Dhru Purohit Show
Integrative Doctor Shares the Dangers of Microwaving Plastic, Eating Canned Foods and Top Sources of Endocrine Disruptors and How Simple Swaps in Our Home Make a Huge Difference with Dr. Vivian Chen
Wed, 21 May 2025
This episode is brought to you by Lumebox, Cozy Earth, and Ollie. We don’t often think of our homes as a source of toxins—but many of the most common exposures are hiding right where we cook, eat, breathe, and sleep. Not sure where to start when it comes to removing them? You’re not alone. Today’s guest is here to simplify the process, breaking down the top toxin exposures with a tiered ranking and showing you exactly what to remove, replace, or swap first for the biggest impact. Today on The Dhru Purohit Show, Dhru sits down with Dr. Vivian Chen to uncover the top sources of toxins hiding in your home. Dr. Chen shares must-do swaps in the kitchen, covering everything from cookware and food storage to baking essentials. She also offers practical tips to support your body’s natural detoxification and elimination process through simple lifestyle habits. Dr. Chen dives into the hidden toxins in feminine hygiene products and the safer alternatives. If you’re looking for simple, actionable strategies to reduce your daily exposure to toxins, this episode is a must-listen. Dr. Vivian Chen (MBBS, MRCP, MRCGP) is a UK-trained medical doctor with 15 years of clinical experience in internal medicine and family practice, and the co-founder of LUMEBOX, the leading portable red light therapy company. Now based in California, she traded her prescription pad for a deeper mission: helping people uncover and address the root causes of their health struggles—from mitochondrial dysfunction to environmental toxicity. In this episode, Dhru and Dr. Chen dive into: The best and worst types of cookware (00:24) The connection between cooking with cast iron and iron levels (4:02) Common sources of endocrine disruptors (5:05) Microwave-safe plastic containers and recommended changes when using plastic (8:15) Canned foods and how toxic exposure can vary based on your choices (14:55) Top sources of toxins in daily life and how to improve indoor air quality (18:12) The dangers of using aluminum foil to wrap food (29:13) Unbleached parchment paper, silicone cookware, and stainless steel storage (35:09) Constipation, detoxification, and the importance of tracking fiber intake (46:13) Exercise and its full-body detoxification benefits (56:53) How to support the body’s natural detoxification pathways (59:58) Different types of saunas and their detox benefits (1:08:21) Red light therapy: how to use it and its full-body benefits (1:12:18) How sleep supports detoxification and the top causes of poor sleep (1:21:48) The risks of using paper cups daily and the benefits of reusable alternatives (1:34:08) Why conventional paper receipts pose health risks (1:36:53) How scented candles impact indoor air quality (1:39:32) The effects of traditional feminine hygiene products on health (1:41:48) Final thoughts and where to follow Dr. Chen’s work (1:56:56) Also mentioned in this episode: EWG Bristol Stool Chart Lupini Beans King Grove Organic Farm Try This: Surprising Findings from a Major Report On Microplastics For more on Dr. Chen, follow her on Instagram, LinkedIn, and her Website. This episode is brought to you by Lumebox, Cozy Earth, and Ollie. Lumebox is offering my community $280 off their FDA-registered portable Red Light device! That's over 44% off! Go to thelumebox.com/dhru and get your Red Light device. Right now, get 40% off your Cozy Earth sheets. Just head over to cozyearth.com/dhru and use code DHRUP. Want to give your dog the best in clean eating? Take the online quiz and introduce Ollie to your pet. Right now, Ollie is offering 60% off your first box of meals when you subscribe today! Just head to Ollie.com, use the code DHRU, and you’ll get 60% off your first box of meals in your subscription. Sign up for Dhru’s Try This Newsletter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What are the dangers of using Teflon cookware?
So Teflon was very popular, right? Because everybody loves to cook the eggs on it. It slides right off. It's easy to clean, but it leaches PFAS, these forever chemicals. And these chemicals have been shown in studies to affect our fertility, our immune health. It can cause pregnancy complications. It's been linked to certain cancers like testicular and kidneys.
And the biggest problem with it is that it sticks around in our bodies. It's called forever chemicals, right? So it's really difficult to get rid of in our environment and in our bodies. So PFAS is actually now found in 45% of U.S. tap water because it lingers around so much. So if we're rating cookware, then, you know, the Teflon, the black, shiny looking nonstick cookware is an F for sure.
OK, I will never cook in those. You never want it. So on our tiering system where F is the worst and then we have S is supreme on top. You're putting Teflon cookware as an F. Correct.
Yeah. And if it's scratched, it will be a sub F, F minus, because when it's scratched, it actually releases more PFAS into your food.
You travel a lot. You see people. You go into people's home. Are people still using Teflon cookware? Yes.
Yeah. When I travel and I go into Airbnbs, that's when I see those cookware. So people are really attached to Teflon because nonstick. And, you know, when I tell them not to, they go into this huge panic. Like, what do I use instead? How do you cook eggs? That's the biggest question I get asked. And what do you say to that? cast iron.
So a well seasoned cast iron is naturally nonstick and you can easily cook eggs on that. And actually you can use stainless steel to cook eggs too. So stainless steel, there's kind of gaps between the metal, the surface. But when you heat it up, the gaps close, and then you get a smooth surface. Then you add your oil, then you should be able to cook your egg on that.
