Day 25-Eliminate Toxins

I attempted bread with oat flour using a regular bread recipe...oops. Epic fail. I am now in possession of a good recipe and I will try again.

There are tons and tons of reports that link chemical toxins to a higher risk of diabetes. So today we learn how to get rid of some.

They're everywhere: Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) from the environment accumulate in body tissue, stressing the liver, as it tries to eliminate them causing cell mutations (cancer), disrupting the endocrine system (that includes hormones, blood sugar, metabolism, and the reproductive system). Basically you're screwed.

So what are POPs?

• Antibiotics and growth hormones. These are routinely added to the grains eaten by factory feedlot animals. They lodge in their fat and in you body when you eat these meats. What you body is able to eliminate ends up in your neighborhood waste-water system (which is recycled into tap water.)
• Pesticides and fungicides are routinely sprayed on non-organic crops and absorbed by the plants themselves. These have long been linked to the development of various cancers.
• Genetically modified crops (GMO) which have already had their very DNA tinkered with. There are currently NO long term studies on how they affect animals or humans. Yet they are in your local market.
• Meats and vegetables packaged in plastic and styrofoam, two sources of PVC(polyvinyl chloride). BPA(bisphenol A) and styrene--all known human toxins. In addition, BPA is linked to higher incidence of diabetes!!!!!! Most food cans are lined with BPA and hard plastic water bottles and baby bottles are also made of it. 
• Dioxins and furans are produced during industrial processes such as bleaching wood pulp to make paper and from burning trash (including medical and municipal waste). They're also in wood preservatives and garden and agricultural herbicides. Most human exposure comes from eating animals(or dairy products) in whose tissues these chemicals have accumulated.

Our lives are filled with plastic and chemicals. Just look around your home to see plastic milk jugs and cleaning products. Still not convinced??? Research links to toxins and diabetes. Journal of the American Medical Association, 2008 reported on people and plastic. Hit up Google, Bing or another search engine to see what is out there.

So, how do you protect yourself? For one thing if you are following the 30 day diabetes cure you have been detoxing since day one. Here's how:

• By eliminating processed foods and factory meats, you've been removing a major source of toxic chemicals from your life.
• Loading up on veggies, fruits, and whole grains provides extraordinary support to your digestive system--including your liver--in clearing toxins from your body.
• And our focus on fiber works in your favor, too, since fiber binds to wastes and moves them out of your system.
• And on Day 13, with the start of your walking program...
• Your daily exercise began stimulating your respiratory system--heart and lungs--all natural detoxifiers!!!
• As the weight comes off, you shed the fat that stores toxins. 

And bonus as of Day 3 when you quit sugary drinks and replaced them with water, you began flushing your body with one of life's greatest detoxifiers. Water is the best choice for washing away impurities.

You don't really need a special detox diet if you have been following this one. It's been done for you without anything drastic.

Here are 11 ways to detoxify your environment:

1. Get a water filter. Stop buying bottled water--it's bad for your budget and all those plastic bottles represent an environmental disaster. Instead, buy a high quality water filter to remove pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and other impurities from your drinking water. You don't have to buy an expensive one, but the investment will be worth it. Dr. Ripich recommends Katadyn Combi Water Filter, with an attachment for your tap. It will filter 13,000 gallons of drinking water before requiring a replacement filter.Use a glass bottle, glass-lined thermos, or stainless steel bottle to carry your drinking water with you. 
2. Pitch the plastic. Replace plastic wrap, bags, and storage containers with good old-fashioned wax paper or foil. Wax paper sandwich bags are available in natural foods stores. 
3. Go with glass. Look for Pyrex storage containers with rubber lids, in a variety of sizes. They may seem heavy to carry to work, but they're far safer for your food. especially in the microwave. (But NO lids please).
4. Remember code 245: If you must purchase plastic products, choose those with recycle codes 2, 4, and 5.
5. Nix the nonstick:  Replace nonstick cookware with good old steel baking sheets, glass pans, and casseroles, and cast-iron or copper clad skillets. Teflon and other nonstick coatings decompose at high heat--even if you don't cook at super high temps. Long-term studies on these health hazards haven't been conducted yet, why wait?
6. Un-plastic your utensils: Pitch plastic serving and cooking utensils--now that you've ditched your nonstick pans, there's no need for them anyway. Your cast iron skillet will be fine with the same wooden spoons and metal spatulas your grandma used.
7. Can the cans: Purchase tuna in foil packets. Buy frozen veggies and soups in waxed cardboard boxes. (better yet, make your own soup).
8. Clean green: Advertisers want you to believe there is different product for every cleaning task (but, of course, you don't). There's a host of toxic chemicals in most cleaning products, and manufacturing them generates huge amounts of environmental waste. Wean yourself off standard household cleaners with a trip to a natural food store. Or look on-line for ways to make your own green products. Ask Grandma what she used. 
9. Avoid toxic chemicals in body care products. Using chemical-laden make-up and other body products can add an astonishing five pounds to toxic chemicals to your body each year. 
10. Better body care: Chemical-free products for your body are more expensive than others, but just like buying organic produce, wild salmon, and grass-fed beef, the return is worth the extra outlay.
11. Forget fragrances: Remove all air fresheners and scented dryer sheets, lotions, and candles from your house today. Including anything with "fake" scent. Then your respiratory system will work more properly.

That pretty much sums up POPs. How are you going to detoxify your environment?
TTFN