Why Aluminium and Plastic are Harmful to Your Health

Aluminium, the most abundant metal found on Earth and plastic, the most abundantly used “man made” creation together are creating havoc for both the Earth and her most intelligent species – Man.

Aluminium

Aluminium is extracted from bauxite and by late 1800’s it became ubiquitous as the metal of choice for making cooking utensils. Aluminium is lightweight, is an excellent conductor of heat and its DIRT CHEAP. No wonder we started using it everywhere.

There is absolutely no problem in using it in aeroplanes and making buckets etc out of it. The problem with Aluminium in cooking is that it leads to several health issues. More recently, a study discovered more than normal levels of Aluminium in the brains of those suffering from Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Now we have articles that are backtracking and falling upon each other to discredit this research.

The Pharma industry has lost my respect because they seem to focus on keeping man “unhealthy”. Look at what happened with the Covid vaccine and companies like Pfizer. Why go that far… diabetes. Just ensure that the blood sugar numbers are fixed low enough for half the world to become diabetic overnight. Same goes for blood pressure and anti-hypertensive drugs have brought in billions ! The Pharma industry has been “generating” health epidemics JUST to make money.

The simple truth is – Aluminium reacts with food. Aluminium when ingested in more than required quantities will lead to kidney disease, asthma, mouth ulcers besides unconfirmed research says Alzheimer’s too.

There are many ways in which you ingest Aluminium EVERYDAY besides cooking in an Aluminium vessel – Food ordered from restaurants are mostly cooked in Aluminium pots and pans; the aluminium foil you use for wrapping your food and keeping it fresh; the cake and biscuits that you eat has aluminium because the baking powder has it; pickles and sauces are packed in silver foil containers… silver foil is aluminium in most cases :(.

Read – Storing food in aluminium foil is dangerous, here’s why

IF Aluminium is good for you, why are baking powder manufacturers selling “no aluminium” baking powder ???

All those teflon coated non-stick cookware made of Aluminium are even more dangerous ! See the picture below –

The last piece of Aluminium foil was used at our place on Feb 18, a day before going to the Mahakumbh. I have had this pack for almost four years …. so you can guess how sparingly it has been used.

Clingwrap – Plastic’s answer to Foil

Just as you begin convincing people to give up on Aluminium foil, everyone, including the Times of India article suggest we use Clingwrap. Say no to Aluminium and say yes to Plastic :(:(. I can never understand our deep love for all things plastic.

The first time I saw the cling wrap was at the airport. They use swathes of it to wrap suitcases, especially when you are taking a long distance flight. The same Cling Wrap or Plastic film also is used in homes to steam things as shown in Masterchef programs. Now fresh produce suppliers have started using this plastic wrap to cover veggies. Haven’t seen them on fruits yet …. I hope no one gets ideas from this post to wrap a live fruit in dead plastic film 🙄.

Here is a pic of sweet corn that I ordered on Milk Basket. It came wrapped in plastic film. Have seen Capsicums wrapped similarly. The first thing I do is remove this plastic wrapping, and its like the unending saree that Krishna blessed Draupadi with … for one sweet corn to be wrapped, there’s probably more plastic than a full sized plastic bag. And this is single use plastic 🤬. Government has appealed to all of us to reduce single use plastic and in some states has banned production of this. But is cling wrap a part of this ban ???

What Are The Alternatives ?

Cast Iron, Steel, Earthenware and Glass utensils. I have been using steel utensils for cooking and they are durable, they will outlive you and they can be used on an induction stove. I have my maternal grandmother’s cast iron Kadai (wok or cauldron) – it’s at least 100 years old, probably more than that. Made in Bengal and is non-stick, with no rust anywhere on its surface.

Just imagine the cost saving when you use a cast iron Kadai – just get a good quality one and it WILL outlive a couple of generations !

If you don’t like stainless steel because it remains forever, use glass or earthenware. They break and can be colourful. At least you can avoid toxins in home cooked food. Glass and Earthenware also work in a microwave. Ditch that plastic microwave pan.

Governments bringing regulation is just one solution, but its us, the consumers who decide what gets sold. Stick to traditional cookware, when in doubt, use good quality stainless steel. Never use thermocol or plastic plates and cutlery because they just sit in the landfill for 500 years. And please give up on the Aluminium cookware. You can certainly afford Stainless Steel if you can afford Aluminium.