A recent research found tiny plastic particles called microplastics in human bodies. They end up in the human body due to degraded plastic products found in our environment, so much so that researchers shared that they are finding them in heart, liver, kidneys, testicles and even breast milk.
Integrative lifestyle expert Luke Coutinho urged a popular food delivery company to stop delivering food in plastic packaging. Explaining the move, he shares, “We handle cancer patients across the world, and we look at cancer beyond chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, nutrition, and adding more protein. We need to address what causes hormonal imbalances, especially in hormone-dependent cancers and estrogen dominance. One of the major endocrine disruptors is xenoestrogen, which is prevalent in plastics, especially poor-quality plastics.
“Restaurants cook orders on high flame and the food goes straight from the vessel into a plastic container and is immediately covered”
Most of us are aware that people want their food on time. To meet this expectation despite traffic, restaurants often cook orders on high heat and flame, destroying most ingredients and using more refined oil for fast cooking. The food goes straight from the pan or vessel into a plastic container, which is immediately covered and sealed with cellophane tape, retaining immense heat and steam.
As we know, this heat starts to break down the plastic, releasing dangerous BPA and other toxins into the food. These toxins wreak havoc on the human body and hormones, affecting fertility and contributing to estrogen dominance. This happens in most restaurants and even in five-star hotels.
It’s not even that people eat the food immediately after it arrives. Sometimes it’s kept for longer, then opened and reheated. This happens every time you order takeout.
Each of us has the right to great food. We pay for it, and it should be delivered to us the right way. The side effects do not happen immediately. They occur over time, but the effects are too destructive to ignore. We need to wake up and make this change.
Many people are part of the working population and do not have the time or help to cook their food, so they rely on these delivery services for support. The reason I reached out to Swiggy and Zomato is that, just as we have the voice and power to spread the right message and knowledge across the nation and the world, they have the power to make this change happen too.
“I avoid ordering from restaurants who serve food in plastic”
“Another conscious move I’ve made is to avoid ordering from restaurants that serve food in plastic. It’s disappointing that even some great restaurants still use plastic. That’s why we reached out to Swiggy and Zomato, as they have the power to make a difference by working with restaurants to offer consumers two options: biodegradable or plastic. It’s then up to the customer to choose. I understand there is a cost to packaging, but if the consumer opts for better packaging, they should be willing to pay for it. Ideally, we should aim for zero-plastic packaging.
Luke has switched to using only glass and stainless steel. “All of my utensils, cutlery, and drinking bottles are either glass or steel. Even my food and storage containers are made of glass and stainless steel. You won’t find any plastic in my refrigerator. I prefer to minimize plastic use whenever I can, especially at airports and hotels. I seek out hotels that are conscious about reducing plastic usage and serve water in glass bottles. This choice is not just for the environment but also for our health due to concerns about microplastics and BPA.”
Dangers of plastic are real
While all of us have grown up using plastics here and there, the problem is overuse nowadays. “There are plastics and toxins everywhere. The simple proof is that if you cut the placenta of any mother, you will find samples of more than 300 or 400 toxins in the body of a pregnant woman. So, your child is being born with toxins and is entering the world already exposed to them. That’s the kind of world we live in. We can’t change too much of that. But what we can do is start being aware of little ways to reduce our exposure to this toxicity because that will go a long way in preventing disease.
It would be practically impossible for any of us to eliminate plastic from our lives completely, but the point is how much we can reduce it.
Firstly, we have to understand why plastic is so dangerous. The FDA has admitted that when heated, plastic leaches around fifty-five to sixty different chemicals. So, when you heat plastic—whether it’s heating food in a plastic container in your microwave or adding hot food into a plastic plate or container—that heat starts leaching chemicals into the very food you are about to eat. These toxins and chemicals mimic estrogen and several other hormones, leading to hormonal imbalances. This results in conditions like PCOD, ovarian issues, breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, and more. This is why certain cancer treatments involve hormone therapy. You undergo hormone therapy when you have a hormonal imbalance caused by lifestyle or by conventional treatments. So, even at that level, it is understood that keeping your hormones in balance is crucial.
I also want to highlight something that I commonly see across the country: people drinking hot liquids in Styrofoam cups or thin plastic cups, often on the roadside or in movie theaters. You need to understand that when you put a hot liquid in Styrofoam or plastic, you are leaching chemicals into that drink and ingesting a ton of toxins.
I understand it’s impossible for us to eliminate all plastic, but we can reduce it over time and slowly minimize our exposure to toxins from plastics. I urge people to go back to simple ways of eating with the right utensils and storing food properly. It might take you a week to ten days to make that change, but believe me, it’s worth it.
He concludes by saying, “We are not here to tear down any brand or create negativity or blame. There is too much hatred, anger, and intolerance in the world already. Our vision is far greater than that. It is about coming together and asking people to fix a problem that is so prevalent. All of us, at the end of the day, share the same vision of making India healthier. We all have to rise beyond just doctors and medicines. There is so much we need to do to fix the food chain, habits that affect our health and lifestyle, and much more. The whole idea is to get them involved in fixing the problem by transitioning from plastic to better food packaging materials for our health and the planet.”
