Rebecca Fett

Several studies have found that BPA levels are significantly higher in women with PCOS

These studies do not establish that BPA actually causes insulin resistance, in either PCOS or diabetes, because it could be the case that the types of food and drinks that cause insulin resistance also happen to be the foods most contaminated with BPA.

BPA also reduces the production of another hormone, called adiponectin.43 Low levels of adiponectin are closely associated with insulin resistance.

The first strategy to limit your exposure to BPA is to eliminate plastic from your kitchen.

When you are buying anything plastic, the most important type of plastic to stay away from is polycarbonate. This is a hard, durable plastic often marked with a seven inside the triangular recycling symbol

Companies are free to replace BPA with similar chemicals that could also disrupt hormonal systems, and there is generally no requirement for safety testing before use

In some cases, plastic products touted as BPA-free were even worse than BPA-containing products.46

Another way BPA could be getting into your food is from plastic takeout containers. Be careful about regularly eating hot takeout food that comes in plastic boxes, and look for better alternatives.

Coffee machines are another common source of BPA exposure. Automatic coffee machines typically have plastic components that come into contact with hot water or coffee, thereby leaching BPA into your coffee. If you instead make your coffee in a traditional French press, it will only come into contact with metal and glass, so you will have the best chance of toxin-free coffee.

One experiment found that consuming one can of soup from a BPA-lined can each day for five days caused a 1,000% increase in urinary BPA levels.50