What Cookware Is Toxic? What to Avoid (And What to Use Instead) | EP 398.A

Summary

The Dr. Gundry Podcast — EP 398.A

What Cookware Is Toxic? What to Avoid (And What to Use Instead)

April 9, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Dr. Steven Gundry explores a hidden but impactful health topic: the toxins lurking in everyday kitchenware and food storage, especially those that act as endocrine disruptors. He guides listeners through which cookware and storage items to avoid, the science behind their health risks, and practical, safer substitutions. Dr. Gundry also addresses the pitfalls of modern food convenience (like pre-packaged salads) and offers actionable tips for creating a cleaner, healthier kitchen environment.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. The Hidden Dangers in Kitchenware

[01:28] - [07:24]

• Modern kitchenware can introduce endocrine disruptors—chemicals that can mimic hormones and cause possible harm to development, brain function, and long-term health.
• Plastics (especially post-WWII ubiquitous plastics) are a major offender, as are certain metals and coatings in cookware.

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2. Cookware to Avoid & Safer Alternatives

Nonstick (Teflon/PTFE) Pans

• Danger: Early and many current nonstick pans use Teflon (PTFE); a known endocrine disruptor.
• Advice: "Make sure you never buy non stick cookware that says Teflon... so put them down." — Dr. Gundry [02:27]
• Alternative: Opt for ceramic-based nonstick cookware, but avoid using metal utensils even if advertised as "safe." Use wooden utensils.

Aluminum Cookware and Foil

• Danger: "Aluminum, in itself is toxic to our brain. Aluminum foil, get rid of it. You should never line a baking pan with aluminum foil.” — Dr. Gundry [03:09]
• Advice: Only use aluminum as a "tent" covering (not touching food), or replace it with parchment paper.

Stainless Steel Cookware

• Pros: Safe if you use plenty of olive oil to avoid sticking. "Stainless steel cookware is great... and you should be adding olive oil to your pan anyhow because remember, the only purpose of food is to get olive oil into your mouth." — Dr. Gundry [03:52]

Cast Iron and Copper Pans

• Danger (Cast Iron): "Throw away your cast iron pan unless it is ceramic coated. Why? Iron ages us and the last thing you want is additional iron in your body." — Dr. Gundry [08:48]
  • He shares that elevated iron levels in patients often normalize after discontinuing cast-iron cookware.
• Danger (Copper): "Copper pans, while gorgeous, leach copper into the food you’re eating... Hang your copper pans on the wall and admire them, but please don’t cook with them." — Dr. Gundry [09:34]

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3. Food Storage: Plastics vs. Glass

• Plastic Containers: “Plastic storage containers... leach endocrine disruptors into our food. There are plenty of now glass containers...” [04:15]
• Plastic Bags: Avoid for storage/lunches; use paper bags, wax paper, or butcher paper whenever possible.
• BPA/BPS-Free: If plastic use is unavoidable, ensure it’s labeled both “BPA free” and “BPS free,” since new substitutes can be equally hazardous.
  • "BPA is a known endocrine disruptor, but its replacements like BPS look to be just as mischievous." — Dr. Gundry [05:46]
• Water: Do not buy water or food in plastic containers due to risk of contamination.

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4. Utensils

• Best: Wood utensils—gentle on ceramic pans and cannot break liners.
• Stainless Steel: Acceptable if needed, especially with stainless steel pans.
• Avoid: Metal with nonstick/ceramic, plastic utensils (especially heated) as they leach chemicals into food.

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5. Packaged Food & Microbiome Concerns

• Pre-Washed Salad Greens: Highly resistant to spoiling—"If mold and funguses… won’t eat your food even after three weeks, then why would you want to put that food in your mouth?" — Dr. Gundry [11:04]
  • Points to preservation chemicals that disrupt the microbiome, not always labeled on the package.
• Advice: Buy whole, unprocessed produce, chop at home, and use a salad spinner. It only takes a moment and is safer for your gut and general health.

