PKD DIET

Plastic

What about plastic?

Plastic is a strong estrogen disruptor. All plastic, but especially plastic containing Bisphenol A, has been considered unsafe for children and pregnant women particularly when associated with heated or microwaved foods. Try avoiding plastic from coming into contact with any thing that is put into the mouth. It is better to keep kidneys well hydrated rather than avoiding drinking water because of a plastic container. Allow city water to sit out for twenty four hours to dissipate any residual added chlorine.

Common products containing endocrine disruptors

Plastic wrap Plastic & Plastic wrap heated in oil in a microwave oven contained 500,000 times the minimum amount of xenoestrogens needed to stimulate breast cancer cells proliferation. Lexan and Nalgene plastic bottles contain Bisphenol-A (BPA). BPA is used in some plastic coatings inside food cans, cling wrap, and dental sealants. Transfer things to glass containers when possible; and avoid plastic vitamin bottles, plastic cutlery, plastic or foam dishes, saran wrap, non-stick cookware. Hospitals are noting that phthalates. are to be eased out of tubing and blood equipment for newborn infants.

Foods stored and microwaved in plastic contain Phthalates & Bisphenol A BPA. These are present in the plastic. Fatty foods absorb more of these harmful chemicals when heated. BPA can leach into food from food storage containers. It is banned in Europe.

Dioxin

Dioxins are put into the atmosphere by burning. Dioxin falls back to the ground contaminates the grasses and plants and we unknowingly eat the dioxin contaminated animals. Dioxin is not present in plastic.

Pottenger tested cats with microwaved milk. He found that cats fed microwaved milk died. Hertel repeated these experiments with humans. Food from the microwave oven caused abnormal changes, representing stress, to occur in the blood of all the tested humans.

Exposure to BPA has been said to possibly cause reproductive disorders, and exposure during pregnancy may lead to lung problems in children. In a study by Columbia University, childhood exposure to low doses of BPA indicated a greater risk for children to develop asthma later on in life. Exposure to low doses of the chemical could also increase susceptibility to prostate cancer in men, as well as increase the risk of breast cancer in women. Ana Soto, Professor of Integrative Physiology & Pathobiology at Tufts University, said,
"it's possible that BPA exposure makes fetuses more sensitive to estrogen, a hormone that drives the growth of most breast cancers."
The article continues,
"In that way, BPA could indirectly increase the risk of breast cancer later in life."

Most Plastic Products Release Estrogenic Chemicals

Researchers have found that most plastics, even those labeled BPA-free, can leach these chemicals into food. This means that BPA free plastic releases hormones, estrogenic chemicals, into food. These can be harmful to severe PLD Polycystic Liver Disease. The Endocrine Society found that even low exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals can cause significant adverse health effects, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, cancer and infertility. Plastics are also made from petroleum (a non-renewable resource) and can be difficult to recycle. Plastics in our oceans are making a huge floating island of waste in our seas.

BPA Bisphenol A

BISPHENOL A BPA, a potent endocrine disruptor, has been widely used in cosmetics and foods. Bisphenol A was investigated in the 1930s during a search for estrogen mimics. From the 1930's study the synthetic compound diethylstilbestrol was shown to be a better competitor for estrogen. This lead to the search for other uses for plastic. Bisphenol A, can activate estrogen receptors, leading to similar physiological effects as bombarding the body with its own hormones. Liver cysts have estrogen receptors. The first evidence of estrogenicity of bisphenol came from experiments in the 1930s when it was fed to rats without ovaries.Some hormone disrupting effects in studies on animals and human cancer cells have been shown to occur at levels as low as 2 to 5 ppb (parts per billion). It has been claimed that these effects lead to health problems, in men, a lowered sperm count and infertile sperm. Recent medical studies have confirmed that bisphenol A exposure during development has carcinogenic effects and produces precursors to breast cancer.

Why is plastic harmful for PLD?

