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Plastic Water Bottles Lower Testosterone

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For over a decade we have known not to heat or microwave plastic, as heating plastic causes the release of xenoestrogens.

What are xenoestrogens?

Xenoestrogens are a type of xenohormone that imitates estrogen. They can be either synthetic or natural chemical compounds. Synthetic xenoestrogens are widely used industrial compounds, such as PCBs, BPA and phthalates, which have estrogenic effects on a living organism even though they differ chemically from the estrogenic substances produced internally by the endocrine system of any organism.

Xenoestrogens are clinically significant because they can mimic the effects of endogenous estrogen and thus have been implicated in precocious puberty and other disorders of the reproductive system.

As we live in a polluted world, xenoestrogens are everywhere. They are unavoidable. Because you can’t avoid xenoestrogens (they are in all plastics like televisions, computers, and phones), it doesn’t make a lot of sense to worry about them.

But.

There’s no need to increase your body’s toxic load.

Plastic Water Bottles are Estrogenic

People have long suspected that plastic water bottles were estrogenic, that is, they increased estrogen and lowered levels. The problem is much worse than most expected.

Using an optimized sample preparation strategy, we furthermore present data on the estrogenic activity of bottled water from France, Germany, and Italy: eleven of the 18 analyzed water samples (61.1%) induced a significant estrogenic response

See, “Endocrine disruptors in bottled mineral water: estrogenic activity in the E-Screen.”

In other words, it wasn’t any one brand of bottled water that was estrogenic. Nearly every bottled water screwed up your male endocrine system.

That makes sense when you consider how water reaches your store shelves. The water starts out at a bottling plant. It’s loaded into shipping containers that often reach temperatures above 140 degrees. The water is then drive cross-country through hot states like Arizona.

From bottler to shelf, estrogens are released.

Since a lot of tap water is disgusting, what’s the solution?

Are Brita Water Filters BPA Free or Estrogenic?

Fortunately many companies recognize the menace of xenoestrogens – or at least they recognize the market demand for estrogen-free products:

  • Mavea Elemaris XL Water Filtration Pitcher (here) is BPA-free.
  • Brita Grand 80-Ounce Water Filtration Pitcher (here) is also BPA-free.

I am also going to install a water filter on my sink. I am currently researching the best ones and will report back with my results.

Read next: Testosterone Replacement Therapy.

 

  • NYCBachelor

    Industial Sodium Fluoride dumped into the water supply has been proven to inhibit brain neuron function and new synapse formation as well. If you get a few filter you should make sure that it filters out fluoride as well.

    • Danger & Play

      This is the one my research has led to me. What do you think? http://www.purewaterproducts.com/model77.htm

    • glichman

      I have just been reading how fluoride accumulates/calcifes the pineal gland resulting in lower levels of melatonin. Quote ‘ Some have also linked the function of the pineal gland to extrasensory abilities naming among them intuition, discernment, psychic awareness and expanded mind capacity.’

      Going to look into this further and find a water filter which catches all. I’m leaning to reverse osmosis.

  • NYCBachelor

    Another potent xenoestrogen to avoid is soy. There are documented cases of guys developing bitch tits from “excessive” soy consumption (in one case as little as a quart of soy milk a day). Most vegetarian imitation products (fake chicken, Turkey, whatever) are also made of soy so avoid these like the plauge.

  • samseau

    Great post

  • derthal

  • My now experiment is to cut out the microwaving of two of my meals every day. Heating it up in the pan takes five more minutes, but I believe soon the results will start kicking in.

    The kicker in this was a conversation I had with a nutrition expert that claims whole grains are a must, baby formula (in finland) is a must, and microwaving is safe. At some point, forgot the exact topic, but it was about child diabetes, she says “yes, we give them microwaved xxx, because microwaving changes the protein structure and so does not cause a reaction in the kids”…

    So, no more microwaving. In my second week.

