Another Reason Not to Eat Canned Food: Toxic Chemicals!

Eating a lot of canned food can skyrocket the level of a toxic chemical called bisphenol A (BPA) in your bloodstream, according to a new study from Harvard. That's bad because BPA is pretty nasty stuff that significantly hurts your overall health, especially over time.

Researchers found that people who eat a serving of canned soup every day had much higher BPA levels (about 20 times higher!) in their urine than people who eat fresh non-canned soup. That's because BPA is a by-product of a chemical used to prevent the corrosion of the can's metal, and it leaches into the food.

According to the study's head researcher Karin Michels:

"To see an increase in this magnitude was quite surprising... [the levels of BPA seen in the study participants] are among the most extreme reported in a nonoccupational setting."

We say: Just another reason to not eat canned foods. What sucks is that some of the best tomato products are canned, but these are among the worst because the tomatoes' acid leached out the BPA even faster!

Learn some mo': Soaring BPA Levels Found in People Who Eat Canned Foods

Study: Pesticides Cause Hyperactivity in Children

Ingesting pesticides may lead to your child developing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a new US study. Research published in the journal Pediatrics showed that common pesticide chemicals found in food and also in the home significantly increases the risk of ADHD in kids.

The researchers concluded that parents should try to buy organic, pesticide-free foods for their children. Also, women who are trying to become pregnant should begin eating a mostly organic diet at least 6 months before conception, then throughout the pregnancy, continuing until the baby has stopped breast feeding.

According to public health expert Phil Landrigan, MD:

"It's mainly exposure through food. Diet is the driver... For most people, diet is the predominant source. It's been shown that people who switch to an organic diet knock down the levels of pesticide by-products in their urine by 85 to 90 percent."

Many experts believe it's also important to reduce or eliminate the amount of toxic pesticides in and around your home. That means using organic gardening and weed-control methods, as well as non-toxic bug/pest control methods.

We say: It's a damn shame that kids in in the United States -- and much of the world for that matter -- have to endure constant exposure to dangerous pesticides and other environmental chemicals. If we know that certain pesticides cause harm in kids -- especially those designed to alter the neurological systems of pests -- why are they still legal to be used in our food production systems??

Learn some mo': Pesticides in food linked to ADHD in kids