Because toxins are an unavoidable part of modern life, you can be sure that you have toxins in your body. The Environmental Working Group did a study of cord blood and found 22 toxic chemicals in the cord blood of newborn babies delivered by healthy, low risk mothers. This is before they have eaten any food, breathed air or consumed water.
Many of the toxins in our environment today did not exist 30 years ago, including certain pesticides, industrial chemicals, plastics and heavy metals that can enter our bodies through the food, water, and air. These toxins can get trapped in our body’s organs and tissues, which over time can lead to the development of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. In the short term, they can cause weight gain, fatigue, and deteriorating health.
Lifestyle choices increase your risk of building up bodily toxins. Eating fast food is one quick way, as is choosing highly processed foods from the grocery store. If you take medications or recreational drugs you are exposing your internal organs to a range of toxins that they may not be able to handle. Even beauty products such as moisturizers, chemical peels, hair dyes and make-up can wreak havoc on your body by introducing excessive levels of toxins.
Toxins can be introduced to our bodies both externally and internally. We inhale toxins from cigarettes, air pollution, mold spores from sick buildings, and from many other sources around us. We ingest toxins in our food, in our water, in recreational and prescription drugs. We inject toxins through vaccinations, and cosmetic changes such as piercing and tattoos. We absorb toxins from the clothes we wear, from spray-on pesticides and herbicides, from beauty products, and from paints and glues. We expose ourselves to irradiation from medical x-rays, the residual radiation from power plants and lines, cell phones, smart meters and other radio-wave technology, and even from our microwave ovens. In addition, some toxins are internally formed, such as that from improperly digested food, from dehydration and poor nutrition, and even from toxic thought patterns and self-abusive emotional cycles.
Toxins affect our bodies in a variety of ways. Since many of the symptoms of toxicity are mild or irritating, they may be dismissed as due to an “off” day. However, toxic symptoms persist, making us feel drained, and generally unwell.
Symptoms typical of toxins include:
- Lack of energy
- Excess weight
- Skin conditions like acne
- Food sensitivities
- Increased allergic reactions
- Congestion
- Bloating
- Constipation
- Aching muscles and joints
- Headaches
- Poor memory or concentration
- Mood swings
- General sense of not being healthy
- Heavy Metal Toxicity
Heavy metals, such as mercury, lead, aluminum, cadmium and arsenic, are found in everyday existence and are frequently hard to avoid entirely. Heavy metal toxicity may affect the body through various sources. These sources include water, air, food, or absorption through the skin when in contact with those exposed to toxic farming, chemical and toxic exposure in industries.
Most people can excrete toxic heavy metals from the body successfully. However, some people—especially those who suffer from chronic conditions—cannot excrete them efficiently enough and a build-up occurs. Recent research also reveals that those who cannot excrete heavy metals efficiently appear to be genetically predisposed to this condition. In addition, some chemicals and metals do not break down easily and are stored for a very long time in the body. This contributes to high “body burden” of chemicals and heavy metals in the body, as they last for decades and the ongoing exposure continues to build up the levels in the body, bones, nervous system and our brain.
Exposure to toxic chemicals and heavy metals may include:
- Having mercury amalgams in your teeth
- Living in a home built prior to 1978
- Smoking, inhaling second hand smoke or being exposed to third hand smoke
- Eating foods (such as contaminated fish and high fructose corn syrup) that contain heavy metals
- Eating foods out of BPA lined cans
- Using traditional cleaning supplies. makeup or personal care products
- Working in a toxic environment where chemicals are used
- Consuming fish
- Using commercial hand sanitizer
- Using any plastic products, especially food containers, Tupperware, saran wrap, water bottles, etc.
- Using air fresheners, scented candles or anything that has “parfum” or “fragrance” listed on ingredient list
There has been a staggering increase worldwide in diseases such as cancers, childhood cancers such as leukemia, asthma autism ADD/ADHD, and chemical sensitivity. Heavy metal toxicity can result in damaged or reduced mental and central nervous function, lower energy levels, and damage to blood composition, lungs, kidneys, liver, and other vital organs. Long-term exposure to heavy metals may result in slowly progressing physical, muscular, and neurological degenerative processes that mimic Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, muscular dystrophy, and multiple sclerosis.