Detoxification and Weight Loss
Research has shown that many toxins can disrupt our immune, endocrine, nervous, and reproductive systems. These toxins are in the air that we breathe (both indoor and outdoor), the food we eat, the beverages we drink (including water), and the soil in our gardens and backyards. They are in the pantry and the refrigerator. They are in the garage, laundry room, under the kitchen sink, in the ventilation ducts, around our electronics, in our medicine cabinets, in soap, make-up, and lotions. They are in amalgam dental fillings, and in vaccines. They are in the containers we store food in, cook in, and eat from. There is no escaping them.
The best thing that you can do is make conscious choices to minimize your exposure to toxic chemicals in your home, workplace, and recreation areas, and then detoxify the chemicals that are accumulating in your tissues. Many toxins are fat soluble, and will build up in fat cells so they will be distanced from vital organs. The sequestering of these toxins in the fat cells makes weight loss without detoxification both difficult and dangerous.
Even without being exposed to environmental toxins, our bodies will still produce free radicals, ammonia, and carbon dioxide. The liver, kidneys, lymphatic system, blood, intestines, lungs, and skin normally filter out and detoxify our bodies. However, we are overloaded by toxins that are everywhere in our environment, and our detoxification systems are becoming inefficient, allowing toxins to build up. We do not know what the long-term consequences are for being exposed to so many chemicals, because there is no generation before that has ever been exposed to such a polluted environment. However, the future is discouraging when we know what these toxins do to our endocrine, nervous, reproductive, and immune systems.
Toxins Slow Down Your Metabolism and Make it Difficult and Dangerous to Lose Weight
Chlorinated pesticides have been documented to slow the rate at which fats burn, which makes it difficult to lose weight and easier to gain. Once toxins are cleansed from the body, then the metabolic rate will increase, which will make it easier to keep weight off.
Detoxification is not just for people who want to lose weight.
Being a healthy body weight is a huge health advantage that has many valuable benefits, such as increased life span, heart health, and decreased chance of developing diabetes or other chronic degenerative diseases. Most people who are overweight are in need of detoxifying.
Conversely, that does not mean being a healthy weight means you are not toxic. Even the most health-conscious people still come into regular contact with toxins that they breathe, eat, and drink. Therefore, everyone can benefit from a detox program. Giving your immune system a break from all of the toxins and doing an internal spring cleaning is a healthy way to purge bad habits along with toxins that have been accumulating and preventing optimal health.
Some signs and symptoms of toxin exposure:
- Allergies
- Asthma
- Cardiovascular disease
- Cell mediated immune deficiency
- Sleeping problems
- Digestive problems
- Weight gain and inability to lose weight
- Brain fog
- Low libido
- Infertility
- Certain cancers
- Fatigue
- Frequent infections
- Headaches/ Stuffy head
- High blood pressure
- Learning difficulties
- Mood disorders
Toxicity often lies at the root of many chronic illnesses:
- Allergies
- Asthma
- Autoimmune conditions
- Brain fog
- Certain cancers
- Chemical sensitivities
- Chronic bacterial, fungal, and viral infections
- Chronic neurological illnesses
- Cognitive difficulties
- Developmental disorders
- Diabetes
- Fatigue
- Fibromyalgia
- Hormonal imbalances
- Infertility
- Mood disorders
- Obesity
- Tremors
Chemicals
There are approximately 80,000 synthetic chemicals registered for use in the U.S., and the CDC reports that hundreds of these are present in our bodies. Unfortunately, we have lab tests to check for only about 250 of them. There are many other chemicals used in other countries, and these products are imported into the U.S. For example, DDT, a pesticide that was banned in 1962 in the U.S., is still being used in Mexico and many other foreign countries from which we commonly import food. In 2007, the EU banned the use of 30,000 chemicals that are currently unregulated and still used in the U.S.
These substances are considered not only to be endocrine disruptors, but are suspected of increasing rates of breast and testicular cancer, male infertility, diabetes, and obesity. Some of them are found in plastic containers, dental sealants, soda and soup can linings, carpets, paints and pesticides. Chemicals that are endocrine disruptors will store in the body and can lead to various diseases if not properly detoxified.
