The Cookware Matters

Chapter 15, The Cookware Matters [September 1999]

Imagine my disappointment when John reacted to a poached egg on toast. This spartan meal consisted of two eggs, water, and his "safe" yeast free bread. Of course he might be reacting to a prior meal, but the reaction was immediate, and we were convinced (perhaps wrongly) that his earlier meals were safe. I spent much of the day trying to figure it out, until I finally looked at the pan. It was an old teflon skillet, guaranteed to keep eggs from sticking. The surface was riddled with cracks, and probably pealing at the microscopic level. Two days later, after the reaction subsided, I prepared the same meal, from the same carton of eggs and loaf of bread, in the same way, except for the pan. I watched one of the two eggs drift down to the bottom and adhere to the clean metal surface. Then I served breakfast and documented absolutely no reaction.

So what is teflon anyways? Teflon is a polymer whose base monomer is a rather nasty looking fluoro-carbon, just a couple steps away from freon. It's a wonder we don't all react to it!

Keep in mind, there are some ADHD children who react to aluminum ions, and they are better off using new teflon pans. If you want quick answers from this blog, you won't find them, because every child is unique. However, I can tell you to take your cookware into account, because it could be a contributing factor.

We now use enamel pans and glass baking dishes whenever possible. These are the safest vessels, introducing the fewest impurities into your food. At first we bought heavy expensive enamel cookware from Hudsons, for $100 a pan, only to find that the surfaces began to chip in just a couple months. We promptly returned these pans and ordered new light-weight durable pans for about $10 each. See the Miles Kimball catalog, 920-231-4886, item #465104. These have lasted for years.

NFF: John never had a problem with cookware, but your child might. Once again we were pulling false, short-lived patterns out of random noise.

And Speaking of Fluoride

Since half the atoms in teflon are fluorine, I began to suspect fluoride in general. Sensitive individuals sometimes react to this small ion, though nobody knows why. We had been giving John bottled drinking water since he first arrived, but in August we began cooking with it as well, and we carried bottled water whenever we left the house. I also replaced his fluoride toothpaste with a homemade baking soda solution. Shortly after these changes I noticed a modest improvement, though we don't know whether fluoride is the culprit, or some other tap water impurity. Chlorine is much more likely.

When tap water carries an allergen, life gets much more complicated. Any food that is prepared with unfiltered water, or has water added to it, is a risk. When I open a can of "Starkist tuna packed in water", the fish is safe, but what about the water? I started draining the liquid off of all canned foods.

NFF: We have since exonerated fluoride and reissued his original toothpaste, but we still serve bottled water whenever practical. Tap water has chloramine, and that can be a problem. Besides, it doesn't taste good.