looked at all my water bottles (how does one person collect so many?), and other containers and have ditched all the ones that have the 7 in the recycle sign…although I have 1 water bottle that has it, but it says “BPA FREE” right next to it. That can stay in my collection – for now… I am going to look at the containers my food comes in next as I do have canned foods that I am trying to use up (Dear Amy’s soups, please be BPA free – I just looked at a can of Lentil soup and it says nothing about BPA, so I am going to write to them and ask- I’ll let you know what they say!)

I also invested in a stainless steel bottle (big toss-up between aluminum and stainless, and it was a big choice. I chose stainless, some people prefer aluminum because it is recyclable.) Can I plop in here now that Aluminum is something I am supposed to stay away from, so I switched deodorants, and I can give you a 5 day review- so far so good with this natural deodorant! It even survives my evening workouts! The toothpaste gets a little foamy, but it tastes ok…it is specifically fluoride free – which made me wonder what was so bad about fluoride in the first place? A dentist friend of mine thinks we’re over-fluoridated and that too much fluoride is a bad thing for our teeth – but other than that, what’s so bad about it?
Um, a lot is bad with having too much fluoride! Dental fluorosis, skeletal fluorosis (which can mimic arthritis). Yet, they put fluoride in our water and in our toothpaste. Dental Associations actually suggest this. I am beginning to think that if so-called accredited associations suggest something, from now on, I will do the opposite…yikes!



As I am researching stuff, I am sadly finding out exactly how wrong I really was in thinking that some agency out there it silently protecting us, The Masses, from being poisoned to death!

In Defense Of Food talks a lot about how the food industry has changed in the last 50 years – and not for the better. And it’s true! My Great Aunt and Uncle had a dairy farm in Quebec. And I remember as a little kid, going there and seeing allllll the cows roaming around. Now I don’t remember details, but I remember thinking how cool it was to milk a cow by hand, even though there were machines that did the milking for the dairies. My Mom just recently told me that on her first trip up to that very same farm in the early 70’s, my uncle was very upset because he was being forced to switch over his farm to use machines to milk his cows instead of doing it ‘the old fashioned way’.
Ok, so I read Food Rules by Michael Pollan over my lunch break the other day (easy read! Less than 1 hour) and some highlights that I found important are:

Eat all the junk food you want, as long as you cook it yourself. Makes sense…I mean it takes a long time to make potato chips, and cakes, and cookies. And fried chicken, and french fries, and hamburgers…much easier to just eat a banana.

Better to pay the grocer than the doctor. This wasn’t a rule, but an age old saying (that I have never heard before) in regards to how little we pay for food. (The rule is Pay more, eat less). On Average, a Westerner spends 10% or less of our earnings on food. That’s pretty pathetic!

Is my hunger gone? (Not am I full?) – Again this wasn’t a rule (The rule is Stop eating before you’re full- which I absolutely need to do! Especially at night!) I need to change my mind set to reflect the example he gave in the book: In French, when you are hungry you say: J’ai faim. When you are done eating you say “Je n’ai plus faim” (I am no longer hungry) not “I am full”.

Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper. Love it, and am hoping to do this! It means flip the way you eat – eat a big breakfast, a large lunch and a modest dinner.

Oh yeah, and COOK. That’s a rule in there. A big rule I think a lot of us miss. Actually, I think that’s the most important rule in there!
And one of the rules he has is Break the rules once in a while.