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27 May 2020

What cookware to use? I limit myself to only three materials: glass, stainless steel and Silpat (made of silicone and fiberglass mesh). However, we have many more choices in the market. Here is a collection of videos and articles by various Whole Food Plant-Based advocates on the subject.

For Indian cooking, a tricky choice arises for flat breads ('rotis' / 'chapatis' / 'parathas'), pancake-style preparations ('dosa', 'uthapam', 'cheela') and patty-like preparations ('tikki'). Actually, all of these involve flours (pulverized grains) or pulverized beans. Since I consume grains and beans in their whole, intact form, I haven't faced the problm of finding non-stick cookware for preparing oil-free rotis, chapatis, dosa, uthapam, cheela and tikki. I hear that high-end non-stick cookware like ScanPan and GreenPan is good; I have no personal experience with these.

Videos by Dr Greger

In 2020, Dr Greger published a 3-video series explaining which materials are safe for tableware (plates, serving containers, forks, spoons, ladles, …) and cookware (pots and pans for heating).

For tableware, Dr Greger recommends glass, ceramic, porcelain, or stainless-steel. For cooking utensils, he recommends wooden or stainless-steel.

(2020) Are Melamine Dishes and Polyamide Plastic Utensils Safe?

(4 mins) Transcript.

After watching this video, I discarded two melamine storage containers I had with me. I used to use these containers for serving, storage and re-heating food in microwave.

(2020) Stainless Steel or Cast Iron - Which Cookware Is Best? Is Teflon Safe?

(6 mins) Transcript.

(2020) Are Aluminum Pots, Bottles, and Foil Safe?

(5 mins) Transcript.

What do Other Docs Say?

Dr Neal Barnard: In this 1-min video, Dr Neal Barnard explains that those with Alzheimer's have amyloid plaques in the brain that have traces of iron, copper, zinc and aluminum. Where do we get these from? Food (lobster, shrimp, …), cookware (iron utensils, aluminum utensils) and supplements (with added iron, copper, …).

Dr Goldhamer

(1 min) From offset 15:20 to 16:40 in this video, Dr Alan Goldhamer (from TrueNorth Health Clinic in Santa Rosa, CA, famous for guided water-only fasting) explains:

* ceramic, steel without coatings are generally okay.
* coated pans: stay away from teflon coating.
* no aluminum baking pans.
* stainless steel baking pans are okay (that's what they use at TrueNorth).
* silicone baking mats appear to be fine.

Dr Barnard

(92 seconds) Main points:

* cast iron: no (there are better ways to get iron into our bodies).
* stainless steel: okay.
* copper cookware (make sure copper is not touching the food).
* aluminum cookware (make sure it's not touching the food).

Dr Greger

(78 seconds) From offset 3:42 to 4:50 in this video, Dr Greger says:

* teflon coatings: not okay
* aluminum: not okay
* cast iron: okay (with the caveats mentioned by him in other videos; see section below on iron utensils)
* stainless steel: okay

Dr Klaper

(4 mins) No teflon. High grade surgical stainless steel. Ceramic-coated or enamel-coated cast iron. Encourages us to browse through Safe and Healthy Cookware (2019) by Food Revolution.

Iron Utensils?

Dr Greger has an overview article on Iron. I found the two videos below insightful. Since these two videos are information packed, I had to watch them multiple times.

Dr Greger's videos convinced me not to use cast iron utensils because there is a possibility of excess iron accumulating in my body, which is considered unhealthy.

(2012) Risk Associated with Iron Supplements

(3 mins) Transcript.

I found the first two paras of the video transcript insightful (Dr Greger also speaks them during the video):

"Iron is a double edged sword; if we absorb too little, we risk anemia. But if we absorb too much, we may be increasing our risk of {long list of diseases … watch the video or see the transcript to see the list}".

"Because the human body has no mechanism to rid itself of excess iron, we evolved to tightly regulate the absorption of iron. If our iron stores are low, our intestines boost the absorption of iron, and if our iron stores are topped off, our intestines block the absorption of iron to maintain us in that sweet spot. But this only works with the primary source of iron in the human diet — the iron found in plant foods. Our digestive system cannot regulate the iron in ingested blood — heme iron. The iron in animal foods can just zip right through our intestinal barrier — even if we already have too much in our system; we have no control over it."

Note the last sentence: heme iron (this is iron from animal sources) can just 'zip through' our intestinal barrier even if we have too much in our system; we have no control over it. Note that Dr Greger uses the word 'can', so maybe this doesn't happen in everybody or all the time. But I imagine it happens often enough that it's a serious concern.

Note the first sentence: "… human body has no mechanism to rid itself of excess iron…" and this sentence: "… we evolved to tightly regulate the absorption of iron".

Let's revise the main concepts:

Our body can control absorption of iron but such control is possible only if this iron is coming from plant sources: non-heme iron.
Heme iron is derived from animal sources. Heme iron can 'zip through' our intestinal barrier even if we have excess iron in our body already; we have no control.
Our bodies can't eliminate excess iron if it accumulates.
Excess iron is associated with a {long list of diseases, see Video #1 or its transcript}.

(2015) The Safety of Heme vs. Non-Heme Iron

(4 mins) Transcript. In this video, Dr Greger explains several concepts, especially heme vs non-heme iron.

Heme iron comes from animal sources. The word 'heme' is derived from a Greek word that means 'blood'; so 'heme iron' is basically 'blood iron'. Non-heme iron (we may call this 'non-blood iron') comes from plant sources. A quote from the article:

" ... This may be why heme iron is associated with cancer and heart disease risk, and higher risk of diabetes, but non-heme iron is not."

In my conversations with friends, I've noticed the following: many people believe that animal sources are rich sources of iron but plant sources are poor sources for iron. While this may be true quantity-wise, it turns out that the two irons are different quality-wise. As Dr Greger points out, heme iron (the 'blood iron' coming from animal sources) is associated with cancer and heart disease risk but non-heme iron (coming from plant sources) is not; in fact, non-heme iron is great!

Misc Articles

Food Revolution: Safe and Healthy Cookware (2019) divides cookware into three categories: (A) Least Safe Cookware: non-stick teflon, aluminum & copper, (B) Moderately Safe Cookware: cast iron, glass, carbon steel, and (C) Healthy Cookware That Is Also Effective: stainless steel, enamel-coated cast iron, ceramic or ceramic-coated, titanium. I was surprised to see glass in category (B). Is it due to physical safety (may break) and usability (can't use it everywhere, e.g., on flame)?

(2006) Non-stick Pots and Pans: Are They Safe? by Dr McDougall.

(2015) Are Non-Stick Pans Safe? by Cathy Fisher, chef at TrueNorth Health Center, Santa Rosa.

The Best Stainless Steel Waffle Maker with No Teflon. In addition to oatmeal/banana breakfast waffles, we may explore these recipes using a waffle maker: handwa, uttapam, Pudla/chilla and falafel.

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