There is no way to completely avoid toxins.
“The Toxoblaster 28000 Wipes Out Toxins!”
“Eliminate toxins with the new super detox fast!”
“Drink lots of water to flush out the toxins.”
I hear the word “toxins” so frequently that I can’t help but think that my body has become a noxious waste cesspool on the verge of explosion.
What are toxins, anyway? Are they little green monsters with evil grins? Are they really the murky gunk that fills up ionic foot baths? Should I resort to fasting and jumping into an ice cold lake twice a month in an attempt to purge my body of those occasional extra glasses of wine? Probably not.
Toxins are: everywhere. Environmental chemicals, food additives, the stuff we drink at parties, the bath product ingredients that are impossible to pronounce, and even compounds in seemingly innocent foods such as soy.
Toxins are not: avoidable.
Toxins creep up on us whether or not we eat food from our own pesticide-free gardens. They will find a way to sneak into our bodies even if we buy organic body wash. I’m not entirely sure, however, that the sneaky ones—the untested, potentially poisonous chemicals that we breathe in on a daily basis—are what will eventually kill us. (That isn’t to say I’m not concerned about our pollutant-ridden environment.) However, I’m convinced that what matters more than anything is what we blatantly do to our systems on a daily basis.
I have a lot of faith in the human body. I think that humans are blessed with an amazing, adaptable network of toxin filters (e.g. liver, kidneys, and urinary systems) that have allowed us to thrive on this planet for a long time. The problem is, these systems weren’t made to withstand lots of abuse. I know of people who smoke, try recreational drugs, binge drink, eat junk food, and avoid exercise. Some of these people also sit in sweat lodges, order ionic foot baths, go on “detox fasts,” and obsessively cleanse their colons in an attempt to flush out the toxins.
I can think of an even better and more cost-effective method of flushing them out: drink lots of water, cut back on the junk, and go for a run every now and then. Maintain your body instead of trying to put Band-Aids on preventable damage. If you want to do the extra cleansing rituals in addition to the daily maintenance, your body might reap some extra benefits.
