Today's Natural Cure: Avoiding Chemicals

Original article from:  globalhealingcenter.com

What is Body Burden?

 The term body burden refers to the accumulated total of chemical toxins in the human body.  The term can be used to collectively describe the total number of toxic agents present in our systems at any given point in time.  Just as often, however, the term is used to describe the amount of a specific toxic chemical in our system, such as lead or mercury.  Toxic chemicals can remain for years in our blood, fatty tissue, semen, bones, brain cells, various organs, and muscle tissue.

Some of these chemicals, such as arsenic, are substances that the body is able to break down and excrete.  However, continuous exposure overloads our natural detoxification systems and leads to a buildup of these agents within our bodies.  Other chemicals, such as DDT, can remain in our systems for up to 50 years.

A body burden begins to develop in each of us early on as various toxins enter our systems from multiple sources.  Some are in the water we drink.  Others are inhaled from the air we breathe.  An even greater number of toxins enter our bodies through our digestive system because they are present in the processed foods we eat.  Some, such as BPA, are present on everything from receipts to plastic.  These negative agents can enter the pores of our skin simply because we handle these objects.

One of the things that ought to really concern us is that there are currently over 80,000 chemicals being used to make various products ranging from plastic containers to children’s toys.  Only a few hundred have been tested, and scientists have not even begun to itemize and analyze the byproducts that result from the synthesis of some of these chemicals.

Scientists now believe that every person on Earth has a body burden consisting of over 700 contaminants.  It does not matter where a person lives anymore, either.  Chemical agents are air borne, water borne, and can attach themselves to dust particles that circle the globe as the wind blows them.  Soil in many places that we would assume is safe has been contaminated by a number of industrial agents that found their way into the ecosystem.  

The CDC recently reported in the “Fourth National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals”  that people in the United States have been found to have 212 chemicals in their blood and urine.  Even worse, 75 of these agents have just now been measured in the population.  Seemingly innocuous substances, like the non-stick coating in cookware, fire retardants used in baby products, and plastic food containers all contain chemicals that in one way or another contribute to the buildup of body burden.  

In light of these facts, it becomes obvious that there is a great deal more to living a GREEN lifestyle than eating organic foods and exercising daily.  Water filters and air filters should be installed in every home, and we should all take a proactive stance toward helping our bodies detoxify themselves from as many chemicals as possible.