Category: Nutrition

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A good breakfast

Just a quick post to illustrate what a good breakfast can look like:

A good breakfast
A good breakfast

What you see above is eight egg whites scrambled with some pepper and other herbs, some leftover dirty rice from last night’s dinner and a few blackberries. Lots of protein, some good carbs and some micronutrients from the berries to top things off. (Generally speaking, the darker the fruit the more it has in the way of antioxidants and so on. Blackberries are great for that—they have a class of antioxidants called anthocyanins that, in addition to a host of other benefits, can help reduce inflammation. And that translates into healthier tendons.)

Depending on your goals, you might want to add a little more protein to the meal. An egg white has about three grams of protein, so eight of them comes out to 24 grams total. I personally like to get at least 30g of protein in each of my five meals, so I’d probably add half a scoop of a veggie protein powder (10g) to make sure I’m covered.

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Eating for tendon health

Some things are good for preventing tendon issues, and some things are good for fixing them. Nutrition is one area that’s good for both, so eating for tendon health is really essential.

I consider breakfast the most important meal of the day. And when I coach people for personal training and fitness, the first step on the nutrition side is something I call GOMER. GOMER stands for Get One MEal Right. The idea is to get one meal exactly right every day. And the meal I generally start with is—you guessed it—breakfast.

Eating for physique purposes is generally pretty straightforward: each meal should contain a lean protein source and some type of fiber. In practice this usually means something like a chicken breast and a cup or so of salad.

If you’re doing sports, the equation changes. You’ll want to add in some carbohydrates, especially if you’re doing any kind of low intensity endurance work like distance running. The exact amount of carbs will vary depending on your training schedule and what you’re trying to accomplish.

But eating for tendon health is a little more complicated. You definitely still need protein, because tendons are made of collagen and collagen is built from protein. But you also want to limit inflammation as much as possible, and meat—which is where most people get their protein—does tend to increase inflammation in the body.

So what’s the solution?

Studies have clearly shown that a plant-based diet is superior to one that includes a lot of animal-based food. And if you are going to eat animal stuff, fish (pescatarian) and dairy (lacto-ovo vegetarian) present a better “inflammation option” than red meat.

Now, I don’t expect anyone to make the switch to vegan/vegetarian just based on this blog post. I myself still eat a fair amount of animal-based food. But it does make sense to increase one’s plant-based choices where possible.

One easy switch is to use a plant-based protein powder (if you use protein powder at all). Another is to use egg whites more than yolks, to substitute tofu for one meat meal, and so on. There are plenty of small changes you can make to start tipping the inflammation scales in your favor.

So in that vein, I present the first part of the breakfast I had this morning:

Eggs and apple
Egg whites and half an apple

It consisted of nine egg whites and one yolk, along with half an apple. (Yes, I took a bite out of the apple before I took the picture. I was hungry.) Later on, I had a protein shake:

Altogether that added up to a little over fifty grams of protein, with a little fiber thrown in to help things along. About half the meal was plant-based, and the animal-based other half was from relatively benign sources. So all in all, a win for the morning.

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Post-workout nutrition

People who spend a lot of time in gyms know about the importance of post-workout nutrition. But they usually only think about how it affects their muscles (and sometimes their bodyfat).

However, that insulin spike your get shunts nutrients into all sorts of areas that need it…including your tendons. Sports nutrition researchers know this (see this article on post-workout nutrition and its effects on various types of tissue for one example) and have tried various nutritional interventions to see what yields the best results.

Unfortunately, not much can really be said for sure when it comes to tendons. We know pretty well what causes muscles to recover best: a 2:1 mix of fast-absorbing carbs and protein, plus some BCAAs thrown in for good measure. But muscles recover quickly. In younger subjects, 48-72 hours is generally all it takes, so scientists can see results in a short amount of time. Tendons, on the other hand, take a while.

Like, months. Lots of months.

So it’s hard to determine results, and hard to say anything for sure. But it makes sense that what’s good for muscles is also good for the structures that support muscles. Muscles are mainly composed of protein; tendons are made of collagen, which is made from protein. So aside from just general good nutrition that avoids excess inflammation and provides you with the correct building blocks to maintain your body in good condition, a good post-workout shake and meal are good ideas. And the older you are in terms of training age, the shorter your window is to get that post-workout shake down. Younger, less trained athletes have a couple of hours, but us older folks only have about 45-60 minutes before the window closes.

