Detox Your Kitchen

Transcript:

MELANIE: Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition, brought to you by Nutritional Weight and Wellness. When I say the word detox, what comes to mind? Perhaps doing a juice cleanse, the master cleanse, a water fast, some sort of a detox powder that's designed to, you know, flush out toxins from your body. Is that what comes to mind? But there's actually a consistently better way, or an easier, smarter way to effectively think about how to detox. And that starts in your kitchen.

Today, we're peeking inside your kitchen to help you take the first step in detoxification. I'm Melanie Beasley, and I've been a Registered and Licensed Dietitian for over 30 years, and have worked with a variety of clients. And joining me today is Britni Vincent, who's also a Registered and Licensed Dietitian. You have worked with a ton of different types of clients. And we both see clients and teach a variety of classes at Nutritional Weight and Wellness. Well, this topic of detoxing your kitchen is a topic we also teach in our new series called Ongoing Support and Education. And we believe detoxing starts in your kitchen.

BRITNI: Yeah, what a great place. So maybe as you're listening today, bring us into your kitchen. So you can peek as we're talking.

MELANIE: I love it.

BRITNI: But before we get into the topic today, let's tell listeners about these new classes that you mentioned. We have 24 new classes with a variety of topics. Detox Your Kitchen has become a very popular class. We also have a class called Breaking Up with Sugar and a class on how stress slows metabolism. These are all ongoing support classes you have asked for to help you actually change some of your eating behaviors rather than just knowing you should. That action part is the most difficult.

Sign Up for Ongoing Support and Education

MELANIE: Absolutely. And I, you know, Britni, I love the cooking classes.

BRITNI: Yes. Those are great.

MELANIE: Because you get so much information. It's a screaming deal. You get to, the recipes and you get the video so that you can make it and pause and make it and pause. They're great.

BRITNI: They're wonderful.

Oils to avoid and oils to use

MELANIE: We definitely believe that helping the body to detox starts in the kitchen. So, let's stroll into your kitchen like Britni said. Look to the right. Look to the left. Do you still have a big bottle of vegetable oil ready for sauteing your vegetables? Maybe it's something you have always used and you don't even think about it. You grab that bottle. I would say the first step to detox your kitchen is getting rid of refined vegetable oils. And here's a tip, listeners. If you look at that bottle of vegetable oil and it's clear, you can see right through the bottle, that's probably not a good oil. If it's in a very dark container like a green, then that's probably a better oil to begin with, right? Because they're trying to, to protect it.

So those oils that are made from seeds, such as sunflower oil, canola oil, corn oil, and soybean oil, toss them into the trash can and replace those oils with better organic, cold pressed, if possible. Things like olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, and ghee. These are going to help your body detox. Are you willing to get rid of these refined and damaged fats? This is an easy switch, right?

BRITNI: Mm-Hmm.

Label-reading tips

MELANIE: So let's, let's do a little look a little deeper. Let's do some label reading. What about that box of crackers? Do you have a box of crackers, listeners, that you can pull out of your cupboard? Flip it over. The front is designed to sell you. The back is designed to inform you. Flip it over. Look at those ingredients. What kind of oil is being used? Sunflower, safflower, cottonseed, canola? How about a jar of peanut butter? Is there soybean oil in it? It should just say peanuts and salt. Many jarred peanut butters contain a refined damaged fat. I buy a safe peanut butter at my local co-op. It's freshly ground, just from organic peanuts, has little salt in it. Delicious, easy. Love it.

BRITNI: And you, I mean, you, you can find that at any grocery store anywhere.

MELANIE: Yep.

BRITNI: You just have to look at the label. And another kind of tip with the oils, because a lot of people get confused what's refined, what's a real oil, is if you think of soybean oil or corn oil, and you squeeze a kernel of corn or soybean, oil is not naturally coming out of that. Right?

MELANIE: That's a really good point.

BRITNI: So it has to be highly processed, heated really hot, lots of chemicals. And then we're just left with this very inflammatory non-nutritive oil.

