As we get older, it becomes more apparent just how important it is not to take heart health for granted.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 14.3% of US adults ages 65 to 74 and 24.2% of adults 75 and older have diagnosed heart disease. The number of people with high blood pressure (hypertension) is even more startling. A full 72.8% of men ages 60 to 69 and 64.8% of women ages 60 to 69 have high blood pressure, according to the CDC.
Related: This Popular Dinner Food Could Be Clogging Your Arteries, a Cardiologist Warns
If reversing or avoiding cardiovascular health conditions like these is one of your health goals, you likely already know the basics of eating with heart health in mind. Vegetables, whole grains, plant-based proteins and lean meats make up the bulk of your diet and you no longer season everything with salt the way you perhaps used to.
Certainly, what you eat and drink is hugely important for heart health. But it’s not just what’s on the table that matters. There’s a very high likelihood that a common kitchen staple is in your pantry or fridge that could be increasing your blood pressure and risk for heart disease without you even realizing it.
Related: We Asked 3 Cardiologists About the Best Afternoon Habit for Heart Health, and They All Said the Same Thing
According to a scientific article published in Nature Reviews Cardiology, regular high exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) can cause a sharp increase in blood pressure and inflammation and increase the risk of heart disease.
BPA is an industrial chemical and one way it’s commonly used is to coat the interior of metal cans to prevent corrosion and increase shelf life. That means if you regularly eat foods from BPA-lined cans or drink beverages in BPA-lined cans, you could unknowingly be increasing your risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.
“BPA is an endocrine-disrupting chemical that can impair the normal function of blood vessels. It increases oxidative stress, reduces nitric oxide—the molecule that keeps arteries relaxed—and promotes constriction of vessels. These changes can temporarily increase vascular resistance and blood pressure,” says Dr. Sanjay Rajagopalan, MD, MBA, FACC, FAHA, a cardiologist and a professor of cardiovascular medicine at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine.
To this point, according to a study published in Hypertension, people who consumed beverages in cans with BPA had a urinary concentration of more than 1,600% compared to people who consumed beverages in glass bottles.
On top of that, Dr. Rajagopalan notes that experimental studies suggest BPA can alter calcium handling and electrical signaling in heart cells, potentially leading to abnormal heart rhythms. “Most of this mechanistic evidence comes from laboratory and animal studies, while human evidence remains more limited,” he says.
Related: The Heart-Healthy Habit Cardiologists Say People Quit Way Too Soon
How Much of a Risk Is It?
While scientific research does show a connection between regular BPA exposure and a risk to heart health, it’s important to keep this risk in perspective. “For most people, eating an occasional food from a BPA-lined can is unlikely to cause harm. The concern is with repeated, long-term exposure from multiple sources, particularly in individuals with hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes or kidney disease,” Dr. Rajagopalan says.
There’s still a lot we don’t know about how BPA exposure impacts health. While studies do show that consuming foods and drinks from BPA-lined cans can raise urinary BPA levels and a small increase in blood pressure shortly after consuming, Dr. Rajagopalan explains that whether these short-term changes translate into meaningful long-term cardiovascular risk is still being studied.
“Overall, BPA should be viewed as a modifiable environmental risk factor, not one of the major drivers of cardiovascular disease like smoking, hypertension or high cholesterol,” he says.
?SIGN UP for tips to stay healthy & fit with the top moves, clean eats, health trends & more delivered right to your inbox twice a week?
Besides cans, Dr. Rajagopalan says that other common household items containing BPA include polycarbonate food containers and older reusable plastic bottles, plastic containers exposed to heat and some epoxy coatings used in bottle caps, jar lids and water pipes.
The best way to lower your risk is to use glass instead of plastic whenever possible. “Fortunately, most food and beverage manufacturers have moved away from BPA-containing can linings in the US,” he says.
However, he specifies that “BPA-free” doesn’t always mean risk-free. “Some manufacturers replaced BPA with closely related chemicals such as BPS or BPF, a phenomenon known as ‘regrettable substitution.’ These compounds may have similar endocrine-disrupting properties. The good news is that most modern BPA-free cans now use non-bisphenol coatings, such as polyester, acrylic, olefin or oleoresin-based linings, which appear more promising from a toxicologic standpoint, although long-term human safety data are still evolving,” he tells Parade.
Consuming foods or liquids stored in BPA-lined cans is something to be mindful of, but it bears repeating that its impact on heart health is still much lower than risks, such as smoking or regularly consuming foods or drinks that can raise cholesterol or blood pressure.
Reduce your exposure when you can, but don’t obsess over it. After all, stress is bad for your heart too.
Up Next:
Related: ‘I’m a Cardiologist, and This Is the One Supplement I Actually Take for Heart Health’
Sources
Heart Disease Prevalence. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Older Adult Health. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Gillum Posnack, N. (2021). Plastics and cardiovascular disease.Nature Reviews Cardiology. 18(2):69-70.Dr. Sanjay Rajagopalan, MD, MBA, FACC, FAHA, cardiologist and a professor of cardiovascular medicine at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine.Bae, S. and Hong, Y. C. (2014). Exposure to bisphenol A from drinking canned beverages increases blood pressure: randomized crossover trial. Hypertension. 65(2):313-9.Gillum Posnack, N., Brooks, D., Chandra, A., et al. (2015). Physiological response of cardiac tissue to bisphenol a: alterations in ventricular pressure and contractility.Heart and Circulatory Physiology. 309(2):H267-H275.Hence then, the article about a cardiologist says this common kitchen item could be damaging your heart was published today ( ) and is available on Parade ( Saudi Arabia ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( A Cardiologist Says This Common Kitchen Item Could Be Damaging Your Heart )
Also on site :
- One-third of Seattle’s downtown is empty: Here’s how America’s boomtown turned into one of the toughest places to find a job
- Benedict Cumberbatch, Alan Cumming, Benedict Wong Pen Op-Ed Urging U.K. to Block “Dangerous” Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger
- Futu Holdings Limited Sued for Securities Law Violations - Contact the DJS Law Group to Discuss Your Rights - FUTU