The importance of detoxification

Detoxification is simply getting rid of the various toxins in the body system that can be in the long run harmful to our health. There are various ways of detoxifying our body system. It varies from skin, blood to the Gastro-intestinal system. Generally we consume a lot of foods containing harmful free radicals that may be harmful to our health. In layman terms, free radicals are unpaired chemicals that are highly reactive, their effects may be detrimental to one’s health when they attack the cell membranes or even the DNA.Advance effects may lead to different types of cancers. Beauty fads have come up with different types of skin conditioning creams and have managed to drill this into our brains, the truth is the skin says much more about you than just how beautiful you are. A clear, radiant skin is a sign of healthiness and a toxin-free body. Blemished, sallow skin on the other hand can signify harmful toxins being ingested but not properly detoxed from the body. Proper detoxification can lead to a healthier looking skin and a boost in the self esteem. Most people are exposed to a constant flow of low level toxins everyday because of our environments. Pollution from urban areas and vehicle exhaust significantly degrade our air quality. Chemical preservatives may help increase the shelf-life of food but do nothing to the toxin count in our bodies once ingested. Even our water supplies fall victim to environmental pollution Experts believe that 25% of people living in developed countries suffer some degree of heavy-metal poisoning from years of exposure. The symptoms of heavy metal poisoning can be mistaken for common health conditions. For instance, mercury poisoning displays the same symptoms of PMS or depression. Even simple conditions like loss of energy and mood swings may be over looked but are also tell tale signs of heavy metal poisoning. Sadly many of us are already suffering from these conditions without even understanding the root cause of the problem being from heavy metals in our bodies. Most new cancer cases are found in people over the age of 55. Many doctors believe that this number is attributed to constant building of toxins in our bodies, starting from before our birth. A 2005 study found 287 industrial chemicals in the umbilical cord of newborns. 180 and of those chemicals have been known to cause cancer. These toxins are held in our cells and compiled days after day, steadily putting more of a burden on our bodies.The effects of this slow heavy metal poisoning disturb our body’s functions, namely our pH balance. This is important because our pH balance has a direct correlation to the occurrence of cancerous cells. Cancer cells can not live in an alkaline environment but thrive in an acidic environment. Heavy metal poisoning pushes the body toward acidosis (an acid state of the body). Imagine your body starts perfectly balanced but day after day, a spec of sand is added to one side of the scale. That is what is happening to all of us everyday and the cumulative effect can be devastating. This is why we need to detoxicate our systems by taking the right diet and watching what we consume on the daily basis. The author is a food scientist aleckooh@yahoo.com.