After 20 years in the business, I know which reactions to expect from my clients when I suggest a lifestyle change. Take eating healthier, for example. The client usually nods and says his wife’s been getting on him for years about that. When I talk about exercising, the reaction is big exhale and a shake of the head. It seems to say, “Yea, I gotta do better.”
Then I suggest detoxing. The client perks up like a mouse sensing a trap. He doesn’t want to offend me. But he also doesn’t want to endure a month-long juice fast and colossal supplements that smell like compost.
I get it. Detoxing is a toxic subject.
Google “detox” and you’ll get sites featuring several self-proclaimed experts-all of them saying something different-and more than one riled critic. And there are unsafe detox programs. These unhealthy regimens threaten you with water toxicity or paltry calories.
Once you sift through misinformation, sort out the reasons for detoxing and uncover its scientific basis, you’ll find detoxing is a common sense solution to a problem of our technological age.
Body Burden
The problem is body burden, the term given to the environmental pollution we’re carrying around in our bodies. It’s real and it’s measurable.
And it’s not unexpected. There are currently about 80,000 man-made chemicals, 3,000 of which are common to our daily lives. The government approves approximately seven new chemicals each day under a law that hasn’t been updated in almost 30 years.
Many of these chemicals go into the conveniences of daily life. Our computers, televisions, flame-retardant pajamas, not to mention pesticides and sunscreen, contain substances that seep into our skin to take part in the siege that is the body burden.
The Centers for Disease Control tested participants for 75 chemicals. Acrylamide, found in fried foods and a probable carcinogen that also harms the thyroid, is “extremely common” in our bodies. Gasoline additives and second-hand smoke also hide out in our cells.
Not even living in a bubble would help. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) found 287 chemicals in umbilical cord blood from 10 newborns. An advocacy organization, the EWG spent $10,000 to test each sample of blood. The results found substances ranging from chemicals from pesticides to those emanating from incinerating garbage. Such chemicals are known to harm the central nervous system and cause birth defects or cancer.
Body Burden and Disease
Most diseases are caused by a mysterious blend of genetics and environment. Common sense tells us optimizing that environment improves our chances of staying healthy. Sadly, common sense isn’t always measurable and lacks the scientific weight many people crave.
Still, examples of damaging health effects from our body burden abound. Chemicals such as lead and asbestos, once deemed by science to be safe, are now known to damage development and cause cancer.
Another disease, Alzheimer’s, is increasingly thought to be caused by aluminum. Japanese researchers examined studies and the latest knowledge about the inner workings of Alzheimer’s. They agree the evidence indicates a link between Alzheimer’s and aluminum.
Body Burden and Diet
Thinking about the environmental backlash raging in our bodies can feel as daunting as facing a scale when you’re a hundred pounds overweight.
Take a deep breathe. Both problems have the same solution: diet and exercise.
A study in the state of Washington found children who ate organic produce had significantly lower levels of pesticides in their urine than children who ate a traditional American diet. A study in Boston found vegetarians have lower levels of PBDEs than folks who ate non-organic poultry and meat. Wondering what PBDEs are? Flame retardants–in our food.
These studies prove simply avoiding exposure to dangerous chemicals can have a powerful effect. Other ways to avoid chemicals include using all-natural cosmetics and foregoing pesticide use in your home.
What about a toxin that’s already set up house in your cells? Turns out you can do something about those too. An English study found Alzheimer’s patients can lower their aluminum load by drinking silicon-containing mineral water.
Exercise and sweating it out in the sauna can also remove toxins from your body.
That’s the idea of detoxing: reducing your body burden through the use of lifestyle changes and diet. Sometimes the detox is helped along with natural products, much like mineral water flushing out aluminum.
But a good detox program uses natural ingredients known through studies and experience to aid the body’s excretory system. A good detox never relies on extreme calorie reduction, excessive water intake or other dangerous means.
Call the staff at Mind Body Motion today to learn more about how to reduce your body burden. We can help you set up a diet and exercise plan designed for total wellness that will minimize the effects of toxic chemicals. We’ll also help you learn more about detoxing and make an informed decision on the appropriate detoxing regimen for your lifestyle.
“Keep on moving”
Luis Ponce Sr.
( 408) 778-5577
