Posts Tagged ‘toxicity’

I can’t tell you how upset I was to find out my dentist had been putting a known toxin in to my mouth. What?!?! Since I was 4 years old, my poor little body had been intentionally exposed to neuro-toxin. How could he? And all those vaccines I got. How could my pediatrician have done such a thing? What happened to the Hippocratic oath of “Do no harm?”

I first learned about the dangers of mercury and how we can be exposed to it my first year of college. I was grateful that I had already given up eating seafood, so that wasn’t a concern.

Finding all of this out, I got to thinking, “How much mercury HAVE I been exposed to?” I thought I was living a pretty healthy life- organic vegetarian, using green beauty products. (And cheap beer can be vegetarian. Right?) But maybe I was wrong.

I didn’t have any symptoms of mercury poisoning, but I still had my blood tested in grad school for mercury. The levels were high. I immediately had all my silver fillings taken out and still refuse any vaccines. I did a series of liver cleanses to flush out the mercury and any other heavy metals in my system. I now have a clean bill of health. I do a liver cleanse at least once a year to keep healthy.

Luckily, our bodies have the ability to remove this heavy metal through nutritional and herbal support. I already had a diet high in antioxidants, which improves the liver’s function to rid the body of all toxins, including heavy metals. I added a few more healing modalities that support the detoxification process: acupuncture, massage, saunas, a juice fast, and fiber supplements.

Side Effects Of Mercury Poisoning

The presence of mercury is considered toxic at any level, but children are most vulnerable due to their fast growth rates and low body mass.

High concentrations of mercury can result in:

*Depression, fatigue, headaches, dizziness, irritability, lack of concentration, memory lapses, and nervousness
*Mental retardation, Cerebral palsy, autism, deafness, & blindness
*Trembling hands, numbness in the hands and feet, & loss of muscle coordination

Sources

Unfortunately, there are very high rates of mercury poisoning in several industries, especially among munitions workers, laboratory technicians, farm workers, and coal burning plant workers.
Apart from exposure to industrial waste and pollution, you might be at risk for mercury poisoning through your amalgam (silver) fillings, eating seafood, and getting vaccines.

Silver Fillings
Dentists all over the world now refuse to use amalgam fillings, because of the direct link to their use and mercury poisoning. Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Norway have all banned mercury fillings. The World Health Organization has found that the average individual could absorb as much as 120 micrograms of mercury per day from their amalgam fillings, which is considered a toxic dose. Mother’s pass on the mercury in their fillings to the children through their breast milk.

Fish
Almost all fish are contaminated as the result of our oceans and streams being polluted by industrial waste. Fish with the highest levels of contamination include: tuna, swordfish, sea bass, oysters, marlin, halibut, pike, walleye, white croaker, largemouth bass, and shark. Pregnant women have been advised for years to avoid canned tuna due to the mercury content and the potential effects on the fetus. Now it’s best to avoid all seafood.

Vaccines
Mercury is also found in any vaccines containing thimerosal, which is a preservative found in many vaccines. It is possible to request vaccines that don’t contain this extremely toxic preservative.

What Next?

Hopefully, this has you thinking about changing some of your habits. Get your blood tested. Take out those silver fillings. Don’t eat fish. Do a liver cleanse or two.

Once you’ve done a cleanse and flushed out mercury and other heavy metals from your system, it is important to limit exposure from your diet and environment. Try to avoid the following items that can contain mercury: pesticides and fungicides, certain cosmetics, medications, and hair dyes, fluorescent lights, and some solvents.

Live Natural. Live Well.

Heather

I’ve had so many patients ask about the potential side effects of radiation hitting the West Coast. This gives me a chance to talk about my favorite subject- FOOD.

Whole Grains & Legumes

Brown rice should be lightly roasted to increase your protection against radiation.

Adzuki beans- little red beans used in soups and stews- are great for improving kidney function, which is necessary for removing toxins.

Other delicious grains to help protect you include: buckwheat, millet, and quinoa.

Sea Vegetables

Most sea vegetables contain a polysaccharide that binds to radioactive strontium and other pollutants. This helps to eliminate them from the body.

Kombu, a common kelp, can be used when cooking beans or vegetables. Add to your soup or salad a few tablespoons of sea vegetables, such as nori (used in sushi rolls), hiziki, alaria, arame, or wakame.

