Tag Archives: toxins

Subway Ditches Toxic Chemical Found in Yoga Mats. Still Widely Used, Though

After a public petition to ban azodicarbonamide, a chemical also found in yoga mats and shoe rubber, Subway has officially agreed to remove the toxin from their sandwich breads. This substance has been banned across the globe, but it’s still allowed in the U.S. and found in almost every fast food chain baked goods including Starbucks, McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, and Wendy’s.

subway

Azodicarbonamide is known to induce asthma, other respiratory symptoms, and skin sensitization in exposed workers and consumers. It is intended as a dough conditioner, but when baked can create the known carcinogen urethane.

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Posted on February 18, 2024 by Katie McGrath

Detox Diets and Fasts Do Not Work and May Increase Toxins in the Body

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To detox or not to detox? That is the question I had for Gerard Mullin, MD of Johns Hopkins University as he spoke about nutritional detoxification at the 2024 Food & Nutrition Conferences and Expo a few weeks ago.

Dr. Mullin said that toxins are everywhere – in the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the things we touch.

Bisphenol A (BPA), a carcinogen, is in plastics, dental sealants, canned food linings, and cash register receipts.

Phthalates, other carcinogens, are found in fatty milk, butter and meats, along with personal care products, detergents, children’s toys, printing inks, and more.

Heavy metals, like arsenic, mercury and lead, are in food, batteries, paints, plastics, and fertilizers.

For the most part, toxins are “endocrine disruptors” that change the way our hormones regulate bodily functions. In animal studies, endocrine disruptors are linked to cancers, birth defects, diabetes, and other diseases. What is worse is that, when they work together, the sum of their actions is greater than the whole, and they are stored practically forever in body fat. Whether or not an individual develops a problem depends on genetics, level of exposure, and the quality of nutrients in the diet. (more…)

Posted on November 19, 2023 by Natalie K

Yoga for Detoxification

Toxins come in many forms from harsh and deadly organisms such as snake venom, to man-made environmental agents like asbestos. While some toxins are fatal, others simply serve to cause mild annoyances like headaches, nausea or irritability.

To detox with yoga is to assist our bodies in the removal of non-life-threatening toxins such as those absorbed from eating chemical laden junk food, drinking alcohol or being exposed to smog and other types of air pollution. From the sounds of this, you may realize toxins are an often-unavoidable part of life, but thankfully our bodies are equipped to deal with them, and yoga can help.

The liver is the main organ responsible for filtering the blood for the processing and removal of toxins. When your liver is healthy, toxins are more readily released from your body in the form of sweat, urine and excrement, through the liver’s metabolic functions.

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Posted on September 2, 2023 by Jill

Are Environmental Toxins Causing Your Weight Gain?

By Steven V. Joyal, MD, VP of Medical & Scientific Affairs at Life Extension.

The simplistic “eat less, move around more” solution for weight loss cannot explain the sharp increase in the rise of obesity over the past 30 years. The disturbing fact is that toxins in our environment are hidden causes of weight gain.

Our children represent the future. Yet their future may be irrevocably mortgaged by toxic chemicals that seep into our food supply, lying in wait to trigger damaging effects. The startling truth is that infant obesity rates have skyrocketed 73% over the past 30 years (since 1980), and an important, yet under-recognized culprit, is the presence of special types of environmental toxins in our food supply.

Certain hormone-mimicking chemical toxins in our foods act on genes during development that literally create more fat cells. These toxic endocrine disruptor chemicals change our metabolism to hoard calories as body fat. Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that mimic the effects of certain types of hormones in your body to promote weight gain.

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Posted on July 23, 2023 by GuestBlogger

BPA Levels in Canned Tomatoes Threaten Your Family’s Health

It looks like BPA strikes again and this time our canned tomatoes and beans are under attack.

Just a few years ago bisphenol-A, or BPA, a toxic chemical that has been linked to biological problems and developmental problems in the young, was found in many popular reusable water bottles and baby bottles. This discovery gained lots of attention and called for a major change in the manufacturing of many products.

