3 Ways to Reduce the Toxins in Your Kitchen

Buying organic produce, dairy and meat enables you to consume less pesticides and agricultural antibiotics, but are you storing your healthy food in toxic containers, or drinking and cooking with water containing hormone disrupters? Here are three simple tips for reducing the toxins in your kitchen.

Ditch the Plastic

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical found in most plastic food wrap and food storage containers. It's a known human carcinogen and can seep into your food. There are plastic food containers that are certified BPA-free, but are these containers really any safer? A study found BPA-free plastics can contain chemicals that disrupt your hormones, so ditch the plastic altogether and opt for the following:

• Glass food containers
• Stainless steel drinks bottles
• Washable fabric food storage bags

Filter Tap Water

Did you know that tap water treated with chlorine has been linked to birth abnormalities? If that isn't frightening enough, how about the added risk of consuming bacteria, pesticides and traces of heavy metals from poorly maintained pipes each time you take a drink from your kitchen tap?

You can remove common toxins from your drinking water by filtering it. There are several types of water filter available, so here's an overview of three common filters suitable for home use. You can ask resources like Water Filter Warehouse for more information for these filters.

Jug Filters—These filters hold a couple of litres of water and use activated charcoal to draw toxins out of the water as you fill up the jug. The charcoal cartridge filters the water before it flows into the main compartment of the jug. You'll need to change the cartridge every couple of months and the charcoal doesn't remove fluoride, but jug filters can be the ideal solution for small households.

Distilled Filters—These filters don't remove hormone disrupters, but do kill off bacteria. The filter processes water into steam, which is captured in a cooling compartment before being allowed to convert back into water. When the water flows out of the cooling compartment it leaves the waste material behind.

Reverse Osmosis Filters—These filters connect to your kitchen sink pipes and work by forcing tap water through a semi-permeable membrane. The membrane captures contaminants including fluoride, hormone disrupters and traces of heavy metals. This filter is ideal for busy family homes, but small households may also want to opt for this filter as it removes a wide range of toxins and negates the need to keep filling up a jug.

Eliminate Aluminium Cans

Cans are often lined with BPA to prevent the metal from rusting, but even if you find cans without a BPA lining they should be left on the shelf. Most food and drinks cans are made from aluminium, which is considered a neurotoxin. Opt for glass jars instead of metal cans and cook and freeze large batches of the foods your often buy in cans for convenience. For example, instead of buying canned beans, cook a large batch of dried beans and freeze in portions for a quick meal on a busy day.

You may feel overwhelmed if you try to incorporate all of these tips at once, so start with the one that feels most important to you and add the others over time.