Eating tea, processed meats, and prepared foods may be associated with an increased risk of ingesting PFAS, says recent research from the Keck School of Medicine at USC in Los Angeles. The study, partially funded by the National Institutes of Health of the United States, has found a relationship between the consumption of these foods and a higher presence of chemicals in the body, harmful to health.
PFAS can disrupt hormones, increase the risk of disease, or weaken bones. They are also known as ‘permanent chemicals’ because they take a long time to decompose and can be found in textiles, furniture, and also in food packaging.
The study analyzed more than 700 people, divided into two groups – one of 123 young Spanish-speaking adults, and another of 604, as a representative sample of the country – who were asked about their consumption of processed meat, dark green leafy vegetables, bread, energy drinks, tea and milk, among other products. Likewise, their eating habits were taken into account and whether what they ate was made at home, or was from fast-food places or restaurants, to relate it to the use of food packaging that usually contains PFAS.
A blood sample was taken from the first group at age 20 and another at age 24, and those who said they consumed more tea and pork on the first visit were those who, after four years, had the levels of Higher PFAS. In the opposite sense, it was shown that preparing food at home decreased the presence of these chemicals. Both results were also obtained with the second group of more than 600 people.
In a statement, the coordinator of this study, Hailey Hampson, highlights the relevance of the results of this pioneering study, which also indicate that “even some foods that are healthy for the metabolism can be contaminated by PFAS.”
According to the researchers, this is the first research that links dietary factors with the amounts of PFAS in the body, which suggests the impact that changing some eating habits could have on our health.