MELANIE: I think there's even a step in there that's defoaming and deodorizing, which means it gets foamy and stinky, so we don't want to be eating that.

BRITNI: No, I don't think we do. So when you're questioning the oils, just think about that. Is it naturally oily to begin with? And you know, another thing to inspect in your kitchen is salad dressings. Do you still have salad dressings with bad oils and sugar, such as maltodextrin? You know, usually maltodextrin is just made of corn. It's a sugar from corn. And chances are, if you have never looked at the ingredients on your salad dressing, I can basically guarantee it contains one of those refined oils.

MELANIE: And here you make this beautiful, delicious, healthy salad. And then you dress it with something that your body has to cope with. And is inflammatory and your body literally has to detox.

BRITNI: Yeah.

MELANIE: I think I read a study that said it takes nine months from you the time you eat one of these oils for your body to get rid of it.

BRITNI: Wow.

MELANIE: Nine months.

BRITNI: That's a long time.

MELANIE: To get rid of it.

BRITNI: Yes.

MELANIE: Gums up our system.

BRITNI: Yeah. Yikes. What about canned soups, chips? Again, those crackers, all of those snacky little things, again, peek at the ingredient list. Most of those contain one or multiple of those refined oils. So perhaps your kitchen detox starts with eliminating these processed foods.

MELANIE: Well, just even eliminating those processed foods is going to be a win right there.

BRITNI: Absolutely.

MELANIE: Because if you're, you've got to replace with something so you'll be replacing with real foods.

BRITNI: Yep.

MELANIE: Well, let's take a look at treats or snacks that you might have stored away in your pantry. So, yep. Go in there. Turn on the light. Let's take a peek. Maybe they are snacks and treats for your kids after school. Well, what oils do the chips contain? What oils do the cookies contain? What oils actually do candy…? Candy even has inflammatory oils. Well, vegetable oils are damaging to our cells and need to be removed from our kitchen so that our children are not eating them as well.

BRITNI: Yeah.

MELANIE: Those refined damaged fats slow your metabolism, clog arteries, and can lead to heart disease.

BRITNI: And that's just one of the many things that, of how they negatively impact our body.

MELANIE: Yes.

Flavored beverages: ingredients to avoid

BRITNI: So let's take an even deeper look as to what is in your kitchen. Perhaps you have juice drinks, or just flavored beverages. There's so many of them out there nowadays. So again, look at those ingredient lists. Do they have high fructose corn syrup, or do you have low fat, low calorie items with those artificial sweeteners in there?

MELANIE: Yeah. So some of those would be like acesulfame potassium.

BRITNI: Yep.

MELANIE: Sucralose.

BRITNI: Yep.

MELANIE: NutraSweet.

BRITNI: Aspartame.

MELANIE: Aspartame. High fructose corn syrup you mentioned if it's not diet, but those are some things to look for and sometimes it's at the very end. So you have to really diligently read through.

BRITNI: And a lot of those food items contain many ingredients. So again, reading each single one. Do you know what they are?

MELANIE: Good. Yeah.

BRITNI: If you don't, probably don't want to put it in your body. You know, it is, it's best to have a plan and how you can detox or eliminate these products and these foods. So you can detox your kitchen and detox your body. You will want to replace all these ultra processed foods with real meat, real fish, vegetables, fruits, these natural healthy fats like butter and coconut oil. And I encourage you as a mindset, focus on all of these delicious foods that you are adding into your kitchen versus the foods that you are eliminating.

MELANIE: You know, I love the concept of as soon as you pick something out, what it, what's the next thing you're going to buy? I had a client and we actually took a Sharpie and on her vegetable oil, she wasn't really willing to get rid of it, but I said, let's just write when it runs out what you're going to replace it with. So on the jar, she wrote avocado oil on the bottle.

And then we did that with a few things. Like if she's got snacks for her kids, I mean, I love a grocery store tour, you know, and that's pretty much what we did in her home. So we can talk some more about that when we come back.

BRITNI: Wonderful.

