These simple diet tweaks could slash microplastics in your body

New study reveals practical lifestyle choices that can protect your brain against harmful microplastics that are linked to dementia – Make sure how small changes can have a major impact.

Study: Human microplastic removal: What does the proof tell us? Image Credit: Chayanuphol / Shutterstock.com

Published in a recent study in the magazine Brain medicine” Researchers identify dietary and lifestyle-based strategies that can reduce human exposure to microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs).

MNP exposure and its impact on human health

Microplastics (MNPs) are omnipresent in the area, whereby current estimates indicate that 10-40 million tonnes are released in nature every year. After their emission from numerous sources, wind and water can transport MNPs to pollute food, water and air, which people can then reach through different routes.

Last In Vivo And in vitro Studies have shown that exposure to MNP leads to adverse health results due to inflammation, oxidative stress, changed biochemical/energy metabolism, immunis function, reduced cell proliferation, carcinogenicity, disturbed metabolic routes and abnormal organ development.

MNP exposure can also have a direct or indirect influence on various organs, including cardiovascular, nervous, liver, immune, gastrointestinal, breathing, kidney, muscle, reproductive and endocrine systems. For example different In Vivo Studies have confirmed that microplastic accumulation in the brain causes learning and memory shortages, neuro depleting drugs and lower levels of synaptic proteins.

Can MNPs enter the brain?

A recent Nature Medicine Study reported that human brain can contain a significant amount of MNPs, whereby dementia patients show three three-time larger MNP accumulation compared to healthy checks. These brain tissues turned out to be more sensitive to MNPs, with an accumulation speed seven to thirty times larger than those of other organs such as the liver and kidneys.

In this study, microplastics were isolated from human brain fewer than 200 nanometers (NM) in size, most of which came from polyethylene materials. An increase of 50% in the MNP concentration was observed in the brains of people who died in 2024 compared to 2016, which reflects the rising MNP levels of the environment in the past 50 years.

It remains unclear whether dementia weakens the blood-brain barrier (BBB), allowing more microplastics to enter the brain. Additional research is also needed to determine whether MNPs cause micro inflammation after the brain in penetration that prevents the brain from efficiently cleaning up proteins that can aggravate neurodegeneration.

Sources from MNP

Eat and drink

Despite widespread infection of MNPs in the environment, different strategies can be implemented to reduce the risk of MNP exposure. For example, replacing bottle water with tap water can considerably reduce microplastic exposure from 90,000 to 4,000 particles every year.

Seafood, alcohol and processed foods are other common food sources of MNPs. For example, a recent study emphasized that chicken nuggets contain 30 times more microplastics per gram than chicken fillets. Reducing the consumption of these foods can therefore reduce the exposure levels of MNP.

The use of the use of tea bags and plastic storage containers of food can also prevent exposure to MNP. Plained food products also serve as potential sources of MNPs, as shown by a recent study with an increase of more than 1,000% in urinary bisphenol A (BPA) levels after five days of daily consumption in canned food.

Another effective strategy to reduce microplastic consumption can avoid the avoidance of heating food in plastic containers. Heating food in plastic containers, especially in the microwave, can hand in to 2.11 billion MNPs between each square centimeter in just three minutes. Replacing plastic with glass or stainless steel containers can therefore reduce the MNP intake.

Environmental factors

Current estimates indicate that male adults inhale more than 62,000 particles each year, which demonstrates the important role of the inhalation as a route of MNP exposure. Thus the use of a very efficient particle air (HEPA) filter can remove up to 99.97% of the particles in the air, as small as 0.3 μm, individuals protect against inhaling microplastics in the air.

It is important that additional research is needed to quantify the health benefits of HEPA filters in preventing MNP exposure in people.

Can MNPs be eliminated from the body?

Existing evidence suggests that the human body is equipped with certain mechanisms to remove MNPs from the body. One study, for example, showed that 16 out of 20 participants in the study of detectable levels of BPA had in their sweat, indicating that sweating could facilitate the removal of BPA and other plastic -derived connections from the body.

Despite continuous exposure to the environment, the body has mechanisms to erase MNPs overtime through sweat, urine and droppings. “

It remains unclear whether sweating effectively reduces microplastic concentrations in the body. Additional studies are also needed to identify other possible approaches to support the elimination of MNPs from the body.