So if you’re engaging in stressful training and are over the age of forty, I recommend having your post-workout shake more or less immediately after training. (Personally, I start drinking mine even before I’m done.) And then have a regular meal filled with starchy carbs and a good lean protein source (not too much fat if you can help it) about forty-five minutes to an hour later.

Post-workout nutrition
Post-workout sushi
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Eating to repair tendons

I want to talk a little bit about how you need to eat if you have a tendon issue. Eating to repair tendons isn’t that difficult, but you do need to focus on a couple of important points. First and foremost, tendons are composed of protein, so you need to make sure that you’re getting enough of that macronutrient in your diet. And two, it’s a really good idea to have a few excess calories each day as well.

Extra calories? But won’t that make me fat?
Yes, extra calories will mean that you’re going to put on a bit of extra weight. But let’s keep the end goal in mind. You have a tendon problem, and if it’s tendonosis (as opposed to tendonitis) the tendon has been damaged. In order to repair it, you’d be well advised to eat a little—a little, mind you—over your normal caloric level. Being in a caloric deficit makes it much harder for the body to allocate resources for repair, because it necessarily means taking energy away from something else that needs to be done. If you’re eating a little extra, though, there’s no problem. Your body can keep everything going along smoothly and make the required repairs at the same time. Basically, there’s enough to go around.

It’s the same story with protein. Protein provides the building blocks for almost everything in your body, and most people honestly don’t get enough in their diet. I give specific recommendations in my book, but basically if you’re trying to heal a tendon you need to eat a lot of the stuff.

Here’s an example of a good meal. (It’s good basic nutrition no matter what the circumstances, but especially if you’re trying to repair your tendons.)

A good, tendon-healthy breakfast

Let’s break it down:

First, there is a lot of protein in this meal. One scoop of the powder has 24 grams, and each of the six egg whites (I think I might have eaten a couple before I took the shot) has 3g apiece. That’s a total of 42g…and I’m going to eat another five meals with the same amount through the day. That’s a total of over 200g of protein, and I weigh about 180-185lbs (or 82-84kgs). In other words, more than one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. I challenge you to keep track of what you eat on a typical day and see if you’re getting that much yourself.

Second, most of the meal is plant-based. I am not a vegan or vegetarian by any means, but there is no question that eating a plant-based diet reduces inflammation in the body. And too much inflammation will only hurt your tendons. So everything except the egg whites is from a plant, including the protein powder.

Third, this breakfast has a lot of carbs for energy. Energy is required for repair. And if you work a normal schedule, carbs are processed best at two points during the day: first thing in the morning and immediately after you exercise. I do eat salads and such with my other meals, because fiber is important, but I limit starches like oatmeal and especially sugary fruits (like the raisons you see) to mornings and within an hour of working out.

So there you have it. An example of a meal that will go a long way toward giving you the building blocks necessary to heal your tendons up quickly. If you want more specific recommendations, along with a program designed to help put your body back in order in the shortest amount of time as possible, you can check out my sales page here.

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Review of LMNT electrolyte drink

I recently ordered a variety pack of LMNT and tried them out. LMNT tries to provide a sports drink that gives you good electrolyte replacement without any sugar, and they do a pretty good job of accomplishing that.

LMNT electrolyte drink

The order that I liked the flavors, from most to least, was: raspberry salt, orange salt, mango chili, chocolate salt. I did *not* like the lemon habanero. It was way too spicy for a drink that should be cooling you down, but maybe if you like spicy stuff it would be okay. And I found the citrus salt to be basically undrinkable. (They also give you one unflavored packet so that you can mix it with something on your own.)

But the others were all right. I think that LMNT has taken a really good idea (a non-sugar sports drink) and done it with excellent execution on the business side. Shipping was super fast, the packets themselves are slickly designed and sturdy if you want to take some with you on a trip or for outdoor sports. The price is significantly higher than other drinks in this category, but I’m willing to pay extra for a superior product. And I did feel better when I was drinking them vs my regular gym drink.

LMNT electrolyte drink variety pack

The only real issue is the taste. It’s not bad…but it’s not really good either. Of course, the whole point of a drink like this is that you don’t want a lot of sugar, but just having saltiness plus some kind of non-sugar flavoring doesn’t *quite* make it IMO. I would suggest that LMNT add some stevia or other sweetener — not a lot, just a bit — and try for something a little more palatable. It would be the difference between a drink that you know would be good to take with you to the gym and a drink that you really *want* to take with you to the gym.