Chemicals that resemble estrogen molecules, with a similar structure to hormones are called estrogen mimickers, false estrogens, xenoestrogens. When present in plants these are called phytoestrogens. I wondered why some plant estrogens seemed to create a growth and pain in my liver cysts and others do not. I read that sometimes several false estrogens, though weak on their own, when combined become with another endocrine disruptor become a super false estrogen.

Liver cysts have receptors within their cell walls.

These compounds are all similar in that they can increase liver cyst growth by affecting the receptors within the liver cyst walls.

How to Eliminate Plastic

Save those empty glass jars and use them for food storage. With supplements, water, and other items that touch your mouth try for glass containers.

BHA Butylated hydroxyanisole

BHA butylated hydroxyanisole is an antioxidant and preservative in food, food packaging, animal feed, cosmetics, rubber, and petroleum products. BHA also is commonly used in medicines, such as isotretinoin, lovastatin, and simvastatin, among others. The State of California, has listed it as a carcinogen.

It's a preservative found in potato chips, lard, butter, cereal, instant mashed potatoes, preserved meat, beer, baked goods, dry beverage mixes, dessert mixes, chewing gum, rubber, petroleum products, and, wax food cartons and other packaging. There's more to BHA than fat protection. At high doses, it causes cancer in rats, mice and hamsters, but it does this exclusively in the forestomach, an organ that humans don't have.

BHT Butylated hydroxytoluene, dibutylhydroxytoluene

Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) is a chemical derivative of phenol, that is used as an antioxidant. BHT is primarily used as an antioxidant food additive. Debate surrounds BHT as risky for cancer, asthma and behavioral issues in children. There is in vitro indication for endocrine disruption with this effect seen on both the testes and thyroid. With BHA and BHT, foods are available that do not contain either of them.

Phthalates

Phthalates are used to make vinyl soft and flexible. Medical devices, toys, cars, homes all contain flexible vinyl products. These molecules stimulate liver cyst growth. Phthalates are a family of chemical compounds primarily used to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or vinyl flexible and pliant. Phthalates resemble hormone like molecules and their use can be found in many products: such as blood storage bags, intravenous medical tubing, stents, petri dishes, vinyl flooring, detergents, automotive plastics, soap, shampoo, deodorants, fragrances, hair spray, polish, plastic bags, food packaging, garden hoses, inflatable toys, vitamin bottles, containers, plastic wrap, water bottles, and more. Phthalates appear in personal care products like hair gels, hair spray.

PVC Pipes

PVC polyvinyl chloride are plastic pipes used in plumbing with other industrial uses. It is the third-most widely produced synthetic plastic polymer. It was accidentally synthesized in 1872 by German Eugen Baumann. It is modified by chlorination, which increases its chlorine content to 67%, especially harmful for PLD Polycystic Liver Cysts.

It is used in cosmetics, especially nail polish. DEHP, or di(2-ethylhexyl) are phthalate chemicals that leach hormone like chemicals that have been linked to reproductive problems. Male infants, pregnant women are at higher risk from any exposure to phthalates (pronounced THAL-ates), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

DEHP is now known to be a reproductive toxicant that can migrate in varying degrees, depending on the liquid, storage, and other factors. In hospitals DEHP PVC Plastic is used in intravenous bags that deliver blood, medication, and fluids to a hospitalized patient. many manufacturers are now using substitutes for PVC and DEHP. They can be found in products such as catheters, blood bags, exam gloves, Epidural catheters can be made with nylon or Teflon, and silicone. These can be used for various types of tubing. B. Braun Medical Inc., B. Braun OEM Division (Bethlehem, PA) went as far as creating an entire line of PVC- and DEHP-free products. It supplies many hospitals with PVC- and DEHP-free intravenous (IV) bags and tubing.

