These days we consume chemicals in our foods as additives, colorants, hormone growth promoters, pesticides, pollutants, preservatives, steroids and even contaminants from food containers. Our tap water contains chemicals leached from contaminated soils, environmental pollutants and even chemicals added deliberately. We absorb chemicals through our skin from cosmetics and toiletries, sprayed plants, treated wood, and swimming pools. Our air is even contaminated with car fumes, industrial waste, solvents and environmental pollutants, which we inhale. Carpets, paints, plastics, paper and our insulation materials all contain harmful chemicals.
There are at least 500,000 identified chemicals that are present in all foods. On top of this it has been calculated that one new industrial chemical enters into industrial use every twenty minutes. This leads to approximately 500 industrial toxins being found in the average person living in the developed world, few of which have been properly tested for harmful effects. These chemicals include toxic heavy metals and synthetic chemicals. The heavy metals are natural but in high doses can be very harmful. The synthetic chemicals have structures that our bodies cannot recognize and therefore cannot process. This results in the toxic chemicals accumulating in our bodies, specifically in our body fat due to their high fat-solubility. The additional work our bodies are required to do uses more of our vitamin supplies so chemicals result in an increased requirement for good nutrition. How our bodies deal with chemicals is determined by our
age, dieting history, genetic predisposition, level of exposure and state of nutrition.
A horrible consequence is that chemicals appear to be affecting our children even before they are born. Mothers pass chemicals to the unborn child through the blood in the umbilical cord and though breast-feeding. Children are far more vulnerable than adults to chemical damage as their chemical detoxification systems are not yet fully developed. Therefore synthetic chemicals are thought to play a role in a wide range of childhood disorders such as
allergies, asthma, attention deficit disorder, autism, cancer, dyslexia, diabetes, eczema, learning difficulties, obesity etc.
Research shows that growth promoters, pesticides, plastics, toxic chemicals and a whole range of the most common environmental pollutants are related to or trigger a large number of the most common diseases of the developed world. These include most kinds of
cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, heart disease, hormonal disorders, immune disorders, low energy levels, neurological disorders, obesity and sexual problems.
Some simple things to start doing to help you start reducing chemicals include:
• Pay attention to what is written on labels – avoid preservatives, chemicals etc.
• If you can, go ‘organic’ as much as possible.
• Drink lots of clean, filtered water
• Keep your environment as healthy and natural as possible
• Find out about using natural ingredients such as bicarbonate soda, vinegar, lemon and essential oils as cleaning products for your home and work space.
• Use soluble fibre or charcoal before meals to bind chemicals and eliminate them safely
• Use a good multivitamin and omega-oil (low in metals) to keep your body systems working properly
• Reduce intake of meat, as the lower on the food chain we eat the less chemicals we consume.
Treatments To reduce the amount of chemicals in your body one can do heavy metal chelation and detoxification in combination with special diets. For more information on these treatments please contact
Dr Tanith Davidson on 011 447 6532 or
drdavidson@healthinc.co.za.