Miso Soup

1 or 2 bowls of unpasteurized miso soup every day, preferably prepared with kombu seaweed and root vegetables.

Miso broth with root vegetables (like carrots, beets, yams, onions, turnips and radishes) stimulates digestive enzymes and supports the elimination of pollutants and toxins from the blood.

Eat Your Veggies

Any dark, leafy greens will promote detoxification, including: dandelion, kale, cilantro, and chard. Other veggies to alkaline the body and reduce inflammation are: pumpkin, squash, garlic, avocado, and broccoli.

Root vegetables are a great source of antioxidants and support your kidneys.

Add tumeric- the spice that makes curry yellow- to your veggies to reduce inflammation and support your immune system.

Adding lemon to your filtered water supports the liver’s function to eliminate toxins. It also stimulates your metabolism. Who wouldn’t want that? I recommend drinking lemon water all the time, but especially first thing in the morning to jumpstart your day. No matter what the circumstances.

Supplements

The Iodide Question

There are many conflicting studies about the benefits and efficacy of taking iodine to protect your thyroid from radiation. So I’m hesitant to say anything about it. I personally think taking a low dose potassium iodide pill is usually safe as long as you don’t have a thyroid condition already. Short-term use should be fine, but please consult your physician first. According to the CDC, a single dose is all you need. Should radioactive iodine remain in the environment for more than 24 hours, another dose might be required. You shouldn’t take any at all unless you know that there is an immediate radiation hazard.

Other Steps to Take

Reishi and Cordyceps mushrooms protects your bone marrow from radiation and other toxins.

Spirulina and chlorella help the liver to flush on toxins, including radiation.

If you don’t like to or don’t know how to cook with tumeric, as suggested above, you can take it as supplement. 2-4 grams per day is should be enough.

Some homeopathic remedies to treat radiation: radium bromatum, uranium nitricum, plutonium nitricum, x-ray and plumbum. Please consult a qualified physician or homeopath before taking.

Taking a bath in Epsom salts, sea salt, bentonite clay, and/or baking soda to support your body’s ability to release toxins.

Acupuncture has long been established as great for detoxification and supporting the thyroid & immune system.

Foods To Avoid

You want to make sure your body can easily eliminate toxins, especially radiation. The healthier you are, the better your organs can do their job. So you want to avoid acidic foods and foods that slow down your body’s ability to detoxify. It is important to avoid coffee, sodas, refined sugars, dairy, and ‘white’ (bread, rice, etc…) and processed foods

All of these tips should be incorporated in to your daily lives, whether or not you’re directly affected by nuclear fall out in Japan. Eating a plant based, alkalizing diet will help protect you from almost any disease or pollution.

Live natural. Live well.

Heather

Almost all of my patients regularly drink coffee when they first come to see me. And you know what they hate to give up as much as sugar? That’s right, coffee.     If you’re a coffee drinker, you’re not going to like what you’re about to read. But this information is vital. Many think it’s good for you. At least decaf isn’t bad for you, right? Sorry! You want to know why I encourage them to give it up?          Keep reading!

Toxicity

Caffeine combines with the stomach’s hydrochloric acid to form a potent toxin, caffeine hydrochloride. When it’s absorbed, bile is released in an attempt to flush the toxin from your system. This accounts for increased bowel regularity, of which many coffee drinkers boast. If you only have a bowel movement after your morning coffee, most likely your body has become dependent on the laxative side effect.

Decaffeinated coffee is no better, because it contains a large concentration of the chemical Trichloroethylene. It is used mostly as a de-greasing agent in the metal industry and as a dry cleaning agent and is linked to liver cancer.

Because the liver is overworked to detoxify chemical residues in coffee, long-term coffee drinkers often have a toxic, congested liver and impure blood. The function of the liver is to filter the blood so it can nourish your cells. When the liver is congested, the blood doesn’t get filtered and it deposits impure blood into the cells. Then your cells can’t regenerate and grow healthy tissue, which can lead to degenerative diseases. A congested liver can manifest as dark spots/liver spots on the skin as people age.  Most people think those spots are a normal=healthy part of aging. Think again!

Adrenal Exhaustion

Coffee stimulates your adrenal glands to secrete adrenalin, which activate your fight or flight response. This stimulates insulin secretion and leads to secondary hypoglycemia, which result in a mild rise in blood pressure, 2-3 hours later a craving for sweets, low energy and mood, and overworking the adrenals.

