We are all exposed to environmental toxins everyday: in the air we breathe, food we eat, water we drink, mattresses we sleep on, self-care products we use, cleaning supplies in our home and in common household plastics.
As soon as you step out onto the street, you’re exposed to heavy metals like arsenic, lead, mercury, and cadmium emitted from smokestacks and vehicle exhaust.
Even in nature, wildlife (including those in the food supply chain) are exposed to pesticides, fertilizers, and PCB’s (a highly carcinogenic chemical compound) released as run-off into rivers and soil.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there are approximately 83,000 chemicals in our environment. A 2019 study found that the plastic ingested every week by the average person is roughly equal to that of a credit card – much of which comes from the food and water we consume every day.
Yet, the great majority of us continue to live our lives, go about our days and raise our families presumably unharmed by these seemingly innocuous chemicals. Or are we?
With soaring rates of chronic disease and chronic inflammation affecting everything from gut function and brain health to social mobility and access to public health, we have to wonder if the mostly invisible, tasteless and odorless effects of toxic chemicals that pervade every aspect of our food, water and air supply is something we should be concerned about.
Hopefully we don’t have to answer that question for you.
Signs & Symptoms
Our bodies have natural detoxification pathways. That’s the good news. The bad news is that your body needs to be functioning optimally for these detoxification pathways to operate appropriately.
As holistic health practitioners, many of our clients come to us either with specific gut health issues or other health issues caused or exacerbated by compromised detoxification pathways, which include your GI tract, liver, kidneys, skin, lungs and lymphatic system. These clients are more likely to see the ill effects of toxic exposure.
Specific constitutional types also suffer more from toxic exposure and those with chronic inflammatory disorders and chronic disease are more likely to suffer the effects of toxic build-up. In many cases, toxic exposure may be the root cause of these imbalances.
Some signs and symptoms of toxic overload include bloating, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, mood swings, insomnia or not feeling rested after sleeping, digestive and elimination issues, migraines or headaches and skin conditions.
More severe acute symptoms may include brain and neurological malfunction such as disorientation or confusion, feeling faint or losing consciousness, memory loss, behavioral abnormalities and neuropathy.
More severe digestive symptoms can include nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Severe organ damage to the kidneys, liver, lungs, nails, or bone tissue is also possible. Other severe effects can include infertility, anemia, miscarriages and premature labor.
More often, however, a host of chronic diseases will develop after prolonged environmental toxin exposure, carrying a host of signs and symptoms that vary depending on the type of toxin exposure.
In some individuals, the bioaccumulation of toxins can damage DNA and lead to a variety of metabolic and systemic dysfunctions including immune dysfunction, autoimmune disorders, asthma, allergies, cancer, cardiovascular impairment, cognitive deficit, mood changes, neurological illnesses, metabolic disorders, changes in libido and reproductive dysfunction.
The Reality
Sadly, more than 10,000 chemicals are allowed in food sold in the United States.
Many countries have banned chemicals still allowed for use in food processing in the United States. While U.S. regulatory authorities have known about the potential and proven harms of some of these toxins for a long time, in many cases little has been done to update U.S. food and drug policy.
Rather than get caught up in lengthy political debates that may outlive us, we prefer to focus on what we can do as individuals to limit our risk today.
While it’s impossible to provide an exhaustive list to keep you safe from the thousands of chemicals you’re exposed to everyday, we do want to offer you practical “DO” and “DO NOT” lists to consider when working to eliminate environmental toxins from your life.
DO:
- Avoid plastics exposure as much as possible – reduce plastic wrappers, containers and toys; and look for BPA and phthalates-free packaging.
- Buy a HEPA filter air-purifier and change your HVAC filters regularly.
- Eliminate or minimize your consumption of processed foods and cured meat products such as hot dogs, sausages and cold cuts.
- Buy organic, especially foods that support detoxification, including cruciferous vegetables, garlic and onions. Read our article “Food: What Do I Eat” for more information.
- Eat fresh food, free from preservatives. The longer the shelf-life, the more chemicals that are likely present in your food.
- Learn your constitution and what a healthy/balanced diet looks like for you. A healthy constitutional diet is key to detoxification.
- Eat a diet high in antioxidants, which help to reduce inflammation by clearing toxic accumulation. Supplements can be very helpful in an antioxidant-deficient diet or in cases of oxidative stress in the cells.
- Reduce inflammation. Read our article “Taming the Flames – Fighting Inflammation” for more information.
- Compost! Food waste releases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that is 25 times more damaging to the environment than CO2. Sharewaste helps to connect you with local composting resources in areas where local governments do not provide composting services.
- Engage in regular exercise appropriate for your constitution. Increased respiration, circulation, and perspiration all support healthy detoxification.
- Drink at least 64 ounces of fresh, pure room temperature or warm water each day. Good hydration and frequent perspiration helps to flush your system of toxins.
- Eliminate at least once per day. YES! You need to poop daily to decrease absorption of toxins. If you aren’t eliminating regularly or, if you’re highly dependent upon over-the-counter laxatives to go to the bathroom, talk to a practitioner.
- Shed unhealthy excess weight as toxins tend to live in fat cells. Not all fat is bad, however, and extreme dieting can deplete your system and degrade your immunity. Follow the tips above and ask for support.
