What are toxins?

Toxin is a buzz word that has been thrown around the natural health community for a while and has finally made it into traditional medicine. We are realizing we are constantly getting exposed to many chemicals, not only though our food but also from our environment. Whether it be from the plastic containers, exhaust fumes, preservatives, chemical laden clothing and body products, or artificial flavors or colors in our foods. Shockingly, many food items legal in the United States are illegal in other countries. Items such as yellow 5 and yellow 6- which are believed by some to cause allergies and behavioral problems in children.

Your body already produces toxins as a by-product of metabolic activity. These are natural but need to be released outside of the body. I have mentioned previously that drinking adequate water and getting sufficient exercise helps to flush out some of the toxins in your body. The body is designed to eliminate these naturally occurring toxins but with all the extra chemicals we are exposed to on a daily basis, it is increasing harder for the body to eliminate. There are so many new products have been invented in the last 100 years, we might not have a clear picture of risks associated to long term exposure to these products and compounds. Some think that excess toxin accumulation in the body is linked to fat gain, fatigue, skin problems, and allergies- among other health issues.

The bottom line is the less artificial chemicals in the body the better.

Our bodies are constantly doing all types of chemical reactions every second. When we introduce outside chemicals we risk these chemicals interacting with our body’s highly reactive body tissue and complex body processes. We know things like charbroiling, exposure to smoke, smog, and exhaust fumes can cause serious damage to our tissue.

So what’s the solution?!?

We know eating organic is better. There is a residue of pesticides or other chemicals that often remain on non-organic produce. Some say that soaking the produce in a 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water works to help cleanse some of the pesticides off. I use a bristle brush and scrub my produce. Also, avoid buying processed and preserved food. For example- things like canned, fried, and overly processed type of food are best to avoid. As mentioned in another blog, this process depletes some of the nutrition of the food and all there are added chemicals that help prevent the food from going bad after sitting on the shelf for a long time. Fresh is definitely the best for a lot of reasons!

Toxins are not only found in food….

It turns out a lot of household cleaners have a massive amount of caustic chemicals. I buy the green alternative options when available. These products are also better for the environment.

There are a lot of other ways to limit toxin exposure but this is good place to start. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have because this is a very broad topic.

Further reading:

http://pivotholistichealth.com/why-the-water-we-drink-is-vitally-important-part-i/

http://pivotholistichealth.com/we-live-in-a-food-desert/