Saturday, June 19, 2010

BPA Levels in Various Foods and Lifestyle Changes

Since some of you have asked about BPA I wanted to draw everyone’s attention to this article that outlines the levels in various canned foods. The highest levels in the Health Canada tests were found in canned tuna, followed by condensed soup with tomato products being on the low end. Prior tests had shown canned green beans to be exceptionally high.

The epoxy lining of cans that prevent botulism also contain BPA which is how it leeches into canned food. Additionally from what I have read BPA is more of any issue during childhood contact so pregnant women and mothers of young children should be more diligent. It is worth noting that according to Health Canada BPA poses no risk to human health.  Here is another link if you are interested in reading what the American Council of Science and Health has to say on the matter.

While I don’t obsess about this I have gotten rid of our plastic storage containers to be safe. One reason I don’t worry much about BPA is that we eat little canned food and don’t use plastic storage containers for food. When I use plastic cling film I place waxed paper or parchment between the food and the plastic. I don’t microwave food covered with plastic. Additionally I have read that placing hot food on or in plastic results in BPA transfer so avoid that as well. It is always something isn’t it?

Lifestyle Changes are Coming:

This has been a rough week at our house. Sorry I bailed on Fun Facts Friday yesterday. I wasn’t much in the mood for writing a post but I will get back to that next week. ;-)

Do you ever feel like the universe is trying to tell you that you aren’t in control? That describes my week in a nut shell. However I am just stubborn enough that I have no intention of giving in. Dan and I have decided to make a few changes to our life to enhance immune function. Since I thought some of you may be interested I wanted to outline what changes we are making.

We have decided to add short bursts of moderate exercise in the morning, afternoon and evening. The reason for this is that moderate exercise is said to boost the immune system after 10 minutes while intense exercise is said to depress the immune system. Now we will be doing a moderate mile or two each morning before Dan leaves for work. I will continue to exercise during the day as I have but Dan is going to add 15-20 minutes on the elliptical at lunch time. After work we are going to do another mile or two before dinner. The idea is that these short bursts of exercise spread throughout the day will  help to keep the immune system elevated all day.

Additionally we are going to be drinking more fresh vegetable and fruit juice to increase our nutrition. Currently our favorite juice contains: ½ pound baby spinach, 1 beet with greens, 1 apple, ½ lemon, 3 stalks celery, 5 carrots 3 kale leaves, 1 inch ginger and 2 frozen wheat grass shots. This makes 2 generous servings and we drink it every morning and evening. But now we will be drinking fresh through the day in place of water. I am also going to try to add more raw vegetables to our diet, while still keeping the cooked vegetables.  I believe in combining both raw and cooked food to maximize nutrition.

Finally we are going to make certain to get 8 hours of sleep every night since the body repairs itself while you sleep. We are also going to meditate every evening before bed. Thanks for the suggestion Laura Jill. :-)

Food Today:

The mid day meal today with the folks isn’t going to be anything exciting. I have decided to make a huge pot of chili with kidney and pinto beans and use that to make taco salad. When I make chili I intentionally make a large quantity so I can stash small servings in the freezer for later.  Planned leftovers come in very handy at our house.

For dinner Dan and I are going to have zucchini pasta with the garlic scape pesto, tomatoes and vegan mozzarella. I have not had a chance to photograph the scape pesto yet so I will try to get that post up tonight.

Gratuitous Feline Pics:

The boys were very cute this morning. I know I am biased but I think they are just adorable. As normal they were both napping. I had to stick the camera in their respective faces which woke them up. Here is Nicco (Binky) playing in a box. Why do cats and children all love boxes?


Big brother Massimo (Masi) was lounging in the window.


Miscellaneous:

Today is going to be a little busy. We are finally making time to buy a new refrigerator.  However I should have time to come back later this evening with a post about the pesto. Otherwise I will get that posted tomorrow morning after the farmers’ market.