MELANIE: You are listening to Dishing Up Nutrition, brought to you by Nutritional Weight and Wellness. Today, Britni and I will discuss ways to detox your kitchen and why it's important. According to the EPA, PFA’s or forever chemicals have been used in a number of industries and products. These PFA’s or forever chemicals are commonly found in fast food wrappers, microwave popcorn bags, non-stick cookware, and pizza boxes. PFA’s or these forever chemicals can cause harm to your liver, heart, reproductive, and kidney systems, your renal system. Stay tuned as we address how you can eliminate products containing these forever chemicals.

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BRITNI: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition, brought to you by Nutritional Weight and Wellness. February is Heart Health Month, and we celebrate it by offering 15% off two important heart supplements: omega-3 fatty acids, and CoQ10. The American Heart Association recommends taking between 500 and 1,000 milligrams of omega-3 three times a day. CoQ10 has been linked to slower aging, better exercise performance, better heart health, and less diabetes. CoQ10 has been found to counteract the adverse effects of statin medications. So if you are on a statin medication, I highly, highly encourage you to be supplementing with CoQ10. So you can save 15% on both of these products at Nutritional Weight and Wellness.

Sugar negatively affects bone health

So before the break, we were touring your kitchen, looking at all of the refined oils and the hidden places that they are. You know, what about bone health?

MELANIE: Yeah, that's a really good point because a lot of times I don't think we make the connection to our bone health and what we have in our kitchen.

BRITNI: Yeah.

MELANIE: But the nibbles and bits that we consume, maybe a handful of this snacky food, a little bit of that can definitely have a detriment on your bones. And as we age, we have to be very protective of our bones. So if you already have osteopenia, osteoporosis, stay tuned because this is, this is important for you. And if you're concerned, then you want to detox sugar from your kitchen and from your diet. It's true. Sugar is a calcium robber. Sugar robs your bones of calcium. And here we may be taking supplements, paying for supplements, and we're just getting rid of the, the calcium in our bones by eating sugar.

BRITNI: Yeah. It's a great point. You know, there's actually multiple ways that sugar negatively affects our bones. So it has been found to increase urinary excretion of both calcium and magnesium. It reduces the intestinal absorption of calcium by lowering levels of active vitamin D. Sugar reduces osteoblast activity.

MELANIE: And that osteoblast, if you remember from earlier radio shows when we talk about osteoporosis, osteoblasts are the little brick layers that lay down new bone, which is what we want to build strong bones. 

BRITNI: And then, you know, sugar actually increases the osteoclast activity.

MELANIE: And the osteoclast is what is chewing up and get, getting rid of bone. So if we get an imbalance there, you can imagine if we're chewing up a lot of bone, but we're not laying down a lot of bone, we're going to have thin bones.

BRITNI: Yeah. Not, not a good situation at all.

MELANIE: All from sugar.

BRITNI: For calcium to be transported into the bone’s marrow, it needs to be balanced with phosphorus, and sugar actually depletes our body of phosphorus. So eating sugar affects that calcium/phosphorus ratio. And that's just a laundry list of how sugar negatively impacts our bones. And that's just one area of the body.

MELANIE: Yeah.

BRITNI: So, as you can imagine, there's just many, many, many ways that sugar negatively impacts our body.

MELANIE: And I think too, that we can, if, if you talk to a client once you get them to give up sugar for a while, they're like, I had no idea I had so much pain.

BRITNI: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, everything's relative and most people don't feel very good on a daily basis, and they don't realize how much better they can feel until they start to reduce or eliminate the sugar. You know, just introducing more real food into their diet.

MELANIE: And I think I just had a client and she was doing great. She felt great. Her weight was coming down. She was able to exercise because she was feeling really good. Well, she went away to on a retreat. And on the retreat she didn't have a lot of control over the food, so she thought she did pretty good. But there were, there was some treats in there and she, she knows herself. And once she started eating sugar, it's very addicting.

BRITNI: Yes.

MELANIE: So she was kind of eating it just for three or four days. And so I saw her today and she said, Melanie, I cannot believe the amount of fatigue and pain I am feeling.

BRITNI: Wow.

MELANIE: So we got her back on track; no harm, no foul. Right?

