Jacquelyn A Close, RA

REMOVING TOXINS FROM YOUR HOME
By Edward R Close, PhD, and Jacquelyn A Close, RA

A Chemical World

Most consumers brush their teeth every day. Most bathe or shower with soaps, wash their hair in shampoo, use a conditioner, and perhaps use moisturizing lotions and cosmetics, deodorants, shaving cream, hair spray, and other personal care items. Like most people in the world, you probably also use standard cleaners purchased at your local grocery store or general store, or warehouse giant, to clean floors, windows, counter tops, bathrooms, rugs, walls, tile, cabinets, and you probably don’t think about the ingredients in these products because you know that the government has agencies of people who are supposed to be watching out for you. Right?

What you don’t realize is that it would take more people than there are living in the world today to actually determine if the synthetic, man-made chemicals used in all these items that we use in our homes and on our bodies are safe.

You might wonder:  How is that possible?

Well, in 1907 there were only about 12,000 man-made synthetic chemicals. However, since the 1960s the number of chemicals in our environment has exploded, right along with poorer indoor air quality, allergies and a host of much more serious diseases of the respiratory and immune systems. Our bodies are under attack by substances that our body is not able to metabolize, process or eliminate, and what happens is that these substances eventually get stored in our tissues, they bio-accumulate, and they create health problems, including cancers, asthma, brain disorders, nervous system disorders, and more.

According to the Chemical Abstract Society, the agency responsible for recording all the new patented man-made synthetic chemicals:

• 1907                             ~12,000   abstracts were recorded
• 1939                            ~ 26,000   abstracts had been recorded
• 1965                              212,000
• Nov 6, 2008              39,766,532
• July 31, 2009            49,077,828   chemical abstracts had been recorded

And the number continues to grow at an average rate of over 10,000 new chemicals every single day.

It is impossible for any government agency to monitor this explosion of chemicals. In fact, as stated earlier, if every person on the Earth were employed in evaluating these chemicals, it would be a full-time job for their entire life-time and that would not be sufficient.

Where are the Toxins in Your Home?
The most invasive toxins in your home can be found under your kitchen sink, in your laundry room, and in your bathroom.

Many conventional cleaning products are packed with harsh cleaning chemicals, artificial colors and synthetic fragrances. Personal care items that we use every day or every week for years are absorbed through our skin and into our brains and other organs and tissues. All of these release toxins including toxic fumes that are known to cause irritation to eyes, lungs, nasal passages, and the skin.

Antibacterial soaps and antibacterial compounds in cleaners are reported by many sources to add to antibiotic resistance, and possibly contribute to the mutation of ordinary bacteria and viruses into super-bugs. Articles and news items about the dangers of antibacterial products appear regularly, yet many people continue using them thinking they are protecting themselves and their family. The antibiotic used in most all these products is, according to the EPA, contaminated with dioxins formed during the manufacturing process. And when triclosan, the antibiotic used in most antibacterial products, combines with chlorinated tap water, a super dioxin – a carcinogen – is formed.

Does Your Toothpaste Have A Warning Label?

Most toothpastes have a warning label that says if swallowed, contact your nearest poison control center. Some people think that this warning is simply because it contains fluoride, but sadly they are misinformed. That is only one of the ingredients in toothpaste that can be hazardous.

Do you think of your toothpaste, your shampoo, your facial soap, your juice, your window cleaner as hazardous chemicals?

The Chemical Onslaught – By the Numbers
Of the roughly 39 million synthetic chemicals that are currently available commercially:
- More than 500 chemicals for cleaning and personal care are found
in the average American Home
- Over 800 neurotoxins have been used in cosmetics and perfumes
- Approximately 3,000 chemicals are added to our foods
- Over 700 chemicals have been found in our drinking water
- Over 400 have been found in human tissues
- Over 200 toxic and hazardous chemicals have been found
in the umbilical cords of newborns

You can find out more on the following websites:

The Chemical Abstracts Society – A division of the American Chemical Society

http://www.cas.org/

The Environmental Working Group

http://www.ewg.org/

Skin Deep – A Cosmetics Database

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com

The Body Burden

http://www.chemicalbodyburden.org/

The Pollution in Newborns
<http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2/  >

The American Lung Association

http://www.lungusa.org/

How to Remove Toxins from Your Home

It may be difficult to remove and eliminate all toxins from your home, but the more you do to remove them in the only place you have control, your home, the better your chances are of avoiding or preventing the negative health impacts associated with exposure.

What are those health impacts?

