We live in a world where exposure to toxic chemicals, preservatives, plastics, pesticides and herbicides is unavoidable. The body’s detoxification system can easily become overwhelmed, which can lead to disease and illness. Many hormone issues have toxicity problems at their base.
At present, it is not possible to measure the concentrations of these compounds in the body except in a research context. The best approach at this time is to minimize exposure and increase elimination of these toxins.
A good detox program can help to:
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- Boost energy
- Rid body of waste
- Help with weight loss
- Improve immune function
- Improve skin
- Eliminate bad breath
- Reduce brain fog
To help minimize exposure certified organic food products are readily available. There are regulations to ensure that they are grown without the use of pesticides and herbicides. The extra cost of these items is warranted by the reduction in exposure to agents shown to reduce health.
In addition to watching what we eat, we should also take a closer look at what we eat in! Plastics in our environment particularly used for food packaging, and storage can be detrimental to our health. Commonly used in plastics is a group of chemicals called ‘xenoestrogens’, because they act similar to estrogen in the body. This influx of xenoestrogens over activates estrogen receptors and creates a condition called Estrogen Dominance. Estrogen dominance creates many adverse health conditions in both men and women including:
In Women:
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- Weight gain
- Anxiety
- Insomnia
- Breast tenderness
- Uterine fibroids
In Men:
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- Weight gain
- Insomnia
- Low energy
- Low libido
- Prostate enlargement
Unfortunately, many of these harmful chemicals and compounds are actually attracted to and stored in the fat cells of our body. The number of fat cells in our body remains the same but as our weight changes so does the size of these cells. While this has important indications for our health, this also means that as our body is exposed to more toxins we also store more of these toxins in our fat cells which enlarge. In order to protect our body from the harmful effects of these toxins it is important to flush these toxins from our system.
For even more information there are many great books that deal with this area. Some of our favorites include Detoxify or Die by Sherry Rogers, M.D. and Slow Death by Rubber Duck by co-authors Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie. Both titles can be readily found online or at your local bookstore. See our book page for further suggestions.