Video summary
Dr. Rhonda Patrick outlines a practical strategy for reducing microplastic exposure, acknowledging that while 100% avoidance is impossible, specific high-priority actions can significantly lower intake. The primary recommendation is to install a high-quality reverse osmosis water filtration system, either as a countertop or whole-house unit, which serves as the first line of defense against ingesting plastics dissolved in tap water. Following this, she advises minimizing consumption from plastic bottles and cans, noting that many can linings contain BPA-like chemicals that leach into hot liquids like canned soups; studies cited indicate such exposure can increase urinary BPA levels by 1,000%. To further mitigate risk during coffee preparation, Patrick suggests bringing personal reusable mugs to cafes or requesting that baristas pour beverages between two steel containers before transferring them to a plastic cup for iced drinks. This method prevents hot liquid from directly contacting the plastic lining of the serving vessel and reduces the time the beverage spends in contact with heat-sensitive materials compared to waiting for bottled water to cool down after transport through multiple trucks and warehouses. The discussion extends beyond beverages to encompass kitchenware, meal prep containers, and cooking surfaces where heating plastics is a critical concern. Patrick strongly recommends replacing plastic storage like Tupperware with glass alternatives and avoiding utensils made of plastic in favor of wood or stainless steel. She also warns against using cookware coated with non-stick materials such as Teflon, especially if the pans are scratched over time, as these coatings can liberate harmful particles into food during cooking. Additionally, she highlights microwave popcorn bags as a significant source of exposure due to their lining containing "forever chemicals," which take two to five years for the body to eliminate and act as carcinogens. Regarding seafood consumption, while microplastics are found in the digestive tracts of animals like shrimp and sardines, limiting daily intake of such species is suggested rather than eliminating them entirely, balancing nutritional benefits against potential plastic accumulation. Supplement forms also present a consideration regarding material composition, specifically gelatin capsules versus tablets. Patrick notes that high-quality supplements typically use gelatin for encapsulation rather than plastic, though she acknowledges the supply chain complexities where companies might inadvertently mix materials. To address systemic exposure through air and dust, particularly in smaller living spaces like condos or apartments, she suggests utilizing HEPA filters from brands like Honeywell to capture particulate matter including microplastics. These measures represent a comprehensive approach that combines immediate behavioral changes with environmental modifications to create a safer home environment without relying on unverified testing methods for current exposure levels. Regarding the detection and elimination of these toxins within the body, Patrick clarifies that validated tests specifically measuring circulating microplastics are not yet widely available, though researchers like Dr. Brian Johnson are developing them. Currently, individuals can utilize comprehensive toxin panels from companies like Vibrant Wellness to screen for associated chemicals such as BPA, phthalates, and heavy metals; she shares a personal anecdote of receiving results showing elevated levels across the board, underscoring the need for vigilance. She emphasizes that once microplastics enter circulation, they can reach various organs, making early detection via biomarker monitoring vital. This aligns with her broader philosophy on proactive health management, where regular testing allows for timely intervention before minor exposures accumulate into significant health risks over time.
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what's the 8020 on avoiding Plastics in
consumption there's imperfect avoidance
right it's you're not going to avoid it
100% but I think the I would say the top
things to consider and try to implement
in your life would be one get a high
quality reverse osmosis filter whether
it's countertop or whole house system
that's first and foremost um number two
avoid drinking as much as possible out
of plastic bottles also cans do are la
with um plastic lining as well um so
consider that as well um number three
avoid heating plastic so really like the
Togo coffee mugs is a big one bring
bring your own you know mug like this
here Yeti I I bring yetis to I bring
them when I travel and I asked them to
can you put my latte in this mug and
they do it I just had an idea that I
become addicted keep where you are but I
become addicted to Dutch Bros coffee and
I kind of need to tell the internet
about it uh it's phenomenal
I wonder if there is a way I was
watching them make it because when you
go and go through the drive-thru you can
actually see the process of them going
through it a lot of the time when they
make an iced coffee an iced latte
they're pouring it between almost what
looks like a cocktail shaker the steel
thing pouring it between that and
pouring it between your cup I haven't
done this yet but one of the things that
I thought about because the cup is
typically filled with the ice then they
pour the hot liquid over the ice and
that's what cools it I was like huh if I
said rather than you pouring it from the
steel thing into the plastic could I
just get you to do two steel things side
by side put the ice in that one cool it
down and then pop it into the plastic
thing me obviously the gold standard
would be to take your own cup but if you
would say that you don't have that I
also have to assume that iced drinks are
going to be better even if you get a
splash of hot hitting the cup that you
don't you can't get them to do some
fancy cocktail trick with it's going to
cool it down more quickly so it's not
going to liberate for as long for as to
his small exactly and if you think about
it if you're getting an iced cup of
fill-in-the blank you know that's
plastic the the beverage isn't in that
cup for that long right so the breakdown
it's like it's not really happen as
opposed to you waiting for 20 minutes
for it to become a consumable
temperature yeah or as opposed to like
bottled water like you said it's like
how long has it been in there and heat
it's been in how many trucks has it been
on and warehouses has it you know gone
through before it's been in that
refrigerator that you think is cold
um so you know and I do want to mention
another thing with coffee but I'll get
back to the imperfect avoidance we've
got uh reverse osmosis not drinking tap
water second up is avoiding bottled
water third one is avoiding heating
