Testosterone

Plastic, BPA (bisphenol A) and your testosterone

By October 10, 2016 December 11th, 2019 4 Comments
Plastic is everywhere these days, we almost can’t escape from it. Plastic bottles, food in plastic containers, plastic lunchboxes…Safe or not?
Plastic is everywhere these days, we almost can’t escape from it. Plastic bottles, food in plastic containers, plastic lunchboxes…Safe or not?

It’s almost everywhere

Plastic is everywhere these days, we almost can’t escape from it. Plastic bottles, food in plastic containers, plastic lunchboxes… It’s cheap and easy to make and that’s why this is such a popular chemical. I had to make several forms of plastic in High School in chemistry. These were a piece of cake even for us. Another advantage is that it isn’t breakable in comparison to glass. I’ll always drink out of glass or metal containers. I’ll only drink water out of plastic bottles when I visit people. Do you even know BPA? Most people don’t even know it, set aside the dangers. It has been linked to several forms of cancer but some studies debunk this. In animal studies, they’ve found a possible link between BPA exposure and a later increased risk of cancer.

Besides all this, there is a documentary (the disappearing male) that links BPA/plastic to the fact that boys are becoming less manly or have less masculine traits.

Besides ever drunk a soda from a glass bottle and a plastic one? I don’t like either of them but the plastic version tastes disgusting.

I already debunked the porn myth so let’s take a look at this one.

I already made you go completely nuts over nuts.

But now the one question arises: BPA is it dangerous or is it just a myth? Let’s found out.

Forms of BPA in your daily life

Number one was the most shocking for me since it was something you almost touch daily.

  1. Sales receipts

Yes, these contain high levels of BPA and that’s why I avoid them. I never accept them or ask politely if they could place it in my bag. I worked in a store as a part-time job and I just put a plaster on my index finger and my thumb. If you accept it you can wash your hands BUT NOT WITH hand sanitizers! These hand sanitizers speed up the intake of the BPA into your system and you want to avoid that.

  1. Your canned food contains BPA

It’s better to buy fresh or frozen food, fruit and vegetables. It tastes better and it’s better for your overall health. Don’t go to a supermarket to buy meat but opt for a butcher. I never buy my food in a store and I never will. The same goes for lasagna, buy it in your local butcher or don’t reheat it in the plastic box.

  1. Everything with the number seven displayed on it

  2. Baby bottles

There are BPA free versions so try to buy these. Do it for the sake of your kid’s health

  1. BPA and Cookware

If you heat your food in plastic you mix Add Now your food with BPA but there’s more than that. Plastic contains xenoestrogens; these are the synthetic form of estrogen. Putting a chemical version of a hormone in your body can’t be healthy. This is neither the case for men or women. Besides, when you clean the dishwasher everything is dry…? That’s right plastic stuff. That’s because plastic start’s to sweat when you heat it. See the link between the chemicals in your food and heated up plastic? It looks like water but it’s full of artificial hormones. Doesn’t sound like yummy in my tummy to me

Well it’s easy I’ll use BPA free plastic

Hold on, all the other BPA free plastics contain BPS (Bisphenol S) which is almost the same thing and don’t forget about the xenoestrogens!

When I was in Holland for a school trip we had to buy our water so we went to a local supermarket. Since we were all on a budget we bought the house brand. When I drank out this bottle I got massive headaches and I wasn’t the only one. More people suffered from a headache after using the bottle.

It took a long time before I found the study that proves the fact that BPA free plastic is as equally bad but here it is.

It found that most plastic products release estrogenic chemicals, this is a potential health problem that can be solved. This paper was co-authored by  George Bittner who’s a professor in a professor of neurobiology at the University of Texas-Austin. It was published in the NIH journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Well, I can’t give you a more reliable source than this one.

BPA vs BPA free products

The investigation found something even more disturbing than what you’ve read so far. Bittner’s research found that some BPA- free products leased synthetic estrogen that was MORE potent than BPA.

BPA and some diseases

This quote is copy-pasted from the article because I didn’t want to rephrase it. It would lose its power and that would be a real loss.

“Scientists have tied BPA to ailments including asthma, cancer, infertility, low sperm count, genital deformity, heart disease, liver problems, and ADHD. “Pick a disease, literally pick a disease,” says Frederick vom Saal, a biology professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia who studies BPA.”

 

This quote is a bit disturbing in my opinion. We take pills to solve most of these problems but do we need to?!