All that said, if you suffer from any kind of inflammation (like tendonitis, for example…) LMNT could be a great addition to your nutritional strategy. Less sugar means less inflammation and better health, pure and simple. So if you have an issue with inflammation, I recommend that you try one of their variety packs. You only pay for shipping, which even for international orders isn’t much. Here’s a link to their website if you want to get some.

LMNT electrolyte drink variety pack

And the usual disclaimer: I have no financial or other interest in LMNT whatsoever.

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Review of EAA Sleep from Primeval Labs

Most of the supplements fall into two categories: ones that don’t work (99% of what’s being sold) and those that do work, but everyone already knows about (like creatine). I’m starting an occasional series about that last 1%: supplements that work but that not everyone knows about (yet).

Today I want to talk about Primeval Labs’ EAA Sleep. Like the name suggests, it’s a supplement that’s designed to help you fall asleep. Unlike most sleep aids, though, this one actually seems to be effective. My wife has trouble falling asleep, and it really helps her. Almost as important is a sort of negative evidence: I normally have no trouble falling asleep whatsoever, and when I take EAA Sleep it actually messes me up a little, and makes it harder.

So something is definitely going on. The knock-you-out ingredients in EAA Sleep are as follows: GABA, L-Theanine, 5-HTP and melatonin. I’m not going to go into all the chemistry here, but I will say that the combination of ingredients, in the proportions used in this supplement, seem to be much more effective than any of the ingredients by themselves. My wife, for example, has tried different dosages of 5-HTP and melatonin (separately) at different times. Neither did much for her. But the four together will knock her out in about 20-30 minutes.

Primeval Labs has included some other stuff as well. Since they are primarily a bodybuilding supplement company, they’ve put a good dose of both branch-chain and essential amino acids in, as well as magnesium. This is to help stimulate muscle recovery and growth, which mainly happens during sleep. I have no idea whether it would also help with tendon repair, but it couldn’t hurt.

One thing, though, is certain. If you have trouble sleeping, any problem with your body, tendons included, is going to take longer to heal. Most people know by now that repair and recovery take place in two places: at the table and in bed. What you eat and your quality and quantity of sleep are going to make a big difference in how quickly you can shake off an injury or get rid of inflammation.

I talk about nutrition in Target Tendonitis, but sleep is something I haven’t addressed until now. This is mainly because sleep issues can be very different from person to person, and what works for one person often has no effect on another. But I’ve recommended EAA Sleep to quite a few people now, and virtually all of them have reported good results. So I feel confident endorsing it. If you want to order some, here’s a link.

Disclaimer: I don’t have sort of financial relationship with Primeval Labs, and I’m not receiving any sort of compensation for this endorsement. I just think that EAA Sleep is a good product.

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Dieting for tendonitis

I make the point in Target Tendonitis that it’s not the best idea to be on a restrictive diet when you’re trying to rehabilitate a tendon. Ideally, you want a surplus of nutrients available to fix things up, not force your body to choose how to allocate resources between repair projects. Basically, dieting for tendonitis is a bad idea.

I’m not against dieting per se, though. What you eat is supremely important to your health, and various diets are great for accomplishing various goals. It doesn’t all have to be fat loss all the time.

I myself have been dieting (almost fasting) fairly frequently for the past few months. Although I’m definitely carnivorous, I do a five-day long, full-vegan “week” every month and a half or so. During these times, I go down to less than a thousand calories a day, almost totally eliminate protein, throw myself into ketosis, and generally just exist on thin soups and crackers. (You can read about a representative week here if you want.)

Why go through all that trouble? Well, this particular diet accomplishes a number of things. One, you lose a little belly fat each time around…and it tends to stay off. Two, satellite cell production is increased. Nice for us older folks. Three, it’s a break from the regular eating schedule. Four, depending on how you set things up, you can often save money. And five, there’s good evidence that it can increase longevity.

So there are a lot of benefits. But one thing I don’t do during these times is work out with my normal volume and intensity. While I will still generally hit the gym, I only do one or two sets of any given exercise, and I don’t go all-out or anything close to it. I’ll generally use about 85-90% of my normal weight and leave a couple of reps in the hole. These workouts are just to help preserve muscle mass and accelerate fat loss. In other words, I’m using exercise to increase the positive effects of the diet, not build new muscle.

I also don’t try to rehabilitate anything if I have an injury. In fact, if I’m injured and am planning on rehabbing it, I’ll hold off on the diet week until I’m finished.

