Food Toxins - Strengthening the Immune System
Food Toxins
Even the foods purchased at the local grocery store probably contain some toxins. For example, fruits and vegetables that are not grown organically often contain dangerous chemical residues from pesticides, insecticides, larvicides, and herbicides. These substances kill rodents, insects, molds, and weeds that interfere with agricultural crop production. Unfortunately, they also bury themselves in the soil and water and remain in food products which, once eaten, enter the human body. The danger is that human tolerance levels for insecticides and pesticides are extremely low. Dr. Leon Chaitow claims in The Body/Mind Purification Program that the U.S. National Academy of Sciences estimates that one million cases of cancer over the next decade will result from pesticide poisoning in food alone, not taking into account pesticide exposure from water and atmospheric contamination.
Natural Ways to Protect Against Toxic Chemicals in Food
People can strengthen the liver's ability to detoxify itself after exposure to toxic chemicals (including food additives, solvents, pesticides, and herbicides) by consuming the following:
- Amino acid methionine.
- Antioxidants such as vitamins A, C, and E and betacarotene.
- Choline.
- Botanicals such as dandelion root, milk thistle, artichoke leaves, and curcuma root.
Meat and fish are increasingly dowsed with chemical insecticides and toxic artificial hormones. In fact, today's meat contains as much as 30 times more saturated fats and artificial hormones than 40 years ago. Chaitow cautions that meats that are produced from animals raised on hormones can cause infertility, impotence, behavioral disorders, and cancer in humans.
Many people mistakenly assume that meat, fish, and dairy product toxins are not dangerous to human health. Yet recent studies indicate that 95–99% of all food poisoning comes from meat, fish, dairy products, and eggs. Furthermore, most of the poisons found in meat and dairy products are carcinogenic at the lowest levels tested in laboratory animals. They have been shown to suppress the human immune system, according to Chaitow, and cause birth defects, sterility, and neurological disorders.
Fighting Food Contamination
- Grow your own vegetables or buy organic produce, meat, and fish.
- Remove the outer leaves of leafy vegetables, and peel the waxy coating off fruits and vegetables.
- Wash all hard-skinned produce in well-diluted, washing-up liquids.
- Lower consumption of dairy products.
- Eat live yogurt, which will reduce vulnerability to viruses, including Salmonella and Listeria.
- Avoid out-of-season fruits and vegetables which carry double the risk of pesticide and fungicide contamination. Ninety percent of fungicides are carcinogenic.
- When washing your hands before handling food, be sure to clean under your fingernails.
- Vegetable oils can become rancid with exposure to oxygen, heat, and light. It is better to store oils in small, dark bottles rather than in partially empty large bottles to reduce the oils’ exposure to oxygen.
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