BRITNI: Yeah.

MELANIE: We just swing back on track. But it was information for her to say, wow, I didn't realize what I was feeling.

BRITNI: Yeah. And I'm sure very motivating for her to just get rid of that sugar again.

MELANIE: Yes. We just want to feel good.

BRITNI: Yeah. Yeah. And I think this is such a surprising statistic that the average American eats 150 to 170 pounds; yes, I said 150 pounds of sugar each year.

MELANIE: That's the size of a person. That's, that's a person.

BRITNI: That's just wild to think about.

MELANIE: Yeah.

BRITNI: But think about the sugar in pop, juice, coffee, drinks. I mean, even those healthy beverages or the perceived healthy beverages, most of them have sugar in them.

MELANIE: Oh, and let's talk about sugary coffee drink.

BRITNI: Yep.

MELANIE: You meet a friend, you get the sugary coffee drink, you, it's just, I'm just getting a coffee, but what it's doing overall to your body, your bones.

BRITNI: Yep.

MELANIE: Right.

BRITNI: Yeah. As a result, we have a nation of women with thinning bones and osteoporosis. So for your bone health, detox sugar, or maybe for you, for your pain or for your energy, whatever it is, that motivation for you, just really think about that and think about how much better you can feel to motivate you to just detox from sugar.

MELANIE: Because it's that regular consumption. You know, you're going to have a birthday. You're going to have a holiday. But if it's that regular consumption, then you're setting up inflammation and something the body has to detox. It's a burden on the body. So if you detox refined oils and sugar and artificial sweeteners, you're going to start to feel better. It's just science.

BRITNI: Yep.

MELANIE: And it is the convenience foods and the factory foods that you need to detox. And perhaps you'll need to put a big garbage can in the middle of your kitchen, start throwing and just trust that you will replace it and live a little longer.

BRITNI: Mm-Hmm. Definitely.

MELANIE: And feel better.

The importance of clean, filtered water

BRITNI: Yeah. What about the water that, you know, we talk about drinking so much water, but what's in the water that we're drinking?

MELANIE: So we have to, we have to take a, a peek at that, Britni. So we want the body needs water to detox. But what kind of water are we thinking?

BRITNI: So let's talk about pure clean, filtered water. Clean water is important for your liver function and for your long-term health. So most municipal water, the water that's coming out of your kitchen or your bathroom faucets, or what we call tap water, contains chlorine, which is a disinfectant used to kill off bacteria. Chlorine kills off the bad bacteria, but it also kills off the good bacteria or the flora, and can increase the risk of cancer. So basically that can kill off all that good bacteria that you've got in your gut. And drinking tap water, getting that chlorine can contribute to digestive problems.

MELANIE: So here you are struggling to feel better. And you're killing off the very thing that can help you, which is your gut microbiome.

BRITNI: Yeah. And not only does tap water contain chlorine, it also contains many different contaminants including lead, copper, aluminum, possibly parasites, flame retardants. So the big question is how do you get rid of chlorine and all of these contaminants?

MELANIE: You know, I think I read a study, and this was probably two years ago that said municipal water in some regions: you're consuming one metformin and one birth control pill per week if it's not filtered. That was, that was one study. But I thought, wow, I don't, I'm not sure the region of that, but I thought it doesn't filter out a lot of medicines that people dump in there.

BRITNI: It doesn't.

MELANIE: So really the best way to think about it is when you're ready, when it works for you, you can install a water filter. You can also get a really good water pitcher. There are some great ones out there. Some people start with just the countertop water filter. And then oftentimes purchase a whole house filtration; depends on your budget of course. We encourage clients to drink at least eight to 10 classes of water daily. And the water should be free of chlorine and fluoride. Drink filtered water. More than 150 studies link fluoride to bone and brain diseases and a few others.

We'll talk about those when we're back from break. You are listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. On Wednesday, February 22^nd, we are offering a special cooking class called Cooking for One. Join us for this Zoom demonstration class to get inspired and learn how you can stay on your real food plan and feed yourself healthy nourishing meals. Sign up online or call 651-699-3438.

