If you eat or breathe, you are introducing toxins into your body.
The toxins we are ingesting and inhaling relate mostly to our diet, lifestyle, and the quality of air we breathe. Ridding our bodies of toxins requires, above all, avoidance of them. It’s much easier, more effective, and much more efficient to decrease your toxic load by avoidance than by trying to rev up detoxification with supplements, saunas, and chelation therapy (treatment for heavy metal toxicity). You can reduce your toxic load by up to 85% if you clean up your diet, don’t smoke, and purify the air in your home. A study done on non-exposed people (i.e. people not known to have been exposed to a particular toxin through their work, etc) showed an average of 91 toxins in their bodies, at least 50 of which that are carcinogenic, and others that cause birth defects and/or are toxic to the nervous system, endocrine (hormone) system, and immune system. Scary, huh !?

The Basic Toxins we carry:
• DDT (a pesticide banned in 1972 that persists in the environment): Sources include fish from the great lakes, and plants grown in contaminated soil.
• PCBs (eg. dioxins): Sources include fish (especially farmed salmon), butter, meat, fluorescent light fixtures, coolants and lubricants for electronic transformers

• Parabens: Sources include shampoos and conditioners, moisturizers, hair care products, shave gels, cosmetics, personal lubricants, sunscreen and tanning lotions, deodorants, toothpastes, food additives, and topical and parenteral pharmaceuticals
• Phthalates: Sources include adhesives, plastics, detergents, flooring, cleaning products, cosmetics, shampoos, perfumes, aerosols, paints, lotions, air fresheners, lubricants, medications, medical bags and tubing, nail polish, and false fingernails.
• BPAs: Sources include air, dust, water, food and beverage containers, canned vegetables, toothpastes
• Solvents: Sources include, oil, gas, paints, nail polish, adhesives, cleaning agents
• Chlordanes (pesticides): Has been banned for 20+ years, but are still found in contaminated soil (and therefore whatever is grown in it), and homes treated for termites
• Organophosphates (pesticides): Sources include food crops, livestock, pet collars, grass, stored grains
• Heavy metals (e.g. mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium): Sources include fish, shrimp, cigarette smoke, amalgam dental fillings, contaminated air we breathe
Visit Environmental Working Group www.ewg.org to learn about environmental toxins in your community, and get news updates on politics, farming, etc as it pertains to your health. EWG staff experts scrutinize government data, legal documents, scientific studies and their own laboratory tests to expose threats to your health and the environment, and to find solutions. Their research brings to light unsettling facts that you have a right to know. http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ is a database where you can discover what toxic chemicals are in your cosmetics, lotions, and sunscreen products. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov is a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ATSDR serves the public by using the best science, taking responsive public health actions, and providing trusted health information to prevent harmful exposures and diseases related to toxic substances. This is an excellent database to research various toxins, including sources and health effects. You can also search on this site to find out how close you are to toxic sites, such as chemical companies, dump sites, and chemical spills, for example. www.scorecard.org Get an in-depth pollution report for your county, covering air, water, chemicals, and more. Just enter your zip code and voila!
Another great resource is a book called Slow Death by Rubber Duck: The Secret Danger of Everyday Things by authors Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie. So how do you get toxins out of the body? Well, some chemicals have a very short half-life and are out of the body within 24 hours, while others hang around in your body for several decades.
The following are items that will help you rid toxins from your body:
White or green tea
• Brown rice
• Green vegetables
• Seaweed
Remember that avoidance is KEY! See Nancy’s nutritional nugget below about which NON-organic produce to avoid. There are 2 specific foods I’d like to discuss in this article that I think you should know about.
SALMON: It’s very important to distinguish the different species of salmon because Pacific (Alaskan) salmon is acceptable, whereas Atlantic (farmed) salmon is ONE OF THE MOST TOXIC FOODS YOU CAN EAT! Atlantic salmon is hearty and, therefore, easily farmed. Pacific salmon, however, is a different genus with 3 different species known as king salmon (aka Chinook), silver salmon (aka coho), and red salmon (aka sock-eye). The great majority of salmon at markets and restaurants is farmed Atlantic salmon. This is HIGHLY toxic due to the salmon being fed pesticide-laden grains. Don’t be fooled by fancy names. “Scottish Salmon” is Atlantic salmon farmed in Scotland. “Norwegian Salmon” is Atlantic salmon farmed in Norway.
BUTTER: Butter is ubiquitous in the diet, so I felt that this is another food to be addressed. Toxins are stored in fat cells. Butter is cow fat extracted from the cows’ milk. When you eat butter, you are eating a heavy load of toxins (e.g. pesticides sprayed on the grains that cows are fed). The only butter that’s fit for human consumption, in my opinion, is Irish butter that’s made from grass fed cows. You can find this at most grocery stores. The brand I use is KerryGold.

