Chemical Nation: How to Avoid Toxins for a Healthier You
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by Jo Jordan and Jim Danna, M.A., BSci.
Relax. This is not another article out to scare you. Rather, it presents science-based facts and easy solutions you can take towards a healthier you.
So just how toxic is that plastic water bottle in your fridge? While the chemicals in plastics, common household products, and some foods may seem harmless, the more we learn about how these toxins can affect our health, the more obvious it is that we need to at least take small steps to limit our exposure to certain ingredients.
Finding out what types of ingredients you're consuming and where they are coming from is the first step toward deciding if you need to avoid them. Then, there are many proactive steps you can take to cleanse your body of whatever toxic burdens it may be harboring.
What Does the Research Tell Us?
The research is loud and clear. Product ingredients that are harmful to our bodies are stored in our fat and muscle tissue, and even in the tissue of our organs. Just a small amount of certain toxins can have a seriously negative effect on our health.
A research study report released earlier this year by our nation's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that Americans are exposed to dangerous industrial chemicals1 every day. The report stated:
- PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) are fire retardants used in many manufactured products such as airplanes, building materials, clothing, electronics, furnishings, plastics, and vehicles. One type of PBDE was present in nearly all study participants.
- PBDEs accumulate in human blood, fat tissue, and breast milk, and can be passed onto unborn children via the placenta. This toxin has been linked to thyroid/brain malfunction, infertility issues, and interference with motor skills and behavior in developing embryos.
- Acrylamide exposure is extremely common in Americans. Formed when carbohydrate-containing foods are fried or deep-fried – or as a byproduct of tobacco smoke – acrylamide is considered a carcinogen; it also adversely affects the nervous system.
- A high percentage of study participants exhibited detectable levels of tert-butyl ether. Also known as methyl tertiary butyl ether or MTBE, it is almost exclusively used as a component of gasoline. A potential human carcinogen, MTBE may cause gastrointestinal irritation and kidney and liver damage, as well as nervous system effects.
Killing Ourselves To Be Beautiful
We're a nation that's worked hard to get where we are today, and now we're going to enjoy ourselves. The new national pastime? Overconsumption. We douse ourselves with products we've been told will make us look, smell, and feel better. We chow down on super-sized single portions large enough to feed a family of four.
As a nation of consumers, the toxin levels in our systems are high because the food we eat is processed and over-processed, and many of the products that help us look and smell good, are loaded with nasty chemicals.
Perhaps the Food and Drug Administration is doing the best it can. After all, toxicity test results are reviewed by FDA scientists before products can hit the retail shelf, right?
When the FDA considers toxicity levels of foods and products to be acceptable, the toxicity is based on consuming that single food or product. Yet, the average person consumes dozens of foods and household products every day. The cumulative effect of these chemicals is not known.
What Are You Being Exposed To?
Cosmetics & Personal Care
Did you know your skin is the largest organ in your body and that it absorbs everything you put on it? Though much has been written about the negative effects of numerous common food ingredients, astonishingly, cosmetic ingredients are not regulated in the United States. Gone are the days of rampant testing of cosmetics on animals in the lab. Today, cosmetics are being tested on animals out in the field. Those animals are us.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a leading organization that studies the safety of personal care product ingredients. The EWG's research has uncovered these facts:2
- More than one in five of all products contain chemicals linked to cancer
- Eighty percent contain ingredients that commonly house hazardous impurities
- Fifty-six percent contain "penetration enhancers" that help deliver ingredients deeper into the skin…penetration that may pose health risks
- The average adult uses nine personal care products each day, which translates into exposure to 126 unique chemical ingredients
Household Products
No need to drive down to your local sewage treatment plant. BPA (Bisphenol A), fluoride, and parabens are considered the three most dangerous toxins and they can be found right in your home.
BPA is an organic compound used to make plastics and resins. It's found in baby bottles, food packaging, plastic wraps, and water bottles. At its current exposure levels, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has concerns regarding BPA's effects on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and children.3 BPA has also been linked to ADHD, autism, diabetes, and obesity.
Canada declared BPA a toxic substance in 20104; it is now banned in baby bottles in Canada and the European Union.5
Fluoride is found in toothpaste, tap water, pesticides, cookware, and surgical applications. It has been linked to everything from Down syndrome and Alzheimer's, to breast cancer and arthritis. Dental researchers in the United States, Canada, and abroad all suggest that infants should be exposed to as little fluoride as possible.6
Fluoridation has been banned in ninety-nine percent of western continental Europe. Only five percent of the world's water is fluoridated; half of these areas are in North America.7
Parabens are a class of chemicals commonly used as a preservative in hair care and shaving products, makeup, toothpaste, topical pharmaceuticals, and certain foods. They disrupt hormone function, which is linked to an increased risk of breast cancer and reproductive issues.8
Detoxifying Solutions - Do You Deserve the Best?