Weight gain is another result of adrenal exhaustion. Cortisol (a stress hormone) is released when you drink any coffee. This triggers your body produce more fat. Many coffee drinkers have a hard time losing belly fat as a result.

Also- when your adrenal glands are stimulated too often, they eventually burn out.

This burn out will lead to your body searching for a replacement hormone -progesterone. Progesterone helps keep your body’s estrogen in balance. As your progesterone is used up compensating for your exhausted adrenals, you can become estrogen dominant, which eventually leads to osteoporosis.

Coffee also raises the acidity levels of your blood, causing calcium to be pulled from your bones and teeth to use as a buffering agent. The combination of estrogen dominance and high blood acidity puts you at an even greater risk for osteoporosis and kidney stones.

Nutritional Deficiencies

Most heavy coffee drinkers have a B-1 (Thiamine) deficiency with symptoms of fatigue, nervousness, aches and pains, and headaches. Drinking coffee and tea reduces iron absorption by 40 to 60%, thereby increasing the risk of anemia.

Regular coffee drinking prevents some nutrients from being absorbed in your small intestines, which leads to further vitamin and mineral deficiencies. The results- gray hair, a distended belly, constipation, spastic colon or irritable bowel, an enlarged gall bladder, and high cholesterol and triglycerides.

Other Side Effects

Some adverse effects of drinking coffee include: insomnia, tremors, anxiety, restlessness, irritability, headaches, temporary increase in the stiffening of arterial walls, elevated blood pressure and/or cholesterol levels, irregular heartbeats and palpitations, increased risk of a heart attack, PMS symptoms, increased risk of bladder and rectal cancer, and higher risk of the birth of a low-birth-weight child.

Because caffeine increases the production of stomach acid, high consumption over time can lead to peptic ulcers, erosive esophagitis and acid reflux/GERD.

Caffeine is a very strong diuretic (makes you pee). Most coffee drinkers are dehydrated, resulting in electrolyte imbalances, hypotension, kidney failure and confusion (even coma) due to decreased blood flow to organs and brain.

much better you’ll feel once you’ve quit. The initial withdrawal symptoms and crankiness will subside. If you’re worried about being tired at work, then slowly make the switch to green tea or kombucha (a healthier drink for energy). It will be worth it. I know the thought of giving up your morning coffee sounds almost impossible. The caffeine in the coffee belongs to the same alkaloid group as morphine, cocaine, and strychnine, making it really hard to give it up.  But think of how

Live natural. Live well.

Heather

Do I Need to Detox?

I get asked this question a lot. Our bodies aren’t made to handle the amount of toxins we’re constantly exposed to. Toxin overload can lead to a whole host of illnesses and side effects. Take the quiz below to see if you need to do a cleanse.

• Do you eat processed foods, fast food and/or eat out regularly?
• Do you eat non-organic animal products and produce?
• Do you consume genetically altered foods?
• Do you eat foods containing hydrogenated oil?
• Do you or have you used artificial sweeteners (Nutrasweet/Aspartame, Splenda, Sweet n Low)?
• Do you eat foods containing preservatives, additives, dyes, or sweeteners?
• Do you charbroil or grill foods?
• Do you drink coffee, soda or alcohol regularly?
• Do you drink unfiltered tap water?
• Do you use a microwave?
• Do you microwave/cook/store food in plastic containers?

If the majority of your answers are yes, then your diet contributes significantly to your toxic load. Most likely, you’re also exposed to other irritants such as pollution, cigarette smoke, dry cleaning fluids, cosmetics and beauty products, exhaust fumes, cleaners, and medications.

You might want to consider detoxing, if you’re experiencing any of the following:

Weight gain

Fatigue

Food cravings

Insomnia

Reduced mental clarity

Poor digestion

Low libido

Autoimmune disorders

Cancer

Hormonal Imbalances

Thyroid Disorders

Adrenal Exhaustion

Infertility

Arthritis

Not all cleanses are created equal. Many of my patients try one, that ‘everyone’ is doing with no results.  Sometimes, they even feel worse. It’s important to have a qualified physician help you find one that is right for you. When done correctly, the results can be life changing. And remember, if you go back to your old habits once you’ve completed a cleanse, the benefits won’t last. I see a lot of people go through the effort, but don’t change their lifestyle. I highly recommend avoiding unhealthy foods and products to guarantee long lasting results.

Live natural. Live well.

Heather