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BRITNI: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. Ask yourself, am I feeling as good as I could? Am I practicing real food nutrition or have the winter blues set in? If that sounds like you, a real food eating plan may just be your answer. Call us and set up several nutrition counseling appointments and get back on track. Our number is 651-699-3438, or you can book online at weightandwellness.com.

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MELANIE: Well, when we went to break, we were talking about filtered water and how important it really is as a key piece of detoxing in your kitchen. I have a reverse osmosis in my kitchen.

BRITNI: So do I.

MELANIE: The whole house didn't really work in our budget, but that's what I use. Well drinking that filtered water is key because there's more than 150 studies that link fluoride to bone and brain diseases, diabetes, cancer and digestive problems. To be safe drink only filtered water. Tap water can also contain other contaminants such as chemicals, bacteria, mold, pharmaceuticals that we mentioned such as antidepressants, anti-seizure meds, and blood pressure medications, and even birth control pills. So we need to drink filtered water and even our dogs and cats do better on that filtered water.

BRITNI: Absolutely. Yeah. You know the, the fluoride piece you mentioned, I just saw a friend this weekend and she developed this rash around her mouth, and I believe it was a form of dermatitis and she could not get rid of it. She had all sorts of creams and everything. And then somewhere she read it was linked to excess fluoride consumption. So, and she was at the time using a sensitive toothpaste, which are generally higher in fluoride. So she changed her toothpaste. And guess what? That rash got better.

MELANIE: The went away was she, did she have filtered water?

BRITNI: No.

MELANIE: Do you know?

BRITNI: Nope. So it's all, it was a double whammy.

BRITNI: Yep, exactly. Double whammy.

MELANIE: Oh that's so interesting.

BRITNI: Yeah. Yeah. Very motivating for her. Because who wants a rash around your mouth?

MELANIE: No one.

Get rid of plastics and what to use instead

BRITNI: Let's talk about another difficult habit to change. Getting rid of plastics. That includes plastic food containers, plastic bags, plastic wraps, anything in plastic that contains bisphenol A or BPA, which can disrupt your hormonal system. But I do want to mention, it's not only BPA in the plastics that are the problem. You know, there's lots of different chemicals in there. So the big question is how do you ditch the plastic in your kitchen? I mean, I think it takes time. You can definitely do it gradually, but ideally you're making that switch from plastic to glass.

And scientists now suggests that all plastics have the potential to leach chemicals into our food to some degree; even plastic wrap and plastic bags from your produce section of your grocery store. A 2011 study found that all plastic wraps can release estrogen mimicking chemicals, including those labeled BPA free. And you know, I was doing some reading and research from the EPA found that the BPA replacements may actually be more harmful than BPA.

MELANIE: Oh, good grief. Are you kidding?

BRITNI: Right. I know. So point is, you are not safe by just purchasing a BPA free plastic.

MELANIE: Do you know anything about the silicone?

BRITNI: I think that would be a great alternative. There's several different brands out there. You know, it's everything from also ditching the bottled water.

MELANIE: Yes. And then people put them in their car, so they always keep bottled water in the car. The car gets hot, leeches more plastic into the water bottles. I know one of the brands, there's a lot out there, but I think I have a friend and she was telling me the Stasher brand plastic bags was one that you can even go in the oven.

BRITNI: Oh, nice.

MELANIE: You can use them in the oven. You can use them in the freezer, you can use them. So those are great.  

BRITNI: That's great.

MELANIE: I think they're a little spendy, but you know.

BRITNI: And you know, for me, I learned about this a long, long time ago, so I just, you know, slowly started to replace things. The glass food storage containers: now we have two sets, so we have tons of, of them available at all times. I also save like, old jars from mayonnaise or olives or whatever that is. Those work great for smoothies. You know, for my kids, like I can't send glass containers to school with them in case they break. So I have some stainless steel containers.

MELANIE: Wonderful.

BRITNI: Yep. That could be another alternative. And we're talking about water bottles, reusable water bottles. You could do glass or stainless steel. I mean there's lots of, lots of different options out there. How did you make the switch?

