Dangers of Plastic Bottles - Keys to Good Nutrition & Eating Healthy with The Feast

Health Question: What kind of plastic bottles do you use to carry and store your drinking water in?

My wife and I drink a lot of natural spring water every day. Of course we mix it in with the Feast, which is a whole food based InstaFresh juice powder that we prepare in the form of a smoothie every morning. Drinking plenty of natural spring water every day, as well as drinking the Feast, are two of the keys to good nutrition and to eating healthy that we practice every day. I'm sure you can imagine, as a result we go through a lot of water every week.

We get out drinking water from a friend's well, so once a week we have to drive over there and fill up our water bottles. In the beginning, we were reusing the light weight thin plastic bottles that we bought at Walmart with bottled water. Then we also started reusing the thicker Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice bottles. Finally, we got tired of filling up so many bottles, so we started using a large 5-gallon hard plastic bottle that you get when you sign up for home delivered bottled water.

Along this water bottle journey, I kept hearing bits and pieces about the dangers of plastic water bottles and how certain toxic substances in the plastic will actually leach into the water itself causing various types of health problems.

Today I decided to do some research on this plastic bottle issue and I discovered some very helpful information that I'd like to share with you.

There's quite a bit of information out there based on various scientific studies. However, I'm going to cut to the chase and only share the most critical information. In other words, I'm going to share with you which plastic bottles to use and which to avoid.

THE WORST AND MOST UNHEALTHY PLASTIC BOTTLES TO AVOID

Most of these plastics come with a number and a name and an abbreviation for the name because they're difficult to say and to spell.

BEWARE of #7 POLYCARBONATE (Lexan) plastic bottles (including sippy cups and baby bottles). For a while people thought these bottles were safe, but recent research has proven that this plastic leaches Bisphenol A (BPA), which causes various health problems.

BEWARE of #1 PET (polyethylenene terephthalate) plastic bottles. Very unhealthy.

BEWARE of #3 PVC (polyvinyl chloride; aka vinyl) plastic bottles. Very unhealthy.

BEWARE of #6 POLYSTYRENE plastic bottles. You don't want this in contact with your water, drinks, or food. Very unhealthy.

THE BEST AND SAFEST MATERIALS FOR PLASTIC WATER BOTTLES (and FOOD STORAGE)

#5 PP - PolyPropylene.

#2 HDPE - High Density Polyethylene

#4 LDPE - Low Density Polyethylene

You can go on line and do a search for companies that make water bottles with these safe materials.

OTHER WATER STORAGE AND CARRYING SUGGESTIONS

GLASS - Is a very healthy and safe material for storing your water in. Just make sure you don't take it with you when you travel for obvious reasons.

STAINLESS STEEL - This is another good option, especially for traveling, camping, biking, skiing, etc. I would recommend a product I found called Klean Kanteen.

Finally, when buying water storage containers, be sure to buy bottles that have wide mouth openings so that you can do a much better job cleaning them periodically. When you have a bottle with a narrow opening, it's nearly impossible to clean it thoroughly, and you end up with bacteria growing inside the container that you can't get rid of.

Josiah Friberg, the Naked Nutrition Knight

Author of "Keys to Good Nutrition and Tips to Eating Healthy with the Feast."