Reducing the toxic load in the body should be something at the top of all of our health lists - I'll tell you why.
Toxins in the Body
The definition of a toxin is: "a poisonous substance that is a specific product of the metabolic activities of a living organism and is usually very unstable, notably toxic when introduced into the tissues, and typically capable of inducing antibody formation."
Sounds sinister, right? You may think you don't come in contact with many toxins because toxins are things that come with a big poison warning sign on the side, aren't they?
Toxins are Present in our Day to Day Lives
The reality is that in this day and age, toxins are ubiquitous. They're pervasive little things that sneak under the radar in small amounts all around us. In our foods, beauty products, clothes, furniture, household products, toys, water, air... and they come in the form of pesticides, medications, chemicals, heavy metals, mould toxins and environmental pollutants. Some of these compounds go through safety nets before they're sold to us, to ensure the products toxic levels aren't poisonous. However, there have been 80,000+ chemicals introduced since the industrial revolution, and only around 1% have been tested for their impact on human health (Loki, 2015), and the ones that are put in our products- the low levels in each product means that they aren't classified as harmful....(In isolation)
Add them to the collection of all your other cleaning products, beauty regime bottles, plastic-wrapped and pesticide covered foods etc....and the toxic levels increase and can begin to accumulate in the body over years and years.
Symptoms of Toxic Overload
Fatigue, bloating, skin breakouts, constipation, headaches, weight gain, and irritability are just a few symptoms that can result from an increased toxic load in the body.
Furthermore, in Dr Joseph Pizzorno's book The Toxin Solution, he explains how higher levels of Persistent Organic Pollutants have been correlated with a 12x increase in levels of diabetes and an increase in Alzheimer's. Increases in phthalates, parabens and benzophenones can also act as oestrogen mimickers which can lead to oestrogen dominance.
How to get rid of toxins in the body
The good news is that we have a very intelligent detoxification system built into our body, which including our liver, kidneys, gut, skin, lymph system and lungs.
If, however, any of these organs aren't working, or are overloaded from a high toxic load from poor diet and lifestyle, then detoxification isn't as effective and those toxins get stored in the body. Take the gut. What we consume is of utmost importance as the gut processes more than 25 tonnes of food. This represents a very large load of antigens and toxins processing. The gut also represents one of the main exit routes for removing toxins, so bowel clearance plays a key factor.
Toxins, especially metals feed parasites in the gut - this makes the body want to hold on to the parasites which can introduce a new host of ailments.
Parasites or not, once those toxins are stored in the body, it takes a while to clear them out. To give you an example, it takes the body 6-10 years to clear persistent organic pollutants (POPs - e.g. pesticides) from the body.
I think we can all agree that getting these toxins out of our bodies is important, but detoxing them safely is the key. And I emphasise safely because the term "DETOX" has become a somewhat skewed, monetised term to sell 'skinny teas and promote weight-loss programmes.
PSA: you don't need a special product to help you detox, you simply need to heal and optimise the bodies natural detoxifying mechanisms.
Some of these detox programmes give very little advice or guidelines on the right way to approach these herbs or regimes which can increase the release of toxins from the body. This can be dangerous as doing a strong detox program could loosen toxins up to then flood the bloodstream, causing a healing crisis. This is often called detox flu and can be intense.
How To Reduce Toxic Load Safely:
1. Start by reducing your current toxin input.
A few ways you can do this: Swap chemical cleaning products for non-toxic or home DIY products
Swap out beauty products that contain parabens, phthalates and benzophenones.
Reduce your plastic exposure wherever possible
Remove processed foods
Don't microwave food in plastic
Go organic for "the dirty dozen"
Buy a water filter
The best part about this is that not only is it a win for your body, it's also a win for the planet and environment :)
2. Clean up the liver, the gut, the kidneys and improve lymph flow.
Some simple ways you can start are:
Move your body to increase blood and lymph flow
Improve sleep
Consider if intermittent fasting is suitable for you
Remove or reduce sugar and alcohol
There are a million ways to address the above points, so if you're unsure of how and where to start, I'm here to help! Let's have a chat on how you can integrate the above into your life and how I can help support your health journey.
book here: https://manifestinghealth.as.me/
Did you find this useful? Let me know what's one thing you're going to do to reduce your toxins in the comments!