MELANIE: One of the things that I do is I use parchment paper. So occasionally if I do want something that's in a Ziploc bag, I put it on parchment paper, fold it over and slide it in a Ziploc to freeze and then pull it out to reheat.

BRITNI: Oh, great.

MELANIE: So, because sometimes all of the glass and everything was just taking up so much room in our freezer that, that was the option then. And now I'm switching over slowly to the silicone bags that I mentioned because I, I love those so much that they're reusable both for our environment as well as our health.

BRITNI: Perfect. And you know what I love about the glass containers, I mean, other than they're way healthier for us. They're so much easier to clean. I mean, the plastic containers might get stained from food or they, they lock odors into them.

MELANIE: Yes, yes.

BRITNI: And it’s really kind of gross.

MELANIE: Kind of disgusting. It's unsavory when you're still seeing your spaghetti sauce that's on this side of it. And here you're trying to put something like a, a yogurt.

BRITNI: You know, I, I do want to mention, if you are going to be slowly getting rid of these plastic containers and you're still using them, never ever microwave them.

MELANIE: Oh, that's a really good point.

BRITNI: Because then you're really, really leaching chemicals into, into your food.

MELANIE: Once you heat up plastic, it's detrimental.

Is it okay to drink coffee?

BRITNI: Yeah. So let's talk about something that we can incorporate into, into our life. You know, it might surprise you that organic coffee does not cause health problems for most people. I am so thrilled by this.

MELANIE: I am too. I love my organic decaf.

BRITNI: Coffee is actually full of antioxidants that can reduce your risk of colorectal cancer, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's. So drinking one to two cups of coffee is okay. But it really should be organic because coffee is actually one of the most heavily sprayed crops with pesticides and herbicides.

MELANIE: So think about that when you're going to a coffee house. You want to find a coffee house that has organic practices.

BRITNI: Yep. And yeah, I think nowadays it is pretty easy to find organic coffee to purchase.

MELANIE: It is.

BRITNI: So you shouldn't have a problem with that. And if you want to get a little fancy, add some organic cream to it.

MELANIE: Mm-Hmm; yum.

BRITNI: Because those fancy coffee drinks at the coffee house usually contain high fructose corn syrup, which you really want to avoid. You know, one thing I've had clients do that are used to sugary coffee drinks or even using the non-dairy sugary creamers at home is switching to heavy cream and then stevia drops.

MELANIE: Yes. I love that. And switching out which stevia drops you carry in your purse at any given time. Because you can get every flavor of stevia drops now: hazelnut, caramel. I mean, there's a lot. And then you feel a little righteous when you walk out of a coffee house and you just had them, you know, put some cream in and then you, you use that.

But you know, even if it's real sugar, circling back to what we were saying earlier about detoxing your body, you might find that there are, there are pumps of those flavored coffee sweeteners that are real sugar, but remember what that sugar does to the body. So save your sugar, again, for when it's an event. You really want something. It's a sometimes thing.

BRITNI: Yep.

MELANIE: Your body is not so heavily burdened that it can't detox the chronic onslaught of sugar and chemicals.

BRITNI: Such a great point.

MELANIE: But yeah, it's wonderful to pull those little drops out, put it in there, make it as sweet as you want. You are listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. If you're frustrated with your weight and you feel that your metabolism has slowed down and you just look at food and you gain another pound, maybe it is time to join our Nutrition for Weight Loss community. Get the support in education you need to get your metabolism working again. Once you're a Nutrition for Weight Loss member, you’re family going forward for always. Our Nutrition for Weight Loss 12-week foundation classes start the week of March 13th. So reserve your space. Sign up today at weightandwellness.com. A lot of what we're talking about will be covered. We'll be right back.

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BRITNI: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. If you enjoy listening to our Dishing Up Nutrition show or podcast, let us know. If you have a special topic you would like discussed, please let us know that too. Give us a review or send us an email at email@weightandwellness.com.

