Maintaining good health has challenges. No doubt about it.
Thankfully many of the factors negatively affecting us we control. We can change what we eat. We can change how we deal with stress. Now when you see that triple layer chocolate cake in the bakery window that starts to call your name – it may not feel like control – but it is. You can decide to walk away.
The real challenge comes in the form of those things we can’t control. They are unseen, quietly creeping into our lives. In our continued discussion about the things that cause an immune reaction, leading to stimulation and over-stimulation of our immune systems, we look at the third factor of auto immune issues: Toxins. Today we examine the toxins that affect us all, and that play an increasing role in provoking our immune systems.
The toxins we encounter today include many things that are classified as Persistent Organic Pollutants, or ‘POPs’. Once this type of pollutant is in the environment it does not degrade. It stays around for a long, long time. These include chemicals used in industrial agriculture like pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, as well as residues of hormones and antibiotics fed to animals. Many industrial chemicals and waste products such as solvents, dioxins, and PCBs, as well as thousands of organic compounds, get added to the list.
In addition, an ever increasing amount of pharmaceutical drugs show up in our water supply. These get dumped down the sink or flushed in the toilet when the medications are no longer needed. Since many states do not have a recycle program they get dumped. Sadly our municipal water purification methods rarely do the job of clearing these toxins from the water supply.
Even our foods contain products that can cause an immune and inflammatory reaction from residues of plastics in packaging like BPA, PVC and polystyrene. Add to this all the flavorings, colorings, and preservatives added to foods which cause reactions in many people. Paying attention to labels helps reduce this, assuming you take the time to do this.
Then as a last straw, as if any more was needed, we see the ever increasing levels of toxic heavy metals in our environment causing trouble as well. You can see the toxic stew we hang out in. It’s too much.
Don’t panic though. Just take a breath. No need to run to the hills just yet.
There are things you can do to manage these exposures and mitigate their effects, and we’ll get to that in a bit.
If you spent most of your life in the forest, or maybe a nice clean suburb, and not in a city or industrial area – you are still toxic. Sorry but it’s true. These toxins are so pervasive in our environment that we cannot escape them. We can manage them, but escape is unlikely. Even the polar bears in the Arctic and the whales in the ocean are toxic. The higher up the food chain an animal is, the more it concentrates the toxins in its environment.
Guess where we are? Yep. At the top of our food chain. Even a young age doesn’t spare you, with studies now showing high levels of toxins in newborns.
A detailed discussion of the things needed to fully manage our toxic load is for another discussion. Our plan in 2015 is to offer a comprehensive seminar on detoxification techniques. So stay tuned. Until then, there are some basic things you can do. Simple things that will help greatly to unwind yourself from the challenges of auto immunity.
Put simply, the two major things needed to manage the body’s toxic load are to:
1) Support detoxification at the cellular level: The body has some sophisticated machinery to expel toxins from cells and tissues, and those systems need some help from us. Supporting detoxification at the cellular level is a more complex discussion and covered fully in our “Organic MD Detoxification Seminar.” For now, do some simple things like:
- hot lemon juice (here’s a link to a simple recipe) morning and evening,
- reduce your use of drugs, alhttp://organicmd.com/?p=1765cohol and pharmaceuticals,
- and eliminate chemical sulfates and sulfites in your food and in body products like soaps, shampoos, and toothpaste.
2) Keep the drains open: We get rid of toxins in our urine, stool and through our skin. Simple things like drinking plenty of well-mineralized water every day, and having regular bowl movements, go a long way to helping our body stay as clear as possible. What is regular? If you eat two full meals a day, regular would be two bowel movements a day.
(Note: As for reducing our total body load of heavy metals, this requires a long term approach. These often take time to clear our systems and there are techniques for doing this safely. In the coming weeks we will do some extra articles on this. The basic approach of what is needed is a life time plan for oral compounds that bind and help with excretion of heavy metals.)
The main point I want to convey is to build your awareness and understanding of the environment around you. I say this not as an encouragement to become paranoid, but as a way to be proactive. The best approach is to clear what currently effects you and minimize exposure in the future. You can do this calmly, without perseverating over every substance you encounter in your daily life. Over time you naturally find balance and when you experience how that feels you will make the effort to maintain it. All of what we do here at Organic MD strives towards this balance. We hope reading this gives you inspiration to reach this for yourself.
Our next segment on how to unwind yourself from the challenges of Auto Immunity will discuss the Fourth Factor: Emotional Toxicity. That is a big issue and one we see play havoc on general wellbeing.
Until then, please take good care. If you have questions leave a comment or contact us directly at [email protected]
To Your Health
Photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo Inc. / botsman
