How to Protect Yourself from Toxins
We live in a toxic environment. There is no denying the reality. You only have to check your phone to realize how many new health threats exist today compared to fifty, twenty—even ten years ago. We are now exposed to even more damaging UV rays, even more industrial chemicals, even more preservatives in our food and even more pollutants in our air and water.
- Studies indicate that up to half of all municipal water supplies are contaminated with potentially harmful pollutants.
- The World Health Organization recently released a warning about the increasing dangers of worsening air pollution, particularly indoor toxin exposure to public health.
- The US Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration have both released warnings recommending limited intake of fish by pregnant and nursing women due to the toxic levels of mercury, found in tuna, shark, swordfish, tile and king mackerel.
The Effects of a Toxic Environment
Evidence is building about the effects of our toxic environment on our long-term health and their role in chronic health concerns. Although scientists have known that pollution and pesticides can adversely affect human health for quite some time, mounting evidence reveals far more deadly connections between toxic exposure and a variety of health concerns.
The most disturbing discovery is that chronic exposure to even low levels of common toxins can have negative health effects, as they accumulate over time, damaging the neurological, immune and endocrine systems.
To complicate matters, many governments and health organizations do not seem to be addressing this serious problem. Without accountability and clean-up programs, the toxic exposure overload continues to spiral out of control.
Keep reading to learn about toxins, their effects, and what can be done to minimize their damaging effects.
What are toxins?
Toxins are generally defined as anything in our environment with the potential to negatively affect the health and function of the body. These dangerous foreign substances can be consumed through polluted food or water, breathed in through the air, or absorbed through the skin. They may be organic biotoxins or inorganic toxins such as poisonous chemicals and other toxic man-made substances. Ultimately toxins take a serious toll on our health.
Sometimes the effect happens quickly from exposure to a large or very concentrated dangerous toxin, but more often, the effects develop over time from constant bombardment of less potent and smaller amounts of toxins that accumulate in the body from a variety of sources, often referred to as “chronic toxic overload.”
What are the most common sources of toxins?
Toxins are found in the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the food we eat. We come in contact with them in the form of pesticides, herbicides, food additives and preservatives, smog, car exhaust, household chemicals—even certain compounds in hygiene and beauty products are proven to have toxic effects.
Regardless of the sources of these toxins, perhaps most troubling is the prevalence of toxins more than where they are found. We now come in contact with more toxins than ever before. It is estimated that we are exposed to more than 100,000 toxins in our environment daily.
In one year alone, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that 1.9 billions pounds of chemicals ended up in our water supplies, and 2.4 billion were released into the atmosphere. Meanwhile, the National Research Council recently estimated that a shocking 70,000 commercially-used chemicals have not even been tested for toxic effects.
This constant bombardment puts our body in a state of chronic toxic overload, which puts us at risk for several diseases. The most common types of toxins which may affect our health include: dioxins, furans, PCBs, pesticides, phthalates and volatile and semi-volatile organic chemicals.
Is it true that even food is a common source of dangerous toxins?
Unfortunately, foods are a large source of dangerous toxins. Many packaged and processed foods contain countless numbers of artificial colors and flavors, preservatives, additives, fortifiers, artificial sweeteners and other unnecessary ingredients. Foods may also have been genetically altered, irradiated or otherwise tampered with.
Those who avoid packaged and processed foods are still at risk. Pesticides are a large source of toxic exposure in produce. One shopping cart of fruits and vegetables may contain 60 to 80 different pesticides. Meat eaters are exposed to the additional threats of nitrosamines and nitrates.
Meanwhile, the long-term health effects of consuming these types of foods have not yet been established. Taken separately, each of these toxins may be relatively harmless, but their collective effect on the body can be considerably even more damaging. The chronic toxic load in our bodies created by all of these foreign chemicals can only be fully demonstrated over time—and by then it may be too late to reverse the damage.
Why are toxins a threat to my health?