I hope everyone is having a great Saturday. Talk to you again soon.

16 comments:

  1. The walks and meditation sound great. I''m sure I'd go nuts if I couldn't either. Enjoy!
    Did you say your cats are Turkish Angoras or Vans. So lovely. We have a Snowshoe and a new baby girl (shorthaired tabby from the rescue).
    Hoping you have a nice weekend.
    Meg

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  2. Meg,

    Meditation was a bit of the sell for the mister but he is willing to give it a go. ;-)

    The babies are Turkish Angoras. I will post a full body pic or two so you can see. They are quite fuzzy.

    I have not seen a Snowshoe before, I need to look that up now. Oh...I love having new little kitties around the house. Congratulations on your new addition. You should post pics of them sometime.

    I hope you are having a great weekend too, you deserve it!
    Ali

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  3. Hope you have a great day. I think exercise and adequate sleep are so important!

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  4. Heather,

    I have had some difficulty getting Dan to do both. But he seems to be willing now. ;-)

    talk to you later,
    Ali

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  5. Good for you and Dan, Alicia. Your plan sounds great, and I think that it is wonderful that you are going to make these changes together. It is always easier with support, right?!?

    I hope you are having a great Saturday :-)

    Courtney

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  6. Courtney,

    Thank you so much! I really appreciate your support and advice. Dan and I are a team. We always do things together. ;-)

    You will be happy to know we did pick up another frig. Just in time to hold even more veggies, as though that is really possible, LOL.

    I hope you are having a great Saturday too!
    Ali

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  7. binky, he is too much. another great post. since you told me ahout the bpa's awhile back i have cut down. i still use them as storage but dont use them in the microwave or put hot stuff in them.i hope the rest of your weekend is nice.

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  8. Michelle,

    Binky Boy is always up to something just like your Binky. ;-) He is his Daddy's little man.

    I think it makes a lot of sense to keep plastic out of the microwave and not put hot food in it. Better safe than sorry.

    talk to you later,
    Ali

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  9. xoxoxoxoxo Ali. My pleasure. Let me know how the meditation goes--it's nice to just start with maybe 5 minutes and then build up.

    xxoxoxo,
    LJ

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  10. LJ,

    Thanks again for the suggestion and the tip to start with 5 minutes. We will do that. We ordered the DVD you suggested. It should be here on Monday.

    hugs,
    Ali

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  11. Plastic, cans ... Is BPA in everything?

    I've started buying more frozen vegetables, because when I buy fresh vegetables they often go bad before I eat them. At least I shouldn't be getting BPA with the frozen veggies.

    Jim Purdy
    The 50 Best Health Blogs

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  12. Jim,

    It does feel like BPA is in everything. Frozen makes sense for many reasons.

    Ali

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  13. Ali, do you use a juicer to make the juice you described and if so, what do you do with the pulp? Or can your Vitamix handle all that? I bought a beet for the first time and haven't dared put it into my lower-power blender, so it's been sitting in the fridge. I do have a juicer that I've only used once or twice in the 12+ years that I've had it. I never liked the flavor of vegetable juices, but am now wanting to give them another try. I'd appreciate any help you can offer in getting started.

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  14. Laura,

    I use my juicer not my Vitamix to make juice. Sometimes I save the pulp for flax crackers, raw cookies or soup. But normally I just toss it. On a low fiber day we get 40 grams and normally it is 60+ so I don't worry about missing the fiber.

    I am not crazy about veggie only juice either. We have found that we like them much more if they have lemon, fresh ginger and apple also. Carrot also adds a lot of sweetness to the juice. I will try to post more juice recipes since I know you are interested. Sometimes I think we are the only ones juicing everyday. ;-)

    talk to you later,
    Ali

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  15. I forgot to mention, Bill Henderson has a free newsletter and 2 years of archives at http://beating-cancer-gently.com

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  16. Joyce,

    Thanks for the link I will check it out. :-)

    Ali

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