Today’s Toxic Burden:

By V, PhD
 

It seems to contradict the logic presented to us by the modern medical association: If we live in an age of wonder drugs, the best surgical techniques in the world and have the best food supply, then why is the cancer and disease rate still on the rise?

This is a complex question, but certainly one of the most overlooked, underrated reasons for today’s escalating disease rate is the presence of toxic substances in our lives. Toxins (poisons) are making us sick while huge corporations — including chemical manufacturers — are getting rich. Indeed, many of the same companies that manufacture chemicals that cause illness are also manufacturing drugs to treat people from the illness. Mind boggling?

If you take into consideration the fact that big business owns and operates most of the major media — controlling the news we hear and see every day and night — and mega-corporations create the biggest source of pollution, then you’ll realize why the dangers of their toxic outflow is never brought to our attention.

We have to hunt for answers ourselves, finding out, for instance, that we are being poisoned in vaccinations, by our personal care products (soap, makeup, hair spray, etc.), the foods we eat (containing pesticides and artificial ingredients), household products to which we are exposed (paint, lacquers, carpeting, etc.) and even the vitamins we pop. All of these things are toxic and they all are taking their toll on our health both personally and globally. It’s a sad fact of the 21^st Century.     

A TOXIC DAY IN AMERICA

Think about the average, toxic-laden day of an American...

You wake up at 7 a.m. and brush your teeth with fluoride (toxic) toothpaste using chlorinated (toxic) water.

Then you step into the shower and breathe in chlorine vapors (toxic). You come out of the shower and put on underarm deodorant with aluminum (toxic) and a host of other poisonous, cancer-causing chemicals.

If you’re female you apply your makeup, which is full of cancerous chemicals.

If you’re wearing a brand new shirt, you’re exposing yourself to formaldehyde.

Next you go down to breakfast and have coffee with DDT (toxin) and many other pesticide and synthetic (toxic) residues. If it’s decaf, it’s made with hexane (toxic) to separate the caf from the coff.

Later that day you head out for lunch and have a diet coke full of toxic artificial sweeteners and a turkey sandwich with antibiotics and steroids that had been injected into the animal.

When you drive home in your car, you breathe in traffic fumes and dioxin and mercury from a nearby incinerator.

And to put the toxic cherry on top, when you settle into your comfy chair you watch the evening news telling you that the administration has relaxed laws for polluters because some deal has been made in Washington that compromises the health of your family.

If you happen to get a cavity from the toxic sugar in your diet and have to see the dentist, the toxic load continues to pile up. “Dental amalgams, known as silver fillings, are composed of roughly 50 percent mercury. Studies of people with mercury-containing dental fillings show a correlation between the number and size of the fillings and the amount of mercury excreted in their urine. The relationship suggests that the mercury is derived from mercury vapor released from the fillings. Some evidence shows that the level of mercury in the brain tissue of fetuses, newborns, and young children is also directly proportional to the number of surfaces of amalgam fillings the mother has.” (DISCOVER Vol. 26 No. 03, March 2005, Biology & Medicine)

Yes, it’s a frustrating fact that we are all being poisoned from all directions. We are not told on the evening news that the Mighty Mississippi is one of the most polluted waterways in the world. We’re not even told when there’s a major pollution spill from an industry that threatens our lives! Read the book Evil Genius in the Garden of Evil (Shayne) and you’ll find a number of incidences wherein this has happened. The media even neglects to tell you that the non-stick pan on which your dinner is being cooked is known to cause cancer. Then they tell you that the cold and flu is going around again and you can “catch” it from your neighbors and kids so you better run out and get vaccinated with a toxic injection. Vaccinations are sold to us beneath the banner of prevention and health care, but they are responsible for causing horrific side effects.

NO BUGS, JUST POISONS

It is the opinion of this writer, not without scientific evidence, that much of what is termed the common cold these days is merely the effect of toxic exposure, yet it is blamed on viruses, bacteria and other mysterious germs. Following the Christmas and New Years’ holidays, for instance, the rate of illness skyrockets. It is usually blamed on the cold weather, which somehow is supposed to create “the bug” that becomes an epidemic. But if you think about it, during the holidays is when we eat all the wrong foods, including these toxic substances: sugar, artificial ingredients, alcohol, food dyes, and trans fatty acids. It’s more of a wonder why some people DO NOT get sick than why so many DO.

Volumes can be, and have been, written detailing the way toxins affect our health and how we are overexposed every waking minute. But without making this a very depressing article (if it isn’t already), suffice it to say, it’s time we take action as parents as well as citizens.

THE SYMPTOMS

Toxins cause health problems. Sometimes these are acute (sudden onset with a brief duration of symptoms) and sometimes chronic (a long-lasting illness). Here are some symptoms of toxic exposure. Notice how many of these are customarily attributed to “mysterious” causes and germs or genetic factors:

• Colds and flu
• Rashes
• Respiratory illness
• Cancer
• Hormonal dysfunction
• Headaches
• PMS
• Digestive disturbances
• Problems with teeth and gums
• Liver dysfunction
• Skin disease (psoriasis, eczema, acne, etc.)
• Sinus infections
• Congestion
• Chronic fatigue and exhaustion

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Fortunately, there are several things you can do to minimize your exposure to toxins as well as getting them out of your body. The first, of course, is to be aware that toxins exist and have an effect on your health. Go online to scorecard.org and find out who’s polluting your neighborhood. Next…

• Eliminate these items from your diet: all artificial ingredients, soda pop, margarine, hydrogenated fats, partially hydrogenated fats, decaf coffee (unless organic), NutraSweet, MSG, refined sugar and junk foods
   
• Buy and eat only organically grown foods
   
• Switch over to only natural personal care products. This take some homework, but fortunately, there are a few good sources to read, including Kim Erickson’s Drop Dead Gorgeous, the Safe Shopper’s Bible, and A Consumer’s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients.
   
• Stop using poisonous cleaners in your home. Don’t use bleach, chlorine, ammonia or other unnatural chemicals. You’d be surprised how well water and elbow grease works.
  
   
• Don’t have your home and office sprayed on a regular basis for insects. You get poisoned every time you do.
  
   
• Read all food labels on products. If there is the name of a chemical on the label, find out what it is before you eat it.
  
   
• Buy an electric, hybrid or fuel-efficient vehicle and stop adding to world pollution
  
   
• Don’t live near a factory or incinerator
  
   
• Drink distilled only for your drinking water. And buy a home filter for your shower and bath water — you don’t want to consume fluoride, chlorine or any other such chemicals commonly found in tap water.
  
   
• Increase the number of vegetables you eat in your diet. The most important cancer-fighting foods are broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, radishesand kale because they biochemically convert fat-soluble toxins to water-soluble ones so that they can be removed from your body through the kidneys.