To Avoid Phthalates Try These Three Suggestions

Avoid Phthalates and Bisphenol A

  • Read the ingredients, identify phthalates in some products by their chemical names, or abbreviations.
    DBP (di-n-butyl phthalate) and DEP (diethyl phthalate) are often found in personal care products, including nail polishes, deodorants, perfumes and cologne, aftershave lotions, shampoos, hair gels and hand lotions. (BzBP, see below, is also in some personal care products.)
    DEHP (di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate or Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate) is used in PVC plastics, including some medical devices.
    BzBP (benzylbutyl phthalate) is used in some flooring, car products and personal care products.
    DMP (dimethyl phthalate) is used in insect repellent and some plastics (as well as rocket propellant).
  • Be wary of the term fragrance, which is used to denote a combination of compounds, possibly including phthalates, which are a subject of recent concern because of studies showing they can mimic certain hormones.
  • If you choose to use plastic, then look for the recycling code 1, 2 or 5. Plastic with recycling codes 3 and 7 are more likely to contain bisphenol A or phthalates.

    Nail Polish, Remover, Fire retardants, Chemicals

    According to the EWG:
    "If you've painted your nails lately, there's a good chance you used one of these brands: Sally Hansen, Essie, OPI, Revlon, Wet n Wild, Maybelline, or a handful of others. There's also a chance that a suspected endocrine-disrupting chemical known as triphenyl phosphate (TPHP), has ended up in your body as a result. This chemical is added to polish to improve its flexibility and is also commonly used in plastics manufacturing and as a fire retardant in foam furniture."

    A new study co-authored by researchers at EWG and Duke University found that 10 to 14 hours after polishing their nails, the levels of a metabolite of TPHP in all 26 participants had risen by an average of nearly sevenfold.

    Fire retardant chemicals and firefighting foam has been singled out as a major contributor to drinking water contamination. It is present in the blood and in breast milk (PBDE) polybrominated diphenyl ethers. It is also present in carpet, avoid reupholstering foam furniture. The huge wild fires have caused airplane loads of retardant to be sprayed on the wild fire hills and homes.

    Self Testing

    By measuring my girth and through self testing, withdrawal of the food than starting it once again to see if symptoms return or abate has all led to comprising a list of harmful or beneficial things. It turns out that the very same things that I have experienced as being harmful (causing my liver to grow in size) are xenoestrogens. I did not know their name, or what they were called. I knew it made a difference to me, to eat organically, to stay away from many animal products (including dairy, beef, pork, chicken, ground meats, cheeses) and to avoid bleach, ammonia, chemicals, pesticides, cleaning solutions and powders of soap. I had this abundance of empirical knowledge that chicken, caused polycystic liver expansion, and deep liver aches. Consumer Reports Magazine, pointed out that all poultry in the USA is dipped in a bleach bath to prevent salmonella. What I experienced was a deep ache in my liver from eating poultry. I thought I was doing everything by eliminating bleach products, alcohol and alcohol products, ammonia and ammonia based products and pesticides. I had not even thought about bleach in toilet paper, napkins, paper towels and coffee filters. Coffee is a phytoestrogen that exacerbates cystic disease. Coffee made with bleached coffee filters results in a triple whammy of xenoestrogens from the bleach in combination with a phytoestrogens and the hot liquid combines with coffee bean oils and this is heated and passed through a plastic filter. All have an added synergistic effect releasing elevated dangerous amounts of dioxin in cumulative amounts over the years, all harmful to a body with cystic organs.

    Dry Cleaning Solutions Human evidence comes mainly from women working in the dry cleaning and pharmaceutical industries, and in agriculture. One Finnish study concluded that female dry cleaning workers exposed to the chemical perchloroethylene were three to four times more likely than the general population to spontaneously abort during pregnancy. Some studies have indicated that perchloroethylene can cause menstrual irregularities, fertility problems, and spontaneous abortions among women who work in the dry cleaning industry. Perchloroethylene residue from dry cleaning processes can also seep into drinking water, causing a variety of problems. Some scientists believe perchloroethylene exposure can cause liver or kidney damage. In addition, perchloroethylene has been named a probable carcinogen by the International Association for Research on Cancer.
    I was told that matted spider telangiectasias are only seen when the liver fails to properly metabolize estrogen or estrogen like molecules. I received a detailed description of xenoestrogens and told to eliminate them. If I eliminate plastic from contact with things I eat, (food, vitamins, bottled water) I experience a decrease in my spider angiomas on my ankles. These angiomas are oftentimes painful, awakening me in the middle of the night with intense burning. The doctors told me the cause was the liver's inability to metabolize estrogen and estrogen like molecules. I have found that all these compounds: estrogen disruptors, estrogen mimickers, xenoestrogens, estrogen like compounds and false estrogens have the same end effect; they enlarge a cystic liver.

