SInce we talked about food and diet on Day 10, I thought it would be a good idea to follow it up with a discussion on healthy cooking strategies. After all, it doesn't make sense to seek out clean, toxin-free food if all you're going to be doing is adding toxins and harmful stuff right back in during the cooking process...right? So to that end, let's discuss cookware and food storage.

The act of cooking requires the application of heat, and anytime you heat something you are potentially leeching harmful toxins and heavy metals into your food from the vessel you are cooking in - especially if the food is acidic. This means you need to carefully consider your cookware - and while you're at it, food storage containers.

First things first...what should you not be using?

• Aluminum - toxic metal, potential connection to Alzheimer's, ALS, and Parkinson's. Pans with an aluminum core are okay, but you have to make sure the surface doesn't wear through, exposing your food to aluminum

• Teflon - probably the worst of the worst. Nonstick pans are typically coated with plastic polymer “forever chemicals” like PTFE, PFAS, and PFOA, that, when heated, can release toxic fumes into the air and into your food. These chemicals are known to cause liver damage, tumors, hormone imbalance, reproductive problems, & more. Please throw it out!

• Plastic - endocrine disruptor, xenoestrogens, hormone imbalance. Avoid it when you can, and definitely don't microwave food in plastic to reheat it. Of course, I don't recommend microwaves either.

• This is especially true for black plastic cooking utensils - especially when heated. Black plastic is largely sourced from electronic scrap such as TVs and computers and can contain unregulated amounts of phthalates, flame retardants, cadmium, lead, nickel, chromium, and mercury.

• Pretty much anything touted as “non-stick” other than what’s on my recommended list below. This includes ceramic-coated pans like HexClad which can can chip over time and expose you to dangerous particles and heavy metals.

What do I recommend?

• French-tinned copper pans - probably my first choice for cooking anything. Copper is more than twice as conductive as the aluminum core in stainless steel pans and 8x more conductive than Le Creuset, so it controls the heat more precisely. Tin is also naturally anti-stick and as nontoxic as cookware metals get - and it doesn’t need to be seasoned like cast iron (my second favorite choice). Yes, it can be expensive initially, but if you treat them right, you’ll not only never need to replace them (other than have them re-tinned every 15-20 years), but you’ll be able to pass them on from generation to generation in your family.

• Cast iron - Search flea markets, garage sales, or antique shops for the old stuff. Cast iron can leach iron into your food IF it’s not properly seasoned AND if you cook acidic foods in it. If you cook in cast iron, it may be a good idea to test your iron stores once in a while - especially if you have hemochromatosis. Personally, I’ve cooked almost exclusively in my old cast iron pans for a couple of decades and have never had an issue.

• Stainless steel would be my third choice because of the nickel content, which is toxic. Stainless steel is made of chromium, nickel, and other metals. When you see the numbers on the bottom (18/10, 18/8, 18/0, 304, 400, etc.) it refers to the amount of chromium and nickel present - so 18/8 is 18% chromium, 8% nickel. Look for "300"grade.

• clay - look for certified toxin-free…"Vitaclay"

• 100% ceramic - "Xtrema"…don’t use “ceramic coated”

• glass/tempered glass - Pyrex and Anchor Hocking make great, durable glass storage/cooking containers. Of course, there are plenty others. Even Mason/Ball jars of different sizes work great, as does saving and reusing glass containers from food packaging. Just make sure you read all the safety instructions that discuss cooking with glass to prevent potentially dangerous accidents.

• enameled cast iron, porcelain enamel - expensive, but worth it. Le Creuset is the gold standard...which is appropriate, considering it costs as much as gold.

• Bamboo - steamers and utensils…I use bamboo chopsticks and wooden spatulas/spoons almost exclusively in my kitchen. I also have beautiful olive wood ladles.

A note on tinned copper: people mistakenly think that tin is unsafe. The dose where toxic symptoms begin (upset stomach) is 200 mg/kg which works out to 18g of tin for a 90kg adult male - which is more tin than is even used to line most pans. Also, tin doesn’t bioaccumulate and is not absorbed during digestion - it typically goes in and comes out. The truth is, it’s one of the safest metals for cooking.

What about Crock pots? Some of you may have heard about lead contamination in crock pot inserts, and there seems to be some controversy about it. If you have one and don't want to throw it out just yet, purchase a lead test kit to check if yours is okay. And if you do, in fact, use a crock pot, please don’t use a crock pot liner - most of which contain BPA. 360 Cookware has a line of stainless steel slow cookers as well as other quality stainless steel cookware.

I would also apply these rules to things like drinking glasses and bowls, etc. Replace plastic and aluminum dishes with glass or ceramic when possible.

Finally, one more thing about cooking...cook at home more often and eat out less.

No video lesson today…happy cooking!