The fact that toxins can be dangerous to our health has been known for quite some time, but the true extent of these risks and an understanding of how exactly low-level toxic exposure threatens our health are only now being discovered. Research on the effects of toxins on our health connects even a little exposure over time to chronic health concerns.
Part of what makes toxins dangerous is the fact that they are invisible and the most debilitating effects are cumulative, so it takes a while for the effects to surface. But just because a toxin will not cause immediate harm doesn’t mean they are any less dangerous or that our body is any better equipped to deal with them. Basically, when our toxic load becomes greater than our body’s ability to adapt to it, our health suffers.
Recent research on the long-term health effects of what have previously been deemed as “relatively harmless” toxins is more than just a little worrying. Scientists are discovering that continued exposure to common, “non-lethal” toxins can negatively affect major body systems. In fact, Britain’s Environmental Toxins Foundation recently stated that there is “mounting evidence of structural and genetic damage, potentially caused to the human morphology, through the huge influx of chemical agents found in the air, soil and water today.”
Consider the following: In a recent study, more than 160 environmental toxins were discovered in the collective blood and urine of test subjects. Of these toxins, more than half were known to damage the brain and nervous system, and almost 80 were known to affect fetal development.
Are children more susceptible to toxins than adults?
Toxins in the Womb
According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, children are far more vulnerable to toxic exposure, even in the womb. Toxins have been identified in the placenta of pregnant women and infant umbilical cord blood. Basically, any toxin the mother is exposed to, the child will be as well—but the child’s body is still developing and so is much more vulnerable to toxic effects.
In fact, a recent study analyzing blood from umbilical cords found an average of more than 200 man-made chemicals present. Rather than protecting and nurturing the unborn, these babies were being exposed to pesticides, waste products, dioxins and other dangerous chemicals.
Even the air women breathe may affect their unborn child. According to a 2005 report from Science News and in a 2013 study from The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, pregnant women who breathe polluted air give birth to smaller babies than those in less-polluted environments.
Children & Toxins
After birth, the child is also at risk, especially during the first six months of life: Infants breathe more than twice as much air and consume much more food and water per pound of body weight than the average adult. Toddlers and school-age children are at risk as well, not just because of a higher food and water intake, but also because of their school and playground environments. Even chemicals in common plastic toys may be dangerous because of a young child’s tendency to put things in their mouth.
All of this toxic exposure is magnified by the child’s still-developing body—the immune system is immature compared with the average adult, and the detoxification pathways of the liver are fragile, making detoxification less efficient in children. Organs and body systems, such as the nervous and reproductive systems, are also still developing, so structural damage to them from toxic exposure may be more serious and possibly permanent.
Ultimately, the effects of most low-level toxin exposure occur slowly over time, so the earlier you can offset or reduce exposure levels, the better. Healthy adults start as healthy children.
What is toxic overload?
The acute effects of toxic exposure can be prominent, but more often toxic effects build slowly over time. In fact, one recent study found that subjects tested positive for more than 90 pollutants and industrial chemicals after blood and urine tests, even though none of the individuals studied, worked or lived near high-risk industrial areas.
In another study from the Centers for Disease Control, subjects tested positive for more than 116 chemicals, many of them previously banned for at least two decades because of their health risks.
Because chronic toxic overload happens over time, the effects of exposure may be overlooked. In fact, many symptoms of chronic toxic overload are associated with other conditions and so are misdiagnosed. Chronic contact with toxins, even sources that are not considered dangerous, will eventually take its toll on the body.
Symptoms vary from person to person, but in general, symptoms commonly associated with a chronic toxic overload state include:
- Weakened immune system
- Mood changes
- Fatigue
- Forgetfulness
- Throbbing head
- GI discomfort
- Irritability
- Joint discomfort
- Nervousness
- Sensitivity to odors such as perfumes
- Weakness
- Physical and mental stress
The most common early symptoms of toxic exposure are likely to be fatigue, difficulty concentrating, decreased energy levels, mild intestinal complaints, and muscle weakness.
If the body remains in a toxic state for a long period of time, more serious side effects may develop. Toxic overload may increase the body’s vulnerability and possibly accelerate development or progression of other health issues.