The bottom line is, your body needs nutrients for both building and repair. The best rehab program in the world will fail if the right building blocks aren’t available. So while I’m pro-diet for a lot of conditions, long-term tendon issues (which are almost always tendonosis, not tendonitis) aren’t among them.

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Carbon steel: One more entry into the cookware sweepstakes

A little while ago I posted about the various options for non-stick frying pans that people who don’t have lots of money to spend could reasonably purchase. (That post is here if you want to read it.) Although I listed most of the best choices, a chef friend pointed out that I forgot one very important entry: carbon steel.

Carbonized steel is basically like cast iron. It has all the same cooking properties, you have to season it to get the best use and so on, but there is one very important difference: it weighs about thirty-five to forty percent less. If you’re looking for a novel way to strengthen your wrists and forearms, you might want to get the cast iron. But probably most people will opt for carbon steel. It will certainly be less stress on your tendons.

After looking at a few options, I decided to take my friend’s advice and get a carbon steel pan to cook eggs with in the morning. I went to Amazon and after reading the reviews chose a Lodge 12-inch skillet.

I ordered the pan from Amazon and received it within a few days. It was as described, but one thing that surprised me was how rough the surface felt. I couldn’t quite believe that it was going to be non-stick, but what do I know? I seasoned it a couple of times on the stove and then used it to cook my usual morning eggs. I’m happy to say that the pan worked pretty well, and now that I’ve used and seasoned it a few more times, it works great. This really is a piece of cookware that will last a lifetime if you treat it correctly, and now it’s my go-to pan for eggs. It has replaced my ceramic pan for breakfast. I now use the old ceramic pan (which is still good) for stuff other than eggs, especially anything like fried rice that’s going to be really sticky.

In the final analysis, what really what separates carbon steel (or cast iron, for that matter) from all the other low- to medium-priced options out there is durability. Unlike, say, ceramic pans, which have coatings that will eventually start to chip and flake no matter how carefully you care for them, iron and steel will always work. All you have to do is keep them seasoned and they’ll not only perform better as the years go by, they can always be rejuvenated if you somehow mess up and let the finish deteriorate. If it starts to rust, for example, scrubbing with a little salt and olive oil will remove the rust in a natural way. Then just season it again and you’re good to go.

Of course, no solution is perfect. With an iron pan, as I mentioned in the previous post with cast iron, you’re going to get a little more iron in your diet than you would otherwise. Some tiny bits will come off into your food, and you will ingest them. This is not a possibility; it is your unavoidable destiny. And it’s especially true if you use one of those steel wool scrubbers to clean your pan.

Why does this matter? Well, there is something called “over-mineralization”, and it’s actually a thing. Over-mineralization is one theory of aging, and basically it holds that the reason men die earlier than women in any culture is that they tend to accumulate more minerals in their bodies (in particular, iron and calcium) than women do. Why? Because for half their lives or so women bleed regularly, thus ridding their bodies of a large amount of minerals each month. Over-mineralization also offers at least one explanation for why vegetarian diets and calorie restriction both prolong lives: obviously, if you’re eating only plants and/or eating less, you will accumulate fewer minerals than you would otherwise.

So if you do decide to buy either a cast iron or carbon steel pan, and you are either (a) male or (b) female past the age of menopause, it would be a good idea to donate blood every month or two in order to get rid of some of the mineral build-up that will occur otherwise. It would be a good idea anyway, frankly, but especially if you use iron-based cookware.

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Maintaining tendon health past age forty

So in Part 1 of this article, I talked a bit about how to maintain (or even develop) muscle tissue past the age of forty. If you haven’t read that post, you might want to check it out. But this is mainly a tendon blog, and while maintaining muscle mass and strength should definitely be a priority as we get older, so is maintaining tendon health past age forty. So now it’s time to talk about the tendons, and below are some useful tips.

Make use of static holds to develop tendon strength along with more muscle.

Tendons take a lot longer than muscles to adapt. Like 200-210 days or so, even in younger athletes. Who knows what it is in older ones (I haven’t seen any good studies), but it’s a safe bet that the process takes even longer. Contrast this with how long it takes for muscles to really recover; even in older athletes, a serious 1RM maximal attempt will “only” take a month or so to completely recover from. The end result is: you can build muscle strength a lot faster than your tendons can adapt…at any age.

