- You are not only what you eat, but also what you absorb.
- Our bodies naturally cleanse every day, but the more toxic we are the more energy it takes.
- Research by the WHO suggests 60-80% of all cancers are due to environmental chemicals.
- Over 60,000 synthetic chemicals find their way into our air, food and water.
- Your largest organ of elimination is your skin and it acts like a third kidney.
Hydration: A very important stage in detoxing
Detoxing goes far beyond foods. Cleansing our thoughts as suggested before, is the first step to leading a healthier life. What we then use to hydrate ourselves becomes the second most important factor. If you missed my previous article on hydration and water quality, please read here today. It includes how much and when to drink.
We are approximately 70% water. And water is one of the most important nutrients required by our bodies. What we drink literally becomes us! Our muscles are 70% water, blood is 82% water and our bones contain up to 25% water.
Water is involved with every metabolic process in our body, such as electrical exchange, biochemical pathway and physical and mental actions. Water is the element which extracts nutrients from food, transports them to the blood, replenishes vital fluids and helps to detoxify the body.
The main function of water within our body is to maintain a stable environment inside and around the cells, allowing us to acquire sufficient nutrition and aiding elimination of waste from cells. For this to occur optimally, the water we consume through foods and beverages must be clean and supply the body with needed electrolytes. Proper hydration also boosts the immune system helping it prevent illness and disease.
‘Tap water’, coming from Town or Municipal water can obtain variable levels of contaminants such as chlorine, bacteria, cryptosporidium, Giardia and rust etc. Private water supplies such as wells, bores, springs, streams and rainwater tanks have not been treated so can easily be contaminated with bacteria, cryptosporidium and Giardia. Any water can contain large amounts of unwanted impurities such as mud, silt, rust, etc and the pipes carrying and supplying the water may be adding impurities as well. Water loses its freshness and vitality.
While the Australian Government adheres to the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines 2004 throughout the year, there may be health or aesthetic related test results that fall outside the guideline values and they often don’t require a 100% test result. Hydraulic changes or disturbances in the water mains can result in occasional localised elevated levels of aesthetic water quality characteristics such as metals, pH and turbidity.
One of the parasites tested for and often found in our water is Giardiasis. Giardiases is caused by Giardia Lamblia, which is a parasitic infection of the small intestine. The parasite lodges itself within the upper section of the intestine and can be hard to get rid of. People can get Giardiases when they ingest water or food contaminated with stool from an infected person or animal. Signs and symptoms of Giardia are similar to those of other intestinal illnesses which include diarrhea, abdominal cramps and nausea. These symptoms can lead to weight loss, dehydration and weakness. Symptoms usually appear 1 to 2 weeks after infection of the parasite and in otherwise healthy persons, can last 4 to 6 weeks. Occasionally because of the parasite being difficult to eliminate, symptoms can last longer.
Aluminium is one of the metals found in our water supply alongside the parasites and bacteria. Each day we consume about six to seven milligrams of aluminium which comes from our food, food packaging and drinking water. In some organs, specifically the spleen, kidneys and lung, concentrations up to 100 ppm (dry mass) may be present. Only a small fraction of the aluminium we consume daily, approximately 10 ?g, is absorbed, leading to a relatively low acute toxicity which is considered harmless to humans. However, once the element is taken up in the body, it is not easily removed.
Larger amounts of aluminium consumed may negatively influence our health. Connections have been made to nerve damage, an increased risk of developing allergies and Alzheimer’s disease and aluminium particles may cause functional lung disorder. People with kidney damage are susceptible to aluminium toxicity and aluminium is probably mutagenic and carcinogenic. Aluminium chloride may corrode the skin, irritate the mucous membranes in the eyes, and cause perspiration, shortness of breath and coughing. There are currently no known diseases linked to shortages in aluminium.
Dr. Martin Fox, author of Healthy Water for a Longer Life, says “Drinking tap water that is chlorinated is hazardous, if not deadly to your health.” He also suggests that the most health-giving waters have a hardness factor of 170 mg/L or greater and a Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) of 300 or greater. While some bottled water companies will have these details on the label, because of unfounded beliefs and fears of hard water or solids in water, the majority of the top brands are soft in comparison to Dr. Fox’s recommendations. To counter this simply add a pinch or two of sea salt to your water and the TDS and hardness factor are likely to be well within the ideal range. The average reading for Sydney’s water is around 57 mg/L, which is considered soft.
When pollutants come into contact with our water, they leave information traces in it, which continue to have a negative effect even when they are no longer present in the water itself. Even the high pressure of the pumps used to deliver the water to our houses change the structure of the water molecules and the dissolved minerals clump together.
Shine Wellbeing Solutions is a Personal Fitness and Wellbeing Specialist Consultancy aimed at empowering and motivating our clients to live a positive and healthy life. We employ a holistic approach to coaching and sessions providing clients with expert fitness and health coaching in a supportive and encouraging environment. Check out the website for more info on Switched On Vol 2.
The act of detoxification benefits not only the physical body but the mind as well. By taking the time to cleanse the body systems you get a sense of inner purity that you can imagine your house as clean as its exterior. This helps many people stick to the diet and resist the lure of their favorite foods.
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