plastic which would include Tupperware
reheating meals meal prep companies
stuff like that I'm going to guess yes
yeah all that because that's you know
they're putting a lot of stuff in
plastic right um and then I did mention
like like canned soup is really bad
because it's in a it's in a can that's
lined with BPA and the soup goes in hot
it goes in hot oh when they fill it yeah
so there have been studies that have
compared people that get canned soup to
like soup made in glass okay and um it
increases like BP urinary BPA by 1,000%
which is insanely High have you do you
know what the inside of tetra packs are
like those sort of more cartton things
do you know what I mean by Tetra pack I
don't know what's in it but I'll tell
you this and this is what I is going to
get back [ __ ] BP there's something
called polylactic acid that you can line
I think you can line cans with it I know
you can line tog go coffee mugs like
some I know Blue Bottle Coffee lines it
with polylactic acid rather than um like
BPA plastic so polylactic acid why not
replace this plas that's that's not
liberated in the same way that's not
that wouldn't impact us it's or it's an
organic it's not it's not
plastic polylactic acid it's like an
organic compound okay yeah so I mean you
just have to make sure that you know
with
anything sometimes companies will mix a
little plastic in there and you never
really know right like that's always the
supply chain of your plastic let alone
your food but let's just let's assume
that everyone's like you know credible
and yeah doing the right thing yeah
polylactic acid I don't know why like
Starbucks and all these companies and
cans everything should be lined with it
because it's you know it's it's healthy
it's a health I'm going to look into
that fot for neonic okay so what's
what's next up after this soup heating
stuff Tupper I mean dear God please just
replace all of your Tupper wire with
glass exactly and also um your utensils
like don't don't use spatulas that are
made of plastic wood what wood is fine
yeah wood um you know also Teflon like
can and stuff coating like you want to
have you want to have stainless steel or
you want to do cast iron or ceramic
right like you don't want things that
are coated
because like you just never know what's
in that cating I saw a comparison image
on Twitter of one of those the non-stick
pans but one of those that's you've used
for two and a half years and it's got
loads of scratches in it and that causes
all hell to break loose and be liberated
into the food absolutely I mean think
about the scratches like that stuff is
going somewhere like where's it going
right it's going into your food it's
going into you so that's another um heat
is a really big one a really and also
microwave popcorn so the inside of bags
the inside of the bags of microwave
popcorn are lined with forever chemicals
forever chemicals they're called that
past because it takes our body like two
to five years to get rid of them and
they are carcinogens they're they're
terrible and so and they're you're
heating it up right the popcorn's
heating up so popcorn popcorn bags is is
um another one but I think uh you know
in terms of that and then you know with
respect to like the
foods obviously like if you can like
shrimp eating whole sardines anything
like microplastics are in the digestive
track of those Foods so like limiting
you just don't want to eat shrimp like
every day huh what are
um what are capsules double z00 capsules
for supplements what's that made of what
are those you know like a capsule like a
like magnesium stereo like any type of
creatine capsule or something where it's
in a a it's capsulated as a opposed to
just raw tablet is that what it is is it
gelatin typically it's usually not
plastic I was just looking at it and
thinking I bet that someone somewhere
has realized that we can make it 50%
cheaper if we use some sort of but it's
typically going to be like a gelatin
thing usually a high quality supplement
would be yeah I I haven't I haven't seen
the plastic ones but I don't you know I
don't go around to the well that's the
first place that I've identified that
doesn't have Plastics in so far so I can
breath the side of relief around all of
the T tablets that I take every day I
think if you're doing those things
though that's like the the majority of
of trying to
decre from the dryer right and then have
a have a helpy filter filter in your
house like you like to use I mean you
can use like like there's a lot of
different there's like high high quality
medical grade ones that are a little
more expensive which are great but for
people that are just like like say they
live in a condo or like they have a
small flat or something you know even
getting like a Honeywell HEPA filter
like for each room they're really not
that expensive and they do filter out a
lot of particulate matter um that you're
you know breathing in including
microplastics so I mean that's a pretty
I think feasible option for Good Start
on a endlessly comprehensive list okay
so if we've got that's how to avoid them
this is where they come from how
possible is it for our bodies to
actually get rid of them what are the
ways that we can speed this up actually
first question is it possible to test
can I go and work out how how many
microplastics are in my body um that's a
good question so I've had people
emailing me about tests they're
developing for for for measuring
microplastics and circulation you have
to remember once it gets into
circulation like that's when it's going
to other organs right I haven't seen any
validated test on actual microplastics
yet but there are tests on the chemicals
associated with them so like BPA
phalates forever chemicals and the test
that I use is from vibrant Wellness they
have a really yeah they have a really
great um toxin Panel test total talks
yep and so they do everything like all
those chemicals and others they do like
microt toxins they do heavy metals and
uh you know I don't have any affiliation
with them but I think they're just
they've got a greatest the same one that
my that my doctor Gabrielle lion it's
the same one that her team suggested and
it came back and everything was [ __ ]
red so uh yeah I can vouch for the fact
that it's accurate right so that would
be you know the testing wise now um
again with microplastics I think we're
going to start to see a lot of test come
out now that this is Brian Johnson's
trying to develop one he was tweeting
about it recently I mean he's tweeting
about a lot of things things at the
moment um but yeah he was tweeting about
some microplastics test interesting yeah
there's there's a variety of companies
and I'm sure vibrant Wellness is
probably going to add that to their list
um as well we just learned about the way
that microplastics are making their way
into our bodies yet another reason why
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