How To Avoid Microplastics

• Microplastics are tiny plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in size, found everywhere in the environment, and capable of accumulating in human and animal lung tissues.
• Microplastics disrupt hormone balance, cause chronic inflammation, create oxidative stress, damage gut health, and even cross the placenta and blood-brain barrier.
• Want to know how to avoid microplastics? Some easy ways are to switch to reusable bags, store food in glass containers, avoid using single-use plastics, choose natural home products, filter your drinking water, choose natural fiber clothing and improve your indoor air quality with an air purifier. 
• Research links microplastic exposure to chronic diseases like high blood pressure, stroke, and diabetes, ranking among the top 10 predictors of these conditions. 
• A 2025 study found microplastic particles in every lung sample from 51 bird species, with an average of 221 particles per bird's lungs. These findings suggest similar widespread contamination in humans. 
• Previous research has shown that microplastics are present in human lung tissues, with particles from common plastics like polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). 
• Communities with higher microplastic levels experienced significantly more chronic diseases, with risk steadily increasing alongside higher plastic concentrations. 
• A study found microplastics embedded in artery plaque, and affected patients were over four times more likely to experience heart attacks, strokes or death. 
• Plastic particles trigger inflammation and immune responses when lodged in tissues, raising disease risk even in people without conventional risk factors.

How To Avoid Microplastics

The state of health of people living in the industrialized countries took a turn for the worse after World War II because of a one key decision whose long-term impact we didn’t fully appreciate until very recently. March of this year recently.

Of course, certain people in the broader health space have been warning about the dangers of this particular poison, myself included, for years and even decades now.

But now we have verifiable, undeniable proof - thanks to a study published in March 2025. 

The poison? 

Plastics, and especially microplastics which reach their unexpectedly poisonous little hands into our bloodstream, our organs (particularly reproductive organs), our brain, and our cells. 

The proof?

The American College of Cardiology published a scientific journal with this scathing title: 

“Microplastics exposure linked to increased risk of chronic diseases”  

The dagger?

The scientists behind this study were absolutely shocked. Not only that microplastics even ranked in their calculation of cardiovascular health (especially chronic, noncommunicable conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke), but that it ranked within the top 10!

Alternative voices in this debate have been laughed at for our wariness about plastic for years and decades. We were told we don’t know what we’re talking about, plastic has been around since World War II - there’s no way it’d be used so liberally if it were bad. The regulators would not approve it if it were dangerous. 

Sound familiar? 

But as with many of life’s most complex health problems, alternative voices get proven right given enough time. 

The scientists behind this study included 154 different socioeconomic and environmental factors to determine the top 10 biggest risk factors for chronic disease. 

Still, microplastics ranked in the top 10.

Many of you reading this are already fully aware of the problem of microplastics. 

They’ve been a hot button issue since another study broke last year indicating that microplastics may increase risk of disease. Not to mention the large swath of people who have felt the “brunt” of microplastic toxicity whether they realized it or not: infertility, brain fog, declining cardiovascular health, and even death. 

(In fact, in 2018 alone, it’s estimated that 356,238 global deaths were due to plastic exposure.) 

But there has been little on the subject of solving the problem of microplastics. 

Problem is, the cat’s already out of the bag. While it would be ideal to root out every source of plastic in the world and replace it with something healthier to us and to our environment, it’s not likely or even possible. 

That's like trying to put the toothpaste back into the tube. 

But, that does not mean we’re helpless either. 

Why? Knowing how to avoid microplastics is one part of your defense. The other part is to neutralize the negative effects of microplastics.

How To Avoid Microplastics? Neutralize Their Effects!

There’s emerging evidence (as well as plenty of anecdotal proof) that there’s a special compound in vibrant and colorful fruit that has an uncanny ability to root out microplastics in your body. 

The special compound is called anthocyanins. It’s found in blueberries, raspberries, purple cabbage, and other fruits and veggies that are red, blue, purple, or black. 

Since microplastics release xenoestrogen chemicals (which are endocrine disruptors that can alter your hormonal balance and reproductive health), and anthocyanins bind to the same receptors of the endocrine-disrupting chemicals - we’re simply waiting for science to catch up to what the average layman can clearly see:

Anthocyanins, in many ways, are like THE antidote to microplastics. At least as it relates to hormonal balance and reproductive health. 

Anthocyanins also inhibit inflammatory pathways, reduce oxidative stress, and decrease pro-inflammatory cytokines.

And the cherry on top?

They also have powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions which may offer the best preventative measure against microplastics’ desire to cause chronic disease. 

So, how do you add more anthocyanins to your diet?

Well, you could simply add more fruits and veggies naturally high in anthocyanins to your diet. The best fruits include most berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and cranberries). As for veggies, purple cabbage, eggplant, and red onions also offer a high amount of anthocyanins. 

That said, try to eat them raw (or lightly steamed) as heat can crush anthocyanins. It’s also a good idea, if you’re adding a bunch of berries to your morning smoothie, to add in an avocado or coconut oil because anthocyanins are fat-soluble. But there’s a catch - you'd have to eat buckets of each to get a pharmaceutical amount.

So if you really want to reap the benefits of anthocyanins, you’re going to want to supplement with cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G). 

As an informed ingredient enthusiast (read: supplement geek), you know C3G as a nutrient partitioning agent. It reduces the size and number of fat cells through multiple mechanisms, including promoting the browning of white adipose tissue, activating AMPK, inhibiting adipogenesis, enhancing fatty acid oxidation, and reducing inflammation in adipose tissue.

In short, you can eat more carbs and use them to fuel lean body mass instead of storing them as fat. But now, researchers have discovered new uses for this healthy anthocyanin that go beyond looking better naked.

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), like Crohn's and ulcerative colitis, involve chronic inflammation of the gut, often worsened by environmental factors like microplastics.

A study from the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry used mice fed a high-fat, high-sucrose diet to induce insulin resistance, which is linked to worse gut inflammation. These mice were also exposed to polystyrene microplastics, which disrupt gut health and worsen inflammation. Some were given C3G, and some acted as the control group.

Here's what happened:

Gut Bacteria Changes: C3G supplementation increased the ratio of Bacteroidetes to Firmicutes in the gut. This is a positive shift – a higher Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes ratio is linked to better gut health and less inflammation.

Beneficial Bacteria Boost: C3G promoted the growth of helpful gut bacteria, which produce substances that reduce inflammation and support gut barrier health.

Reduced Inflammation: Mice given C3G had lower levels of inflammation markers in their colons than those not given C3G. This suggests C3G helped counteract the harmful effects of polystyrene microplastics.

Improved Gut Health: C3G reduced damage to the gut lining and improved metabolic profiles (e.g., better handling of sugars and fats).

So, C3G acts as a prebiotic, encouraging the growth of good gut bacteria that produce anti-inflammatory compounds, like short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). These changes help strengthen the gut barrier, preventing harmful microplastics from triggering inflammation. Even for those without IBD, the fact that C3G helps protect us against microplastics is pretty cool.

Indigo-3G contains 300 mg of C3G enhanced with glycerol monostearate (GMS) to increase absorption and bioavailability. Changing habits & optimizing your diet (and supplement stack) with anthocyanins is the best way we currently know about to how to avoid microplastics and their negative effects.

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