    Pesticides

    The end residual by product left behind for years from pesticides and DDT spraying is even more harmful than the initial chemical. This was stopped in the United States in the 1950's but what remains in the soil and rivers are the residual molecules that have become chemically changed from the original pesticide molecule. These changed molecules are then taken up by animals, which graze on the grasses or drink from the rivers. This is then stored in the fatty tissue of the animal. For this reason perhaps a well marbled steak may be particularly high in estrogen like molecules. Eating organically helps diminish estrogen exposure. I juice, juice, juice. This provides the body which much needed micronutrients not found in a vitamin tablet. Cabbage juice with a handful of almonds are food products that increases the metabolism of estrogen. Added benefits a few of us have discovered who drink daily cabbage juice with almonds is that our gray hair seems to revert back to its natural color. Much of the gray is eliminated.

    Dairy

    Butter and cheese are high in estrogen like molecules. Now many dairy farmers have taken to giving cows in the United States bovine lactating hormone to keep the cows producing 10-100 times the amount of milk that these cows would naturally produce. The milk, cheese, butter, and meat from these cows not only has estrogen like molecules from their grazing on contaminated grass but it also has artificially added true estrogen given to the cows. One way to avoid this is to eliminate dairy. If one has kidney disease then diary is good thing to choose to eliminate. Dairy is high in sodium and it has many solutes that dehydrate the body and increase the workload of the kidneys by making it difficult to eliminate. Dehydration is one of the worse situations for hastening kidney failure. A perfectly healthy person when deprived of water can lose their kidneys. Milk is so high in sodium that it raises my blood pressure. For these reasons I have eliminated all dairy from my diet. If one cannot eliminate diary then be sure the dairy taken in is organic, free of pesticides, produced without any bovine growth hormone, and the dairy is from skim milk. Estrogen is stored by the body is fatty tissue. Perhaps 2 ounces of skim milk drunk in the winter months would be beneficial in providing Vitamin D for people living in Northern countries. A better way to assure an adequate intake of Vitamin D is to take daily walks in the sunshine. If one cannot eliminate all fat from dairy then the next best possibility is to choose dairy which is cultured such as French butter called Plugra. This butter is produced from crème fraiche; a cultured cream; then it is churned into butter. Yogurt is made from a cultured starter. Buttermilk also utilizes a culture. If one must have cheese then choose a light white cheese with half the fat such as ementhaler (called Swiss cheese in the USA), Try and find salt free cheeses or goat cheeses. Soft white goat and sheep cheeses may also be better choices. Dairy alone is high in sodium. Avoid any yellow cheeses and any hard cheeses; also avoid mozzarella.

    PCB

    PolyChlorinated Biphenyls - were manufactured by a one company - Monsanto Chemical - starting in the 1930s. They were promoted as a nearly indestructible replacement for hydraulic oil, pump oil, and the oil bath for electrical transformers and capacitors. It was known even in the 1930s, when production began, that they were extremely toxic. Exposed workers began showing signs of toxic exposure almost immediately. Plastic Polyvinyl chloride was discovered in 1930. I asked a researcher if any work had been done linking the discovery of plastic with the increase in all types of cancers. I was told that when food is heated in plastic (such as in a microwave oven) the plastic imparts some of its molecules to the food which is then eaten. I then learned in Germany there is another researcher who is very concerned with mineral water bottled in plastic. She is developing an easy to use inexpensive test.

