Eating home-cooked meals may be the best way to lower the consumption of chemicals in your food. A study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspective found that the intake of dietary per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) lowers significantly in home-cooked meals. In contrast, people who ate out had higher levels of PFASs in their blood. Interestingly, consumption of microwave popcorn was associated with very high levels of PFASs. [1]
PFASs are associated with many health disorders. They are known as ‘forever chemicals’ because they do not break down in the body, staying with us for life. The research was based on data collected by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The team used dietary recall data to assess the relationship between the source of food and commonly found PFASs.
Consumption of home-cooked food had a significant inverse association with low levels of all chemicals. Interestingly, women showed a stronger association. Higher PFAS concentrations were observed on the consumption of fast food or restaurant meals. However, this was found to be of limited statistical significance. The intake of microwave popcorn significantly increased levels of all five chemicals.
