It is becoming better known that toxins can have many negative effects on our health. These toxins can be of food or environmental origin.
Different people have different levels of tolerance to toxins, and what may be a big problem for one person does not have a discernible effect on another person. Our tolerance will depend on many factors, not all of which we understand. They include metabolism, state of health and nutrition, stress, other toxins present, age and many more.
Toxins can produce symptoms which include, but are not limited to, general inflammation, suppressed immune system, aches and pains including fibromyalgia, arthritis, stiff joints, structural imbalances, intestinal problems, excessive appetite, emotional issues such as depression and anxiety, lethargy, brain fog, dizziness or vertigo, water retention, oedema (swelling) of hands and feet, palpitations and rapid heart rate.
Common toxins in our everyday life include gluten, fluoride, caffeine, soy products, fructose, artificial sweeteners, pesticides, mercury, plastic, and chemicals such as formaldehyde and paints.
It is important to remember that we are never going to be able to completely avoid all toxins in our life, so take a realistic approach and remove those that you can and reduce the rest as far as possible - But try not to get too paranoid! Just do what you can..

This is a protein found primarily in wheat but also in oats, barley and rye. Once you start looking you will find that it is present it many foods that we consume.
Gluten will become a problem when a person is unable to break it down completely in their intestines. The resulting larger molecules are absorbed into the bloodstream and will cause general inflammation in the body and almost any of the symptoms listed above. It particularly causes structural issues, muscle imbalances and tension, especially of the neck, shoulders and lower back. The inflammation can cause fluid in the inner ear, our balance mechanism which leads to a feeling of dizziness or vertigo. Research suggests that long term exposure to gluten, if you are unable to break it down sufficiently, can eventually cause damage to your heart, brain and pancreas.
The toxic effects also include disabling the ability of the brain to tell you when you are full so that you will tend to feel hungry and keep eating, usually craving carbohydrates and fats. This makes it almost impossible to lose weight.
A large number of our patients test as "toxic‟ to gluten and often report that their symptoms greatly improve or resolve completely when they stop consuming gluten. When you stop gluten you may however have a short detox period of a few days to a couple of weeks during which you feel worse before you feel better.
We test for this problem with gluten when you come for an initial test with us. Alternatively, a stool analysis will confirm whether or not you are breaking down gluten adequately in your intestines. These tests are available online or through your natural health practitioner. Found in toothpaste, some municipal water supplies and black tea. It has been known for a long time that fluoride is toxic to the human body. It is promoted as being essential for healthy teeth, but in fact we will get enough fluoride without it being added to our tap water. Some forward thinking dentists are now refusing to use fluoride treatments due to the toxic effects; in fact too much fluoride is detrimental to teeth.
It can cause male infertility and its presence can affect thyroid function. The body will store it in the bones which can lead to osteopoenia and osteoporosis. We have found it is commonly linked to depression, anxiety and panic attacks, back pains and joint pains.
For most of our patients who we test as having a problem with fluoride, changing to fluoride free toothpaste, filtering their water and reducing tea consumption to one cup a day will significantly improve their symptoms. A very popular toxin! Found in teas, coffee, chocolate, soda and energy drinks. Dominick refers to this as "Black Gold‟ as he finds that commonly lower back, hip and knee pains are linked to excess caffeine. It will also cause anxiety and insomnia. Consumption initially causes a "high‟ but this is followed by a slump in which it is tempting to have another cup, this can become an unending cycle. Once you are consuming caffeine regularly it is difficult to avoid as abstinence will cause headaches and depression. When removing caffeine from your diet it is important to do so gradually. Withdrawal affects include headaches, shaking, irritability and anxiety.
Generally people will have no problem with caffeine if they keep their consumption to 1 cup a day. Soy products are taking an ever increasing presence in all our diets. Between 2000 and 2007, US food manufacturers introduced over 2700 new foods with soy as an ingredient. When soy was first introduced it was considered a miracle food which would boost every one's health. However this is far from the truth as, “thousands of studies link soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune system breakdown - even cancer and heart disease”, says Dr Kayla Daniel, author the book "The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favourite Health Food‟. Soy contains “anti nutrients” that disrupt the digestion of the protein we eat which in turn leads to gastric upset, nutritional deficiencies, and even pancreatic cancer.
Soy contains Haemagglutins that cause abnormal blood clotting and inhibit growth - so not good for babies or children, Goitrogens that can cause depressed thyroid function, Phytates that inhibit the uptake of calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc.
Processed Soy contains high levels of aluminium from the aluminium tanks it is washed in, and toxic levels of Manganese that are particularly harmful to babies. Soy farmers use extremely high levels of pesticides and over 95% of soy grown is genetically modified. In one study it was found that mice would rather starve to death than eat GM soybeans.