    Your post now has made me decide to buy few more glass food containers instead of the plastics I mostly use, and store the food in them; and get a bpa free shaker.

    Next step would be to stop using the kettle and boil my tea water in the pan.

    For example this may seem an extra effor, but it is not. After heating the food, and cleaning the pan, put water in the pan and let it on the stove, while eating the food.

    So many things that are called inconveniances can be solved by simple tricks like this.

  • Interesting. Reading further from that same study, it goes on to say that “The relative proliferative effects ranged from 19.8 to 50.2% corresponding to an estrogenic activity of 1.9 – 12.2 pg estradiol equivalents per liter bottled water”.

    According to the Wikipedia article on Estradiol, the average male naturally has anything between 14 – 55 pg (picogram – trillionth of a gram) of Estradiol per millilitre of blood. Assuming an adult male has roughly 5 litres of blood, then this corresponds to a minimum total amount of 70,000 pg.

    Therefore, at worst, each litre of bottled water can increase your overall Estradiol level by only 0.017%, which would subside again over time – I’m not sure this is anything to be concerned over?

    • proxy

      Nice. I strongly suspect this is right. Too minor a dose.

      • Deepthinker80

        Yeah that explains why Viagra is flying off the shelf and men’s test levels are dropping.

    • chaka

      Are you serious? I should not worry??

    • FreedomOfThought

      You must consider all sources of “pseudo” estrogens (or, simply put, all sources of estrogens in general [e.g. soy, hops, synthetics, pharmaceuticals]). Ponder this… your water stored in plastics (hot or not [hot’s just much worse]); your wet foods stored in plastics, your condiments and dressings stored in plastics; your canned food lined with plastic, your “paper” milk cartons lined with plastic; the take out you order, since you’re too busy to cook, or whatever, that’s placed–piping hot–in plastic (or–worse yet–styrofoam); your plastic (e.g. polyester) clothes and undergarments; your toiletries, your cosmetics; your plastic blankets, your plastic carpet, your plastic furniture; the plastic laptop you’re in direct contact with for hours at a time, the plastic cell phone you can’t let go of… (I could be here all day). Are you getting the picture?? Then couple all this with fact that BPA has been replaced with BPS. And BPS it is also a xenoestrogen. But the difference with BPS… is that it’s bioaccumulative and BPA is handled by the liver and kidneys (unless you’re like most and are experiencing a toxin overload). THEN, to top it off… most people seem to think it’s some crazy “conspiracy theory” to suggest that we are exposed to all this estrogen, and toxins in general, or they think there’s very little risk in general (since all the companies selling you these toxins deny the truth [or simply state that THEIR product won’t effect you {and, again, THEIR product is but one source of estrogen/toxins}]). Ignorance is bliss… until you die of estrogen/toxin-overload cancer by the age of 40, while being–unknowingly–depressed the whole time. By all means, live that life if you so choose. You have the right to choose that life. The freedom of choice was given to you by none other than God. But… don’t subject your children to this torture; this… slow suicide. If you truly love your children–and yourself–you’d stand up for the truth and stay as far away from these poisons as possible. Enlighten yourselves. We are.

  • Mellow

    There is a recycle symbol on plastic items, a little triangle. It has a number 1 through 7 in the middle. According to an article on Tnation. #3 and#7 contain BPA.

    • tygertgr

      My understanding is all the plastics, even #5, leach estrogen-like compounds when heated.

      I saw some research indicating that the dose of BPA you get from handling thermal paper receipts will dwarf what you get from food! So avoid touching receipts, or at least wash your hands immediately after.

      I think the BPA risk sources in order are receipts (and potentially other industrial materials you might handle depending on your job), canned goods, processed food and ingredients that come in cheap plastic, and then water bottles. I avoid the first three so I don’t worry so much about the $10/month water delivery I get. It comes in five gallon #5 jugs and tastes a hell of a lot better than the crap that comes from the tap here.