So you want to heat your stainless steel at a medium heat for like a couple minutes, and then you add your oil, and then you should be able to cook your egg.
Well, we don't have a photo of cast iron, but we do have one of stainless steel. So if you had to say that Teflon coated pans, especially the ones that have these cuts and nicks, which are so popular in not just Airbnbs, but people's homes, and they're leaching microplastics into everything you cook, you put that as an F. But stainless steel, where would you rank that stainless steel?
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Chapter 2: How do endocrine disruptors affect our health?
Most of us spend the majority of our time indoors, missing out on all the natural light exposures our body needs to thrive, especially for maintaining a healthy circadian rhythm. Even during the summer months, when longer days and higher temperatures place extra demands on our bodies, it's not always enough.
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F. F. Yeah. Because they're just marketing gimmicks. Tell us why. Microwave safe just means that the plastic won't melt in the microwave when you heat it up. It doesn't mean it's safe for your health. So we have a study from, I think, two years ago that showed just three minutes of microwaving food in plastic released millions and billions of micro and nanoplastics into the food.
Just three minutes. And I'm not even including things like BPA and phthalate. We're just talking about micro and nanoplastics here. So imagine the toxic soup that's leaching into your food when you're microwaving food in plastic. That's not safe, in my opinion. It just won't melt.
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Chapter 3: What are safer alternatives to plastic containers?
And I feel like if I don't have the air filter on and I come into this room, Pretty much within a few minutes, like I can feel like like I feel like a light, tiny level of feeling like a headache. Wow. Just because I feel like, again, it's a brand new room, new furniture, soundproofing, other things.
All this stuff is leaching in the air and our air monitor has shown that the air quality is not great when we don't keep on the air filter.
Yeah, yeah, definitely. And one of the main things, like let's say you've just been out walking close to highways or busy roads. Leave your shoes outside the home. Don't bring your shoes inside because that's when you're now bringing those microplastic particles into your home. And those can now ride on the dust in your home.
Every time you're walking around in your home, you're kicking it up and breathing in. And if you have small children, young children, you know, their hand to mouth behavior means they are more exposed than, let's say, an adult.
Yeah, keep your shoes off, right? Do what our parents have been telling us, right? Especially if you come from an Asian household. No shoes in the house. Okay, so you ranked an air filter, which we have an icon of one of these. If you throw it up, is it an S? Okay, great. So if you can invest in a good air filter, and again, if you can't,
Often just opening your windows and letting more circulation in the house, even in a city like Los Angeles. I see anytime we open our windows, the air quality dramatically improves, even in a friend's house who doesn't have an air filter.
Yeah, because we have so many things in our home that are just off gassing all the time.
yeah well said okay let's come back to the everyday household uh items that we're exposed to is there anything else besides this category of plastics that you've talked about that falls into this endocrine disruptor category or should we move on to the next thing
A big one is fragranced products.
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Chapter 4: How does cooking with aluminum foil impact health?
So plastic, the problem with it is that it breaks down in the environment and it doesn't really go anywhere. It just kind of comes back into us and we're pumping more and more into the environment every single year. So it just all adds up.
Yeah, it's all that cumulative exposure. So on that note, we have another icon over here. This came from one of your swaps, again, on Instagram, which we'll link to. And it's the idea of a stainless steel container, right? Again, you can use glass. Can you use stainless steel?
Yeah, absolutely. And is there any buying recommendations? And where would you rank it? Well, for stainless steel, you want to look for food grade. So that's 1810 or 1808. So 18 slash 10 or 18 slash 8. So those are more resistant to breakdown, rusting, and it just lasts longer, better quality. Got it. But if you can get those, then yeah, that will be either an A or an S. Okay, great.
We'll put it as an A. Yeah.
Okay. And you want to make sure that it's stainless steel and not aluminum. You're not looking for an aluminum container.
Right, right, right. Yes.
Absolutely. Right. You know, when people come to you and they say, what are other low hanging fruits that are there in my home that are the biggest bang for the buck? You know, you've talked about air quality. We've ranked some of these endocrine disruptors. What else comes to mind? Even let's go even bigger picture. It doesn't even have to be a product.
It could be an action that we're either doing or not doing. For example, I've heard you say that if you really care about your body's natural ability to detoxify, you have to make sure you have to have to have to make sure that you're not constipated.
Oh, yes.
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Chapter 5: What are the benefits of exercising for detoxification?
Chapter 6: How important is fiber for detoxification?
Chapter 7: What role do scented products play in toxin exposure?
Okay.
But I would not use those near heat. Okay, great.
So it's an A for cold.
Yeah.
Right. So if you wanted to marinate something like a piece of chicken breast or something.
Yeah, I don't know if I would put something acidic in there. I have not seen studies on acidity and silicone, I have to say. I need to look that up. But let's say, you know, you have bananas that you want to freeze. That's fine. I would use that. So you have soup that you've made that's cooled down that you want to put into those super containers. Those are silicone containers too for freezing.
I'm fine with that too. But I don't like those silicone baking mats. Or the silicone utensils where you're like, you know, eating it and cooking with it.
Right. So try to avoid heat. And what's a better alternative if you're going to be dealing with heat? Again, if you're trying to stay away from silicone cookware. And there was a recent study that was in the headlines around black paint. Yes. Which ended up having a little bit of a retraction because the math was incorrect, but still the...
The researchers ended up saying that their recommendation is still to avoid black. Can you summarize that? What are they talking about?
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