Are YOU eating a credit card’s worth of PLASTIC every week?

10 ways to LIMIT your exposure and protect your health

Plastic is the most commonly used material—for packaging, storage, and more.

In fact, 9.1 billion tons have been produced since the 1950s.¹ And humans use around 1.2 million plastic bottles per minute.

If that’s not disturbing enough, consider this…

The average person EATS a credit card’s worth of plastic each week.² And many people consume even MORE than that on a regular basis!

Of course, that probably shouldn’t come as a surprise…

After all, every single piece of plastic that has ever been created—aside from what has been burned—is still on our planet today. And it makes its way into our bodies in some scary and startling ways.

Fortunately, as I’ll explain in a moment, there are 10 steps you can take to LIMIT how much plastic you regularly ingest.

But first, let’s examine exactly how all that plastic gets into your body in the first place—and what it does, once it’s there…

It BUILDS UP and NEVER goes away

Plastic is a very invasive problem for the planet… and for human health.

That’s because it’s not all just sitting there in the environment—piling up in our landfills and littering our highways.

It actually breaks down over time into smaller and smaller pieces called microplastics. And we come into contact with these tiny bits of plastic literally everywhere we turn…

It’s in the soil we walk on, the products we use, the water we drink, the food we eat, and even the AIR we breathe!

In fact, U.K. researchers recently compared the amount of microplastics found in contaminated wild mussels (known to contain high levels of microplastics) to the air found in a typical home.³

In just one evening, people take in more microplastics by inhaling tiny particles in the air (or by ingesting particles found on clothes, carpets, and upholstery) than they do by eating a dinner of contaminated mussels!

Well, no wonder scientists find microplastics in human blood, lungs, colons, placentas, stools, and breast milk. But this is a SERIOUS threat to your health…

Plastic is TOXIC to humans

There are more than 10,000 different chemicals that go into the manufacturing of plastics. And up to 2,400 of them are completely toxic to humans.⁴

Of course, we’re still figuring out exactly what happens to the body over the long-term after you ingest these toxic microplastics. But we do know they trigger a strong immune response.

Initially, your body tries to physically expel the microplastic through sweat, urine, feces, bile, or mucus.⁵

But when that doesn’t work, your body will send white blood cells to attack the invader to try and wipe it out.

Eventually, this causes the immune cells to die and break apart—after all, they can’t digest plastic. And this could release the microplastic toxins back into your body and cause inflammation.

Worse yet? Microplastics act like sponges in the environment… sucking up pollutants, like pesticides, fluorinated compounds, flame retardants—the list is endless. All of which end up circulating in our bodies.

Then, since much of the consumed microplastic never really goes away, more white blood cells come to attack the unwelcomed invader… leading to a never-ending, inflammatory cycle.

This kind of chronic inflammation leads to chronic illness—like cancer, heart disease, and even neuropsychiatric diseases like Parkinson’s or depression.

I’m even convinced that plastic use is directly driving the higher incidences of attention deficient-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, breast cancer in women, low testosterone in men, and obesity in everyone.

10 ways to IMMEDIATELY limit your exposure

It’s important to remember that plastic is made from fossil fuels, such as oil and natural gas. It also contains toxic industrial chemicals, such as bisphenol A (BPA), which wreak havoc on your hormonal system.

But, sadly, you can’t eliminate these risks by opting for products that are “BPA-free.” That’s just another meaningless marketing gimmick.

After all, BPA-free products simply contain other industrial chemicals that disrupt your hormones, destroy your metabolism, and harm your health. And despite these known dangers, the plastic problem is only getting worse…

In fact, in 2020, the world produced 367 million metric tons of new, “virgin” plastic. And by 2050, that number is expected to TRIPLE to more than one billion metric tons!

In other words, there’s really no way to completely avoid plastic in our modern world.

But you can LIMIT your exposure to it, as I do.

Here are 10 helpful steps you can take, starting TODAY:

1. Stop using single-use plastic items (like plastic cups or utensils).
2. Switch to paper or reusable grocery bags.
3. Don’t store, cook, or wrap your food in plastic. Instead, use stainless steel, glass, or cast-iron pans and utensils. And if you must wrap your food, use plain brown paper or beeswax-infused cotton.
4. Limit your consumption of take-out foods, as they’re typically stored in plastic, Styrofoam®, or BPA-lined packaging. (Not to mention, most take-out food just isn’t good for your health, anyway.) Instead, cook with fresh, organic, whole, unprocessed foods at home. Focus especially on cruciferous vegetables, which help flush out toxins from the body.
5. Avoid touching paper receipts, which are covered in harmful plastic.
6. Add an air purifier to your home and work environment. I personally have a large one for my home. And I take my nUVo^TMTraveler air purifier along with me anywhere I go!
7. Avoid drinking bottled water, which contains about twice as many microplastics as tap water.⁶
8. When you do use plastic—because let’s face it, there will come a time for most of us—make sure to recycle it to limit the production of new, “virgin” plastic.
9. Vacuum and dust regularly to get rid of microplastics in your home environment.
10. Shop at farmer’s markets, which tend to use natural packaging, instead of plastic.

You may also want to consider giving your body a little help clearing out ingested toxins by undertaking a safe, time-tested detox.

I outlined all the steps of my “Super-Simple, Seven-Day Detox” in the January 2023 issue of Logical Health Alternatives. To access this issue, simply go to my website, www.DrPescatore.com, and log in using the “Subscriber” button at the far right of the blue navigation bar.

At the end of the day, it’s clear that plastic is dangerous to many aspects of human health. And the sooner you recognize it—and take steps to limit its use—the better.

References:

1. “Fact sheet: Single use plastics.” EarthDay, 03/29/2022. (earthday.org/fact-sheet-single-use-plastics/)
2. “You could be swallowing a credit card’s weight in plastic every week.” CNN, 06/17/2019. (cnn.com/2019/06/11/health/microplastics-ingestion-wwf-study-scn-intl)
3. “Microplastics are in our bodies: How much do they harm us?” National Geographic, 4/25.22. (nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/microplastics-are-in-our-bodies-how-much-do-they-harm-us)
4. “Inventory finds more than 10,000 chemicals used in plastics manufacture.” Chemical & Engineering News, 07/06/2021. (cen.acs.org/environment/Inventory-finds-10000-chemicals-used/99/i25)
5. “Microplastics are Everywhere, But Their Health Effects on Humans are Still Unclear.” Discover, 1/11/20. (discovermagazine.com/health/microplastics-are-everywhere-but-their-health-effects-on-humans-are-still)
6. “How to Eat Less Plastic.” Consumer Reports, 4/30/20. (consumerreports.org/health-wellness/how-to-eat-less-plastic-microplastics-in-food-water-a8899165110/)