How Simple Kitchen Swaps Could Add Years To Your Life

May 5, 2021
Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS

Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS

Award-winning nutritionist and New York Times bestselling author.

Many people – with the very best of intentions to eat as healthy as possible – don’t realize that toxic chemicals and heavy metals from everyday cookware could be leaching into their foods and contaminating an otherwise healthy meal.

In my new book, Radical Longevity, Chapter 9, “Stock Your Kitchen”, I explain why your kitchen is your laboratory of life. I give you 11 awesome “TRANSITION TIPS” to living longer and stronger including all the best foods and beverages to enhance healthy aging. And, before you’re tempted to try all the delicious recipes in Chapter 10, “Fuel Your System”, you’ll need to know why what you cook IN is just as important as what you cook!

To preserve the essential nutrients your body craves and extend your youth span, you need to become your own kitchen chemist. As I learned from my mentor, Dr. Hazel Parcells, who was an extraordinary “Super-Ager”, living to the age of 106, we must “span the distance between the test tube and the laboratory and pots and pans in the kitchen.” With a few tweaks you can easily transform your kitchen.

Search and Destroy

One of your first tasks as an informed kitchen chemist is to root out all toxic cookware, storage containers and utensils that could be contaminating your food.

First and foremost, axe the aluminum. According to the research of Dr. Christopher Exley of Keele University in the U.K., aluminum is most definitely connected to Alzheimer’s and other neurotoxic conditions. In fact, Dr. Exley published over 150 scientific papers on the very topic. So be smart and aware that aluminum foil has no place in your kitchen.

Second to aluminum, would be copper. This metal has an affinity for vitamin C and can upset the sensitive zinc-copper balance in your system.

Next you need to consider that iron from cast-iron cookware can leach into foods. And contrary to common belief, you cannot get the body’s requirement of “good” iron from cooking your foods in cast-iron cookware.

Last, but by no means least, you need to root out plastic food storage containers and utensils from your kitchen. These endocrine-disrupting substances have the potential to leach estrogen-like chemicals into your foods.

Smart Strategies

Here’s what to do to transform your kitchen:

  • Replace all aluminum steamers, measuring cups, spoons, bread pans and cookie sheets with stainless steel, glass or Pyrex, and avoid aluminum foil, opting for parchment paper instead. Use a magnet to test for aluminum content; a magnet will not stick if cookware contains aluminum.
  • Replace all copper-lined cookware.
  • Enamel-coated cast iron is a good alternative. The enamel forms a barrier to keep iron from leaching into foods, while providing the same wonderful heat induction that made cast iron such a popular choice to begin with.
  • Stainless steel pots and pans, such as the Salad Master brand, are an excellent choice for everyday cooking. Food cooks in its own semi-vacuum seal below 180 degrees to preserve the living force of your food while locking in moisture and maintaining flavor – without needing to add butter, oil or any excess fats.
  • Glass-glazed clay cookware is excellent for baking. I love my German-made Romertopf casseroles. They enhance the flavor and moisture in foods by increasing infrared heat as they’re cooking. Whichever bakeware you choose, make sure it’s glazed with a nontoxic glaze to keep any impurities from the clay from leaching into your food.
  • Use the new generation of George Foreman grills, which can cut AGEs by 50 percent over standard charcoal and gas grills.
  • For skillets and saucepans, try ceramic non-stick brands such as Xtrema, which produces a line of pure ceramic cooking utensils that are free of all toxic metals, including lead and cadmium.
  • You can never go wrong with good old fashioned wooden spoons to replace plastics and aluminum utensils.

Take Your Body To the Cleaners

In addition to doing a deep clean of your kitchen and your home, you should also make sure you keep your own system cleansed, too. I recommend Uni Key Health’s Super-GI Cleanse. It’s a natural, safe and effective intestinal cleanse that has a unique ability to chelate heavy metals due to Irish moss, the herbs anise seed, peppermint leaf, fennel seed, licorice root, alfalfa herb, butternut bark and buckthorn bark fiber, as well as cranberry. It contains a plant enzyme blend to aid in digestion of protein and fats, and probiotics (Bifidobacterium bifidum and Lactobacilius acidophilus) to boost and optimize absorption of minerals and vitamins to enhance immunity.

Super GI Cleanse - Uni Key® Health

Super GI Cleanse

Read my latest blog, My Top 3 Radical Longevity Foods To Expand Your Lifespan and do give a listen to my recent podcast, Standing UP for Health Truth in The Age of Censorship – Episode 67, for an engaging and enlightening interview with author and public speaker Erin Elizabeth.

Related Articles and Podcasts

Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS, is an award-winning New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty books including The Fat Flush Plan series and her latest book, Radical Metabolism. She’s been rewriting the rules of nutrition for more than 40 years and is internationally recognized as a pioneer in the field of diet, detox and women’s health issues. 

For a FREE daily dose of tips and strategies for maintaining healthy weight, conquering insomnia, and much more…check out my Radical Health Tips.

I’d like to meet and greet you on my Facebook groups, so won’t you check us out at the Radical Metabolism RevolutionFat Flush Nation, or my Inner Circle!

4 Comments

  1. Terri

    I knew that aluminum was bad but I had no idea copper was a problem. I think I have copper pipes too.

    Reply
  2. Maude

    Love my Salad Master cookware! I’ve been using it for over 15 years. The food has the best flavor too.

    Reply
  3. Darla

    So I have opted for lining aluminum foil with parchment paper so I can still reheat leftovers in my oven. I feel safer that way. It works really well!

    Reply
  4. Olga

    I love all these practical suggestions. I can see that I need to do a kitchen make-over, a little at a time. Aluminum is now going to be OUT for sure. Thanks

    Reply

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. How Simple Kitchen Swaps Could Add Years To Your Life – DietMarkets - […] Original Article […]

Leave a Reply to Olga Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This