This Everyday Habit May Increase Your Risk of Heart Disease
New research finds a link between eating out of plastic takeout containers and heart disease.
The study adds to growing evidence that plastic chemicals may negatively influence your health.
Experts recommend doing your best to reduce your plastic takeout container use.
Unless you cook all of your meals at home, the odds are that you’ll eat food out of a plastic takeout container at some point. But a new study suggests that chemicals that leach out of these containers may raise your risk of developing heart disease.
The study adds to a growing body of research that finds microplastics and chemicals found in plastic may interfere with heart health.
Meet the experts: Rigved Tadwalkar, M.D., a consultative cardiologist and medical director of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Center at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA; Kelly Johnson-Arbor, M.D., a toxicologist at MedStar Health; Jamie Alan, Ph.D., an associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Michigan State University
While doctors say you shouldn’t panic over the latest news, they also stress that there’s something to the findings—and you might want to adjust your takeout habits (or simply containers) as a result. Here’s what you need to know.
What did the study find?
The study, which was published in the journal Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, was conducted in two parts. In one, researchers polled more than 3,000 people on their plastic exposure and heart disease status. The researchers discovered that people who frequently were exposed to plastics—including eating out of plastic takeout containers—had a higher risk of developing congestive heart failure, a chronic condition where the heart can’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs. In fact, researchers found that people were 13% more likely to develop heart failure with higher plastic takeout container exposure.
The other portion of the study focused on rats. For that part, the researchers poured boiling water into plastic takeout chemicals and let it sit for one minute, five minutes, and 15 minutes to extract plastic chemicals. They then exposed rats to that water over three months. At the end of the study period, the scientists analyzed the rat’s feces and found changes to their gut biome, along with “extensive” damage in the rat’s heart tissue.
The damage happened regardless of how long the water the rats ingested had been boiled. As a result, the researchers determined that even short-term plastic exposure is a “significant” risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
Why might plastic takeout containers raise the risk of heart disease?
The researchers didn’t answer why this happened—they just found a link. But there are a few theories.
One is that the chemicals that leach from these plastic takeout containers into the food may alter the gut microbiota, which is the ecosystem of bacteria that live in your gut, says Rigved Tadwalkar, M.D., a consultative cardiologist and medical director of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Center at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA. “That can lead to inflammation and subsequent heart damage,” he explains.
The researchers also suggest that the plastic chemical exposure itself may lead to heart muscle damage, along with inflammation and oxidative stress, an imbalance of free radicals and antioxidants in your body that may lead to cell damage. All of these are “closely tied to cardiovascular disease,” the researchers wrote.
The researchers also noted that certain plastic chemicals are directly linked with a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease, including bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates (PAEs), and plasticizers.
But there may also be an indirect link, according to Jamie Alan, Ph.D., an associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Michigan State University. “People who eat takeout typically consume more sodium and fat and therefore that alone may put them at higher risk for heart failure,” she says.
How concerned about this should you be?
Before you panic about that takeout you ate last night, there are a few things to keep in mind. One is that the study simply found a link between eating from plastic takeout containers and heart disease. “It’s important to remember that the findings do not definitively prove that use of plastic products causes congestive heart failure,” says Kelly Johnson-Arbor, M.D., a toxicologist at MedStar Health. Still, she notes that there is a growing body of evidence that has linked chemicals in plastic to health consequences.
The heat involved in eating takeout food is also problematic, Dr. Johnson-Arbor says. “Takeout food is often reheated in the plastic containers that it is packaged in,” she says. “When people eat food that has been reheated or kept warm in a plastic container, they may unintentionally consume plastic byproducts along with the food.”
But it’s hard to say that microplastic exposure alone will lead to heart complications. “The link is quite real in the sense that we know that these microplastics and chemicals can leach from these containers and be harmful. But heart disease is multifactorial,” Dr. Tadwalkar says. He stresses that genetics plays a big role, along with diet, exercise routine, and other environmental elements like air quality.
“While reducing plastic container use is of priority, it's one part of a more comprehensive approach to heart health that should include regular exercise, balanced diet, and routine checkups,” Dr. Tadwalkar says.
While the study found that even smaller exposures to plastic takeout containers weren’t great for heart health, Dr. Tadwalkar says you should be OK eating from these here and there. “It’s probably fine and unlikely to pose a significant health risk,” he says. “There are clearly ways we can mitigate our heart risk that are probably higher yield, even though this should be taken into account.” Meaning, that if you exercise regularly and eat a heart-healthy diet, having the occasional dinner out of a plastic takeout container is unlikely to cause serious cardiovascular issues.
But Dr. Johnson-Arbor also recommends that you avoid reheating food in these plastic containers. “To reduce the risk of plastic exposure from food, it’s a good idea to transfer takeout food from its original packaging to your own [non-plastic] dishware, prior to reheating or eating it,” she says.
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