Environmental Stress Factors on Your Health
by Michael T. Murray, N.D.
Introduction
We live in an ever increasing toxic world.
Toxic substances are everywhere, in the air
we breathe, the food we eat and the water
we drink. Compounding this increased
exposure to toxic substances is a dramatic
increase in electromagnetic radiation from
cellular phones, power lines and a depleted
ozone layer. Your ability to deal with this
barrage of environmental stress is a major
determinant of your health, energy levels
and immune function.
Toxins damage the body in an insidious
and cumulative way. An inability to deal
with substances like lead, mercury, pesticide
residues, solvents and other toxic substances
allows these compounds to
accumulate and wreak havoc on our
normal metabolic processes. An inability
to concentrate, chronic fatigue, headaches,
muscle pain, depression and an increased
susceptibility to colds and flus are just
some of the symptoms that can appear
when the body’s detoxification system is
overwhelmed.
Dealing With a Toxic World
The most effective therapy for promoting
effective detoxification is a healthy dose of
common sense: avoid putting poisons in
your body in the first place. Don’t smoke;
drink little or no alcohol; drink plenty of
pure water; stay away as best as you can
from harmful chemicals including solvents
and pesticides; do your best to avoid
breathing polluted air.
The most important dietary guidelines
for helping your body deal with a toxic
world are also those that support good
general health: eat more organic fruits and
vegetables; limit your intake of meat and
animal foods; drink at least 48 ounces of
water each day; consume plenty of high
fiber foods. Some specific foods that are
helpful in promoting detoxification include:
- Good sources of water-soluble fibers such as vegetables, pears, oat bran, apples and legumes.
- Garlic, legumes, onions, eggs and other foods with a high sulfur content.
- Cabbage family vegetables, especially broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage.
- Artichokes, beets, carrots, dandelion greens and herbs and spices such as turmeric, cinnamon and licorice.
Certain nutritional supplements are also
important. A high-potency multiple
vitamin and mineral supplement is an
absolute must. Your liver, brain and
immune system, in particular, are highly
dependent on a high level of vitamins and
minerals to function properly. A healthy
diet, plus a high-potency multiple vitamin
and mineral supplement help insure that
your body will have an adequate supply. A
high-potency multiple vitamin and mineral
supplement is one that provides
optimal levels of all essential vitamins and
minerals. Such a product will not be a “one
a day” product as it is physically impossible
to get everything into just one pill. A high
potency multiple will usually require two
or three tablets to be taken twice daily.
Another key supplement is to take a
greens drink—one of the commercially
available products containing dehydrated
barley grass, wheat grass or algae sources
such as chlorella or spirulina. These green
super foods are power packed full of
cancer-fighting phytochemicals that work
To protect the cells and promote detoxification.
There is an old saying in natural
medicine, “When you are green inside,
you are clean inside.” These dehydrated
products are more convenient than trying
to sprout and grow your own source of
greens. An added advantage is that they
tend to taste better than, straight wheat
grass juice for example. Simply rehydrate by
mixing with water or juice to form a green
drink. Drink one to two servings daily.
Internal Cleansing Programs
For people who suffer from the effects of
accumulated toxins, especially those with
unexplained fatigue or muscle aches, I recommend
more aggressive detoxification
support. For centuries many people have
used fasting—the act of abstaining from
all food and drink (except water) for a
specified period of time—as a means of
cleaning out the body. However, nowadays
it may be dangerous to go on a strict fast or
even a juice fast without proper support.
Since many toxins are fat-soluble and are
stored in fat cells, if you abstain from food,
your body will get its energy by burning its
reserves of fat. But when the cells burn fat,
they also release the toxic substances
they’ve been storing. As toxin levels in the
blood increase, so does the risk of serious
damage to tissues, especially the brain and
nerves. Thus, instead of eliminating
toxins, fasting can sometimes simply move
them from our fat cells into more active
tissue like our liver and brain.
Another concern is that if you fast, you
aren’t getting the nutrients you need to
keep the detoxification system running.
Your liver needs a steady supply of proteins,
vitamins and minerals to produce the substances
that make detoxification happen.
What’s more in a typical fast you are not
ingesting fiber. Fiber helps the body eliminate
toxic substances excreted in the bile.
Fiber is a biological trash hauler, grabbing
toxic molecules excreted in the bile and
helping to dump them out of the body.
For these and other reasons, instead of
strict fast I recommend that people who
need to detoxify (virtually all of us) utilize
scientifically designed functional foods
such as drink mixes packed full of hypoallergenic
protein, vitamins, minerals and
aids to detoxification including fiber and
substances designed to boost glutathione
—one of the body’s key molecules
of detoxification. A five-day detoxification
program that features one of these
advanced formulas involves taking three
servings of the formula three times daily,
along with eating a liberal diet of raw or
lightly steamed vegetables and eight glasses
of water per day.
For more information on detoxification
and other important health topics, go to
www.doctormurray.com
Michael T. Murray, N.D., is widely
regarded as one of the world’s leading
authorities on natural medicine. He is a
graduate, faculty member and serves on
the board of trustees of Bastyr University
in Seattle, Washington. Dr. Murray is
director of Product Development and
Education for Natural Factors Nutritional
Products.
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