Is it safe to use aluminum cookware? (Aluminum Cookware: Toxic or Not?)

Let’s frame the question more accurately before answering it. Aluminum is the most common metal on the Earth’s crust. In fact, 8% of the Earth’s surface is aluminum. It’s everywhere. In the water you drink, it’s in the soil, in the vegetables you eat, in the medicines you take. So we ingest aluminum all the time. 

The Answer is NO!

So the real question, the accurate question is, does the extra bit of aluminum that leaches from your vessels into your food somehow make it more toxic than otherwise? And before we answer that, consider this. Your parents and your grandparents very likely used it all the time. Even right now, the moment you step outside your rich urban life, almost everyone who is economically underprivileged uses aluminum. Every restaurant or street food place uses it. So if it was genuinely toxic, we would have seen serious consequences by now. So clearly, the answer is no.

Aluminum is fine, but there are some conditions. So aluminum and copper are toxic at certain concentrations. First and foremost, let’s understand what happens when you eat things that your body does not need. Your liver and kidney play the role of detoxing you. And if you are generally healthy, your body does a good job of eliminating all the excess copper and aluminum that you might consume. It is only when the concentration goes above a certain level, and your liver and kidney get overwhelmed, is when you have problems.

An important myth to point out here. One of the most common scares about aluminum is that it apparently causes Alzheimer’s. There is zero evidence. Don’t trust me. The Alzheimer’s Foundation literally had to create a separate section on their webpage to debunk this persistent myth.

The Two Kinds of Aluminum

So let’s consider two kinds of aluminum cookware: 1) Pure Aluminum. It’s light. It’s a fantastic conductor of heat. Way better than iron and steel. It transfers heat evenly, uses very little fuel, and is extraordinarily cheap. This is the most widely used all over. Although rich people like us have the option to not use it. 2)  Anodized or Coated Aluminum. The coat can be non-stick in some cases or stainless steel. In fact, many vessels nowadays use tri-ply. Where aluminum is sandwiched between two layers of stainless steel so that you get the advantage of aluminum while avoiding a few problems.

So anodized or coated aluminum or tri-ply is safe in all situations. So therefore, the pressure cooker you use and all the day-to-day things that contain aluminum in your posh urban kitchen, they are all safe to use all the time. If you are using pure aluminum, the light, thin one sometimes in baking trays and so on. Or you are worried about the biryani shop that is using a giant aluminum vessel. Here is how to sensibly think about this.

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Kind of Dishes to Avoid

Consider what kind of dishes are being made. One, plain or acidic, meaning sour dishes. Two, are they dry dishes or are they gravy dishes? Like how wet is the dish? Third, how long are you cooking the dish? So if it is dry and not sour, it is completely safe. Your biryani falls under this category. If it is dry and sour, it is still mostly safe. Wet and non-sour, again mostly safe. But if you are cooking something over long periods of time and if you are very risk-averse and do not want to ingest any extra aluminum, then you can avoid it. Wet and sour, this you can avoid.

Particularly if these are slow-cooked gravy dishes with tomatoes, tamarind, vinegar, yogurt or curd, lime juice or any other strongly acidic or sour ingredients. Acidic, meaning sour liquids, leach the most aluminum into your food. So if you can avoid that, you will be fine. Remember that street or restaurant food is usually cooked rapidly. Customers don’t wait for hours. So in those situations, don’t break your head. Baking trays and aluminum foil, always safe to use. In summary, keep this in mind. Aluminum is all over the place.

Click on this link for Advantages and Benefits https://www.contital.com/en/blog/aluminium-food-containers-advantages/

Your body has the ability to remove any excess if you are a healthy person. The additional amount that you are likely to ingest from cookware is very, very small. And no, aluminium does not cause Alzheimer’s. If you are very risk-averse and do not want to ingest that small extra bit of aluminum, avoid slow-cooking sour dishes for long periods of time. That’s all. In every other situation, don’t break your head.

 

 

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