What happens when you have toxin overload?
Scientific data now shows that chronic exposure—even of small amounts (of exposure)—to toxins we come in contact with daily damages the immune system, increases cardiovascular risks, interferes with essential enzyme activity in the body, affects hormone balance and cell growth, and inhibits brain function.
Below is a short list of some health conditions that are linked to toxin overload:
- Aging
- Lowered allergen response
- Muscle & joint weakness
- Difficulty breathing
- Poor mental health
- Unregulated mood
- Cardiovascular concerns
- Dry or worsening skin condition
- Trouble sleeping
- Blurry vision
- Mood disorders
- Chemical Sensitivity
- Weight gain
- And more
Ultimately, what researchers are discovering is that by reducing our exposure to pollutants and toxins and eliminating toxic buildup in the body, we lower our risk of developing numerous diseases, which results in more energy, improved overall health and a greater sense of well-being and longevity.
What can I do to combat toxic overload?
There are many things we can do to reduce our exposure to environmental toxins and to minimize their presence in and effect on the body.
- Purified Water: Drinking purified filtered water instead of tap water is an excellent start in decreasing your exposure to excessive Fluoride, Chlorine and heavy metals such as Mercury, Arsenic and Lead.
- Diet: Dietary changes are also helpful—limiting consumption of prepared and packaged foods, while emphasizing whole natural foods. In fact, a recent study out of Seattle found that children’s blood levels of pesticides dropped to almost nothing after following an organic diet for as little as a week. But as soon as they returned to their normal diet, pesticide levels shot up again. Of course blood levels do not reflect the toxic tissue load of the children, but the message is clear that it is beneficial to eat organic foods when trying to decrease toxic exposure.
Limiting your intake of seafood to fish not on the following list, especially if you are pregnant: Tuna, Shark, Sword, King Mackerel, Tile, and all Farm-Raised fish can assist in minimizing toxins.
- Smoking and Alcohol Consumption: Not smoking and limiting consumption of alcohol to one glass of organic red wine or beer daily is also important. Smoking cigarettes and drinking alcoholic beverages increase the body’s toxic exposure.
- Environment: Reducing your exposure to environmental pollution by using natural health and beauty products and nontoxic household cleaners are also helpful practices.
- Supplements: Perhaps most important is the role of nutritional supplements in relieving the stress of toxic overload because although we can reduce our exposure to dangerous toxins, we cannot eliminate exposure completely. Therefore, we need to be able to do something to remove existing toxic buildup from our bodies.
Integrative Medicine, Complementary, Alternative and Natural health practitioners know the importance of regular detoxification to promote optimal health. Detoxification protocols are often the hallmark of these healthcare professionals because they recognize that addressing toxicity and the associated damage is critical for overall health and wellness. Natural detoxification supplements can help to safely eliminate toxins that have accumulated in the body and help prevent toxic overload.
What is detoxification and why is it so important?
Considering the incredible metabolic stress put on the body by the demands of the toxic environment we live in, it is nearly impossible to achieve optimal health without undergoing regular detoxification. Although you can try to reduce exposure to toxins in the environment, you can never eliminate them entirely without extra support. Daily detoxification protocols are the best way to eliminate toxic buildup.
Proper detoxification cleanses the body of toxins and other impurities. Detoxification can be as simple as fasting or drinking purified water, or it can be an elaborate program involving changes to diet and lifestyle that can include taking one or more supplements. Some detoxification programs involve drinking organic fruit and vegetable juices, and avoiding processed foods, meat, and dairy products. Others incorporate supplementation systems designed to remove toxins through urinary output. It is clearly necessary to promote health and wellness by incorporating healthy habits and practicing daily detoxification.
Commit to Detoxification
While the inevitable exposure to toxins can seem overwhelming, to say the least, there is hope. Commit to making efforts to avoid toxins as much as possible and using a daily detoxification supplement to effectively remove the toxins you have already been exposed to. It is not too late to feel your best!