Thursday, May 19, 2011

Aluminum Cooking Pots & Toxicity

Aluminum cookware offers fast and even heating, making it the preferred choice among chefs for centuries. However, due to the risk of aluminum leaching from the pans, and concerns over aluminum toxicity, many chefs are turning to alternative types of pots and pans.


Toxins


Aluminum is cheap and easy to clean, but traces of aluminum release into any food cooked in an aluminum container. Acidic foods like tomatoes can break down aluminum even faster and expose toxic chemicals such as arsenic and lead, depending on the composition of the aluminum.


Health Concerns


Aluminum is an irritant to the human respiratory tract. It has also been implicated in neurological and skeletal disorders. The National Cancer Institute hasn't recommended getting rid of antiperspirants, but can't rule out a link between breast cancer and the aluminum found in antiperspirants. While the aluminum in cooking pots isn't to blame for most exposure to aluminum, some people have chosen to eliminate aluminum from their kitchens in order to reduce the amount to which they are exposed.


Alzheimer's and Aluminum


Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurological disorder that attacks the brain, destroying cells by leaving plaques and tangles. Impaired memory is one of the first signs of the disease. Concerns have risen that aluminum accumulation contributes to the formation of the plaques that characterize Alzheimer's, but there is no definitive proof available as of July 2009.


Other Sources


Aside from aluminum cookware, people are exposed to aluminum on a daily basis. It is a naturally occurring element discovered by Hans Oversted in 1825. Aside from environmental exposure, aluminum is found in food cans, foil, cosmetics, drying agents used to keep food from accumulating moisture, processed cheese and even hemodialysis treatment.


Alternatives








If you want to eliminate aluminum cookware, investigate copper or cast iron pots. Ceramic cookware is also a viable alternative as long as it has been finished with a lead-free glaze. Stainless steel has long been considered safe, but recent evidence suggests it isn't as inert as once believed. Copper has been considered dangerous for a while, but researchers at the University of Southampton in England found it was better at killing e. Coli than other types of cookware. Copper is also a naturally occurring element that the body need trace levels of.

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