Toxin Exposure Can Cause Pain

Many of my patients and people reading this have fallen victim to an injury from doing something that should have never hurt them… If I had a dime for every time I heard I was doing dishes, picking up a shoe, holding my baby in a supported position etc… and BAM I hurt myself. What was the straw that broke the camel's back? There are many things, but the one we are going to talk about today is the one that has been overlooked. Daily toxin exposure in our lives.


Beyond playing a role in new injuries, toxins can cause many of the symptoms of arthritis, fibromyalgia and autoimmune pain

  • Pain
  • Stiffness all over the body
  • Fatigue
  • Tiredness
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Sleep problems
  • Trouble with thinking
  • Memory issues
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Headaches

You can see symptoms linked to specific toxins below

Joint Pain

  • Aluminum
  • Cadmium
  • Dioxins
  • PCBs

Fatigue

  • Arsenic
  • Acrylonitrile
  • Cadmium
  • Chloroform
  • Dioxins
  • Fluoride
  • Lead
  • Mercury
  • Organophosphate pesticides
  • Phthalates
  • Polybrominated diphenyl ethers
  • Vinyl chloride

Headache

  • Chloroform
  • Benzene
  • DDT
  • Dioxins
  • Organophosphate pesticides
  • Phthalates
  • Polybrominated diphenyl ethers
  • Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
  • Vinyl chloride

 

It was noted in a review of research on toxins that, “Continuous exposure to many chemicals, including through air, water, food, or other media and products results in health impacts which have been well assessed” (Knowns and unknowns on burden of disease due to chemicals: a systematic review. Annette Prüss-Ustün et al)


The paper went further, “The known burden due to chemicals is considerable”. The research paper made an even more alarming statement, “These figures present only a number of chemicals for which data are available, therefore, they are more likely an underestimate of the actual burden. Chemicals with known health effects, such as dioxins, cadmium, mercury or chronic exposure to pesticides could not be included in this article due to incomplete data and information. Effective public health interventions are known to manage chemicals and limit their public health impacts and should be implemented at national and international levels.”

The Environmental Working Group had this to say about toxins in our food, “More than 70 percent of non-organic fresh produce sold in the U.S. contains residues of potentially harmful pesticides.” They did have good news as well though, “Numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies have shown that consuming produce high in pesticide residue increases the risk of certain negative health impacts, and that choosing organic can almost immediately reduce the amounts of residues in a person’s body.”

Below I will give you the resources you need to start decreasing the amount of toxin exposure in your life

Eat from the clean 15 listed on the Environmental Working Group Website (https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/clean-fifteen.php)

  • Avocados
  • Sweet corn
  • Pineapple
  • Onions
  • Papaya
  • Sweet peas (frozen)
  • Asparagus
  • Honeydew melon
  • Kiwi
  • Cabbage
  • Mushrooms
  • Cantaloupe
  • Mangoes
  • Watermelon
  • Sweet Potatoes


Avoid the dirty dozen below, unless you can get them organically grown. Listed on the Environmental Working Group Website (https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/dirty-dozen.php)

  • Strawberries
  • Spinach
  • Kale, collard & mustard greens
  • Nectarines
  • Apples
  • Grapes
  • Bell & Hot Peppers
  • Cherries
  • Peaches
  • Pears
  • Celery
  • Tomatoes

What else can you do?

You can start limiting daily exposures by downloading the free think dirty app where you can scan barcodes of products you are buying or search different products to see the amount of toxins present (This will surpise you at first).

It can be overwhelming so I started by eliminating the biggest impact items first

  • Deodorant
  • Soap
  • Toothpaste
  • Laundry detergent
  • Dishwasher detergent

Other areas to cut back

  • Cosmetics
  • Household cleaners
  • Taking measures to avoid breathing in gas particles at the pump
  • Wearing gloves and protective gear when handling harmful products
  • Drink only filtered water
  • Take shows off at the door
  • Stop using plastics for meal preparation and drinking bottles

Indirect things that can help you

  • Taking a high quality multivitamin
  • Periodically cycling off reactive foods: soy, dairy, gluten etc….

If you are experiencing new pain, limiting toxins and giving your body high quality nutrition can help you recover faster.

If you are experiencing a chronic condition or chronic pain you should do a personal experiment with this blog. Give yourself a 2 week toxin detox. Track how your condition feels after it, as well as how you feel upon returning back to your old habits. Do not be shocked when you experience a reduction of your symptoms because many functional medicine doctors use protocols outlined in this blog as treatments.

For my wellness people it is important to start detoxing to prevent higher future risk of metabolic syndromes (toxins have already been linked to playing a major role in being diagnosed with diabetes). There are so many unregulated toxins that we have no idea the impact they have on health. Future studies are being conducted to link toxins to disease and clinical conditions.

Alarming facts

  • Lead gas was only banned in 1996
  • American beef is banned in the European Union
    • synthetic hormones used to promote growth in cattle—which includes Zeranol, Trenbolone acetate, and Melengestrol acetate—can increase the risk of breast cancer and prostate cancer.
  • rBGH or rBST Milk
    • You're drinking milk that's banned in the European Union, Canada, and other countries due to its potential effects on human health, including an increased risk of cancer, says the American Cancer Society
  • Chlorine-Washed Chicken
    • The EU has had a long-standing ban on chicken that's been washed in chlorine since 1997, yet many chicken companies in the U.S. still use chlorinated water baths, rinses, and mists as an antimicrobial treatment to kill bacteria.

We hope this blog will help you live your best self and continue doing the things you love pain free

If you need to be further examined for a toxin link to your pain we would be glad to help you

Dustin  Hendrix

Dustin Hendrix

Owner

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