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Containers: the Devil in the Detail

If you want clients to renew their program with you again and again, you’ve got to set yourself apart from other practitioners.  Many of our clients and patients are already quite savvy about wellness.   What can you share with them that they don’t already know?  They want us to present them with interesting, empowering, and surprising wellness topics on a regular basis.   But this shouldn’t put pressure on you because in truth, you already know plenty of information to meet this need.  Sometimes the best choices – and what our clients most need to learn – aren’t complicated topics but rather fundamental basics that we have simply overlooked or assumed a client already understood.  Don’t assume.  Educate, confirm, and empower!

Check out this quick clinical tip video.  Is my client’s daily consumption of 3-4 cans of seltzer water why his blood pressure hasn’t come down in response to his other, dramatic lifestyle choices?  We will soon see!  This study is great fodder to share with your clients.  It’s well-designed and particularly provocative in highlighting the huge increase in urinary bisphenol-A (BPA) excretion and a relatively rapid increase in blood pressure, simply in response to drinking a single beverage from a can.  (And Yes, this was a randomized, blind, placebo-controlled test; the results were very clear)  Imagine the impact of repetitive, daily consumption!  We already know that BPA (and many of its “replacement cousins” such as bisphenol-S) are strong estrogen mimickers which have hormone-like effects in the body.

Even a client who is consuming all organic, whole, natural foods (and prioritizing wellness in their life in so many other areas) can still make the mistake of overlooking toxicity risks in packaging.  I have been surprised by this many times.  I coach my clients to avoid food in cans as much as possible for regular, home use and especially for beverages.   I also coach them to avoid using plastics for reheating and storage of food.  I am a big fan of glass storage containers; they can go from refrigerator to counter to toaster oven or stovetop.  Recent studies have shown a strong association between phthalates  and an increase in blood pressure and insulin resistance  in children.  These latter studies are just associations (and more investigations are needed with the same control parameters as the BPA one above), but the consistency of the connections at such a young age is alarming.

If you have any follow-up questions, please feel free to post below.  I am happy to help you!

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P.S.  If you are passionate about transforming healthcare through the power of functional medicine, we encourage you to learn more about our training program here.

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