Cooking with aluminum: Health concerns?

[baldtaco-II]

According to www.alzheimers.org.au

"the balance of evidence does not seem to support a specific role for aluminium in alzheimers disease".

http://www.alzheimers.org.au/content.cfm?infopageid=680#alu

Even if that wasn't the case and it was established that there was some probability of one in some astronomical figure that it would exert some effect on me I'd still be completely unperturbed. It's about perspective. I can't with any sense smoke anything, meddle with dopaminergic pathways that have Parkinson's at one end and schizophrenia type symptoms at the other, cross traffic with a speed in access of 40mph, and a whole bunch of other good stuff, and then worry about this. It's disproportionate. And if I ever see a Bloated Gessler of a survivalist, overweight, chain smoking, and whose idea of effort is to do a 5 mile dayhike on his quad, rejecting aluminum because of this whilst digging in against a zombie attack with his HEST I'll laugh in his face. I believe a far better health choice would be to retain the aluminum and get out and run a few miles every morning. Of course that would require something active rather than passive so it's just more convenient to focus on the aluminum.

I've never used aluminum domestically apart from baking tins, there's no need, but it is brilliant in the outdoors.

 

[Toucan Oasis]

A lot of the Scandanavian countries have outlawed the use of Aluminum for home and commercial use. They have done a ton of more studies then we have.
I will play it safe and not use the stuff except for occasionally on a camping trip. Most of my camp cook wear is stainless but my big pot is aluminum.
Oldman/Marty Simon

That's because they are intelligent realists..........and.they don't have Alcoa wining and dining their govt "officials".:grumpy:

It also reacts somewhat with toxic water. Fluoridated water.
Fluoride is a byproduct of aluminum production. That's why it wound up in tooth paste and water throughout the states. Even the beloved Prozac, apparently.
It has nothing at all to do with dental health. That's just another lie.
Reality can be scary.
http://www.webelements.com/fluorine/

http://www.greaterthings.com/Lexicon/F/Fluoride.htm

Sorry for the rant.

 

[hollowdweller]

According to www.alzheimers.org.au

"the balance of evidence does not seem to support a specific role for aluminium in alzheimers disease".

http://www.alzheimers.org.au/content.cfm?infopageid=680#alu

I was wondering when somebody was going to publish an actual link

Interesting somebody above said titanium has less hot spots than aluminum.

Several pals have titanium pots and I usually do the cooking and at least over an open fire I find the aluminum has less hot spots.

According to Food and Drug Administration FDA, ]"in a worst-case scenario, a person using uncoated aluminum pans for all cooking and food storage every day would take in an estimated 3.5 milligrams of aluminum daily." By contrast, "one antacid tablet can contain 50 milligrams of aluminum or more, and it is not unusual for a person with an upset stomach to consume more than 1,000 milligrams, or 1 gram, of aluminum per day. A buffered aspirin tablet may contain about 10 to 20 milligrams of aluminum." If you use these products, look for aluminum-free antacids and plain, non-buffered aspirin.

Other sources of aluminum exposure include:

table salt which is industrial sodium chloride--use a natural salt instead
baking powder 5 to 70 milligrams of sodium aluminum sulfate per teaspoon and baked goods and packaged baking mixes containing baking powder check your natural food store for aluminum-free baking powder and natural baking mixes and baked goods made with aluminum-free baking powder
antipersirants containing aluminum chlorohydrate again, check your natural food store for aluminum-free deodorants
aluminum beverage cans
aluminum foil
anti-dandruff preparations magnesium aluminum silicate or aluminum lauryl sulfate
feminime douches aluminum salts

A study done by the University of Cincinnati Medical Center showed that using aluminum pots and pans to cook tomatoes doubled the aluminum content of the tomatoes, but still, this was only from 2 to 4 milligrams per serving.

http://www.dld123.com/q&a/index.php?cid=98

 

[zhangmaster12]

i use titanium and stainless cast iorn etc.

1. aluminum hot spots really really bad
2. it has a low melting temp - not good for a camp fire,
3. acidic reactionary
4. really soft material

aluminum should be fine just so long as you keep enough water in it... just like leather.

same with non stick ... im not a huge fan of it , but its fine if you cook in it ... but its so easy to over heat it and off gas it. not to mention eatting nommy teflon chips.

Truth! I melted an Alu pot in my camp fire once.

 

[C_Kyle]

Is this really an issue anyone needs to worry about? Seriously, who cares what health problems you have from whatever when your 90 years old? It's time to die anyways. No, I don't want to live one second past the point where I can't fully have control over my life 100%.

 

[redpoint]

the problem with using aluminum cookware, is when one cooks ACIDIC foods, like pasta sauce etc etc. The acidic foods leach off aluminum from the pan.

one of the studies at the UBC Alzheimers clinic, was measuring just how much soluble aluminum leached off during cooking. They tested many different foods and the aluminum count with acidic foods was off the charts. The older the cooking pot was, the worse the leaching. Older people tend to hang onto their cooking ware, as most of them went thru the Depression era, as a result the cookware is worn, pitted and they use it every day.

occasional camp users might not ever see a health problem.......but why chance it when there is so many ultralight SS and ti pots for CHEAP out there?

Couldn't agree more!

Occasional use, I wouldn't worry. I have titanium, s/s, and aluminum pots [though are teflon coated] for backcountry use. That said, having just watched my mother in law desperately struggle with the HELL that is Alzheimer's [early onset], I'll do anything to avoid it. Stainless w/ copper @ home for me. When you think about it, most of the people who are suffering from Alzheimer's now probably spent decades eating food prepared in aluminum cookware. Just like everything in life, it's Russian Roulette ... smoking is known to be a leading cause of lung cancer, but plenty of people who've smoked 3 packs a day live to 97!? Plenty don't too ...

 

[Trent Rock]

One of the primary movers behind the "aluminum is deadly" rumors was one Howard J. Force, a self-proclaimed chemist who cranked out ominously-titled pamphlets such as Poisons Formed by Aluminum Cooking Utensils and Are You Heading for the Last Round-Up? Force profited from selling his scare literature both to a frightened public and to the makers and sellers of stainless steel pots and pans, earthenware kitchen utensils, and other
non-aluminum products.
http://www.snopes.com/movies/actors/valentino.asp
Second, researchers found aluminum in plaques present in the brains of people who had suffered from Alzheimer's. These plaques are associated with lesions of the brain that contain amyloid protein, which is thought to damage nerve cells and thereby cause Alzheimer's. Unfortunately, these findings were again compromised by contamination. The plaques are 'sticky'; the water used to wash the tissue to prepare for staining included some aluminum. When the tissue was processed using more sophisticated analytical methods, or when more accurate measures of aluminum content in the Alzheimer's-diseased brain were used, no excess aluminum was found. In addition, studies of the total amount of aluminum in the body of patients with Alzheimer's Disease show no increase in aluminum concentrations as compared to healthy individuals.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=is-there-any-proof-that-a

 

[GWashington1732]

I wouldn't worry about it. No one has any clue what causes Alzheimers. I could say ham and cheese sandwiches cause it with about as much certainty.