Nutritional Information on toxic chemicals
Chemical sensitivity is one of the major causes of the formation of toxins in our bodies. We are sensitive to the chemicals in our environment, in drugs and in the foods we eat. Our bodies will tolerate a certain level of contamination. After that toxic overload will cause illness. As the toxins build within us, our resistance to physical and mental illness is lowered and our ability to cope with our environment is lessened. An example of this is allergic reaction. Many people become allergic because toxic overload weakens their immune system. As early as 1952, this chemical sensitivity was associated with hyperactivity, irritability, excessive hunger and thirst, enragement, disorientation, depression, confusion, and even schizophrenic behavior. Perhaps the most common symptom of toxicity is loss of energy.
We are aware that our envoironment is no longer a naturla but has become unnatural due to chemical pollution. Unfortunately we also know that every tissue and organ of teh body can react adversely to contact with a large number of these chemicals. Reaction has become common enough that acute and chronic response to the environment has been named ecologic illness. The experts estimate that more than 25 percent of us is hypersensitive to chemicals, with further estimeates that one in four workers is exposed to substances considered hazardous. In fact a person can be eating perfectly and still not feel well because she is reaciting to environmental stresses.
These pollutants can include;
Every year 200 million tons of potentially dangerous pollutants are released into the atmosphere. Of all these pollutants that adversely effect our intelligence and behavior, perhaps the most widely recognized is lead. The lead from automobile exhaust is especially dangerous. The size of the particles is very small and lung tissue is highly sensitive to even small amounts. There have been repeated findings that delinquent and disruptive behavior is associated with high lead levels, and it has long been known that these high levels in children lead to hyperactivity, aggressiveness, and mental retardation. As lead levels increase, general cognitive, verbal, and perceptual abilities decrease.
In addition to lead, reports show that mercury, cadmium, copper, and aluminum have all provoked "mental" problems. Cadmium has been related to learning disability. Excess copper, which can come from copper plumbing, may cause a variety of problems including depression, irritability, and hyperactivity. To make matters worse, copper acts synergistically with artificial food additives, so that individuals with high copper levels may become hyperactive even at low levels of these additives.
Lead, cadmium and mercury are all considered "heavy metals." They can remain in the body and continue to be troublesome even after the individual has ceased ingesting or inhaling them.
The chemicals in drugs likewise puts great stress on the body, exhausting the pituitary and the adrenals. Although many drugs are relatively harmless when taken for a short period of time, they prove toxic if continued. Aspirin, which is generally considered on of the least toxic drugs, interferes with digestion, the formation of body starch, the production of tissue proteins, and the ability of cells to absorb sugar; it slows the clotting of blood, increases the need for both oxygen and every known nutrient, and it accelerates the urinary loss of calcium, potassium, vitamin C, and all the B vitamins.
In the classic Let's Get Well, Adelle Davis wrote, "Unless the diet is unusually adequate, even though a drug has accomplished the purpose of which it is given, its toxic effects can prolong convalescence or make the outcome of the illness doubtful"
Foods can also be noxious to our health. Remiland and Larson list the following ways:
The toxic effects of sugar have been sufficiently revealed over the last ten years. Food additives are another factor that has gained a great deal of attention in recent years as a probable cause of hyperactivity and learning disabilities. Many of these additives are petro-chemical products which are stored in the fatty tissues of the body causing toxic overload. Food allergens are another way in which the body can develop toxic overload and the resulting toxicity symptoms.
Given the current situation, our metabolism, enzyme function, glandular balance, and nutritional state are often not capable of providing us with the protection they were designed to give.
A possible formulation of nutrients that could be employed successfully is listed below:
L-Methionine
L-Cysteine
L-Glycine
Orotic Acid
Taurine
Pantothenic Acid
Zinc (chleate)
With licorice root extract
Nutritional supplementation can reduce the level of noxious substances and/or increase the concentration of the nutrient substances in the brain. As far as is possible, the use of supportive nutrition should be accompanied by discontinuing the intake of toxic substances. It is also important that one follow the rules of good health: adequate rest, adequate exercise, plenty of water and wholesome, natural diet.
L-methionine is a sulphur containing essential amino acid. When metabolized it yields sulphuric acid which reacts with other substances in the body to detoxify harmful compounds. It promotes the production of lecithin in the liver which not only keeps cholesterol deposits from forming but detoxifies the liver. Methionine is known to be a constituent of hemoglobin and when it is lacking, the liver cannot produce the blood proteins needed for the formation of antibodies in the immune system.
In particular, experiments conducted at the University of Georgia showed that the sulfur containing amino acids, especially methionine and cysteine, were an effective protection against copper toxicity. Methionine and cysteine also combine to form another amino acid, glutathione, which is used by the body to combine with and eliminate "deleterious foreign substances." (Walford) Depletion of liver glutathione allows increased biding of toxic chemicals.
Orotic Acid is more commonly known as vitamin B13. Generally it is used as a carrier for certain minerals in the same way as the amino acid chelates are used. However instead of being broken down in the small intestine, orotic acid is broken down in the liver where it is believed to provide support for liver function. This is very important as the liver is the body's detoxifying plant.
All toxins cause stress. Stress draws from the adrenal glands. By supplying pantothenic acid to the body, adrenal exhaustion may be avoided. Pantothenci acid can help overcome stress and stop many of the harmful effects on the glandular and elimination systems.
Taurin is an extremely important factor in the secretion of bile, increasing the emulsifying of fat and the detoxification activity of the liver. It supports the immune system in the production of leucocytes.