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5 Foods and Consumer Products You Can Find Aluminum in. Here Is Why It Is Bad for You

Aluminum foil has been a favorite kitchen work staple for decades, but despite the older generation’s beliefs and practices, please don’t use it for storing leftovers. As reported by MSN.com, foil just doesn’t make the cut when it comes to sealing up foods you want to eat again later. For one thing, no matter how tightly you fold the foil over, it’s not going to give you the air-tight conditions you need to slow bacterial growth and keep the food fresher, longer.

meats

I personally never use foil for anything. Aluminum is neurotoxic no matter what form it comes in, and studies have shown that aluminum contamination in food, drugs and consumer products is much worse than previously thought.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the average adult in the U.S. consumes about 7 to 9 mg of aluminum per day in food, and a lesser amount from air and water. When tested in a lab, aluminum contamination has been found in a vast number of products on the market, from foods and beverages to pharmaceuticals, which suggests the manufacturing process itself is a significant part of the problem.

Aluminum is found in a number of foods and consumer products, including:

• Foods such as baking powder, self-rising flour, salt, baby formula, coffee creamers, baked goods and processed foods, coloring and caking agents

• Drugs, such as antacids, analgesics, antidiarrheal medications and others; and additives such as magnesium stearate

• Vaccines — Hepatitis A and B, Hib, DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis), pneumococcal vaccine, Gardasil (HPV) and others

• Cosmetics and personal care products such as antiperspirants, deodorants (including salt crystals, made of alum), lotions, sunscreens and shampoos

• Aluminum products, including foil, cans, juice pouches, tins and water bottles

Additional contamination occurs when food comes into contact with aluminum equipment and other items like that foil you want to wrap your food in.

If you cook your food in aluminum foil, you are introducing your own contamination. One investigation found that cooking meats in aluminum foil increases their aluminum concentration. Researchers concluded, "eating meals prepared in aluminum foil may carry a health risk by adding to other aluminum sources."

As with many toxins, it isn't one exposure here and there that is so concerning — it's the cumulative effect of many smaller exposures over time that can lead to a toxic metal overload and erosion of your health.

And, lastly, aluminum heads straight to your brain and central nervous system — with today’s Alzheimer’s cases rising rapidly, this is a major concern, especially since we now have documented evidence that long-term exposure to aluminum can damage brain tissue and lead to degenerative disease