Nutrition - Toxins
What they do, and how to remove them
Five hundred years ago, life was harsh with a life expectancy (unless you were rich) of between 30 and 40 years. Most people were involved in farming and their lives revolved around the seasons. One thing in their favour was that there was little pollution; pollution is something that arose much more with the Industrial Revolution and modern farming practices.
In the present day, there is so much pollution that it is almost impossible to live life unaffected by it. Food is normally one of the ways of removing pollution from the body but the quality of food has declined to the point that many foods have very little nutritional value.
How toxins get in the body
Years ago, the main problem to worry about was the lead in drinking water from the water pipes. Ancient Rome suffered with this problem; the brain is the most sensitive organ, but it affects most of the body. Now, there is pollution in the air, water (oestrogen via the contraceptive pill which cannot be extracted by filters), food, noise, electromagnetism (from mobile phones), soaps, deodorants (underarm spray), shampoo, medication, detergents for clothes, polish, tobacco smoke, diesel, household dust, food additives and so on.
The good news is that the body knows how to protect itself; it quarantines toxins by locking them away in fat cells
All toxins are a problem but some are worse than others. All heavy metals are a problem even iron, which is needed for life. The main ones that are present include: arsenic, cadmium, copper, iron, lead, mercury and zinc. Many foods are laced with toxins due to farming methods. The weed killer ‘Roundup’ contains glyphosate which is used widely is now accepted as a carcinogen; since 1974 globally 8.6 billion kg has been sprayed on food producing fields. The World Health Authority has listed Glyphosate as a ‘probable carcinogen’ which disrupts hormonal balance, damage gut micro-biome, causes inflammation and makes the mitochondria more prone to oxidative damage. It is already banned in some European countries such as France.
Antibiotics which have saved countless lives are a major problem for the body because they kill a large proportion of the good bacteria needed for healthy life. It can take two years for the gut bacteria to return to a correct balance.
The typical symptoms of toxin overload include:
1 Brain fog.
2 Constipation.
3 Low energy.
4 Headache.
5 Dizziness.
6 Anaemia.
7 Bad body aroma. 8 Chemical sensitivity. 9 Aches and pains.
10 Spots and other skin eruptions.
11 Bloating.
12 Lower the sperm count. They do this by affecting the way that hormones work, impair the mitochondria, they damage enzymes, the organs and even a person’s DNA.
Even good foods have become more risky due to farming methods. The Environmental Working Group reported that the following foods were suffering from a high toxic overload: strawberries, spinach, nectarines, apples, grapes, peaches, cherries, pears, tomatoes, celery, potatoes and sweat bell peppers.
The answer is to move to organically produced food
The foods with the lowest toxic load are: avocado, sweet corn, pineapple, cabbage, onion, frozen peas, papaya, asparagus, mango, eggplant, honeydew melon, kiwi, cantaloupe, cauliflower and broccoli.
How to detox the body
In reality, the body is constantly removing toxins. It does so by breathing, by urinating and passing faeces. One of the major ways of removing toxins is by sweating. There are different ways of sweating, however. Strenuous exercise generates sweat but passive sweating is much more effective. A sauna, for example, generates sweat when the body is operating under the parasympathetic nervous system which takes over in rest and repair mode. A regular sauna is therefore very helpful in removing toxins.
Heavy metals can be removed by chelation therapy. Chelation therapy is a chemical process in which a synthetic solution is injected into the bloodstream to remove heavy metals and/or minerals from the body. Chelation means ‘to grab’ or ‘to bind.’ When the solution is injected into the veins, it "grabs" heavy metals and minerals such as lead, mercury, copper, iron, arsenic, aluminium, and calcium and removes them from the body in the urine. This therapy is only undertaken with professional medical supervision.
A common way of detoxing is known as Gerson Therapy. Doctor Max Gerson developed his famous therapy in the 1930s and consists of consuming large quantities of vegetables and fruits daily, including hourly juice drinks. In addition, he used coffee enemas several times a day to detox the liver, and a variety of supplements. This therapy should only be undertaken with an experienced therapist.
Most people detox by carrying out a short fast, maybe four days. This can be a pure water fast but many people add vegetable and fruit juices as well. These have the advantage of providing lots of vitamins and minerals at the same time as fasting. The ideal mix for a juice is two thirds vegetables to one third fruit. In general fruit contains too much sugar.
The liver has the ability to convert fat soluble toxins into water soluble toxins and then eliminate them
Fasting puts the body into ketosis which means that it is using fat stored in the body rather than glucose in the blood and liver. When the fat cells are emptying, they release not just the fat but the toxins that have been quarantined. This means that the toxins must leave the body by usually the urine or faeces. When this is taking place, many people feel flu-like symptoms due to the toxic overload. This does not last too long but can put many people off.
When seeking to remove toxins as they are released, it is useful to add chlorella into the diet. This is a freshwater algae which the body cannot digest; it binds to toxins and assists with their removal.
There are a number of supplements that assist in removing toxins. Psyllium is a great fibre that binds to toxins for their removal. Others that assist are: Co-Enzyme Q10, Probiotics, Dandelion, Gentian (a bitter herb), and Goldenrod.
In conclusion
It is not possible to completely avoid toxins in the modern world. Reducing the exposure is worthwhile as is removing as much of the toxins as possible. Most people live their lives with toxic overload without even realising it. It is only when the toxins are removed that they realise how good life can be. Fasting for a short period once or twice a year is the easiest way to minimise the effect of toxins; buying organic rather than supermarket products, and being aware of products that contain high levels of heavy metals.