On a brighter note Soy can have some excellent health benefits if it is non-GM, organic and has been fermented. Fermented soy products include Soy sauce, Miso, Natto, and Tempeh. HFCS was first invented in the late 1950s by two researchers names Marshall and Kooi. They developed an enzyme called isomerase that could change the glucose found in corn into fructose. As HFCS is much sweeter than normal corn syrup manufacturers could afford to use far less HFCS, without sacrificing sweetness. The resulting cost savings of this were enormous and HFCS soon took over much of the sweetener market.
Today, HFCS is routinely found in carbonated drinks, baked goods, candies, jams, jellies, crackers, salad dressings and dairy products. It is also found in countless processed foods. HFCS is strongly linked to diabetes. It will increase your insulin levels and the primary problem with diabetes is insulin and more specifically insulin resistance. Research has shown that using HFCS increases your resistance to insulin. So consuming HFCS can seriously worsen your diabetes, or if you are pre-diabetic, it can cause you to become diabetic.
According to Dr Rosedale, one of the most important markers for life span, is insulin specifically insulin sensitivity. It is well known that insulin speeds up the aging process. Eating HFCS, along with other sugars and with grains increases your insulin levels and speeds up your aging process.
HFCS can worsen Metabolic Syndrome, a precursor to Heart Disease, can damage your immune system and be a factor in the onset of seasonal allergies, asthma, eczema, food allergies and sensitivities, lupus, and even Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
And finally, a recent report in the journal "Environmental Health‟ tells that HFCS is alarmingly high in mercury. Mercury is a neurotoxin and has been connected to Alzheimer's, Autism, heart disease, MS, and Parkinson's disease (see section on mercury below). Found in Carbonated drinks, powdered soft drinks, chewing gum, frozen desserts, yogurt, confections, tabletop sweeteners, gelatins, chewable vitamins, dessert mixes and sugar-free cough drops, to name just a few.
The most notorious of all artificial sweeteners is Aspartame, also known as Aminosweet, which goes under the trade name of Equal and NutraSweet. It was discovered in 1965 by mistake while chemists were developing a drug for stomach ulcers. Despite research showing that aspartame was highly toxic it was cleared for use in food in 1981. By the end of 2008 it was found in over 6,000 products, sold in over 100 countries and consumed by over 250 million people worldwide.
There have been more reports of adverse reactions of aspartame to the FDA than any other food additive. Commonly reported adverse reactions to Aspartame include migraine, headache, dizziness, mood swings, vision changes, convulsions, sleep problems, hallucinations, memory loss, fatigue, abdominal cramps, nausea, and diarrhoea. More serious associations include MS and brain cancer.
Many of the sweeteners also alter the metabolism of the body and you will end up putting on weight more easily. Unrefined sugar, honey, maple syrup and Stevia are better options. Pesticides are used extensively by farmers and homeowners. They are used to ensure growing crops can fend off pests in the fields and to protect the plants found in our houses and gardens...But at what cost?
There has been impact on our environment with the pesticide-related destruction of many enemies of pests, development of pesticide resistant pests, honey bee losses, crop and crop production losses, and bird, fish and bat losses.
There has been groundwater and soil contamination, leading to a build up of toxins in human and animal water sources. Fish living in this water become contaminated with pesticides and have to store the toxic chemicals, so humans eating the fish also become contaminated. As fish can store over ten times the amount found in water and humans can store over one hundred times more than fish you can see how this situation can escalate. Scientists call this toxic build up accumulation.
Pesticides used on fruit, vegetables, and grains are another source of potential contamination to us. A good way around this threat is to eat organic where there is less use of pesticides. Where this not possible there are some crops that have a lower pesticide load. These include broccoli, kiwi, pineapple, eggplant, asparagus, sweetcorn, cabbage, sweet peas, avocado, banana, mango and onions. Those with a higher load include peaches, nectarines, grapes, apples, strawberries, pears, bell peppers, cherries, spinach, celery, lettuce and potatoes.
Those most at risk to the effects of pesticides are unborn and newly born babies. Pregnant women have to be particularly careful to avoid pesticides as they will be present in breast milk and can have a huge effect on the development of the baby's nervous system.
The range of symptoms seen in the general adult population are numerous, some of the more common include anxiety, depression, eczema, fatigue, fibromyalgia, headaches, and irritable bowel syndrome. More adverse reported effects include Cancer and Parkinson's. Mercury is a toxic metal that is contaminating every part of our lives from the air we breathe to the water we drink and the food we eat. It is released into the air in the form of vapour from mercury mines, through the burning of fossil fuels, from sewage plants, and from landfill sites. It gets into our water sources from contaminated rainwater, industrial discharge into aquatic systems, runoff from mercury mines, and seepage from landfill sites and sewage plants. It gets into our food through contamination of fish in our rivers, sea and oceans. So much so that it is estimated that virtually all fish have some degree of mercury contamination. Other more direct routes for mercury to get into our bodies are through amalgam used to fill our tooth cavities and vaccinations, where mercury is used as a preservative. Many dentists now are refusing to use amalgam fillings for teeth to safeguard the health of both patients and staff.