Plastic can be used without exposure to the chemicals but…

It takes a full year for a plastic bottle to cool down after it’s manufactured. This means that you can avoid those chemicals if you don’t use it for a whole year. Of course, many companies won’t do this because time is money and they won’t wait for a whole year. Don’t forget this is a 75-billion-a-year  industry.

Besides that, it’s also extremely bad for our environment so go for glass or a metal flask. You can buy a quality metal flask here. I got two metal flasks when I worked on Tomorrowland. I guess they cared about our health.

BPA and testosterone

There’s a link between BPA and low testosterone. Plastic, in general, will influence your testosterone, due to the xenoestrogens, but let’s take a closer look at BPA.

There is a similarity between BPA and the female hormone estrogen, so it can affect the human body. It’s easier to detect the effect of BPA on men since they have lower estrogen levels than women.

They conducted a study in China where men were exposed to BPA in a chemical plant. They worked there for at least six months and what happened? Their testosterone was lower in comparison to men who worked in a tap water factory. BPA influenced free testosterone the most and this form is thought to have the greatest influence on the body. This is because most testosterone is bound to a protein and free testosterone isn’t (shocker).

Some other studies, conducted in the same population, suggested that BPA lowers sperm counts and increased the risk of sexual dysfunction in men.

Phthalates and BPA caused delayed puberty, lower free and total testosterone, increased estrogen and increased SHBG count, in boys between 8-14. You shouldn’t be surprised by this study since testosterone levels go up in puberty and turn boys into men.

BPA causes sexual dysfunction in grown men according to this study. This is the second study with this conclusion so I should take this one serious. 

Three animal studies found that BPA causes lower testosterone and sexual dysfunction. They also stated that BPA was estrogenic. (study, study, study)

The Tabaco company comparison

Remember Bittner’s investigation? The plastic industry has sued him. In the article, they make a comparison with the Tabaco industry. Once they debunked every study that smoking caused cancer. The most interesting part is that the plastic and chemical industries relied on the same scientist and consultant who defended the big Tabaco industries. I don’t want to push people to a conclusion, I just draw one out of this.

It does affect more than our health.

“A poison kills you,” says biology professor Frederick vom Saal. “A chemical like BPA reprograms your cells and ends up causing a disease in your grandchild that kills him.”

Your choices will affect the health of your future children or even grandchildren. Every parent wants his kids to be healthy and happy so rethink your lifestyle before it’s too late.

Theo Colborn and the fight over safety

They hired her to investigate mysterious health problems in wildlife around the Great Lakes. There were multiple problems such as cancer, shrunken sexual organs, plummeting fertility, immune suppression, birds born with crossed beaks and missing eyes.

The afflictions and species varied widely in this investigation but she found two factors that kept on returning.

  • The young were the ones who were hit the hardest
  • They linked all of the animal’s symptoms to the endocrine system. This is the network of glands that control growth, metabolism, and brain function, with hormones as its chemical messengers

All the studies that demonize BPA were debunked by multiple studies by the plastic industry. But there is an explanation of why they concluded that BPA was safe. They used a rat known as the Charles River Sprague Dawley and it doesn’t respond to synthetic hormones like BPA.

The scientist also uncovered links between endocrine-disrupting chemicals known as phthalates and health problems, including genital abnormalities and infertility in humans. You’ll find these phthalates in soft plastics such as pacifiers.

You can read the whole article here. It’s a long article but it’s worth to give it a look.

I can tell you one thing for sure and that’s that the story hasn’t ended yet.

Don’t follow the herd and be different.

Think about your hormonal health and overall health. Buy a metal flask.

Break the rules and beat all the plastic consuming fools

Conclusion

I’m not a Barbie girl and living in a normal world

It’s from plastic and it’s not fantastic

Till next time

Alex

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Comments

comments

4 Comments

  • Luke says:

    Using a rat that has a mutation that doesn’t allow it to be affected on a hormonal level is dirty business! I avoid bpa as much as I can and some guys I work with run their mouths about me carrying around an expensive metal flask but hey, when I’m 50 and still have a strong functioning body while everyone else is in TRT and viagra I’ll know it was worth it.

    • Alex says:

      Yes indeed, I was pretty surprised when I read this. I have the same approach. People think I’m obsessed but I think about my health in the long run

      • Christopher Arceri says:

        Hi Alex, nice article. So even using some type of metal flask, where do you get your water from? Just curious.

        • Alex says:

          I have multiple options. I have a metal flask and filter tap water or just buy water in glass bottles and pour that the flask.

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