- Engage in pranayama, or breath practice, which is one of the most effective – yet often disregarded – detoxification mechanisms. Kapalabhati – or skull-shining breath – improves blood circulation, generates heat to help dissolve toxins and waste matter, improves digestion as well as kidney and liver function and helps to reduce belly fat (especially if practiced daily). Avoid this practice if pregnant or if you become lightheaded or feel unwell when practicing.
- Constitutionally-appropriate cleansing is essential to supporting detoxification pathways and maintaining your overall health and wellbeing.
DO NOT:
- Do not microwave food in plastic containers as the toxins in plastic leach more easily when heated.
- Do not consume nitrates, which are preservatives used in cured meats. Nitrites have been linked to stomach cancer, esophageal cancer, and possibly brain and thyroid cancers. Check labels carefully and avoid products that list sodium or potassium nitrates and nitrites.
- Do not eat packaged baked goods with potassium bromate, which is a possible human carcinogen. It is banned in several countries, including Brazil, Canada, the European Union and the United Kingdom.
- Do not eat foods with propyl paraben as a preservative as it causes developmental and reproductive harm.
- Do not eat foods with butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) or butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) as preservatives. They have been identified as a possible human carcinogen and BHT has been shown to cause hormone disruption and harm the reproductive system.
- Do not eat foods with tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) as a preservative that may harm the immune system and weaken the effectiveness of vaccines. TBHQ may also be linked to a rise in food allergies.
- Do not use products with per- and polyfluoroalkyl “forever chemicals” (PFAS), which are found in food packaging and leach into the food itself. Many fast-food chains used food wrappers, bags and boxes coated with these chemicals.
- Do not eat candy. Most contain titanium dioxide as a color additive that damages DNA. European food safety regulators have ruled it is no longer safe for human consumption.
- Do not use brominated vegetable oil, or BVO, which is used to stabilize citrus flavors in sodas and fruity drinks. It can cause neurological harm. It is banned in Europe and Japan.
- Do not consume synthetic food dyes (Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2 and Green 3) which can affect development and cause behavioral difficulties in children. These are used in a wide variety of foods popular with kids, like breakfast cereals, ice cream cones, icing and sugary drinks. California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment conducted human studies showing that food dyes are associated with inattentiveness, hyperactivity and restlessness in sensitive children.
- Do not use artificial sweeteners, which can affect the hormones that regulate metabolism and are associated with obesity, diabetes and other metabolic problems.
- Try not to take paper receipts (unless absolutely necessary). Eighty percent of paper receipts from large retailers in the United States contain bisphenol S (BPS), an endocrine-disrupting chemical readily absorbed through the skin and linked to health issues including cancer.
- Do not use chemically-activated lotions, skin and hair products – if you wouldn’t put it in your mouth, don’t put it on your skin. See this list of safer products.
Our favorite apps to help identify if a product is toxic or considered an endocrine disruptor are Yuka or EWG Healthy Living App.
Holistic Healing & Detoxification
In addition to following the tips above, there are holistic healing steps you can take to reduce the load of environmental toxins in your body.
Enhance your detoxification pathways with Ayurvedic cleansing. The Ayurvedic detoxification process targets the gut, liver, kidneys, skin, lungs and lymphatic system – all crucial elements in your detoxification process.
- The liver is divided into three phases that convert toxins into less harmful substances, makes those substances water soluble, then eliminates those substances through the kidneys and GI tract (your pee and poop).
- Our skin also helps eliminate toxins through sweating, while our lungs do the same through respiration.
- The primary function of our lymphatic system is to cleanse toxins from our body and protect against invaders by carrying waste from our tissue to the bloodstream.
Working with an Ayurvedic practitioner helps to ensure you maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle that prevents you from suffering from the effects of environmental toxic overload now and in the future.
News about environmental toxins and impacts on human health isn’t necessarily new. It has, however, become increasingly clear that we can’t rely on health authorities alone to keep us safe. Our “health care” system has morphed into a “disease management” system that doesn’t have the time, expertise or resources to dedicate to prevention.
Prevention is up to you.
Article authored by Kirsten Ahern, founder of Path Wellbeing, Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist, ERYT, Marma Therapist and Wellbeing Advocate.
The information contained within this article is for educational purposes only and should not replace the direct advice of a qualified healthcare professional. Always consult a medical or other professional healthcare provider when considering a new health regime.
REFERENCES:
Biochemical strategies for the detection and detoxification of toxic chemicals in the environment; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5329710/
EWG’s Dirty Dozen Guide to Food Chemicals: The top 12 to avoid https://www.ewg.org/consumer-guides/ewgs-dirty-dozen-guide-food-chemicals-top-12-avoid
Research links TBHQ to allergies https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/8349-research-links-tbhq-to-allergies
Senate Hearing on Plastic Production and Pollution, https://www.c-span.org/video/?527066-1/senate-hearing-plastic-production-pollution
Assessing Plastic Ingestion from Nature to People, http://awsassets.panda.org/downloads/plastic_ingestion_press_singles.pdf
OEHHA Synthetic Food Dye Risk Assessment, https://oehha.ca.gov/risk-assessment/synthetic-food-dye-risk-assessment
New study finds toxic chemicals in 80% of receipt paper tested, down from 93% in 2017, https://toxicfreefuture.org/press-room/new-study-finds-toxic-chemicals-in-80-of-receipt-paper-tested-down-from-93-in-2017/
Effectiveness of air purifier on health outcomes and indoor particles in homes of children with allergic diseases in Fresno, California: A pilot study, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27723364/