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6. General Lifestyle Wisdom

• "Convenience is not worth harming your gut microbiome, harming you from endocrine disruptors. We don’t want to be disrupted." — Dr. Gundry [13:53]
• Encourage return to tried-and-true traditional materials for storage and cooking.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "As you know, I call them deadly disruptors. And there are numerous deadly disruptors lurking in your kitchen right now." — Dr. Steven Gundry [01:38]
• "The only purpose of food is to get olive oil into your mouth." — Dr. Steven Gundry [03:52]
• "Iron ages us and the last thing you want is additional iron in your body." — Dr. Steven Gundry [08:50]
• "If mold and funguses and other things that want to eat your food won’t eat your food even after three weeks, then why would you want to put that food in your mouth?" — Dr. Steven Gundry [11:04]
• “Let’s start really thinking about what convenience means... the way they have made these foods shelf life stable quite frankly scares me to death and it ought to scare you to death.” — Dr. Steven Gundry [12:48]

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Key Recommendations & Actionable Tips

• Ditch: Teflon and aluminum pans, all uncoated cast iron or copper pans, and all plastic storage/utensils unless Teflon/BPA/BPS free.
• Switch To: Ceramic (coated), stainless steel, glass containers, wood utensils, parchment/wax/butcher paper.
• Be Critical of Convenience: Buy whole produce, use salad spinners, and avoid prepackaged/prewashed items long on shelf life.
• Olive Oil: Always use when cooking with stainless steel, for nonstick and health benefits.

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Listener Q&A Segment

[14:55]

• Question: Can leaky gut or parasites cause demodex blepharitis or ocular rosacea?
• Answer: These can happen, but more commonly, Dr. Gundry sees that gluten and related proteins can trigger rosacea and eye inflammation. He suggests eliminating wheat, rye, barley (and even corn/oats, due to cross-reactive proteins) to see if symptoms improve.

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• [01:28] — Introduction of "deadly disruptors" and plastics in the kitchen.
• [02:27] — Dangers of Teflon nonstick pans and PTFE.
• [03:09] — Dangers of aluminum cookware and foil.
• [04:15] — Plastics in storage, history of Tupperware, glass alternatives.
• [05:46] — Risks of “BPA-free” plastics due to substitutes like BPS.
• [08:48] — Cast iron and copper pans: why to avoid.
• [09:35] — Safe utensil materials.
• [11:04] — Packaged salads experiment and microbiome disrupting chemicals.
• [13:53] — The unmeasured cost of convenience and microbiome health.
• [14:55] — Q&A: Gut health, gluten, and eye issues.

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Summary Table: What to Avoid vs. What to Use

| Avoid | Use Instead | |------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------| | Teflon/PTFE nonstick pans | Ceramic-based nonstick, Stainless steel | | Aluminum pans and foil | Parchment paper, Ceramic-lined cookware | | Cast iron (uncoated), Copper pans | Ceramic-coated or Stainless steel pans | | Plastic containers and bags | Glass containers, Paper/wax/butcher paper | | Plastic utensils (esp. when heating) | Wood utensils, Stainless steel for metal pans | | Prepackaged/prewashed produce | Whole produce, washed and chopped at home |

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Final Takeaway

Dr. Gundry challenges listeners to rethink kitchen choices—not just for immediate health, but for the long-term impacts of hidden toxins introduced by cookware and storage. Invest in traditional, safer materials and minimize reliance on plastics and chemically-processed foods to protect your body, gut, and future.
"Convenience is not worth harming your gut microbiome... Get yourself a couple salad spinners and have fun." — Dr. Steven Gundry [13:53]

Transcript

[Dr. Steven Gundry]

The kitchen is where we nourish our bodies, but it can also be a source of hidden toxins. Today, we're taking a closer look at the everyday items we rely on, from cookware to food storage, and what they may be adding to our meals behind the scenes. And in this episode, I'll highlight the biggest culprits and the simple swaps that can help you create a cleaner, healthier kitchen. So stay tuned. Doctor Gundry here. I want to give a big thanks to all of you who are listening to my podcast right now. To show my thanks, we're giving listeners the chance to win free Gundry MD Products formulas designed to support gut health, inflammation, energy and healthy aging. Here's all you need need to do. Leave a positive review for this podcast on Apple Podcasts. Then take a screenshot of your review and email it to podcastr gundry.com that's it. You'll be entered for a chance to win a free prize that can help support your health from the inside out. So don't overthink it. Leave a review, send the screenshot, and you could be our next winner.

