Our Toxic World
Every chronic health issue is on the rise. More of us are sick and at an earlier age. Why?
Toxicity plays a major role in our health. Unfortunately, toxins are invisible to the naked eye. They go unnoticed for most of our lives. This is why it’s important to understand what this means for our health.
Our bodies are designed to handle toxins. But the body can only handle so much before it loses the fight. Our toxic world is taking a massive toll on our health. Every chronic illness is on the rise: cancer, autoimmunities, hormonal imbalances, autisms, mental health issues, Alzheimers, dementia, kidney disease, obesity, heart failure, just to name a few.
Imagine someone pours a cup of pesticides on your food right before you eat. Would you take a bite? Of course not. Imagine if they dumped a spoonful of metal shavings, what about then? Would you drink liquid plastic? I hope not.
In large visible portions, we wouldn’t intentionally expose ourselves to toxins. We know to not eat metals. We know not to drink pesticides. Unfortunately, we’re exposed to micro doses of molecular toxins every single day. But because most toxins have no smell and are too small to see, we don’t realize how much we are consuming.
It’s not one milligram of a single toxin that makes us sick. It’s the constant micro-doses of a wide variety of toxins that stay in our bodies for years and are even passed onto our children. This is making us sick. And we need to protect ourselves, our families, and our environment from the toxicity.
Are we really exposed to so that many toxins?
The average American is exposed to 150-300 toxic chemicals a day. They’re everywhere. In the air, our water supply, our food, and in all the things we use on a daily basis: our bed sheets, receipts, clothes, food containers, deodorants, fragrances, shampoos, etc.
They’re found in pesticides, herbicides, fungicides used on our foods.
Heavy metals are found in our water supplies, in the air we breath, and again on our food.
BPA (bisphenol A) is one component of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) or hard plastics. PVC is everywhere: inside soda cans, plastic food tubs, electric kettles, baby bottles, cups, microwavable bowls. When PVC is heated or makes contact with hot liquids or food, it releases BPA.
BPA is a known carcinogen and has been found to block effects of several chemo agents on breast cancer cells. It becomes an ally for tumors in fighting cancer.
If a plastic bottle has the number 1 on the bottom it’s made with PET (a safer plastic). Softer plastics are generally safer, but still exposes us to micro plastics.
Toxins play the biggest role in our chronic health issues. They stress our immune systems, create inflammation in the body, encourage cancer growth and lead to chronic illnesses.
Since 1930, our annual production of synthetic chemicals has risen from a million tons in a year to 200 million tons a day.
In 2004, the European World Wildlife Fund had a campaign to measure the amount of toxic chemicals people are carrying. They found those who were tested carried a significant amount of toxicity. 13 chemical waste products (phthalates and perfluoro compounds) and 25 chemical substances including flame retardants, pesticides and PCBs (poly chlorinated biphenyls) were detected.
The Center for Disease Control have identified 148 toxic chemicals in blood and urine samples.
We have only tested 900 potential carcinogens out of over a 100k substances released.
Only 1 was found to be non-carcinogenic.
95 have been confirmed to be carcinogenic (meaning studies have established cause and effect of cancer)
307 are probable (having only tested on animals)
497 are unclassified (their effects have not been sufficiently studied
Benzine is a known carcinogen found in gas, certain plastics, resins, glues, lubricants, dyes, detergents, and pesticides.
Researches found 5-10% of substances tested should be considered carcinogenic.
Only 400 of 75,000 substances on the market were tested. 5-10% means 3,750-7,500 carcinogens. Their combined toxicity is 37-75 times the toxic dose.
The Paris Deal calls for application before an introduction of a new and potentially toxic chemical.
One study points out that when individual toxins are studied alone in a lab, they’re less dangerous. But when combined with other toxins they create a “cocktail effect” and become quite dangerous. (They tested this with mimicked real-life conditions with several species of plankton and tadpoles in aquatic environment. When combined with other pesticides, 99% of the tadpoles died)
Water soluble toxins end up everywhere. They get in our water supplies and make their way all over the world.
Fat soluble toxins wedge themselves into our tissue. Then it becomes very difficult to remove them from the body.
Toxicity in our food:
Additives: Food additives are used to help retain water and improve texture.
Phosphate additives have been linked to lung cancer
We absorb an average of 1000 milligrams of phosphates every day.
They are found in processed meat, cheeses, pastries, all sodas, fruit syrups, processed ice creams, ready-made processed foods like frozen pizza and fish sticks.
Calcium phosphate, disodium phosphate, phosphoric acid, sodium triphosphate, tri-calcium phosphate, etc.
There’s an increase of toxicity in meat eaters: Meat, dairy products, and large fish furnish 90% of human exposure to known contaminants. Dioxin, PCBs, and Pesticides. Vegetables contain 1/100 the amount of contaminants than meat.
A study of 91,000 women over 12 years found the risk of breast cancer is twice as high in those who eat red meat 3x a week. The same conclusion for colon cancer, they were twice as high for those who ate large quantities of meat. Why?
Fat-stored contaminants
Preservatives in cold cuts
Plastics leaked from packaging
Or how it’s cooked (molecules called heterocyclic amines are produced when meat is charred/burned)
Or less eating anticancer foods like vegetables
Pesticides were nonexistent before the 1930s. The US is the worlds largest consumer of pesticides, then Japan, Brazil and France.
Toxicity and hormones:
Atrazine is a pesticide that is also a powerful xenoestrogen that it is capable of changing the sex of frogs in rivers that are contaminated. Brain tumors are sensitive to xenoestrogens.
Wine-country workers who are exposed to pesticides and fungicides have an increased risk of brain tumors.
Atrazine isn’t eliminated by most water purification systems
Only in 2003 did they eliminate the use of Atrazine in the EU
How do we protect ourselves, our families, and our environment?
We have to lower our toxic intake. We have to clean up our environment, our food, our water, and our air.
Organic foods are free from pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. All food we purchase whether organic or not should be thoroughly rinsed. You can soak fruit and vegetables in a bowl with filtered water and vinegar to clean them. Eat more fruits and vegetables than meat and fish.
Filter your water. Get a good filter that cleans most contaminates from your water. This can be a reverse-osmosis or 3-staged filter that goes under your sink. Or an external water reservoir with a high quality filter. Don’t rely on tap water, bottled water or even a refrigerator filter.
Avoid plastic, Teflon, and unsafe coated products. Use glass, ceramic, stainless steel, cast iron or silicone for all food storage and cooking.
Avoid artificial scents and additives. Lotions, shampoos, soaps, cleaners, air fragrances, candles, make-up, tanning sprays, hair sprays, or anything you put directly on your skin or in the air that is not 100% natural. There’s a reason why woman have a much higher rate of autoimmunity. Women tend to put way more products on their hair and skin.
Avoid artificial flavoring and additives in food. These additives are toxic to our gut health and create inflammation in the body. Processed foods are filled with chemicals and additives to retain color, flavoring, and texture. This is good for business, but not good for our bodies.
Detox. More on this below.
Demand more from business and government. 200 million tons of chemicals are produced a day. Almost 100% have not been researched to determine their impact on our health. If we don’t regulate the use of these chemicals, they’re going to negatively impact our lives along with future generations. Policies regardless of party need to align with our health.