External
& Internal Toxins
Toxicity is of much greater concern in the twenty first century
than ever before. Toxicity occurs on two basic levels ie. external
and internal.
Every day you are exposed to 50,000
chemicals
Externally, we inhale and ingest a vast array of toxic compounds
arising from pesticides, chemicals, inhalants, exhaust fumes,
drugs, antibiotics, heavy metals and radiation. These toxic compounds
are present in the air, water and food that we consume.
About 2.2 billion pounds of pesticides are used in the United
States alone each year. This is about eight pounds per capita.
According to experts, only 2 percent of these actually serves
to protect the crops while the air, water and the food itself
absorbs the other 98 percent (over 110 different kinds of chemicals
are used on apples alone).
Municipal water may contain up to 700 chemicals, including heavy
metals. The United States’ dentists are the single largest
discharger of mercury into the nation’s waters. They use
about 44 tons of highly toxic mercury to fill some 100 million
cavities each year.
Thousands of different chemicals are used in food processing and
preservation. And here is the scariest fact of all, from the Centers
for Disease Control, scientist Dr. James Pirkle, "If you
gave a sample of blood or urine to us, we could find all sorts
of things you didn’t think you had. We are regularly, every
day, exposed to 50,000 chemicals".
Only a fraction of these chemicals have been studied for their
effects on humans.
There have been no studies at all showing the consequences of
using these agents in varying combinations with each other. Living
in such a toxic environment places our bodies under constant bombardment
from every conceivable angle.
Toxins in our food
We have turned to technology and chemistry to help increase the
world’s production of food. This has resulted in the adulteration
of foods rich in starches, sugars, stimulants, pasteurized dairy
products and high levels of saturated fats. These foods are thought
to burden the liver and the immune system.
How much junk do you really eat in one
year?
Each year the average American consumes 150 lbs of sugar and 566
cans of soft drinks ("liquid candy"). According to the
U.S. Department of Agriculture, that is equal to "52 teaspoonfuls
of added sugars per person per day."
Junk food consumption has increased drastically in the last few
decades. Compared to 1981, in 2001 the average American consumed
in one year: 45 large bags of potato chips - up 78 percent; 120
orders of French fries - up 130 percent; 190 candy bars - up 80
percent; 120 pastries or desserts - up 95 percent; 150 slices
of pizza - up 143 percent.
Toxins "stimulate neurons to death"
Junk foods and soft drinks contain dangerous additives, chemicals,
and many are laced with excitotoxins "found in such ingredients
as monosodium glutamate (MSG), aspartame, cysteine, hydrolyzed
protein, and aspartic acid".
Excitotoxins are "substances added to foods and beverages
that literally stimulate neurons to death, causing brain damage
of varying degrees".
Internal toxins
Internally, our body produces toxins through its normal everyday
functions. Bodily activities generate toxic substances that need
to be eliminated. When these toxins are not eliminated, they cause
inflammation of the cells and tissues, blocking normal functions
on a cellular, organ and whole body level.
