People should drink more water and exercise more to discharge substances that accumulate in the body, the Taiwan Association for Promoting Public Health said yesterday.
The association held its annual meeting in Taipei yesterday afternoon, which included a speech by association member Lee Chun-chang (李俊璋), a professor of hygiene and risk management at National Cheng Kung University, on how to eat and use things safely, and how to embrace a healthy, non-toxic lifestyle.
Most people know the harm substances in the body can cause, but they often do not know how to avoid exposure to damaging chemicals, and even feel insecure about eating and using things, Lee said as he displayed a list of major food safety scandals in the past decade.
Photo: Liu Wan-chun, Taipei Times
“Many substances in the environment were developed to improve our lives, make things more convenient or even for medical purposes, but they can be harmful if they are used in excess or used for the wrong purpose,” he said.
It is nearly impossible to avoid exposure to harmful chemicals, Lee said, citing thermal receipt paper that uses bisphenol A, a hormone-disrupting chemical that is thought to affect the brain and behavior of young children.
People should understand maximum tolerance levels and be willing to change their habits to reduce exposure, he said, adding that for instance, people could avoid receipts by using the cloud invoicing system, use a stainless-steel cup to drink beverages rather than drinking from single-use plastic cups, and cook more often instead of eating out.
Fish have plenty of nutrients, but many people worry about dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls and methyl mercury in fish, especially larger sea fish such as shark, tuna and swordfish, he said.
People can follow the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s fish consumption guidelines and eat no more than the recommended amount per month, he said, adding that pregnant women should avoid such fish.
People should not eat the same foods every day and should occasionally change brands of personal care products, such as shampoo and body wash, to reduce repeated exposure to the same substances, he said, adding that more water and exercise helps discharge chemicals from the body.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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