Anyone else feeling me on full Britney mode right now? “You’re toxic, I’m slipping under…”
No? Ok. Well, over the past few weeks we’ve been looking at all the ways we expose ourselves to toxins. And, also, how to decrease some of those exposures in our daily lives.
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Now, I want to cover the guts of “toxic load” (pun intended) and what that actually means for your health + journey to better wellness.
Role of Toxins
Here are the top two things you need to know to help you (1) cure disease, (2) curate improved wellness + (3) lose weight:
- Understand the role of nutrition in health + disease
- Understand the role of toxins + the importance of detoxification in your health.
I love this analogy from Dr. Axe:
Our health is the sum of our relationship with the environment — what we eat, drink, absorb, think, breathe, put on our skin, and how and where we live — and how well our body’s natural detoxification system works. Unfortunately, as the environment becomes ever more toxic, we are becoming more and more saturated with toxins. As a result, we’re sicker than we’ve ever been.
Dr. Axe
If you’ve been following me for a bit now, we’ve been covering no. 1 – understanding the role of nutrition in health + disease. This past month we’ve started diving into no. 2 – understanding the role of toxins + the importance of detoxification in your health. So, read on for more!
“Toxic Load” in Your Body
(Don’t lie…now you’re totally humming the Britney song right now, aren’t you?!)
Total toxic load = the total amount of toxic stressors in your body at one time.
What contributes to your toxic load:
- Allergies (food and environmental)
- Poor diet
- Poor mental and emotional wellbeing
- What’s on the inside (internal toxins)
- Over-exposure to things on the outside (external toxins)
Your total toxic load amount changes based on various factors (see some examples below). For instance, the end results can look something like a leaky gut, chronic inflammation, damage to your DNA, autoimmune conditions, cancer, dementia, and/or other awful-feeling side effects.
Internal and external toxins can be:
- Outside toxins – food additives, water, air pollution, cleaners, fragrance, cosmetics, plastics, medications, heavy metals, and more.
- Inside toxins – too much bacteria or fungus in your gut, yeast, poorly detoxified hormones, chronic stress, lasting/unresolved emotional pain.
Reaching that Total Load
How do you know when your body has had too much? Easy! It will tell you. (But, you must be listening.)
Think of your body as a water glass… It can only hold so much water and at some point, it overflows. In other words, your body will do the same with toxins. While your body is designed to handle them to a degree, at some point it just becomes too much and the glass overflows.
When our detoxing systems get overloaded, we get symptomatic. That might look like any of the following:
- Energy problems: profound fatigue, lethargy
- Sleep troubles
- Digestive problems: bloating, constipation, diarrhea, gas, heartburn
- Aches and pains: headaches, muscle aches, joint pain
- Sinus problems: chronic post-nasal drip, congestion
- Mental issues: depression, brain fog, trouble concentrating
- Neurological problems: dizziness, tremors
- Weight problems: unexplained weight gain or weight-loss resistance
- Skin problems: rashes, eczema, psoriasis, acne
- Hormonal issues
- High or low blood pressure
Quick breakdown of what this list above actually means (in terms of your body):
Your liver detoxes your body by sending toxins to your gut to be eliminated (hi, bowel movements!). But, if your liver isn’t healthy, you’ve got serious toxic load problems.
Therefore, an unhealthy gut means toxins will recirculate through your body. They’ll zap your body’s vitamins, minerals + micronutrients. And bottom line: if you’re not pooping regularly, you’re not taking out the trash (another analogy I love!).
How Do You Decrease Your Toxic Load?
True detoxification takes time. We’re talking years of accumulated stress and toxins.
Just like you aren’t accumulating a heavy burden of toxins overnight, you can’t unload the burden all at once! Patience is key, my friend.
A few tips to start with:
- awareness
- replace what you can (slowly over time)
- reduce exposure
- and improve elimination!
Firstly, improve elimination through your skin (sweat, exercise) and your GI tract (liver, gut).
In addition, give your body a nutrient-dense diet packed full of healthy antioxidants, quality proteins and healthy fats (targeted nutrients include vit. C and glutathione).
Lastly, start making a dent by cleaning up your diet, body and home care products, but remember the BASICS. Don’t feel overwhelmed – look for ways to make small changes and implement a steady plan over time.
References:
Video: Is there toxic waste in your body? By Dr. Hyman, accessed from: https://drhyman.com/blog/2010/05/19/is-there-toxic-waste-in-your-body-2/.
Kippola, Palmer. (2019) “Minimize Toxins to Beat Autoimmune Disease.” Dr. Axe. Accessed from: https://draxe.com/health/minimize-toxins-to-beat-autoimmune/