In today's complex world, it would be nearly impossible to completely avoid environmental toxins. But it's possible to reduce your exposure, as well as implement a regimen of supplements and cleanses to help eliminate toxins from your body.
While the United States lags behind, other countries have already taken steps to restrict – and in some cases ban – the use of toxins in their food and personal products. If you believe your body deserves the best care you can give it, why wait for government policy to change? You can optimize your health by taking some of these detoxifying steps:
Diet & Supplementation
- Implement a high-fiber diet. Fiber helps cleanse the colon, and keep waste products moving along. Elimination is the body's primary way of clearing the intestines of impurities. Fiber absorbs toxins, and – through regular bowel movements – helps them move out of your body.
- Incorporate daily digestive enzymes and probiotics into your health care regimen. Supplementation can help you maintain healthy digestion and improve food transit time, so toxins don't linger in your body.
- Colon cleansing and liver cleansing help to support bodily systems that are directly exposed to ingested toxins. Cleansing can also improve elimination, in turn making it easier for your body to rid itself of impurities.
Make Healthy Products Choices
- Eliminating environmental toxins is a process; there's no need to throw every product in your house away. But as you finish the products you currently use, why not consider learning about new products that may be healthier?
- Choose products with care, including cosmetic/personal care items, cleaners, and those used in your yard and garden. Here are a couple of great suggestions:
- Skin Deep – a project of the EWG – is an amazingly detailed and comprehensive tool that assists consumers in making healthy, safe product choices. Skin Deep is a database of 69,000 products and their ingredients.
- Aubrey Organics has wonderful choices for safe personal care products. For example, the ingredients in Aubrey's Rosa Mosqueta hand lotion are literally good enough to eat.
Know Your Food
- Read food labels. If you don't know what a word means, or cannot pronounce it, don't eat it.
- Opt for real food rather than processed, junk, or fake food.
- Eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains. Specific pesticides are used for specific crops. Eating a variety of food prevents ingesting pesticide residues a particular food may carry.
Additional General Tips
- In order to avoid BPAs, whenever possible buy products that are in glass rather than those in plastic containers.
- If your water is fluoridated, stop using it. Common home water filters such as Brita and Pur cannot remove fluoride from water.
- Invest in a reverse-osmosis or activated alumina water filter that can be attached to your faucet. Be sure the filter is NSF-certified (a non-profit testing agency), and is able to remove fluoride, minerals, nitrates, and trihalomethanes (THMs).
- Use fluoride-free toothpaste such as Toms of Maine or Jason's Natural Sea Fresh.
- Learn about asbestos, lead, mold, and other household hazards. The CDC's Healthy Housing Reference Manual covers every aspect of housing and the potential for toxins.
In Closing
The average American consumes dozens of foods and household products each day; the cumulative effect of all these chemicals can be years of ill health. Environmental toxins tax the body's ability to function properly. With half-a-million chemicals already in the environment, and new ones being introduced at an alarming rate, our bodies must constantly fight to rid themselves of these damaging and deadly toxins.
But you can take control of your body and your health. Let Puristat help you cleanse yourself of whatever environmental toxins your body is harboring. We can help you become as healthy and toxin-free as possible.
Get in touch with one of our Digestive Wellness Specialists for support by calling 1-800-492-4984, e-mailing customercare@puristat.com or via Live Chat with any questions.
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Notes:
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Executive Summary," http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport/executive_summary.html (accessed October 27, 2011).
2. Environmental Working Group, "Statement of Jane Houlihan on Cosmetics Safety," http://www.ewg.org/node/26545 (accessed October 27, 2011).
3. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, "Questions and Answers about Bisphenol A / NTP Conclusions," http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/sya/sya-bpa/ (accessed October 27, 2011).
4. Canada Gazette, "Order Adding a Toxic Substance to Schedule 1 to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999," http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2010/2010-10-13/html/sor-dors194-eng.html (accessed October 27, 2011).
5. Reuters, "EU to ban Bisphenol A in baby bottles in 2011," http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/11/25/us-eu-health-plastic-idUSTRE6AO3MS20101125 (accessed October 27, 2011).
6. Fluoride Action Network, "Health Effects: Fluoride Warnings for Infants," http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/infant/#recs (accessed October 27, 2011).
7. Fluoridation.com, "Fluoride: Protected Pollutant or Panacea? / Fluoridation status of some countries," http://www.fluoridation.com/c-country.htm (accessed October 27, 2011).
8. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, "Chemicals of Concern: Parabens,"
http://safecosmetics.org/article.php?id=291 (accessed October 27, 2011).
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