I cook with a Vita Clay Pot because it does not leech metals into my Food. Cooking with a clay pot (Vita Clay Pot or Miriam’s Earthen Cookware) is great because it helps to hold your foods nutrition (minerals) within the pot.

and water-soluble nutrients are lost with the steam constantly leaving the pot. The metal reacts to food during the cooking process (under heat) and leach metallic ions into the food. These metal ions accumulate in the body over time and disrupt the basic metabolic functioning which in turn is one of the causes for various diseases.

Food cooked in clay pots is synonymous with food cooked perfectly. Clay vessels have the unique quality of locking in all the steam and vapor that evaporates during cooking to retain all the nutrients of the food. The added advantage is that when this locking in of steam and vapor happens, the food gets cooked in its own oils and liquids, this reduces the need to add more oil and/or water.

Miriam’s Earthen Cookware is made from MEC clay – a rich and potent matter that is naturally occurring on the surface of the earth. It is composed of minerals such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, sodium etc, which are essential to our body. And these minerals are bound together so perfectly in nature that they do not react or leach into the food being cooked in them.

Benefits of Clay Pots:

• It is 100% Natural, Inert & Non-Toxic.
• Unique, Food-Friendly Heat cooks food without damaging the nutrients.
• Locks Steam — Retains all the water Soluble Nutrients.
• Clay is a Great Retainer of Heat.

Commonly Used Cookware and Their Effects:

Non-stick Cookware:
One chemical ingredient most common to non-stick cookware is perfluorooctanic acid (PFOA). This is a synthetic chemical that creates a soap-like slipperiness and the non-stick finish. When heated, the PFOA quickly reaches temperatures high enough to release toxic flames into the air and food and has been known to produce serious changes in organs like the brain, prostrate, liver, thymus kidney showing toxicity.  It is also seen to cause changes in the pituitary glands, which is the organ that controls growth, reproduction and many metabolic functions, as observed in lab tests and animal studies.

Aluminum Cookware:
Aluminum is a reactive soft metal.  It easily reacts with the different food and releases the metal into the food.  In fact, there is today enough evidence to prove that there is a strong connection between Aluminum and Alzheimer’s disease.  Chronic aluminum exposure has contributed directly to hepatic failure, renal failure and dementia (Arieff et al., 1979).  Other symptoms that have been observed in individuals with high internal concentrations of aluminum are colic, convulsions, esophagitis, gastroenteritis, kidney damage, liver dysfunction, loss of appetite, loss of balance, muscle pain, psychosis, shortness of breath, weakness, and fatigue (ATSDR 1990).  Behavioral difficulties among schoolchildren have also been correlated with elevated levels of aluminum and other neuro-toxic heavy metals (Goyer 1991).  What is still more alarming is the fact that aluminum toxicity can even cause birth defects in newborns.

Cast Iron Cookware:
Iron occurs in its ferric and ferrous form.  Cast iron cookware contains iron in its ferric form and that cannot be assimilated or digested by our bodies.  It has no value to our bodies in the cellular level.  In fact, it is very harmful to people who are allergic to heavy metals, and can lead to auto immune problems.  This ferric form of iron when combined with the oxygen in the body, can release oxygen-free radicals, which are unstable molecules.  And studies now show that the damage caused by these unstable molecules known as free radicals may be the cause for many forms of cancer (National Cancer Institute).

Stainless Steel Cookware:
Stainless steel is made up of a combination of various metals like iron, nickel, chromium, molybdenum, carbon etc.  But it is no consolation that these metals are in smaller quantities because even small amounts of these metals can prove extremely toxic.  For instance, a very small amount of concentration of nickel can cause kidney dysfunction, low blood pressure, muscle tremors, oral cancer, skin problems etc.  And this is just from one of the metals.

How About Glass and Ceramic, Glazed or Enamel Ware?
Pure glass which is made from natural sand is also 100% inert but it cannot be used for cooking (pure-glass shatters when heated).  In order for glass to be used for cooking it has to be shock resistant and Lead is used to gives these wares shock resistance and uniformity in color.

The ceramic material is made up of many chemicals, metals and minerals obtained by fracking and other environmentally destructive means of mining.  These chemicals include but are not limited to barium, cadmium, chrome, cobalt, lead, lithium, nickel, selenium and vanadium, silicon dioxide, feldspar, silicon carbide, magnesium oxide, petalite (an ore of lithium).  And all of these raw materials range in toxicity from mild to highly toxic. Because is it a mixture of individually mined chemicals/metal oxides it has to be fired to very high temperatures to fuse.  In order for food to not come in contact with these chemicals, so called ‘food safe’ glazes and enamels are used.  These glazes or enamels are a paint like substance with their own set of chemicals/toxins including lead and cadmium which poison food every time it’s cooked in them.

Clean your body with some iHerbal Arts and start using Clay Pots today!