Are any of the following true? The whites of your eyes yellow. You have strong-smelling urine. You get headaches frequently. You feel lethargic or tired often. Experience skin itching. You feel sick or experience adverse effects when exposed to chemicals such as perfumes, scented lotions, new paint, construction materials, gasoline, new carpets, glues, or any other odor. You experience nervousness or anxiety often. You have poor concentration. You bruise easily. You have any vague abdominal pain, especially in the upper right side of your abdomen. You have diarrhea or constipation regularly. You take medications, drugs, or get exposed to chemicals regularly. You experience any dizziness or other strange sensations. You have or had cancer. You are taking prescription medicine or use any over-the-counter drugs. You smoke cigarettes. You have been exposed to heavy metal toxicity.
NOTE: NEVER DO A DETOXIFICATION PROGRAM IF YOU ARE PREGNANT OR NURSING. It is advisable to talk to a physician before a detoxification program if you do have any health problems.
If you answered yes to more than a few of questions in our liver questionnaire, it’s a pretty good indication that your body’s detoxification pathways are overburdened. Your body could use some love and support to be better equipped with handling life on Earth. Since we do not have the option of moving to Mars, it’s up to us to try to limit the amount of chemicals we are exposed to daily. Toxins are in our drinking and bathing water, the foods we eat, the offices we work in, the homes we live in, the air we breathe, and the cleaning products, cosmetics, soaps, shampoos, lotions, and toothpaste we use. In essence, we are bombarded with chemicals daily. Our magnificent and magical livers are responsible for much of our body’s detoxification, but they have their limits as well.
Your liver NEEDS your support and cooperation in doing its job to keep you healthy. There are so many things you can do to lighten your liver’s workload. Detoxification and Environmental Medicine are vast topics. Many books and articles have been written on them, and not all of that information can be covered here. Start to implement making the right decisions to limit your expose to environment toxicities by implementing the following:
1) Water, water, water. And NOT tap water. It will help dilute and flush out pollutants that have made it into your precious body. Drink reverse osmosis/ carbon filtered water. These processes of filtering water unfortunately strips vital minerals, but this can be more than made up for by eating a variety of organic fruits and vegetables. Mineral drops can also be added to your filtered water to correct this issue.
2) Eat as much organic foods as possible. When you do not use organic limit the Top 10 foods list because these foods will likely contain higher levels of pesticide residues choosing instead the Healthier Alternative List (or buy organic versions).
Recommend buying organic versions of strawberries, spinach, kale, nectarines and apples as they are the produce with the highest pesticide residue according to the Environmental Working Group.
The Dirty Dozen – Meaning The Highest Pesticide Content In Order
Strawberries
Spinach
Kale
Nectarines
Apples
Grapes
Peaches
Cherries
Pears
Tomatoes
Celery
Potatoes
Avoid meats, milk-products, refined flours, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, taking over-the-counter drugs, perfumes, pesticides, artificial sweeteners, sodas, and foods with preservatives, flavor enhancers, and fillers as much as possible. These are likely to contain toxic substances.
4) Fiber is extremely beneficial in binding and clearing out toxins that can be eliminated through feces. Beefing-up fiber intake can be done through eating a diet loaded with vegetables and fruits, or supplementing rice bran or psyllium powder.
5) Limit toxic chemical exposure in the home and office:
a. Ask your co-workers not to wear perfumes or scented lotions to work. b. Avoid carpets, paint fumes and new construction materials as much as possible: they “off gas” many neurological and liver-damaging toxins.
c. Make a push for “green construction.”
d. Do aerobic workouts in non toxic environments. Remember indoor air pollution is always worse than outdoor air pollution. Avoid areas of high auto or fireplace emissions if possible.
e. Use hepa filters and eco-friendly cleaning supplies at home.
f. Avoid pesticides. Seal up the cracks around your home so that pests can’t get in. If you still have problems with pests use a “green” pest company in your area for pest treatments. Pesticides are among the worst neurotoxins in the world; they were made originally for biological warfare for the purpose of killing human beings.
g. If you have to wear dry-cleaned clothes, air them in a well-ventilated place as long as possible before re-wearing.
6) Clean out your thinking each day with Mental Mastery
a. Learn to recognize and focus on the positive things in your life<BR>b. Learn to organize and prioritize
c. Understand and accept yourself and those around you
d. Learn ways to control stress and anger
e. Learn to forgive and to feel love.
f. Practice meditation or other non-toxic acts to calm the mind.
A variety of organic fruits and vegetables contain healthy nutrients that enhance detoxification. If you are not able to consume enough organic fruits and vegetables the following nutrients maybe helpful for detoxification: Glutathione, N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), vitamins C, E, and A, selenium, Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), and bioflavonoids such as Quercetin.
