Staying Healthy in a Toxic World

We live in a toxic world. Each year in the United States alone we introduce six billion pounds of pollution into our environment. And that is only the amount of chemicals reported to the EPA. Each of these chemicals has now found its way into our air, our streams, our drinking water and our food chain. 

Of course, every chemical is not necessarily harmful. Many break down in a very short time. However, others remain for long periods of time in our environment. A recent news report detailed the wide array of drugs – from pain killers and birth control pills to antibiotics – that are contaminating the water supply of most US cities. It’s no wonder many of us are feeling a little toxic these days.

The detoxification process

When a toxin enters your body a special family of enzymes goes into action. These are called cytochrome P450 enzymes or “CYP.” The toxin is an abrasive tangle of sharp edges like a ball of steel wool. It must be unfolded by the CYP enzyme and ironed out so it is completely exposed. Then your liver saturates the entire surface of this unfolded toxin with antioxidants. Once the toxin is saturated, the CYP enzyme turns the steel wool into a water soluble jelly.  

Toxins that are completely broken down will be excreted as harmless waste through your breath, colon, urine, skin and mucous membranes.

Every stage of this detoxification process requires nutrients. If a vitamin or mineral is missing at the critical moment it is needed, the detoxification will be incomplete – and this can lead to serious problems. Some of these abrasive toxins can escape into your bloodstream and damage your brain and body.

When these poisons are excreted before they are completely broken down, your organs of excretion become vulnerable to damage. This is one reason why we have seen an increase in problems related to the intestines, kidneys, lungs and skin. These are all organs designed to eliminate contamination. Can you imagine the damage that could be caused trying to force steel wool through these delicate tissues? 

Avoiding damage from toxins

Much of the tissue damage that is caused by toxins can be avoided through two techniques I call isolation and insulation.

Isolation

Isolation is an easy concept. It means that you reduce your total toxic load by consciously avoiding toxins. We can isolate ourselves from many common poisons with just a few simple techniques. First, make an inventory of the toxins you store in your home: bathroom and kitchen cleaning supplies, lawn care chemicals, automobile-related solvents, etc. Isolate yourself from these contaminants by switching to low-toxin alternatives. When this is not practical, isolate yourself from these toxins by removing them from your home and using them only while wearing appropriate protection and with good ventilation.

Insulation

Insulation means that you have all the nutrients you need for detoxification in your body all of the time. This insulates you from many toxins and reduces the possible damage they can do. The Healthy Aging Pack includes the basic nutrients for detoxification including antioxidants. Antioxidants are critical to detoxification and Vitamin C is one of the absolute best antioxidants. Use the Vitamin C flush to calibrate how much Vitamin C your body can use in its effort to fend off contamination.

Spread your daily intake of Vitamin C throughout the day. Take a broad-spectrum antioxidant along with Vitamin C. Adaptogen 10 Plus and NutraFruits are good broad-spectrum antioxidants. Both of these are made from whole concentrates of super foods – special foods with known high antioxidant activity.

You’ll find another family of special detoxification nutrients in HCY Guard. We usually talk about homocysteine when we discuss HCY Guard and in fact, elevated homocysteine is quite toxic. However, HCY Guard does more than just lower homocysteine levels. The same cycle that controls homocysteine also protects us from heavy metal contaminants like mercury and lead.

No end in sight

The problems of environmental pollution will only get worse. As we do what we can to isolate and eliminate toxin contamination from our air, food and water we must also do what we can to insulate ourselves against the toxins we face today. Keep a full complement of nutrients on board and in your body at all times. This is the only defense we have against a toxic world.