Healthy eating habits don’t just start and finish at what you eat. Did you ever think that maybe you needed to take a look at the items you are using to prepper your food, cook your food, and store your food? Well my beautiful friend, you do! There are so many choices when it comes to kitchen items you need to cook, prep, and store your food. You have choices such as: cast iron, non-stick, stainless steel, bamboo, wood, glass, silicone, and plastic. A whole book could be written on this stuff; however, today I will just show you the basics that are essential to know. Today, we are just going to focus on the items we use to prep our food!
There are a couple of items that I will cover that I believe most people know about and/or use. They are: bamboo, stainless steel, wood, sillicone, and plastic.
Bamboo I think is one of the most unique organic materials available to use. It is actually considered a member of the grass family and not the tree family. We often associate bamboo with trees because of thier size. Which, for arguments sake, I’m calling it a tree here. The cool think about bamboo is that it’s naturally anti-microbial; which makes it an awesome material to use in the kitchen since it will stop the growth of germs and bacteria. Also, by using bamboo for cutting boards espically it will not make your knives dual! Which is amazing! Bamboo is also one of the strongest, yet lightest materials available; 16% stronger than maple and 33% lighter in weight compared to oak. When bamboo is harvested its natural root system spreads out and starts regenerating another plant; therefore it is also eco friendly in the sense that we are not wasting tons of trees. It only takes up to about 4 years for a bamboo tree (err grass) to reach maturity and ready to be harvested. Obviously, there are no chemicals or toxins used in bamboo products! Which makes them a great essential in the kitchen! One of my favorites is the core grip, over the sink bamboo cutting board from www.corebamboo.com. I love this company! A totally awesome thing about Core Bamboo is that they use 100% Organic grown bamboo. They also use laquer that comes from cashew trees and all of thier products meet USA and European standards. If they meet European standards then they are pretty good because Eurpean countries have awesome, strict regulations! Buy Green also has some great bamboo products!
Bamboo is naturally anti-microbial!
Now, I have no problem with stainless steel; it’s strong, durable, non porus. It doesn’t react with food, even acidic foods like tomato or vinegar based foods. It is well liked in the kitchen for it’s durability. Is not known to have any toxicity or chemicals present. However, stainless steel can sometimes contain copper; and it’s really not good. Copper can leave a metallic taste to your foods and is not desirable in the kitchen. Most cheap stainless steel will carry copper or other unsafe metal compounds in it. Pristine Planet offers some good stainless steel choices, Buy Green has a nice selection as well as Natural Home. Stainless is on my top picks!
Next up is silicone. Silicone has become pretty popular lately, espically in the baking world. I hate making muffins, cupcakes, or mini meatloafs in a baking tin without a liner; because, it always sticks! I also hate having to buy cupcake liners everytime I bake something. They are a waste of money and a waste to put more trash in our landfills. Why spend money on something, that isn’t food or necessity, that you are just going to end up throwing away? Anyway, back to food grade silicone. Silicone is made up of silicon, which is a natural element that is found in rock and sand, and oxygen. At this time there seems to be no harm in using silicone. With its’ high heat (500*F) resistance, it doesn’t leach any chemicals into the foods. As per my research I haven’t found any forgein chemicals in silicone products; that is just my research… However, be aware when buying silicone. Some companies use a filler, which can omit an odor in your food. Before buying silicone twist and move around the silicone, if any white shows through then it contains a filler; which not only leaves the odor in food but may not be as heat resistant as it should be. There is still little research about silicone in cooking, but seems to be ok. It is also comparable in price to plastic; so making the switch shouldn’t hurt your pocket book to much!
The most dreaded material to have in your kitchen is plastic! I know it’s cheap and sometimes you can’t afford anything but that, or a second cousin by marriage bought a set for you and your hubby and you can’t refuse it….I don’t care, get rid of it, throw it away! It’s not safe, healthy, green, or clean. Plastic contains toxins such as, phthalates and bisphenol; which are known endocrine disruptors that can leach into your food!! And people wonder why there are so many of us with illness such as PCOS, thyroid problems; a little note…if your endocrine system is messed up, your whole body’s hormones are too! Plastic also contains BPA which is a developmental, nueral,and reproductive toxin. Scientists have even linked low doses of BPA to cancers, impaired immune function, early onset puberty, obesity, and diabetes. It can be transferred from the plastic to drinks and food. Plastics that say they are BPA free still contain chemicals that are possibly toxic and might be carcinogenic. This is a a BIG NO, NO is my book and in my kitchen. No plastic here! So, toss yours out!
This is a small step that you can take to making sure your home, kitchen, and environment is safe and healthy for your hormonal health.
❤ Heather
If you are interested in holistic health coaching to balance your hormones or just get healthy be sure to contact me! And go to here and here to learn more about health coaching and myself!