All right, why do I want you to throw out perfectly good kitchenware? And it's certainly not to create more landfill and waste money, but there are things in your kitchen you probably use every day that are poisoning you and your family. As you know, I call them deadly disruptors. And there are numerous deadly disruptors lurking in your kitchen right now. So these contain, for the most part compounds that are called endocrine disruptors, sometimes called estrogen mimetics, sometimes called hormone disruptors. These are commonly found in almost all plastics. And lest we forget, plastics are a relatively new invention. Plastics did not exist until really after World War II, and plastics are now so ubiquitous they're in everything. Plastics. The vast majority of plastics we now know contain these estrogen disrupting chemicals. And estrogen disruptors do exactly what they say. They mimic hormones and they mimic hormones in ways that are incredibly detrimental to our child's development, to our development, to our brain. And we need to get them out of our lives because quite frankly, we are disrupted. One of the first big offenders is non stick pants. Now, not all non stick fans are big bad, but most of the pans. The early non stick cookware made with Teflon. Teflon is PTFE and is a known endocrine disruptor. Make sure you never buy a non stick cookware that says Teflon and you can still see them lining the store shelves. So put them down. Alternatives are the Ceramic based nonstick cookware. Sometimes they're called diamond cookware, sometimes they're called ceramic cookware. In general, these are not using these PTFE compounds. But you should not feel safe to use metal utensils with this cookware. You'll see advertisements on tv. This cookware is metal safe. Just don't do that and I'll get to what utensils you should use in a second. On the other hand, aluminum pans, unless they are lined with ceramic, you should throw them away as well because aluminum in itself is toxic to our brain. Aluminum foil, get rid of it. You should never line a baking pan with aluminum foil. Heat makes that aluminum penetrate into the foods you eat. Now, can you use aluminum as a tent when you're baking a roast or something like that or a piece of salmon? Yeah, as long as it doesn't come in contact with the aluminum foil. Use parchment paper. Parchment paper used to be the way all of us baked and covered something. It's really, really easy to find. Again, get rid of the aluminum. How about stainless steel cookware? Stainless steel cookware is great. Yes, you're right. It's a pain in the neck to clean if you don't take some alternatives such as adding olive oil to your pan. And you should be adding olive oil to your pan anyhow because remember, the only purpose of food is to get olive oil into your mouth. Plastic storage containers. One of the things I think did us in was Tupperware parties. Little did we know that these plastic containers leach endocrine disruptors into our food. There are plenty of now glass containers that you can use to store food in. We have a whole pantry full of glass containers. Plastic bags. Plastic bags contain these endocrine disruptors. Instead of plastic bag, use paper bags. There are now lots of paper lunch bags on Amazon. When I was a kid, we took paper bags to school and our sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper. You can still find wax paper and it makes a great, great way of wrapping things. Butcher paper is readily available. Now we need to get back to things we used 70 years ago that work just fine. If you must use plastic bags or containers, please only buy BPA and BPS free plastic. Just seeing BPA free is not no longer enough. BPA is a known endocrine disruptor, but its replacements like bps look to be just as mischievous. And obviously don't buy your water in plastic containers. Don't buy anything in plastic containers. These things contaminate your your food with endocrine disruptors.

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[Dr. Steven Gundry]

