Do you realize how much of your body is dedicated to detoxifying? You have a highly developed system that works non-stop to rid your body of unhealthy and damaging toxins. Your liver strains your body's poisons, and your kidneys filter toxins out of your blood. Your skin eliminates waste into the air, and your colon eliminates digestive waste. Your immune system fights both foreign and self-made toxins in blood and cells, and your antioxidants seek and destroy free radicals that damage and age cells. It's an amazing process, this ongoing detoxification of your body!

Your natural detoxification system is quite adequate for the healthy environment that it was designed to live in. Unfortunately, you don't live in that healthy environment. You are exposed daily to so many toxins through air, water, food, and substances that touch your skin that your natural system cannot keep up. As a result, your cells absorb not only oxygen, water, and nutrients, but harmful toxins, as well.

You should know that toxins cause a wide variety of health problems like diminished body-system capacities, premature aging, birth defects, premature infant death, and cancer. Unfortunately, sources of these toxins surround you every day.

You are exposed to air pollutants that can cause chronic respiratory problems, infections, and cancer. Your toiletries, cosmetics, deodorants, and cleansers may clog your skin pores which prevents toxins from leaving your body through the pores. Some toxins can even pass through your skin and poison your systems.

Chemical toxins are all around you in cleaning supplies, pesticides, herbicides, and food additives. You may suffer from headaches, depression, confusion, mental illness, muscle weakness, and other problems caused by these toxins.

In addition, you may be part of the estimated 25% of the population that suffer from heavy metal poisoning from industrial pollution, tin or aluminum cans, contaminated fish, cigarettes, smoke, and cosmetics. Do you have any of these signs of heavy metal poisoning: headaches, anemia, dizziness, confusion, indigestion, hair loss, muscle pains, heart disease, brain damage, or cancer?

Your body even has to fight pollutants from your food and water. Rancid food (especially fats), chemically-laden foods (which form deadly free radicals,), and contaminated foods (which form toxic bacteria and yeast in the stomach) can cause liver cancer, allergies, colitis, asthma, low immunity, and auto-immune disorders during which your body would actually attack itself. Your body can also ingest agricultural waste, bacteria, viruses, and industrial pollutants through the water supplies and the food chain.

As you can see, your body needs your help in fighting this toxic war. Educate yourself on the toxins around you, and prevent as many as you can from entering your body. Keep your colon and liver cleansed to promote their optimum operation. Drink plenty of pure water, and be careful what you eat. Keep your environment as free as possible of these damaging toxins. Help your body as it tries to give you a toxin-free life.

Copyright 2006 Dr. Eileen Silva