Static holds are one way to get around this problem. With a static hold – meaning that you just take the weight of whatever you’re lifting and hold it in one position (usually, but not always, the start position) of an exercise you can take an additional load onto your tendons without subjecting them to the full range (and stretch) of motion of the exercise. The end result is that the tendons start to adapt but you don’t run nearly as much risk of injury.

Anyone can hold quite a bit more weight than they can actually lift through the full range of motion of an exercise, but don’t use this fact to go wild with this technique. I generally recommend static holds at about 105-110% of one’s 1RM for best tendon strengthening results. Any higher than that and you start running more risk of injury…with no concomitant gain in results.

Also, I wouldn’t do this training more than once a week or so.

Avoid inflammation as much as possible

This means cleaning up your diet, first and foremost. By now, pretty much everyone knows that fruits and vegetables are good for you and will help reduce inflammation. Other than that, whole grains, fatty fish and nuts are good choices. You can also get additional anti-inflammatory effects by drinking green tea (and maybe coffee as well, but the jury’s still out) and a glass or so of red wine per day.

It also means avoiding certain foods, the most common of which are refined carbohydrates. Bread in particular is bad, but so are pastries and stuff like kiddie breakfast cereals. You can throw out other delicious treats like french fries and sodas as well. And limiting red meat (if you like) wouldn’t hurt either.

Inflammation is a precursor to a whole host of diseases, which is a fancy way of saying that if you eat enough of the bad foods above, sooner or later you’re going to pay for it. So as you get older, take a tip from Coach Dan John (one of the most sensible voices in fitness) and just start eating like an adult. Seriously. Just do it.

Finally, supplements like PQQ, curcumin and spirolina are all good choices to help limit inflammation while at the same time not interfering with your immune system too much. (Yes, it can be an issue.) Fish oil and krill oil are also good, but don’t go overboard with either. You can limit fish oil to about 3g/day and not suffer from immune problems (there isn’t a lot of human research on krill oil yet, but krill oil’s effects are more powerful than fish oil’s, so the limit should probably be less, maybe 2g/day), but above that level you start running a risk of compromised T-cells and other issues.

Vary your routine.

Maybe the most common mistake I see people make in the gym is not varying their routine. And older athletes are especially prone to this. They’ll get a routine they like and fall in love with it, make some decent progress for a month…and then use that same routine for the next year and a half. And the only reason they stop using it is because they get injured.

If you’ve been training for any length of time – and if you’re over 40 you’re probably in this category – you should be changing your routine up at least every two months. Failing to do so results in a much higher probability of getting into pattern overload, which is a fancy way of saying that if you stress your body too much or too often in the same way, at the same angle, you’re going to get injured. If you do barbell bench presses all the time and never do dips, or incline press, or dumbbell press, or close-grips, you’re stressing your pecs, shoulders and triceps in exactly the same way over and over and over again. The angle is the same, the groove is the same, and the weight just keeps going up. So you become ripe for injury.

Alternatively, you can rotate between the above exercises and not have to worry too much about one particular line of stress. Note that I said “rotate between”, not “add”. I’m a firm believer in doing just one major exercise (especially if it’s some a variant of a pressing movement) per bodypart as we get older. Of course you can do some accessory work as well, but that should be in a different rep range (ie, not as heavy as your major lift). I definitely am against the frat-boy workout, which, if you don’t know, is five or ten sets of bench press, followed by five sets of incline press, followed by 4-5 sets of decline press, followed by 3-4 sets of dumbbell flyes…usually done three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Save stretching for after you’re done exercising.

Use foam rolling before. And don’t stretch too much between sets. This has nothing to do with tendons; it’s simply a sensible precaution to take because if you stretch too much between sets, especially heavy sets, you increase your risk of tearing a muscle quite a bit. Yes, I know; lots of pro bodybuilders say it’s good for your pump. That’s fine – let the genetic freaks do whatever they like. For the rest of us mortals, stretching between sets is asking for trouble.

Don’t warm up with endless repetitions.

Every rep you perform is one more mile on the body, so to speak, and too many reps are not only unnecessary, they’re actually counter-productive. I personally only do about 3-5 reps on really light sets (anything less than about 60% of my one rep maximum, or 1RM for short, on that exercise), 2-3 reps up to about 85% 1RM, and then only single reps above that point. If you’ve been doing a 1970s olde schoole Arnold Schwarzenegger type warm-up, starting out with 10 or more reps for your light sets and pyramiding up from there, give my way a try and see what you think.

