#095 What Microplastics Are Doing to Your Brain, Body, and Reproductive Systems

FoundMyFitness

Rhonda Patrick, Ph.D.

Fitness, Depression, Foundmyfitness, Timferriss, Sleep, Diet, Longevity, Ketosis, Rhondapatrick, Kevinrose, Domdagostino, Health, Sauna, Nutrition, Medicine, Fasting, Healthspan, Mattwalker, Coldexposure, Lifeextension, Health & Fitness, Exercise

4.8 • 5.5K Ratings

🗓️ 19 September 2024

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sweating helps enhance microplastic-associated chemical excretion. Get my free sauna report when you sign up here for my newsletter.

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Every week, the average person ingests the equivalent weight of a credit card in plastic. While certain preventive measures can significantly reduce your intake of these harmful substances, it’s crucial to acknowledge a more daunting concern: the bioaccumulation of microplastics in the brain, potentially at ten times the rate of other organs. Microplastics and their associated chemicals are alarmingly ubiquitous — they permeate breast milk, sperm, the hippocampus, the prefrontal cortex, the air we breathe, medications, the water supply, and our bloodstream, accumulating in most major organ systems. During this episode, we’ll explore the unsettling realities of microplastics and their associated chemicals, diving into how they infiltrate nearly every facet of our environment and body, and discuss actionable strategies to reduce exposure.

Timestamps:

(00:00) The extent of the problem
(02:12) Top sources of exposure
(04:00) Contamination of our water
(05:04) BPA, phthalates, & PFAS (forever chemicals)
(07:06) How heating plastic affects BPA exposure
(09:21) Our unfortunate habit of eating credit cards
(11:33) Microplastics in major organs
(14:05) Crossing the blood-brain barrier
(15:01) How microplastics affect a developing fetus
(15:55) The bloodstream is a highway for microplastics
(18:12) Endocrine and hormonal effects
(23:09) Consequences in pregnant women
(25:35) How phthalates affect reproductive health
(26:36) BPA's involvement in autism spectrum disorder
(29:58) Side effects of prenatal BPA exposure
(32:18) The brain may be a super-accumulator of plastic
(34:50) Human brain microplastic levels are rising
(36:06) Lost fertility in women
(38:07) Changes in sperm quality
(39:23) Microplastics in sperm
(40:59) Why the heart suffers
(42:51) Microplastics in arterial plaque
(43:56) How BPA affects blood pressure
(45:58) Risk of cancer
(50:31) Topo Chico sparkling water
(53:02) Reverse osmosis filtration
(54:56) Food-based strategies for limiting microplastics
(56:32) The "myth" of BPA-free plastics
(58:14) Is salt a source of microplastics?
(59:18) HEPA filters
(1:00:52) Choose your clothing wisely
(1:01:47) How to prevent release of microplastics (from laundry)
(1:02:32) Receipts and thermal paper
(1:04:17) Microplastic excretion and breakdown
(1:06:28) Sulforaphane for detoxifying
(1:08:38) Can dietary fiber increase microplastic excretion?
(1:10:15) Are plastic chemicals excreted through sweat?
(1:11:21) Do excretion strategies work for "forever chemicals"?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Plastics are everywhere, every week without even realizing it, we are consuming the equivalent of an entire credit card in plastic.
0:08.0	We are unknowingly ingesting and inhaling millions of plastic particles every year.
0:13.8	And these tiny particles aren't just passing through.
0:16.4	They're accumulating in our organs and our tissues.
0:19.2	In early 2024, human brain samples were found to have on average 0.5% plastic by weight. In the
0:27.5	reproductive system higher levels of plastic like PBC have been linked to lower
0:32.4	sperm counts and it doesn't stop there these
0:35.4	microplastics are often made from or contain harmful chemicals like BPA, BPS
0:42.0	fallates.
0:43.4	These are widely used to harden plastics,
0:45.7	make them more durable.
0:47.1	And these chemicals are known to disrupt hormones.
0:50.1	They alter metabolism.
0:51.4	They've been linked to a range of health issues from reproductive problems
0:55.2	to neurodevelopmental diseases. But how are these microplastics entering our bodies
1:00.3	and why are they so pervasive? The primary roots of exposure are oral ingestion and
1:06.2	inhalation. We're consuming them through bottled water, through tap water, packaged
1:10.9	foods, and even fresh produce that's contaminated by polluted soil and water.
1:16.2	We're inhaling these microplastic particles suspended in the air, especially in urban environments
1:21.1	where synthetic clothing fibers and degraded
1:23.7	plastic waste become airborne. And they don't just pass through us. They are
1:28.2	accumulating. They've been detected in the lungs, liver, heart, brain, reproductive organs and even in the
	...

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