An Insight Into Our Toxic World
I knew about toxins in the environment, I mean, we have all heard about pollution and environmental disasters such as oil spills. It seems there is an oil catastrophy every other week! Then there are those cheeky little blighters "TOXINS". They can't be that bad, right? Wrong! First of all what are toxins? In the words of Mark Schauss, taken from an interview by Kim Goss in the mis
cellaneous Poliquin files…. "Toxicity is actually many different things. In simple terms, it occurs when something from the outside gets into our system that our bodies view as being foreign and causes negative effects. A toxin can take many different forms. Stress can be a toxin because we know it can change body chemistry".
It is my understanding that anything toxic is a poison to our body. Mark quotes Paracelsus as saying
"all substance are poisons; there are none which are not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison and a remedy"
That being said, what are these so called toxins that we should be looking out for? The list is endless, so where do we begin? Is it all doom and gloom and so horrific that we should just give up now, throw our hands up in the air and declare "what's the point"?!.... I'll answer that one later. . . . . . .
I was first introduced to the concept of certain environmental toxins and their effects upon our bodies by Charles Poliquin, during my first BioSignature course in Feb 2009. Until then I had only briefly touched upon the topics of heavy metal build up and plastics. I was aware of Mercury as being extremely toxic and had vaguely heard of BPA's and some pesticides but they couldn't be that bad because the government had said they were "safe"; after all we were eating sprayed crops and drinking from plastic bottles, all good? Not quite. In his BioSignature courses, Charles talks very highly of Mark Schauss and the work he has done over the last 27 years on environmental toxicity. It was through Charles, I learned of Mark's book "Achieving Victory Over A Toxic World". A little horrified by what I had newly discovered about toxins leading to obesity and hormone disruption, which in turn has been linked to breast and prostate cancers, I thought it about time I learned more.
Marks book is certainly an eye opener to the myriad of toxins we are subjected to daily; from the moment we get up and have our first cup of coffee to give us an energy boost and jump start our day, to the minute we switch off the television and snuggle up in bed. His heartfelt and touching story about his beautiful little girl Tasya and her struggle with epilepsy is a must read. Through such a sad event Mark has been on an epic journey of discovery into the very toxic nature of society. His passion and commitment to his daughter acted as a catalyst that sent Mark on, what at times seemed like an almost impossible mission to find the cause of his daughter illness and help her get better. In doing so, Mark has helped hundreds of people beat their own illnesses and educated thousands more on how to overcome the impact of pesticides, plastics, parabens, heavy metals, food sensitivities and much more.
The amount of chemicals we are subjected to without our knowledge is staggering. Chemicals that breakdown and form estrogen like compounds in our bodies; maybe a little excess estrogen doesn't sound so bad until you find out that they are harmful estrogen metabolites that at best lead to fat thighs and "man boobs" and much worse….cancer. Using his own BioSignature method, Charles Poliquin has discovered a common thread between Australian and British males. They have some of the highest hamstring skinfolds out of any of the countries he has tested. This means they are highly estrogenic, probably due to a greater load of environmental toxins in these countries. It is interesting that Canada is the first country to ban BPA (Bisphenol A) a known hormone disruptor outright. DR Fred Vom Saal discovered low levels of BPA mimicked the hormone Estradiol which encouraged prostrate growth. In studies on pregnant mice exposed to BPA it was discovered that as much as 40 percent of their eggs were damaged, affecting up to three generations simultaneously. Let us hope that other countries follow Canada's lead and ban it too! Pesticides and Mercury attack neurons in the brain, Methyl mercury can cross both the blood brain barrier and the placental barrier; not even our unborn babies are safe from pollution. The list is endless. . . . . . . . .
Getting back to my earlier question, should we just give up? Absolutely not, the title is "Achieving Victory…", not burying our head in the sand like an ostrich! Through education and raising the level of awareness in society, we can make a difference. Mark writes that his top ten things we can do in the face of a toxic world, are things as simple as not letting your plastic bottle get hot; as well as tips to improve our environment. There are clinical pearls and resource lists for labs and websites to further your information.
I can't thank Mark enough for this amazing roller coaster ride which at times is downright scary, but in truth there is hope and a light at the end of the tunnel. For me the take home message is "together we can make a difference……awareness is the key" In writing this, I hope you will read it and in turn be inspired to read the work of people like Mark Schauss and Charles Poliquin.
LINKS
http://www.charlespoliquin.com/TheBiosignatureMethod/TheMethod.aspx
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