MELANIE: Well, when we when to break, we were talking about beverages and the burden that can be on the body. So I like to say swap this for that instead of just eliminating what are we going to put in. And a really good beverage to add in is homemade bone broth. Especially if it's chilly, you warm it up, shake a little chicken seasoning in there, and sip on it. It's especially good on those cold winter days. We have those in Minnesota quite often.

BRITNI: Yes, we do.

MELANIE: We have a great recipe and directions on our website, weightandwellness.com. It's delicious. It's wonderful. If you're like, oh, Melanie, I can't make one more thing, there are some great organic bone broth that you can get in this store to try and sample. But bone broth is so simple. Save the bones of your organic chickens, throw them in the freezer, save the ends and the pieces of your vegetable that you're peeling. Throw it in the freezer and then you can, it's so easy to make. And you're using things you've already purchased.

BRITNI: Yeah. Yeah. So it's significantly cheaper than, than buying the, the pre-made bone broth. That's for sure.

MELANIE: Yeah, for sure.

Choose toxin-free cookware

BRITNI: You know, another really important step to detox your kitchen is to get rid of all Teflon cookware. Yes, non-stick pans are super easy to clean, but these pans have been coated with a chemical called polytetrafluoroethylene. That's a mouthful.

MELANIE: I am so impressed that you could pronounce that.

BRITNI: Or also known as PTFE, which we just called Teflon.

MELANIE: Yeah. That's what I'll stick with.

BRITNI: Yeah. Yeah. That's much easier. So when these pans are heated at a high temperature, the coating will actually break down and release the toxic particles and gases. So when you get exposed to these toxic gases, you might get a headache or feel like you have the flu or you know, you might not necessarily feel anything, but those chemicals are still going into your body and they're very harmful for your health. And even your cells, all of the cells in your body are going to be affected.

MELANIE: So here you go. You pick some great ingredients to cook with and then you cook with these Teflon pans. And it's, again, it's frustrating. It's like the salad dressings, you know, you don't want to undo all the hard work and expense that you put forth. Well, two types of pans that are safe to use are stainless steel and my favorite, cast iron skillets. I remember my grandmother had an old iron skillet that she used for cooking with safe with no Teflon or chemical coatings. And studies have linked that Teflon to cancer, high cholesterol, thyroid disease, even infertility.

So what is safe to cook in? Again, stainless steel or cast iron. And have you gotten rid of those Teflon pans? A good seasoned cast iron is great. I actually wash it out, put it back on the burner to dry it and dry it that way. And it stays seasoned. It's my favorite. And I'm getting some weightbearing exercise. Cause they’re kind of heavy.

BRITNI: Yeah. You know, the, the chemicals and those non-stick pans; and we talked about BPA earlier in our plastics, those are two of the many different endocrine disruptors out there. So endocrine disruptors are natural or manmade chemicals that mimic or interfere with our hormone system. So endocrine is just our hormonal system. And these chemicals are linked with developmental, reproductive, brain and immune problems. I mean, again, the list kind of goes on and on.

MELANIE: The autoimmune diseases are so on the rise.

BRITNI: Yes.

MELANIE: So think about that.

BRITNI: Yeah. And all of these endocrine disruptors, they're found in our everyday products: plastic bottles, plastic containers, liners of metal food cans, pans, detergents, flame retardants, which by the way are found in most mattresses. These endocrine disruptors can be found in our food, toys, cosmetics, and pesticides. So they're everywhere. And again, you can just start slowly by getting rid of these chemicals from your kitchen.

MELANIE: Right.

BRITNI: And, and your whole house really.

MELANIE: And maybe what you do is you listen to this and you decide I'm going to attack the pantry.

BRITNI: Yep.

MELANIE: And then go back on our website, listen again and say, now I'm going to attack the plastics. Right. Don't be overwhelmed by trying to do too much at one time. You know, we don't want to come from a place of fear. We want to come from a place of empowerment. And that's what we're trying to do here.