    Soy

    I have eliminated all soy and soy products from diet due to the high phytoestrogen content. I avoid tofu, soy sauce, tempe, soy milk. In New Zealand soy was eliminated from all infant formulas when babies were becoming sterile due to the high phytoestrogen content. Additional farmers at Monsanto were planting genetically altered soy and mixing it up with non-genetically altered soy. This new soy would withstand a strong dose of weed killer which kill everything but the genetically altered soy.

    Flaxseed

    Flaxseed contains phytoestrogens. A researcher looked at flaxseed. If cancer cells were placed alongside flaxseed in a petrie dish, the cancer cells grew. This has yet to be proven with live subjects, but in the meantime I have eliminated flaxseed. Essential fatty acids contained in hemp seed oil, chia, purslane, seem better choices.

    Chemicals

    I have eliminated all chemicals from my cleaning cupboards. I use no bleach, ammonia, or alcohol containing cleaning products. Instead I use static cloths from 3M, sprayers filled with water to eliminate grim; washing soda and borax to clean toilets; vinegar to make glasses sparkle. I wear a mask or a handkerchief over my nose and mouth when placing powdered detergent in the wash machine or I use a liquid. There are also ceramic balls without chemicals that you throw into your wash machine to clean clothes. I use a soapless machine to clean my laundry. I try to use compressed dishwasher pellets only with every 3-4 wash.

    Dry Cleaned Clothing

    Avoid dry cleaning your clothing.

    Chlorine

    Chlorine in pools gets leached through to the skin and can cause liver cysts to grow and expand. A wellness shower filter is designed to eliminate chlorine, contaminants and enhances the water for healthier and better looking skin and hair. Exposure to chlorine might be cumulative, anything you can do to help lessen the workload on polycystic kidneys is helpful. The American Chemical Society estimates that we could receive from 6 to 100 times more chlorine by breathing the air around showers and baths than we could by drinking water. Not only is chlorine absorbed through the skin, but it also vaporizes in the shower, is inhaled into the lungs, and is transferred directly into the blood system. I avoid perfumes that contain alcohol, using fragrant oils. I think inhaling is a detrimental method of absorbing chlorine. The lungs sit right next to the liver. Chlorine byproducts found in swimming pools are linked to higher incidences of asthma, lung damage, stillbirths, miscarriages and bladder cancer, according to credible research conducted in the U.S., Canada, Norway, Australia and Belgium. One researcher noted that 10-year-old children spending an average of 1.8 hours per week in a swimming pool environment suffered lung damage she would expect to see in an adult smoker. For conscientious swimming pools managers, the question this raises is are there viable alternatives to chlorine? Ozone and ultraviolet are the two most commonly cited technologies. A number of safe, non-toxic options exist, such as treating water with ozone gas or ultra violet light.

    Increase estrogen metabolism

    Broccoli Sprouts, DIM Diindolylmethane is available as a capsule, broccolive by New Chapter Vitamins, saffron, organic turmeric, cabbage juice. Cabbage juice is an excellent source of DIM diindolylmethane as well as other cruciform vegetables. Juice a third to a half of a cabbage daily through a juicer with additional almonds gives a dose of DIMs. Cabbage juice, other cruciform vegetables such as broccoli or capsules of DIMs all increase the metabolism of estrogens by products through the liver. Avoid cruciform vegetables (cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli, rutabagas) with thyroid problems. Milk thistle, artichoke and turmeric are useful for cystic livers. Watercress s a particularly nutrient dense vegetable, especially when eaten raw is another super nutrient. Sauna and clay baths increase the metabolism of estrogens through the liver. This utilizes sweating through the skin to eliminate liver toxins. Bentonite clay or Aztec clay encourage the body to rid itself of toxins. Do not drink it but rather use it as a soap by mixing it with olive oil a teaspoon of honey and the clay to make a paste.

  • We are  sharing our experiences with PKD/PLD Diet, an adjunct diet envisioning it complementing a physician's prescribed medical therapy. Consider testing this with your doctor's prior knowledge, who can  adjust it according to your own uniqueness by adding it to your current  treatment.

    Medical Disclaimer