Nitric Oxide Nitric Oxide was named “Molecule of the Year” in 1992 by the American scientific community. And in 1998, the discovery of Nitric Oxide as a critical signaling molecule was awarded a Nobel Prize in physiology/medicine. The Talking Molecule Nitric Oxide revolutionized conventional scientific reasoning because it was the first molecule discovered to literally communicate with another molecule.
Why does that matter? When Nitric Oxide is made by the cells in our blood vessels, it signals the surrounding arterial tissues to relax. This action lowers blood pressure, expands narrow blood vessels, eliminates dangerous clots and reduces the formation of artery-clogging plaque. Better Circulation Means Better Living

• Nitric Oxide optimizes circulation and is involved in virtually every organ system in our body. • More blood flow means better brain function and better attention.
• More blood flow means better oxygen transfer and more energy.
• More blood flow means a better sex life. (increasing Nitric
Oxide is a key function of many well-known erectile dysfunction products)
• Other benefits of nitric oxide: o reduce pain and swelling of arthritis
• reduce asthma symptoms
• protect bones from osteoporosis
• enhance effectiveness of anti- depressants
• assist the immune system with killing bacteria
• limit skin damage from the sun Nitric Oxide is Critical Nitric Oxide is critical to life.
In fact, many scientists believe Nitric Oxide to be as important to humans as oxygen. Unfortunately, most adults over 40 don’t produce enough in order to achieve optimal health. For information on how to test your Nitric Oxide levels, see our supplement of the month section and be sure to read Nancy’s Nugget below for ideas on raising your levels.
Source: www.neogenis.com

2012

Since this is the month to celebrate love, we thought it would be nice to share nine ways that sex (once a week) can benefit your health:
1. Fewer colds due to an increase in IgA, an antibody that fights infection
2. Women can get more predictable periods because of exposure to male pheromones
3. A better physical response to stress
4. Lower blood pressure
5. Lower your bad cholesterol and increase your good cholesterol
6. Help tone your abs, gluts and pretty much any muscle in your body
7. Natural increases in estrogen improve the appearance of your hair, skin and nails
8. Improve your memory due to increased blood flow to your brain
9. Increased feelings of motivation due to the release of endorphins Sex has also been found to boost self-esteem and improve intimacy in your relationship.
This is due to increased levels of oxytocin, the “love” hormone, which helps you feel bonded to your partner.

Genetic Modification, also known as biotechnology, is the alteration of the genetic makeup of organisms such as plants, animals or bacteria. GM products include medicines, vaccines, foods and food ingredients, feeds and fibers.

Scientists identify a favorable genetic trait in one organism’s DNA and transfer that favorable gene trait to another organism’s DNA. Examples include conferring insect resistance, fungal resistance, desired nutrients, ripening speed or overall yield to an organism lacking in these characteristics.

But as with many new technologies and good intentions, do we really understand the risks and long-term effects of what we are doing? It is serious business when we tinker with the
fundamental intelligence of every cell – our genes or DNA, and it can pose a number of frightening prospects. Did you know?

• The American Academy of Environmental Medicine has issued a warning urging the public to avoid genetically modified foods as a result of its own studies that strongly point to GM foods causing serious adverse health effects including rapid aging, severe alterations to major bodily organs, infertility, immune problems, gastrointestinal dysfunction and disruption to proper insulin regulation.

• GMO’s can live and reproduce in the intestinal flora of the body long after being eaten, transferring GMO genes into the DNA of favorable, intestinal bacteria so essential in optimal digestion and good health.

• Female rats fed a diet of GM soy had drastically higher infant death rate, and surviving infants were much smaller and less fertile than the offspring of rats fed a non-GM soy diet.

• Animals that have consumed crops that were genetically modified to produce the pesticide Bt (approved for consumption in the US), have died by the thousands and upon autopsy black patches on the liver and intestines along with internal bleeding were discovered.

• Genetically modified tomatoes fed to rats were shown to cause bleeding stomachs and eventually killed many of the rats.
• Japan, China, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Australia, New Zealand are just some of the world’s countries that have banned or restricted the import, distribution, sale, utilization, field trials and commercial planting of GMO’s
• Despite the fact that FDA scientists have been aware of these health concerns since the early 1990’s, Washington is unwilling to ban them, label them or require safety studies.
Approximately 95% of soy in the US is genetically modified, and that includes all the products on the shelves that contain soy (which is most products!!). NOTE: Eat organic whenever possible. If a food product is labeled ‘certified organic’, it, by definition, cannot be genetically modified.

Just one century ago, people consumed about 15 grams of sugar a day mostly from pure cane sugar. Today, the typical person consumes a whopping 73 grams of sugar a day mostly in foods sweetened using the cheaper corn fructose sugar. A more subtle source of “sugar” intake comes from whole, sprouted and refined grains in the Standard American Diet (SAD). Research continues to reveal the damage that sugar is having on our body. Most of the research is pointed at the impact of sugar on weight gain, diabetes, obesity, ADD/ADHD and cancer. However, more and more research is drawing a very direct relationship between sugar, especially fructose, and heart disease.
• Sugar can increase your systolic blood pressure.
• Sugar can cause hardening of the arteries and heart disease.
• Sugar can cause abnormal metabolic processes in normal, healthy individuals and thus promoten degenerative diseases.
• Fructose specifically, for example in fresh fruit juices, and processed soft drinks or sports drinks, has been shown to raise triglyceride levels, and increased risk for heart disease.
Excess deep belly or visceral fat, associated with obesity, is caused by consuming sugar and grains which break down quickly to glucose, elevating insulin levels, the hormone that tells the body to store fat. Visceral fat has been connected to the release of proteins and hormones in the body, which cause inflammation, in turn damaging arteries. So it comes down to this:

Sugar and grains are inflammatory foods which promote degeneration of our cellular structure which leads us to today’s most common reasons for death, all of which are degenerative diseases.

They are heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and now obesity. Interesting don’t you think, that just one hundred years ago, the top causes for death were upper respiratory infections like pneumonia, flu and tuberculosis? Could it be our lifestyles? Could it be what we eat, our stressful lives, our lack of sleep and lack of exercise? Choosing health means choosing a better lifestyle. Let us help you make those choices.