Why you should not use aluminum foil for cooking

The foil is very practical, but can harm the health and even increase the risk of Alzheimer's.

                       

The foil is usually a key in the kitchen: it is used to line forms and avoid dirt and also to standardize the baked cooking, and keep food warm longer. But the practicality of the material does not pay. Combining aluminum foil and heat represents many health risks and has even been linked to Alzheimer's.

Pack cold foods to put in the refrigerator usually has no problem. But the moment the foil goes into the oven, the thing gets tricky. The heat takes aluminum particles to move to the food, which can be quite dangerous.

Excess aluminum and weakens the body affects bone cells, hampering the absorption of calcium, which is accumulating in the blood and hinders the operation of the parathyroid. A hell of a domino effect. The aluminum is also deposited in the brain and scientists have found large amounts of the metal in autopsies of patients with Alzheimer's disease, which suggests a relationship between the aluminum and the disease.

The body can process small amounts of aluminum without absorbing it - because, consume this metal in everything from cheese and tea antacids and antiperspirants medications. The aluminum sulphate is a chemical scrubbers used to make the water potable. All this can be consumed without problems. The WHO considers that it is safe to eat per week, 1 mg per individual weight kilo. That is, a person weighing 60 kg might ingest 60 mg over seven days.

The problem is that the aluminum in the kitchen may be leading people to burst this limit. One of the most well-known studies on the subject, published in the International Journal of Electrochemical Science, analyzed how much aluminum was transferred to the food in the preparation of ground beef in the oven. They noted that the use of acids or spicy seasonings duplicate the dissolution of aluminum. A single portion of meat with tomato sauce and vinegar, for example, resulted in the absorption of the substance 465 mg - almost 8 times higher dose than recommended for someone of 60 kg in a week.

The impact of acidity so much that the ideal is not to pack tomatoes or citrus aluminum, even if they are cold. Another important factor is the cooking time: aluminum release grows exponentially the longer the stay in the oven. This is especially worrisome because, generally, the use of aluminum foil is indicated in recipes that take a long time to bake, because it prevents the outside of the food is cooked faster than the inside.

In addition to paper also usually we use aluminum pans in the kitchen. Concern for them is much lower, because in most cases it is protected by an oxide layer that limits the dissolution of aluminum in food. As we rub the pot, however, that protection is gone. The recommendation in this case is to boil water several times in the pan until the bottom is matte. It may not be as pretty, but according to research from USP,(Brazil), is up to 6 times more safe from contamination by aluminum.