The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta have conducted several studies in the last decade that show random blood samples of Americans contain as many as 170 industrial toxins, including dioxin. Cord blood samples taken from newborns show a similar picture.
The problem with chemical toxins is that they lodge in fat cells, where they remain hidden indefinitely. Here, they react with DNA in cells throughout the body, interfering with the normal function of proteins. The immune system registers their presence and exhausts itself in its effort to defend us. Weakened and crippled, our immune systems react erratically, destroying our own cells. Autoimmune diseases are caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Controlling these environmental factors is one of the main keys to healing.
The Toxic Burden
More than 75,000 new chemicals have been approved in the last few decades. Only a small fraction of them have been tested for toxicity. The body’s toxic burden varies from individual to individual. This isn’t due to chance or a random scattering of chemicals. It has much to do with our exposure to toxins in food, the workplace, airborne pollution, plastic containers, chemical additives, pesticides, and other factors.
Our toxic burden also is dependent on our ability to rid our body of toxins through sweat and other waste materials. Toxins can be excreted and there are ways in which we can speed up the process.
Reducing the Burden
In his book, The Source, the New York physician Woodson Merrell recommends studying food labels and avoiding foods that contain more than five ingredients. Studying labels helps identify foods that are laden with chemical preservatives and foods that contain only traces of real food. Woodson advocates eating more organic foods and washing them well before consumption. He also recommends avoiding antibacterial cleansers and other unnecessary chemicals. With proper hand washing techniques, soap and hot water are equally effective for removing germs without adding to the toxin burden.
Plastic containers and canned goods lined in plastic can leach chemical phthalates into food. It’s important to avoid using canned goods past their expiration date, and it’s important to store food in glass or earthenware containers rather than plastic ones. Foods should also not be microwaved in plastic containers or plastic wrap.
Saunas
Increasing the rate that toxins leave the body is another important step in reducing the toxin burden. The Hubbard Sauna Detoxification Protocol is now being used to reduce the toxic load of World Trade Center first response and clean-up workers with good results. This protocol consists of aerobic exercise, sauna therapy, and nutritional support in the form of niacin and other vitamins that help lodge toxins from lipid material.
A 1982 study of this technique by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences examined Michigan farmers exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), one of the most highly persistent and toxic organohalides. The study showed reductions in PCBs up to 42% four months post treatment. Prior to this study, the farmers’ PCB levels in adipose tissue stayed stable for six years following the initial exposure.
Saunas have been used successfully for conditions of lupus, chronic asthma, urticaria, and related autoimmune disorders. According to Dr. David Schnara, Science Advisor to the Environmental Protection Agency, saunas are the only method of detoxification evidence in current nutritional, medical, and biochemical literature capable of significantly reducing or eliminating stored toxic residue with scientifically proven safety.
Resources:
Woodson Merrell, The Source, Unleash Your Natural Energy, Power up your Health, and Feel 10 Years Younger; New York, Simon & Schuster, 2008.
Elaine Moore, Autoimmune Diseases and Their Environmental Triggers, Jefferson, NC, McFarland and Company, 2002.
Health Benefits of Saunas, Doctoronline, accessed Sept 12, 2009.
