Andrew Huberman on microplastics
Reference: The Effects of Microplastics on your Health & How to reduce them
Overview
- Microplastics are everywhere and are unavoidable. But, you can significantly reduce intake and promote flushing out.
- Microplastics have been found in every human organ, including those protected by blood barriers (brains, testicles, follicle of ovaries).
- Casual evidence of disease in humans is not strong yet, except in the case of fetuses and small children. Casual studies are very hard to do in humans, however there is a lot of correlative evidence that they are bad. There is also casual evidence in animal models, but that doesn't automatically transfer to humans. But, we're still in the early phases of uncovering this story.
- Improvements in imaging technology revealed that number of micro plastics in water are much higher than previously thought. Microplastics that were too close together were miscounted as one larger particle. This is important because smaller particles can cross blood barriers into critical organs.
Effects on the body
- Microplastics found in the first stool of newborns, indicating they are being transmitted in the uterus.
- People with IBS had higher amounts of microplastics in their stool samples (casualty not established yet)
- Testosterone is an important hormone in all people and genders. Phthalates, BPA, BPS are endocrine disrupters that reduce testosterone levels. It causes birth defects, among other effects such as reduced fertility.
- PFAS/"Forever Chemicals" and microplastics found clogging arteries.
- Increasing evidence linking microplastics to neurological disease
- Evidence that endocrine disrupters promote cancer in tissues with high cell turnover, such as testicular and breast cancer
Reducing microplastic intake
- Avoid driving water from plastic bottles. Especially hot bottles. Paper cups are not safe either. Use metal, ceramic, or glass containers instead.
- Tap water is not safe either. Huberman recommends a reverse osmosis machine.
- Avoid carbonated water. They had high PFAS, probably from the source water.
- Canned foods contain huge amounts of BPA and BPS in their lining.
- Avoid spending a lot of time near streets. Tires aerosolize lots of plastic.
- Avoid sea-derived salts. Prefer mined salt.
- "Microwave safe" just means it won't melt. They still leach out plastic. In general, avoid contact of plastic with hot food or beverages.
- Avoid non-stick pans-- they leach PFAS. Prefer cast iron and ceramic.
- Avoid packaged foods. Try farmers markets, BYO containers.
- Don't buy synthetic clothes. Use guppy bags in washer. Install filters in washer so that microfibers don't leach into the ocean. They also aerosolize microplastics.
- Generally don't dispose clothes so much.
- Any food packaging material that prevents oil from penetrating. Big example is popcorn bags-- major source of microplastics.
- Toothpaste in plastic tubing. He recommends a specific tablet-based toothpaste brand.
Increasing plastic removal from body
Promoting liver-based detoxification
- Liver uses type 1 and type 2 mechanisms to detox your body.
- Type 1 uses enzymes such as cytochrome P450 to break down chemicals
- Type 2 chemically attaches other molecules to broken down toxic molecules to make them more water soluble, so that you can excrete easier.
- We have some control of promoting type 2 detoxification by consuming sulforaphane. Natural source is raw broccoli and cauliflower. However, raw broccoli/cauliflower can cause a lot of farts. You can also just directly supplement in pill form.
Increasing dietary fiber intake
- Helps sequester and flush molecules before they can cross blood barriers
Increased sweating
- Another pathway for excretion. It's unlikely to directly excrete microplastics themselves but possibly other chemicals that they are carrying, such as PFAS.
- There's a bunch of other benefits. It's good to get very sweaty once a week.