A Toxic Soup
Toxins are everywhere and unavoidable.
This can feel very overwhelming for many of us. It’s like we can get into a rabbit hole thinking the whole world is against us and there is nothing we can do to stop it so we just try to not think about it. However, there are ways where we can make small changes over time and reduce our toxic load. This is a very important part of living a healthy lifestyle; living a wellness-promoting lifestyle.
Unfortunately, toxins are rapidly increasing in volume. There are an estimated 2,000 additional new chemicals that are developed and put into commercial use every year. Few of them have received any safety testing at all. They typically have aggressive synergistic and additive effects, even though the vast majority of the safety testing is done on just single agents, which makes that safety testing virtually worthless because no one is exposed to just one toxin on a regular basis. When we look at the chronic additive/synergistic effects of living in a very toxic world and being exposed to dozens and dozens of different toxic mediators on a daily basis, this type of testing really is not valuable. There are also cumulative effects because what the body cannot process readily to excrete, it does store. It either stores in an overtly inflammatory way where it just continues to circulate through the blood, or the body may in its wisdom try to store some of these toxins in tissues such as the brain, the liver and the bone. The body may even make more fat tissue in order to store toxins.
At Rapha Functional Wellness we always ensure detox pathways are open as well as add binders to our clients that have lost more than 10lbs because their body is release all those toxins that were in storage. This is why many people feel flu on day 2-3 of a cleanse they are doing, all the toxins are released into circulation.
Personal Hygiene Products
Personal hygiene products are a big issue.The skin is a giant mouth.If you wont eat it, don’t put it on your body or touch it. They get absorbed right away and brought into circulation. Many of the popular beauty care products affect our bodies ability to regulate our hormones. This is a huge concern for teenage girls and boys who are already dealing with hormone spikes. Look at our homes with the fire retardants on furniture, the paint on the walls, the hardwood floors, they all outgas constantly into the air. Mold can release mycotoxins and make people very sick as well. Heavy metal exposure from silver fillings, lead paint, arsenic in unfiltered water, aluminum in deodorant or vaccines can also be a great concern in certain individuals.
The skin is a giant mouth
Our ability to process toxins to get rid of them is highly dependent on our nutrition, our genetics, all the other demands on our body. For instance how well we slept last night, whether or not we’re currently struggling with viral illness, our hydration status, and our stress load. All of us have dramatically different and highly individual toxin tolerances and toxin clearances. What may affect one person dramatically may not cause any concern for another individual.
Toxins or toxicity is one of the three most common root causes of disease. Do you remember the other two yet? C.R.A.P. Food and STRESS?
CRAP is an acronym
Chemicals
Refined sugar and flours
Artificial sweeteners
Processed foods and preservatives
Keep in mind that toxins can synergistically promote larger challenges with the burden of crap food, because it uses up nutrients. It can create a larger burden in the realm of stress because toxicity promotes physiological stress. It can overtly impair our own cellular metabolism and ability to bring fuel to any tissue in the body, including tissues like the liver, the kidneys, and the gut, that are trying to promote detoxification. There are a lot ways in which toxins wreak havoc on the body so we all want to be champion detoxifier’s. This is why we want to have a nutrient-dense diet; so we have all the nutrients we need to make our detox pathways work – work efficiently, work quickly, work reliably. When a person starts to experience toxic overload, there’s a really dramatic, forward-feeding negative cascade of it in the body that takes place. We’re living in a toxic soup and often because of CRAP food, we don’t detoxify very well.
If you feel like toxins are a problem in your body and you would like to consider a detox program, please contact us because there is a STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS in removing toxins from the body and doing so too fast or aggressively can cause more problems. We want to do this slowly and safely.
Here is a list we at Rapha Functional Wellness will give our client’s to get them started to start taking inventory of their environment and see where they can start removing the toxic burden. Take a look at the list and see what changes you could start making in your home for yourself and your family.
If you are interested in changing your eating habits but need some direction, Rapha Functional Wellness can help.
Kristi Lorenc andAmy Altamash are Nurse Practitioner trained in Functional Medicine who can help you improve your health to obtain your wellness goals. Book a free 15-minute consultor email us at [email protected] with any questions.