• Abnormal brain development
• Cancer
• Hormone problems
• Asthma
• Damage to the central nervous system
• Behavior problems
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

7  Tips for A Nearly Toxin-Free Home

1.  Let the Sunshine In – and Clear the Air

2.  Replace your floor, counter, bathroom and window cleaners with Non-Toxic Cleaners containing natural, therapeutic grade essential oils

3.  Read Labels and avoid products containing these chemicals

• DEA
• Propylene glycol
• Sodium-Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)
• Sodium-Laureth Sulfate (SLES)
• Bisphenol A (BPA)
• Phthalates
• Talc
• Fluoride
• Alcohol
• Aluminum
• Dioxin
• Mercury
• Thimerisol
• Ethanol
• Lead
• Petroleum and Petroleum distillates
• Triclosan
• Many Food Colors
• Many Food Flavorings

4.  Look for low and Zero-VOC paints. Avoid furniture treated with polyurethane.

5.  Use natural, therapeutic grade essential oils instead of

• – bug sprays
• – commercially available first aid products
• – Over-the-Counter medications

6.  Avoid commercially available antibacterial soaps

7.  Eliminate mold, viruses and bacteria by diffusing therapeutic grade essential oils on a daily basis in your home and work place. You get the added benefit that everything will smell naturally fresh and inviting.

Remember, you have control in the place where it counts most. Choose products and practices that support a healthy, happy, toxin-free lifestyle. This is the way to avoid hidden health hazards and assure the safest environment for yourself, your family, and all your loved ones. Your body will thank you with an extended, higher quality of life.

If you would like help in eliminating toxic products from your home, or are looking for therapeutic grade essential oils, just drop us a note. Our favorites are Young Living Essential Oils. Young Living is the world leader in therapeutic grade essential oils and after trying essential oils and oil-enhanced products from many companies, we decided to use Young Living’s products exclusively. They are the best value and we know we can count on them to provide the highest quality therapeutic grade essential oils.

Anti-biotics vs. Pro-biotics

by Dana Christisen, CRP, Natural Health Coach

Probiotics. We all know that the prefix pro- means ‘for’ but what you may not know is the word biotic means life. When I look at the word probiotic, I see “for life”. This led me to consider the word anti-biotic. The prefix anti- means against, and the word biotic still means life, which makes antibiotic “against life”.

Has anyone noticed the amount of folks that need to take antibiotics lately? Has anyone besides myself noticed the decline in the effectiveness of these drugs? When someone tells me they are on an antibiotic, I immediately ask them if they are taking a probiotic also. Approximately 99 out of 100 people that I ask, don’t have a clue what a probiotic is. In fact, it is kind of funny, but the spell checker on my word processor does not know what it is either because every time I have typed this word, it has been underlined in red.

In our bodies, there is a whole world of microorganisms. They are there in the billions and they will continue to be there even after we are dead (at least for a while). They have a job to do. Some of these bacteria are ‘friendly’ or good and some of the bacteria are bad. They all have names. Some of you may recognize these names like Helicobacter pylori and Candida Albicans. Yeast infections, ulcers, gastritis and many types of cancer can be caused by these bad bacteria, mostly in folks with immune systems that are challenged.

You may recognize some of the names of friendly bacteria like Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium. Unlike the many dis-eases listed in association with bad bacteria, these good bacteria have a huge list of health conditions that they help to correct. Probiotic supplementation may help to prevent colon cancer, may lower cholesterol, may help to lower blood pressure, improve your immune system and help to prevent infections, may reduce inflammation, may help your body to absorb minerals and may help relieve some diarrhea.

Our balance of helpful bacteria versus harmful bacteria is supposed to be 85 percent helpful to 15 percent harmful. This ratio is hard to maintain in this environment that we live in. Exposure to toxins in our food, the air we breathe, chlorine in water supplies, and antibiotics, all take a toll on the good bacteria in our bodies. The fact is that there will be bacteria in your body, however you get to choose whether it is mostly good or mostly bad.

One way I thought of that helps me to describe this bacteria in our bodies is to compare it to a garden. Whether your garden has flowers or vegetables in it, you will have weeds that grow up in your garden. Would you consider putting Round-up on the entire garden just because you had a few weeds? When you take an antibiotic for an infection, it tries to kill all of the bacteria, not only the culprit behind your infection. But guess what happens, they don’t all die, only the weak ones. Then you may be left with a gut full of very strong bad bacteria.

This is one reason why it is so important for everyone to supplement their diet with probiotics. You do get them from some foods like yogurt, and years ago, we would get them from the soil. However, in this day and age, with the chemicals that are sprayed on our crops, we no longer get very much good bacteria from the earth.

Now that you know why to supplement with probiotics, let me tell you when. What I like to do is take my probiotic supplements right before bed. This way they have a chance to work into the body and not be harmed by chlorine in water or toxins in my food. I take a supplement of about 15 billion bacteria per serving and contains ten different strains of bacteria. When I reach 50, I will need to increase that amount to 30 billion. Also, the probiotic supplement that I take is enteric-coated, which means that the bacteria will make it to the intestines.

I am not a doctor and I do not diagnose or treat any health condition. I am only giving you a compilation of information that I have gained over the years of studying natural health. Any information I am giving you is only my opinion and is what I would do for myself. Until next week, may all of your bacteria be good ones, naturally speaking.

Obligatory Disclaimer: The preceeding information is intended for educational purposes only. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Anyone suffering from a serious disease, illness or injury should consult with a physician.