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Healthy cookware and water bottles

This post doesn’t have anything to do with tendon pain specifically, but I figured I’d give my thoughts on what sort of cookware is best to use. Because what you put into your body matters, and any additional stress can, in fact, make other conditions (like tendonopathies) become that much easier to fall into.

Okay, so let’s get to it. I’m going to tackle the big one first: teflon. My opinion is: don’t use it. Ever.

While the jury’s still out on the effects of teflon and PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid, which can actually kill any pet birds you might have around), I just can’t imagine why anyone would want to take any chance at all with their health when there are cheap cookware alternatives that have absolutely no questions or qualms associated with them. I mean really. You want teflon flaking off in your food? I sure don’t.

Yes, teflon is cheap and pretty much ubiquitous. So what? So is gasoline, and I don’t see too many people putting that into their bodies. Your health is your most important asset, and cookware is not the place to make the quick-and-easy decision.

Anyway, no teflon. Let’s look at the alternatives…

Stainless steel is a pretty good choice. It’s more or less indestructible, you can buy it in most cookware stores, and it looks good in the kitchen. However, unless you get surgical-grade stainless steel, there is a possibility (probability, really) that some of the chrome and nickel in the cookware will bleed out into your food over time. Also, even a normal-grade SS set (like this All-Clad one on Amazon) will set you back a lot of money. And you more or less have to deglaze the pan right after you cook stuff, which is kind of a hassle. But it does look good in the kitchen…

Copper is the standard for professional kitchens, but costs a lot. Also, copper can leach into your food, too. Unless you really just have to have it, there are cheaper alternatives.

Cast iron is great. There is evidence that some can come off in food, but iron isn’t a problem for menstruating women at all, and isn’t for men if they are either deficient in iron to begin with or give blood regularly. So if you’re a guy who cooks with cast iron a lot, look into your local blood-drive groups and get in touch with one. It’s a nice thing to do all on its own (hey, you might save a life), and in terms of selfish reasons, one of the leading theories about why people age has to do with the build-up of metals in the human body. Among these, iron is a prime suspect; one theory about why women generally live longer than men holds that it’s because women regularly purge a lot of the iron from their systems during menstruation.

Aluminum: bad idea, especially if Alzheimer’s runs in your family. Sure, aluminum is everywhere. It’s one of the most common chemicals around, and aluminum cookware companies take the stance of “Hey, you’re getting it anyway, and the amount that comes from cookware isn’t really much of the total.” This is very true, but why would you add anything at all to the total when you don’t have to? Much like running a risk with teflon, it just doesn’t make sense to add even incremental amounts when there are safe alternatives.

Ceramic pans are a good middle ground, and what I personally use at home most of the time. (I do use a cast iron skillet for stuff like hamburgers, which absorb less iron from the skillet for some reason…maybe less surface contact and shorter cooking time versus a stir-fry or something.) Ceramic cookware has a lot of pluses. It’s relatively cheap, and will become cheaper over the long haul because you don’t need dish soap to clean the stuff (in fact, soap is not supposed to be used at all; just scrub with hot water and a stiff non-metal brush). It will also basically last until you break it. There are no real health concerns in the USA, where lead and cadmium have been phased out of the manufacturing process. (However, if you see a ceramic pan that says “Not for food preparation”, you would do well to obey the label!)

Be sure not to use metal utensils when cooking with any of the above, so as not to damage the finish of the pan. I like wood or bamboo spatulas myself, preferring them over the plastic models because there always seems to be a new study coming out about how some plastic that was thought to be safe suddenly isn’t. And then some are rated okay at certain temperatures but not others… It’s too much of a hassle to try to remember all that, so I just avoid the whole thing. Bamboo and wood have both been used for millennia and no problems reported. I’ll take that safety record.

On a related note, plastic water bottles are not the best solution. I know, I know, they’re everywhere and it’s more or less impossible not to drink out of one if you buy any kind of drink from a convenience store or vending machine. But in order to limit damage, I ordered myself a glass drinking bottle for home use (which accounts for probably 70-80% of my total water intake). There are no carcinogen issues with glass; it’s been used for decades and the only real danger was that you might drop it and break the thing. With modern strengthening methods, though, even that has been addressed. I have a Soma water bottle that cost about thirty bucks and works great. Furthermore, it’s nice to look at and feels good in my hand. If you’re still using an old plastic bottle, do yourself a favor and get something that will make both you and your kitchen look better.

Healthy water bottle