2. Shrimp

Did you know that the shrimp you pick up in the grocery store or order at a restaurant is not just fresh from the sea?

What I mean is that all that shrimp is dipped in a chemical called 4-hexyl resorcinol to prevent melanosis, or black spots.

While that may sound okay at first, since no one wants black spots on their shrimp, 4-hexyl resorcinol is a known xenoestrogen, meaning it has estrogen-like effects in your body.

3. Strawberries

Unless you buy organic strawberries, you could be getting a huge dose of fake estrogens every time you take a bite of these juicy red berries.

That’s because one of the most common sources of xenoestrogens is pesticides, which cling to the strawberries’ edible skin.

In fact, strawberries top the 2018 “Dirty Dozen” list – fruits and vegetables that are contaminated with the highest levels of those pesticides and therefore fake estrogens.

The rest of the list includes:

• Spinach
• Nectarines
• Apples
• Grapes
• Peaches
• Cherries
• Pears
• Tomatoes
• Celery
• Potatoes
• Sweet Bell Peppers

4. Wrapped deli meats

If you’re like me, you love a good sandwich. But you might want to forgo that packaged luncheon meat and make your own at home by cooking ham or roast beef.

That’s because a study in Environmental Health Perspectives found that most plastic products (like the bags and boxes that deli meat comes in) release estrogen-like chemicals — even if they’re BPA-free.

In fact, one of the products the researchers specifically tested was deli packaging.

5. Canned foods

Okay, you know how I just said that BPA-free plastic can still leak xenoestrogens? Well, BPA itself is just as bad.

In fact, BPA was actually first discovered by a British medical researcher searching for a synthetic estrogen. And unfortunately, it’s used in the epoxy coating on the inside of food cans, leaching into the food itself.

A study in Environmental Research found that people who eat canned foods have higher BPA levels in their urine 24 hours later.

The worst offenders were canned fruits and vegetables, canned pastas and canned soups.

Clearing out xenoestrogens

The good news is that there is something you can do about the problem of fake estrogen exposure.

First, avoid all the things you were just warned about. Then, work on clearing out the xenoestrogens you’ve already been exposed to

Di-Indole Methane (DIM) is a phytonutrient found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, bok choy and cauliflower. DIM actually works to latch onto the fake estrogens in your body to neutralize them and allow them to pass safely out of your body.

Sources:

1. Don’t blame the pill for estrogen in drinking water — American Chemical Society
2. Endocrine disruptors in bottled mineral water: Estrogenic activity in the E-Screen — The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
3. 4-Hexylresorcinol and prevention of shrimp blackspot: Residual analyses — Journal of Food Composition and Analysis
4. Two Food Additives Have Previously Unrecognized Estrogen-like Effects — American Chemical Society
5. Xenoestrogen — ScienceDirect
6. Strawberries top 2018’s “Dirty Dozen” list of fruits and vegetables — CBS News
7. Study: Most Plastics Leach Hormone-Like Chemicals — NPR: All Things Considered
8. The Politics of Plastics: The Making and Unmaking of Bisphenol A “Safety” — American Journal of Public Health
9. Canned Foods Are A Source Of BPA — Forbes