Get rid of aluminum products

BRITNI: Absolutely. Just start slowly and like you said, it'll be much less overwhelming. You know, another important way you can detox your kitchen is to aluminum proof your kitchen. It's important to get rid of all aluminum products because aluminum can accumulate in your kidneys, brain, GI tract and cause many different health problems. So we suggest to stop using aluminum foil and start using parchment paper instead. You can replace aluminum pots and pans with stainless steel or cast iron. And aluminum can actually destroy pepsin, which is a key digestive enzyme in your stomach. So perhaps, you know, that could contribute to why 2 million Americans are diagnosed with digestive problems.

MELANIE: It's probably not something you think about is could some of the aggravation be pots and pans?

BRITNI: Mm-Hmm.

MELANIE: But changing your eating habits, your food choices, and your cooking methods may be one of the biggest challenges in your life. So if you're overwhelmed with the amount of information we've given you, again, break it down into bite size, manageable pieces. Small changes still make a difference.

BRITNI: Absolutely.

MELANIE: And this is true for 90% of the population. In reality, we all do better when we, we meet weekly with like-minded people who are all on this life-changing journey together. So I really want to invite you, join us in one of our series, Nutrition for Weight Loss classes, our group support sessions. And, and you're going to get that support that you need from other people that are trying to change that. Call us at (651) 699-3438. We have time to answer your questions and to be a support for you.

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Food prep and storage ideas

So breakfast time: one of my favorite things is just a smoothie. I put the smoothie in there. It's in a, then I pour it into a glass and, and drink my smoothie: easy. I'm not, I'm not, my water is filtered I put in my smoothie. My ingredients are organic and I'm drinking out of a glass jar.

BRITNI: And if you, you know, oftentimes I'll make extra of my smoothies. And then I have those saved glass jars.

MELANIE: Yeah, you use mason jars I've seen.

BRITNI: Yep. And then you can even pop those in the freezer if you have room. Just make sure to leave, you know, some room at the top so they don't expand and explode. That's not good.

MELANIE: You'll learn once.

BRITNI: Yep. Yeah. Luckily I learned from others, but, so, you know, that is one way to, to store extra smoothies.

MELANIE: I love that: extra smoothies. And I've done the same thing with, I use paper in my muffin tins so that I can make egg bakes and pull those out.

BRITNI: Yeah.

MELANIE: Individual. But lunch, because if you're going to work like we do, you've got to figure out how do I store this? So I have glass containers like you mentioned, and I also have the silicone Ziploc that I can make and prep and pull it in there. So I love those.

BRITNI: Easy.

MELANIE: Easy. It fits in my, you know, my lunchbox that I bring to work.

BRITNI: Perfect.

MELANIE: So if I'm going to batch cook, it's going to be in, stored in mason jars, glass containers, those silicone, or sometimes if it's the Ziploc bag with the parchment paper to protect the food from touching.

BRITNI: Great. And then, you know, throughout the day, I like to use my reusable water bottle for a couple reasons. You know, it's better for us, better for the environment. And then I drink more water because it holds a lot more water than just a regular glass at home. So I, because if I'm, you know, left to refill my glass multiple times a day, I, like most people just drink less water.

MELANIE: Yeah.

BRITNI: Yeah.

MELANIE: We're really blessed at work because they, we have filtered water at our work. Cause that's, our employer takes care of us in that regard. So it's good to fill up.

BRITNI: And then so dinnertime rolls around, and maybe like tonight I'm going to roast some vegetables and if I don't want to clean my pan that I'm roasting on, I'll line with parchment paper instead of aluminum foil instead.

MELANIE: Oh. And I love those silicone mats too, that you can buy and put on there. That's my new favorite thing.

BRITNI: Yep. You could do that too. It's a great idea. And then I'm generally roasting in an avocado oil. So again, a natural healthy oil instead of those refined oils. And then, you know, whatever meat, I might cook that in cast iron pan, or I do use stainless steel pans as well. And then I'm storing the leftovers in glass containers.

MELANIE: Perfect. That's a good way to walk through the day and what it looks like.

BRITNI: Mm-Hmm.

MELANIE: Our goal at Nutritional Weight and Wellness is to help each and every person experience better health through eating real food. It's a simple yet powerful message. Eating real food is life changing. Thank you for joining us today.

BRITNI: Thank you.