Understanding Toxins
Published on 14 January, 2014 | Holistic Therapy
What are Toxins?
toxins
Toxins are substances which we perceive as bad for us in high dosages such as alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, red meat etc. While its true that these can be toxic for our body when taken in certain high doses, they are not the only things we should be thinking about when learning how to help make your body toxin free. Below is list of a few of the the things you may want to cut down on and the reasons why.
SUGAR
When most of us look at why sugar is bad for us we normally associate it as bad due to the effects on our teeth and waistlines, however researchers at New York State University recently studied which foods produced the highest intake of free radicals in the body and sugar scored top. For instance within 2hrs of digesting 300Kcals of sugar (equivalent to one fizzy drink) the number of free radicals increased by 140 per cent. Sugar also increases bad bacteria in the bowel, which can then boost fermentation and increased the risk of more dangerous toxins being reabsorbed. It is recommended that we should not eat more than 1 and a half ounces of sugar a day.
STRESS
Although you may not think of this as a toxin due to the fact you do not actually ingest, but it is still a toxin and can effect your body by producing a variety of chemicals in the body that put our system on alert. Our blood pressure increases and circulation speeds up, which in turn helps to add more dangerous toxins to circulate more freely throughout the system. It is also known that when you are stressed you are also more likely to indulge n other toxins such as alcohol, cigarettes or sugary and fatty foods.
SATURATED (AND BAD FATS)
It is said that red meat is a toxin because its hard for the body to digest and therefore causes toxic build-up in the colon. Its even said that between 5-10lb of our body weight could be putrefied meat left in our colons. As yet this has not been scientifically proven, but you may want to decide that this is a good enough reason to cut red meat out of your diet. Full-fat dairy products, margarine, butter, cakes, biscuits are high in what is known as Saturated fat. This is very bad news for your body, since the fats found in the food need to be processed through the liver and if its doing all this work it cant spend as much time as it should tackling the true toxins such as pesticides which you ingest through other foods. You should try to consume no more than three quarters of an ounce of saturated fate each day.
Health and Nutrition Courses
Learning more about health and nutrition is in everyone’s interest. There is now more obesity problems than ever before and this could be due to the fact that so much of our food is now processed and contains plenty of hidden sugars and salts. Only when the consumer demands more healthier foods and transparency in packaging will the retails act.
