We have one of the safest food and water supply chains in the world here in North America. That is, our supply chain is "safe" when we compare it to others that are worse. It is "safe" when we compare it to how it used to be here in North America. Our food and water supplies are "safe" when we think of how toxic they could be if we didn’t have the legislation in place that governs pollution in our food and water.And yet, every expert recognizes two truths about the safety of our food and water: They are far, far away from how safe they could be, and the toxins in our food and water are getting worse every year.
Bad water, bad food
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 1.4 million children die each year from diseases related to polluted water. Tragedy for these families could quickly be eliminated if there were only minimum standards of hygiene applied to their drinking water. We enjoy this protection in "developed" lands. Yet, our drinking water is so polluted that water wells are frequently closed due to contamination.
Do you drink bottled water?
Many of us do; and yet, specific toxins called phthalates and parabens contaminate water bottled in plastic containers. Many of these toxins accumulate in our body. The chemicals are so new that science has no idea what the consequences are to human health as time progresses. We are learning that reproductive cancer rates increase when animals and people are exposed to parabens and phthalates over time.
Our food supply is contaminated with these chemicals as well as from pollution in our air and specific toxins used in agriculture. Certain fruits and vegetables are singled out as the most contaminated foods we eat:
Strawberries
Spinach
Bell peppers
U.S. cherries
Peaches
Mexican cantaloupe
Celery
Apples
Apricots
Green beans
Chilean grapes
Cucumbers
While we enjoy protection from acute bacterial infections that cause diarrheal diseases, we ultimately pay a price for this protection: a shift toward chronic disease from accumulated toxins.
Isolation and insulation
To improve our health we should limit our toxic exposure. Obviously, many people do not have the financial resources to implement all of the possible changes we need for truly "safe" air, water and food. Still, any improvement we make as individuals will benefit our health over time. And, as the old saying goes, we make ourselves either part of the problem or part of the solution by our everyday choices.
Water - We can begin insulating ourselves against toxic water through filtration. Loose-granular carbon filters will remove parabens and phthalates from drinking water. We also need these same interventions for bathing water, as our skin (our largest organ) absorbs chemicals in water. These are often low-cost solutions to water toxicity.
Food - Food, especially the fruits and vegetables listed above, should be grown organically and purchased locally. Try growing your own garden as a source of wholesome, nutritious, pesticide-free food.Air - Green cleaning supplies can help immensely in cleaning up the air inside your home. More help for keeping your personal space toxin-clean can be found in libraries and on Internet sites - especially ones that end with .org and .gov.
Insulation from toxins is found by keeping our nutrient reserves high and taking nutrients with known anti-toxin benefits. Many toxins are fat soluble, so keeping our "good fats" high may allow us to pass bad (toxic) fats out of our system. Other toxins can be detoxified by internal body processes with common nutrients like Vitamin B-12, Vitamin C and green tea.
An excellent anti-toxin effect is seen in Betalains — a group of bioflavonoids in the Quercetin family. Betalains help protect healthy cells from certain poisons, help distressed cells return to normal when possible, and drain away toxic waste-water from around healthy tissues.
Conclusion
Health only comes from healthy habits practiced every single day of our life. To achieve the lofty goal of clean air, water and food we must begin with our own home and our own food and water supply. To insulate our fragile internal environment we must keep all of the nutrients "on board" that detoxify or displace toxic waste. In the end, we must not slip into complacency about the safety of our environment. Instead, we must be vigilant in order to be part of the solution!
TriVita’s Weekly Wellness Report [weeklywellnessreport@trivita.com]