Now it is being found that the lining of most cans contains a resin that can pick up the toxin BPA. Canned tomatoes are more susceptible due to their acidic properties; the acid increases the rate at which BPA is absorbed into food. This is found to be true for canned soda and canned beans as well.

The risk that this poses is argued to be significant, especially for children under the age of six. Due to their smaller size, the levels of BPA that children are exposed to is higher than that of adults. Children also metabolize BPA slower therefore the toxins stay in their systems longer causing a higher risk for damage to their developing bodies.

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Posted on June 23, 2023 by Lacy

Harmful Nanomaterials May Be Added to Children’s Athletic Clothing

The Environmental Protection Agency said last month that it was considering the application of Swiss company HeiQ Materials Ag to market a new textile coating made from Swiss nanosilver. Referred to as HeiQ AGS-20, the nanosilver material helps to control odor in clothing and is being marketed for use in children’s athletic wear.

In some studies, it is claimed that nanosilver has a ten minute kill time for both home and hospital disinfection against deadly pathogens like staph, yeast, and black mold. The EPA has proposed a 4 year conditional approval to allow the agency time to explore the affect of nanosilver on human health as well as environmental trouble.

Nanosilver consists of created, nanometer-scale particles of silver. Some preliminary testing seems to point to the fact that these particles can be toxic to cells that develop into eggs or sperm in mammals. Some recent studies suggest that the almost invisible particles can and do penetrate the skin, may be toxic when inhaled, especially to asthmatics, and can even enter the brain through the blood-brain barrier.

The Environmental Working Group sent a letter requesting that the approval be revoked. From their paperwork: (more…)

Posted on September 23, 2023 by Carmen

What’s Lurking in Your Veggie Burger

Veggie BurgerConsidering how much fat and how many calories are in a typical hamburger, veggie burgers often seem like a much healthier choice. They are often high in protein and other nutrients. But we all know that soy beans don’t grow in the shape of a patty. Veggie burgers are a heavily processed food, and that means there is the potential for ingredients you don’t want to eat lurking in your sandwich.

According to a Cornucopia Institute report, the soy in many veggie burgers is processed with hexane. Hexane is a by-product of fossil fuel refining that food manufacturers use to separate soy oil from the protein and fiber. The Environmental Protection Agency has put hexane on its list of hazardous air pollutants. Cornucopia found that traces of hexane were still present in the finished product.

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Posted on August 30, 2023 by Health Buzz

Are You in Need of a Good Cleaning?

Yuri Elkaim is a registered holistic nutritionist, certified kinesiologist, and former professional soccer player.  He is the owner of Total Wellness Consulting, a world-renowned fitness, nutrition and conditioning expert, and the co-creator of the Total Wellness Cleanse™.

When you eat a diet that is predominantly packaged and fast foods, you are throwing your body way out of balance. Over toxicity in your body will weaken each and every system in your body, clogging your organs of detoxification and making you feel unwell.

When your detoxification organs are clogged, acidity will pool up in the body. How does this happen?

Well, when you eat a poor diet, over the years your body reaches what is know as its “toxic load.” In the beginning stages of toxicity, most of the symptoms will not be visible to the naked eye, so if you have not seen any symptoms yet, it doesn’t mean you don’t have any!

Where does all this acid end up?

Your fat cells!

Fat cells are your body’s way of storing excess energy and toxicity. For example, if your diet is very high in sugar, and therefore very high in acid, your body will do whatever it can to pull that acid away from your vital organs and into your fat cells. This is a defense mechanism used by your body to protect its precious organs and delicate tissues.

But storing fat is not the only way that your body deals with excess acid, so if you are thin it doesn’t mean that you are healthy! In fact, it may mean that you are in even more danger because your entire body is in a chronic state of acidosis, which means that your body is being destroyed from the inside out! (more…)

Posted on December 5, 2023 by GuestBlogger

On the Nightshift? You May Be a Cancer Risk.

There are a lot of things that can cause cancer, and usually it happens by ingesting a toxin. But, can your job be that toxin? According to research the graveyard shift may send you to an early grave, via cancer.

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Jason