#123 Your guide to minimizing plastic consumption

Without going batshit crazy

Plastic is the lead of our civilization. There’s no question about it. This material that we have brought onto this planet has contaminated our bodies, our oceans and the beautiful flora and fauna that live on it.

While most of us have grown up knowing that plastic is bad, the fact that the focus has been wrong may just come back to bite us. Why have we spent so much time, energy and resources on switching from plastic to paper straws? We’ve spent so much time on so many of these things except the one area that impacts us the most — the effect plastic has on our health.

Compounds like phthalates and Bisphenol A (BPA) harm hormone production and stifle the natural function of the human body. Phthalates are anti-androgenic; BPA is estrogenic. Phthalates make plastic soft, BPA makes plastic hard.

In the early 2010s, there was uproar about the negative implications of BPA due to a series of studies that proved just how bad they were. This led to governments around the world announcing bans and it’s the reason why you see so many "BPA-free" products these days. The only problem is that companies simply switched to substitutes like BPS or BPF, which are just as bad.

If you’d like a deeper dive into just why plastic is so bad for us, listen to this podcast where Dr. Andrew Huberman hosts Dr. Shanna Swan: How to Safeguard Your Hormone Health & Fertility. Dr. Shanna Swan believes plastic is one of the largest factors responsible for the declining sperm count we're seeing all across the world. The problem with plastic is that it disintegrates into a million tiny particles known as microplastics or nanoplastics, and it's getting everywhere.

Any just society would be quickly finding solutions to eliminate plastic from the planet, as well as developing alternative compounds that give us the benefits of plastic without the endocrine-disrupting effects. With every passing day, it does seem like plastic is the lead of our civilization.

Actionable Steps to lead a more plastic-free life:

• swap non-stick pans for stainless steel, ceramic or cast iron

• avoid using plastic utensils

• never ever heat anything with plastic

• drink from glass and stainless steel mugs instead of plastic (throw out BPA-free bottles they are a scam)

  • store your food in glass containers over plastic

• use bamboo over plastic toothbrushes

• minimize your exposure to products with synthetic fragrances

• sleep with wool pillows instead of plastic

• use wooden cutting boards instead of plastic cutting boards

• wrap food with silicone-lined baking paper over plastic wrap

• avoid touching receipts all the time

• swap white kitchen towels for cotton rugs or cotton tissues

• use natural materials like cotton and linen instead of polyester clothing

• burn beeswax candles over plastic

• fur, carpets and rugs made of natural materials

• donate blood to “detox” microplastics

• go to the sauna more often

Plastic cutting boards don’t deserve a place in your kitchen. Read the post below to see what material suits you best instead.

#103 What's the best cutting board?

Look at your life right now and identify areas you can make these changes. Populate your wardrobe with natural fibers. Stainless steel and glass bottles. Sleep on better pillows. And then, once you’ve fixed what you can, stop worrying about the rest. Constantly worrying about every little thing is an extremely unhealthy habit. You cannot go about this world in perpetual fear. You have to learn to live with the things you cannot control. Have faith that you will be perfectly healthy after avoiding what you can control. Coming into plastic every now and then in scenarios where you can’t avoid it will not destroy you. Touching a receipt one time isn’t going to cripple you.

Pro Tip: While it definitely isn't ideal, if you are wearing polyester, always use it as an outer layer. Your inner most layers should as much as possible be made of real materials like cotton or wool.

Spring Diet

What else would you add?

We were made to live among plants

The aroma itself is a natural anti-depressant

Breakfast

The best meal of the day

This shade of green

Lime cream or Butterfly?

❋ DOUBLE CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO SOURDOUGH BREAD RECIPE

Double Chocolate Espresso Sourdough Bread is the perfect combination of sourdough tang and chocolatey goodness. This indulgent bread is rich in cocoa powder, dotted with chunks of dark chocolate, and lightly sweetened with brown sugar and hints of ground cinnamon. Serve warm with quality butter for a satisfying sourdough treat.

Besides rich cocoa powder and chocolate chunks, I incorporated two additional ingredients into this recipe: brown sugar and espresso. Both of these ingredients help to elevate the richness of the chocolate flavor in this delicious bread, while the brown sugar adds just a hint of sweetness.

All you need is a good slab of quality butter spread across a warm, melty slice of this chocolate bread, and you will be living large. Or transform this loaf into a delicious twist on a classic breakfast/brunch recipe – Chocolate Sourdough French Toast Casserole!

❋ THE TRUE STORY OF THE LA CÔTE BASQUE RESTAURANT

Before there was Ralph Lauren's Polo Bar in Manhattan (good luck trying to get in), there was La Côte Basque: The go-to restaurant for New York society, where the company one kept was more important than the food one ordered.

The restaurant is back in the news as Feud: Capote vs. The Swans airs, tracing the social downfall of American novelist Truman Capote after he published an excerpt titled "La Côte Basque, 1965" from his unfinished novel, Answered Prayers. The story, named for the famed restaurant, begins with a character named Lady Ina Coolbirth (an alias for Slim Keith) unleashing society gossip to a writer named J.P. Jones (a.k.a.Capote) over lunch at La Côte Basque.

❋ FIG AND PROSCIUTTO ROSES

Easter is a time for celebrating life and spending it with the ones you love. It is a time filled with drinks and appetisers, feasting on delicious roasted treats and finishing off with wonderful cakes and desserts.

Along with Christmas, it is one of my favourite times of the year. While I have already shared a recipe for a showstopper Easter dessert, given we are less than a week out from Easter Sunday I thought I would share a quick and delicious appetiser that works perfectly on a cheese plate, or on its own as a large canapé.

These fig and prosciutto roses take no cooking and only have three ingredients. They look beautiful and are deliciously simple. As with most Italian dishes, the key to the success of these beauties is to buy the best quality ingredients you can afford – Prosciutto, figs and fresh honeycomb.

❋ Read our latest WARKITCHEN magazines:

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For the last time this year...

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