Is Aluminum Foil Bad For You: Health Impacts
Recently, some of our readers commented to us at Women of Today that it is harmful to cook with aluminum foil after we used it in a recipe video … We so appreciate you guys giving us tips like that, so when we read your comments, we knew we had to investigate further to see if using aluminum (or tin) foil in the kitchen is a bad thing — Well, the results are in, and what we have found is that it both is and isn’t bad to use this kitchen staple when cooking. Confusing, right?! We’ll explain …
Please know that we are not experts on this subject — We are only sharing with you what we have found from different third-party studies that have been posted online. So here is what we found … If you have any further concerns on this subject, we recommend that you reach out to an expert to learn more.
Aluminum foil: Toxic or not?
The first thing to know is that aluminum (a metal) is actually all around us in our environment and everyday life — You find it in things like pots and pans, refrigerators, power lines, computers, food wrapping, etc. Based on numerous studies, there don’t seem to be terrible health risks associated with low to moderate amounts of this metal. The body is designed to naturally rid itself of small amounts of excess metals, like aluminum. However, the body cannot handle excess amounts of it, and we need to be aware of when and how we may be exposing ourselves to too much.
Aluminum foil in your kitchen:
The concern around aluminum foil in the kitchen lies around the fact that when it is heated, it begins to excessively leech aluminum directly onto the food. A study published in 2012 and shared by The Food Network found that “cooking with aluminum at high temps and with the use of acidic foods, salt, and spices did perpetuate a greater amount of leeching.” And what does excessive amounts of aluminum do to the body exactly? Well, according to another article by the Huffington Post, excessive amounts of aluminum in the body have been linked to Alzheimer’s because high concentrations of aluminum have been detected in the brain tissue of patients with this disease.
Is cooking with aluminum foil bad?
So, the takeaway from our research is this. It is not a good idea to use aluminum foil to cook any food that will be heated or used on food that contains spices or acidic ingredients like lemon or tomato juice. However, using aluminum foil to temporarily wrap or store food that will remain cold is perfectly safe.
We will be adjusting our recipes and methods accordingly! Thank you to our readers, who commented and pointed this out to us. This is what having a community here at Women of Today is all about, we have each other’s back!
Enjoy!
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