Alzheimer's Club

"Q: I've heard aluminum cookware is associated with a number of health problems. We have a set of premium aluminum pans. I'm wondering if this poses similar problems, and whether I should replace it. I've even noticed that this company's product literature has dropped the word aluminum and just says that their cookware is "hard-anodized."

A: This question about potential dangers from aluminum cookware has come up periodically during the 15 years that I have been writing this column. It continues to be a fear based on circumstantial evidence rather than a situation with scientific proof of cause and effect.

There is no question that the concern is serious, as it involves Alzheimer's disease -- an as-yet incurable, progressive loss of mental faculties brought about by a breakdown in brain tissue. The circumstantial evidence is that brain tissue from Alzheimer's patients contains an abnormally high concentration of aluminum -- 30 times greater than an individual without the disease. There is, however, no real evidence that exposure to aluminum through diet is what's responsible for this incurable disease. An alternative explanation would be that the accumulation of aluminum is a result of a disease process brought on by other factors that are independent of what type of cookware you use and how much aluminum is in the diet. At present, it appears as though the latter explanation is the case.

One part of the puzzle is that the level of aluminum in the blood, hair and skin remains normal in Alzheimer's patients. This would seem to indicate that we are not dealing with aluminum "toxicity" as much as a malfunction in brain tissue that results in aluminum accumulation.

It is also important to consider that aluminum is present throughout our environment. In fact, it's the third-most-common element in the earth's crust, and naturally occurs in plants and animals. It's contained in a number of food additives and is also found in medications such as popular antacids, as well as in deodorants. To put this in perspective, a study in the journal Food Additives and Contaminants (Jan.-Feb. 1995) reported that if you were to take an entire day's food supply, store it in aluminum containers, prepare it in aluminum cookware and wrap it in aluminum foil, the daily aluminum intake would be approximately 6 milligrams. The tolerable weekly intake set by a joint Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization expert committee is 7 milligrams per kilogram of body weight. This is the equivalent of 68 milligrams of aluminum per day for a 150-pound adult.

To answer your specific question, the new breed of hardened (anodized) aluminum is considered safe for all foods, including high-acid foods. This means that little or no aluminum is brought into the food irrespective of the type of food prepared in such cookware. This effectively moves hardened-aluminum cookware even further down the suspect list. I cannot really comment on the change in advertising literature, but it may be the company's desire to distinguish its product from other forms of aluminum cookware -- even though the connection between eating foods prepared with aluminum cookware and the risk of disease has yet to be established.

Q I have been curious about the number of calories it takes for the human body to heat up the water it consumes and why a person could not burn up calories -- and thus lose weight -- by drinking cold water. As I recall, a calorie is the amount of heat it takes to raise one gram of water one degree Celsius. If a person drank a cup (227 grams) of cold water that was at 5 degrees C (41 degrees F), and the natural functions of the body raised the temperature of the water to 37 degrees C (98.6 degrees F), then wouldn't the body burn up 7,264 calories (227 times 32) in this way? With the hot summer here, I was hoping to lose some weight this lazy way. Why can't I?

A That would have to be the ultimate diet: snack on a few ice cubes and watch the calories melt away. It is true that the body seeks to maintain its normal operating temperature of about 98.6 degrees F (37 degrees C), the temperature at which most chemical reactions are designed to take place. Also true is that calories are expended heating up water or any other cold food. The downside is that the amount used in this task is not the amount you projected -- your diet hopes fall victim to the big "C"/little "c" caloric confusion.

The calorie (note the lowercase "c") is a unit of energy in the metric system, and it is defined as the amount of heat required to raise one gram of water one degree Celsius. The calorie used for food energy or physical activity is actually a kilocalorie, or 1,000 of the small "c" calories. It should be indicated by a capital "C" at the start of the word. Nutrition-facts labels correctly use the uppercase "C," but the distinction is often lost on the public. Add to this the fact that common parlance has blended the two together, and in the minds of average consumers a calorie is a Calorie is a calorie. Scientists use the term "kilocalorie" to avoid confusion.

The bottom line is that your water-heating exercise would use up approximately 7,264 calories (again, note the small "c"), but this is the equivalent of just 7.264 big "C" Calories, which is less than a gram of fat. Sorry to put such a chill on your revolutionary diet plan.

Q: We are having a chicken dispute. Does removing the skin from chicken before you eat it get rid of the cholesterol? Also, I grill the chicken with the skin on to keep it from drying out, having the option of removing it before the meal. How does this compare with removing the skin prior to cooking?

A There is a small amount of cholesterol in the skin and fat of chicken, though most is found in the light and dark meat. This holds true for beef, pork and lamb as well. Buying leaner cuts does little to reduce the cholesterol in the meal.

But don't be too concerned. Research points to the level of fat in the diet -- especially partially hydrogenated fat and saturated fat -- as having more of an effect on our blood cholesterol than the amount of cholesterol we eat. Staying active while making sure your diet is well-balanced with fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds is the best move.

Regarding grilling, having tried it both ways, I favor keeping the skin on during grilling for flavor and to prevent dryness. The skin can be removed, if desired, once cooking is completed. Avoid overcooking, of course, keeping in mind that the food continues to cook once removed from the grill.

E-mail inquiries for Kensington resident Ed Blonz to cctimes@blonz.com. Blonz, Ph.D., is a nutrition scientist and the author of "Power Nutrition" (Signet, 1998)."

Source: Ed Blonz: On Nutrition. No connection between Alzheimer's and aluminum in food preparation. (17 August 2005) [FullText]