The best type of pan to use for cooking is stainless steel. Iron pans are also ok. Never use aluminum pans to cook in. Aluminum cookware is bad for your health. People who cook with aluminum cookware have a higher level of aluminum in their bodies. What happens is the aluminum of the pan tends to react with acidic foods like tomatoes. This causes some of the aluminum to leech into the food that is then consumed. Families that cook with aluminum pans have blood work and lab results that show elevated levels of aluminum. If you cook with aluminum pots and pans over time, the amount of aluminum in your body begins to build up. Our bodies were not made to have a daily intake of aluminum. It really doesn’t do our health any good.
Cookware with a nonstick surface, sometimes called Teflon, is also not a good choice. That non-stick surface also allows a chemical to leech into food being prepared that has been linked to cancer in animal studies. Elevated temperatures cause the Teflon to start breaking up and letting off chemicals. When the Teflon starts to wear off the bottom of a pan or gets scratches in it is when it becomes really hazardous.
Some people still claim aluminum and non-stick cookware pose no health risk. As we learn more, this really isn’t the case. It’s in everyone’s best interest to clean their kitchens of any and all aluminum and non-stick pans. Really the best pans to cook with over time are stainless steel.