      The filtration systems, to my understanding, remove minerals from the water, which is bad. The filters are also not cheap and need to be replaced more often than is claimed. I think filters probably lose to delivered purified water, which has minerals added. There’s whatever minor risk the plastic lined tanks or bottles that hold the water got heated up at some point and leached some xenoestrogens. Oh well.

  • David Alexander

    To add to the list, be wary of:

    Phtlates (any colognes or shaving products)
    Shower Curtains
    Air Fresheners (theze suck big time)
    Cleaning Products (Instead use white vinegar baking soda and borax)
    Car Fresheners
    Avoid laptop and cell phones near your balls
    Reverse Osmosis is da best

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  • campofthesaints

    Why don’t I just blast test and tren and run a pct after instead?

  • Baron von Fackenheim

    Alkastream makes an excellent water filter:
    http://www.alkastream.com

    It even removes fluoride (or so the lab tests claim).

    • Danger & Play

      Never thought I’d have sticker shock over a water filter…There’s a first for everything.

    • PeaceMan Peace

      Eh, those alkaline filters are scams. There are plenty of inexpensive RO+fluoride water filters out there.

  • Thor

    Was thinking about doing a post on this too. Good shit. As of now I buy my mineral water in glass bottles from the store and refil them fom the brita when I’m done.

  • I’ve used Brita for a couple of years and I can only advise against that category of filters. I read lab tests conducted in Italy and France which said those filters removed electrolytes (minerals) along with cloride and dangerous metals, but their effectiveness quickly decreases in time, so that towards the end of the life cycle of the filter the overall water quality is worse than tap water. If you plan using it, you should change your filter more often than advertised.

    Also, since the hosmotic filter is always filled with water you should always keep the jug in the fridge to avoid bacteria growth inside of it.

    To me, the only advantage those filters provide is taste. Overall, not a great deal. You can just get used to tap water taste.

  • C1263

    Did you ever determine which filter is optimal? Or is tap water just sufficient. Also, bottled water is a waste of money.

  • C1263

    So what was the verdict? Just found this post. Good stuff.

  • I used to work in a beer distributor and a lady would always come to the store and order water that was marketed as a healthy alternative to water bottles made from plastic. Their water came in glass bottles. Obviously it was more expensive. The lady didn’t want to come into the store for some reason because she was allergic to something. Maybe she was on to something…

  • Deepthinker80

    Yeah its definitely screwed me up. I tried switching to filtered tap water but started getting headaches. I went back to bottled water and they stopped. Im 34 years old and had a t test come back at 160. That test was in the evening so my liberal effeminate doctor said to do another test in the morning when its at its peak. Kinda seems like they try to skew the test results to not give men TRT with that procedure. The second test came back at 300 so he wouldn’t give me TRT even though I said I have all the symptoms of low t. I read your article on TRT and agree that being on the lowest end of normal isnt normal for a 34 yr old. The majority of my life I had no fat without doing cardio. Now I lift weights and have a fairly active job and my gut just keeps growing. I also noticed the lower outside of my pecs are all fat. I don’t do decline bench presses but still it shouldn’t feel like softer than a frickin pillow. Ive also had serious problems with motivation, and ed. The medical industry is so frustrating they’ll give me cialis no problem, but not the thing that would just solve all my health issues. We really live in a free country when a grown man can’t even make his own decisions about what to put in his body. This seems especially true when what he wants to put in his body makes his problems go away. I feel the same about opiates. Maybe heroin shouldn’t be legal but being able to take a percocet when you need one or even smoke opium shouldn’t be an illegal act. Unfortunately we’ve become a nation of ignorance that believes the government has to control every aspect of our lives because they think everyone is as ignorant and immoral as they are.

  • Adam L

    The water at work tastes like crap, so I bring my own in old 2L soda bottles. It doesn’t taste plasticy like water from my camelback. Think this is an issue?