Mercury is a neurotoxin, which essentially means it can destroy your nervous system. Some common neurological symptoms of mercury toxicity include memory problems, attention and concentration deficit, poor clarity of thought, reduced motor skills, coordination and reflexes, impaired visual-motor function and language deficits. More adverse effects include ADHD, autism, MS, and Parkinson's.
Mercury can be avoided by reducing the quantity of large fish such as salmon that you eat and replacing them with smaller fish such as sardines. If you have the finances it is also advisable to have amalgam fillings replaced with white fillings. Bisphenol A (BPA), a synthetic oestrogen used to harden polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resin, is the focus of a growing number of research studies and legislative actions. An estimated 6 billion pounds of BPA are produced globally annually, generating about $6 billion in sales. It is fabricated into thousands of products made of hard, clear polycarbonate plastics and tough epoxy resins. This includes safety equipment, eyeglasses, computer and cell phone casings, water and beverage bottles and epoxy paint and coatings. BPA based plastics break down readily, particularly when heated or washed with strong detergent. In this way traces will get into water in plastic bottles, food items especially when microwaved or when hot food is placed into plastic containers for storage.
Trace BPA exposure has been shown to disrupt the endocrine system and trigger a wide variety of disorders, including chromosomal and reproductive system abnormalities, impaired brain and neurological functions, cancer, cardiovascular system damage, adult-onset diabetes, early puberty, obesity and resistance to chemotherapy. These are found in carpets and on clothes, on fast-food wrappers, and on the inner lining of pet food bags. You might know them as Teflon, Scotchgard, Stainmaster and Gore-Tex. They pollute water, are persistent in the environment, and remain in the human body for years.
Companies that manufacture PFCs have agreed to phase out one variety, called PFOA, by 2015. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that the chemicals being used to replace it are any safer.
PFCs are associated with smaller birth weight and size in newborn babies, elevated cholesterol, abnormal thyroid hormone levels, liver inflammation, and weaker immune defence against disease.
To avoid PFCs forgo the optional stain treatment on new carpets and furniture, choose clothing that does not carry Teflon or Scotchgard tags, avoid non-stick pans and kitchen utensils (cast iron, ceramic, glass or wood are the best options), cut back on greasy packaged and fast foods, use real plates instead of paper, pop popcorn the old-fashioned way on the stove top, and choose personal care products without “PTFE” or “perfluoro” in the ingredients. Many of the products we put on our skin or hair are highly toxic and the skin is an excellent way of getting these products into the body. The Environmental Working Group, which is a an independent Health Watch Dog in the US, estimates that one out of five cosmetics used today contain cancer causing agents. Examples of Personal Care Products (PCPs) include shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, moisturisers, make up, cleansers, hair dye, deodorants, antiperspirants, sunscreen, toothpaste and so on.
Many of us are misled by advertising stating that products contain "natural‟ or "organic‟ ingredients. They do, but they contain other unnatural, non-organic ingredients. Also, "natural‟ does not mean they are safe.
Examples of toxic ingredients include:
Phthlates, which are plasticizing agents that have been linked to birth defects and reduced sperm motility.
Parabens, chemicals which have been found to mimic human hormones. There are also studies linking them with breast cancer.
Other notorious villains include benzene, formaldehyde (used to pickle medical specimens), coal tar, dioxane, sodium lauryl/laureth sulphate, phenol carbolic acid, acrylamide, propylene glycol (anti-freeze) and many more.
For more information on the products you regularly use you can go to EWG's Cosmetic Database (www.cosmeticdatabase.com) where you can look up individual products and their potential ingredient problems.
Safer options are 100% natural, organic products. There are many out there, a Google search for "organic make-up‟ or "organic body products‟ will give you many alternatives. Norwex household products, body products by Eminence, FaithInNature.co.uk, GreenPeople.co.uk, EarthToBody.ca, AwakenMySenses.ca and many more are available.
An alternative to sunscreen is to avoid exposure by limiting time in the sun and wearing clothing to cover your skin. Remember, you are less likely to get skin cancer if you have some sun exposure without burning, than if you have none at all and that good skin is a result of what you put into your body more than what you put on the outside, so make sure you keep hydrated, eat plenty of fresh, natural foods including omega 3, 6, and 9 oils and avoid as many toxins as you can.

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