now. Throw away your cast iron pan unless it is ceramic coated. Why Iron ages us and the last thing you want is additional iron in your body. And I can't tell you the number of patients who are healthily using their seasoned cast iron pan and have elevated iron levels in their blood. When I look at them and they're shocked and the first thing I do is have them throw away their cast iron skillet and remarkably their iron levels plummet to normal the next time I see them. Iron ages us and the last thing you want to do is introduce additional iron. The same with copper. Copper pans, while gorgeous, leach copper into the food you're eating. And copper has to be very carefully balanced in our body with zinc. And so people who are using copper pans or similarly have copper piping in old houses are at risk of actual copper toxicity. So it's an easy thing to avoid. Hang your copper pans on the wall and admire them, but please don't cook with them. How about utensils? I personally use wood utensils. I have drawers and drawers full of wood utensils. Wood luckily can't break through the the linings of ceramic pans. Some of these plastic liners metal absolutely can. If you're going to use metal, look for the stainless steel. The last thing you want to use is plastic utensils. That plastic, particularly if you're cooking with them, is going to leach into the food and you're going to eat endocrine disruptors which I assure you you don't want to do. Finally, and this is something I think all of us should be aware of, all of us love convenience. And there's nothing easier than coming home from work, stopping by a store and buying some packaged pre washed salad greens. I mean, what could be better? It's been washed for you. It's been double washed washed. But recently I decided to do an experiment. Some of you may remember my experiment with Costco strawberries versus the farmers market years ago. And I bought a big package of Costco organic strawberries. And I bought some organic strawberries simultaneously at Santa Barbara farmers market and I put them in the refrigerator. After about three days, the farmers market organic strawberries were covered with mold. The Costco strawberries sat there in my refrigerator for a month looking as pristine as the day I bought them. Now that makes me wonder if a self respecting fungus or mold wouldn't want to eat those strawberries. What the heck was on them that prevented that from happening? So just this past few weeks I've done an experiment with prepackaged salad mixing and I've done them in bags and I've done them in plastic containers and I've put them in my refrigerator. Now going on two and a half. We're about to finish three weeks and all of those packages look as pristine as the day I bought them. If mold and funguses and other things that want to eat your food won't eat your food even after three weeks, then why would you want to put that food in your mouth? Because these things have been treated with chemicals that don't have to be displayed on a label that disrupt the microbiome that's on these vegetables in the first place. And you don't want microbiome disrupting chemicals in you swallowing these things. Plus they come in plastic containers. What's the option? Buy your food whole. Buy the lettuce hole. Buy your broccoli whole. Take it home. It will take you an instantaneous second to chop up that head of lettuce. Throw it in a salad spinner. I have two salad spinners. One is a pump action one. And when you're really having a bad day, there's nothing better than pumping on that salad spinner to get your aggression out. The other, I have a pulling salad spinner and it's really fun to start the engine and watch it spin. It'll get the water out, you won't have any storage issues. You can put it in a glass container if you're done. And let's start really thinking about what convenience means. It may be very convenient to pick up these bags, bags in plastic. But the way they have made these foods shelf life stable quite frankly scares me to death. And it ought to scare you to death. Convenience is not worth harming your gut microbiome harming you from endocrine disruptors. We don't want to be disrupted. And get yourself a couple salad spinners and have fun.

Now it's time for the question of the week. This one comes from Jam and Jen58 over on YouTube. On my episode about the connection between gut and eye health, they asked. Hey Dr. Gundry, great info. Can leaky gut or parasites cause demodex blepharitis? Oh yeah, and ocular rosacea. I keep getting the mites and I still have inflammation and my mermobian glands are still clogged. Can you offer any advice? I did a parasites detox and then all of these issues started. I've been dealing with this for three years now. I want my eyelashes back and my eyes to heal. Well, certainly these little guys can happen

and they are rare, but they are real.

But here's a suggestion. I've seen so many patients where these issues, particularly around the eyes, particularly around

rosacea, stem from gluten.

And just a word to the wise,

gluten is in wheat, it's in rye, it's in bread, barley, it's in wheat

grass, it's in barley grass. And here's the bad news. There are proteins in corn and oats that cross react with gluten that most of my patients with testing react to. So do yourself a favor, try to eliminate all of these that I just mentioned and let's see how you do. Thanks for writing. Now it's time for the review of the week. The review comes from lectinfreemeals over on Instagram. On my reel about bio complete 3 they said I've been taking Bio Complete since I discovered it in 2021. And since I discovered my favorite Dr. Gundry heart, I take it every morning.

The only brand I trust.

Well thanks very much. Electrifin free meals. You know, why can you trust Gundry MD products? Well, it's actually quite simple. I formulate every formula at Gundry MD based on my now over 25 year experience with patients, asking them to try supplements that I don't even sell, looking at their blood work, looking at their reactions and then going from there. Also based on my extensive review of the scientific literature and you know, 11 books in the series. So how many places can you actually have a doctor formulating supplements that are based on what works. And one more point, don't buy Gundry MD products on any site except the Gundry MD site or the Gundry MD store on Amazon. Any other reseller on ebay or Amazon or other third party sites could very well be fake as unfortunately several of my patients discovered. But thanks for writing it. You know Biocomplete 3 is my number one selling product, always has been. And the reason is simple.

It works. Thanks for writing.

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[Dr. Steven Gundry]

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[Dr. Steven Gundry]

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