 Persistent organic pollutants like dioxins, PCBs can persist for years in our bodies, but other dietary contaminants like antibiotic residues and some of the plastic compounds may be more of a matter of constantly re-exposing ourselves on a day-to-day basis. As suggested by this study recently, that measured changes in the levels of antibiotic and phthalate metabolites before and after a five-day meat-free stay at a Buddhist temple. They tested participants' urine for the presence of a number of important antibiotics, such as Bactrum and Refloxes and Cipro. And although none of the participants were actually on antibiotics, the drugs were all found flowing through their bodies. But within five days eating vegetarian, the study demonstrated clearly that even short-term dietary changes could reduce the frequency of detection in levels of major antibiotics. Antibiotics detected in the urine were assumed to mostly originate from dietary intake, since participants with recent medication histories were excluded from the study. But see, they didn't know if maybe the drugs were in the water supply rather than the meat supply. But look, since they were all drinking the same amount of water, the study suggests that the contribution of drinking water may be negligible in the daily amount of antibiotics that are inadvertently consumed. To make sure though, they did a follow-up study in which they actually tested for levels of antibiotic residues in meat, and indeed found that consumption levels of beef, pork, chicken, and dairy could explain the daily excretion amount of several antibiotics in urine and the phthalate contaminants as well. Measures of oxidative stress dropped as well after the meat-free five days, but then again they were in a Buddhist temple meditating all day, so it's hard to tease out which did what. But the researchers concluded the results of the study suggest that dietary change, even in the short term, could significantly reduce dietary exposure to antibiotics and phthalates, and in turn oxidative stress levels in the general adult population.