The number of pesticides being used in the U.S. is 4.5 billion pounds a year, and that number will continue to double every 10 years. In addition, 4.4 billion pounds of industrial chemicals from manufacturing are being released into the environment every year.
Potential Health Effects Caused by Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals:
- For women: Breast and reproductive organ tissue cancers, infertility, fibrocystic disease of the breast, polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis, uterine fibroids and pelvic inflammatory diseases. Declining sex ratio (fewer women).
- For men: Poor semen quality (low sperm counts, low ejaculate volume, high number of abnormal sperm, low number of motile sperm), testicular cancer, malformed reproductive tissue (undescended testes, small penis size), prostate disease and other recognized abnormalities of male reproductive tissues.
- Other potential effects: Behavioral/mental problems, immune and thyroid function in developing children, osteoporosis, precocious puberty.
Research has shown that in the Great Lakes region, fish, and the birds that eat them, are contaminated from PCBs and other chemical toxins, and are developing reproductive, and in some cases, thyroid disorders. In addition, scientists are postulating that the declining population of alligators in Lake Apopka, Florida, is a result of impaired reproductive glands from endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
Shown here are before and after photos of Viktor Yushchenko, who ingested less than 1 mg of the tasteless but highly toxic dioxin. Dioxin is one of the most damaging of all synthetic toxins, and has been found in all humans who have been tested. The chemical accumulates in fat glands, and the body tries to eliminate the dioxin through its sebaceous glands, which are what causes skin to grow oily or pimply. Half a dose of dioxin gets eliminated every few years, but is never completely eradicated. Because dioxins accumulate in fat, the foods that contain the highest amounts are meat, dairy products, and fish. Dioxins also become concentrated in human milk, although the benefits of breastfeeding far outweigh the concern from dioxin. One milligram of dioxin is more than 1,000 times the accepted dose. However, there is no level of dioxin that does not cause damage to the cells.
Toxins Pass Down from Generation to Generation
Rather than passing down their best genes, many mothers are passing down toxins that they have accumulated. In 2004, the nonprofit Environmental Working Group examined the cord blood that circulates between mothers and babies. The results showed that 287 of the 413 toxic chemicals being studied were present, and these included 180 chemical compounds that have been shown to cause cancer in humans. Averages of 200 toxins were found per baby, and 101 toxins were found in all babies. Also present were 217 compounds that can damage the central nervous system, and 208 that can lead to developmental problems. It is unknown what effect these chemicals have when they combine together.
Mothers can minimize the toxic burden that they have on their unborn children by going through a cleansing program before they conceive. Cleansing programs should not be started while actively trying to conceive, after conceiving, or while breastfeeding, due to the damaging effect that toxins being released from the mother can have on the child.
Heavy Metals
Heavy metals like mercury, cadmium, lead, and aluminum are common throughout our environment. All heavy metals should be detoxified through the body’s natural detoxification pathways; however, when those pathways become deficient in necessary nutrients, or overloaded with toxins, then heavy metals accumulate in the tissues.
The primary sources of mercury pollution include coal burning power plants, vaccines, fish consumption, amalgam dental fillings, and broken mercury-containing light bulbs and thermometers. Some symptoms of mercury toxicity include personality changes—unusual irritability, timidity or shyness, weakness, insomnia, apathy, impaired concentration, suicidal disposition, and having a mercurial or bipolar personality. Mercury is one of the most toxic substances on earth, and it is becoming more prominent in our environment along with most other toxins. To see an example of what mercury can do to your neurons when not properly detoxified, watch the video below:
When Should I Detox and What Type of Detox Should I Do?
Everyone is different when it comes to finding the right timing and mechanism for detoxification. Before starting a detox, Dr. Sutton will want to do an exam and take a health history to determine what the best individual detox would be to maximize health benefits.
How Much Does a Detox Cost?
The cost will vary from $60 to $300, depending the individual needs and desires.
If an ounce of prevention is equal to a pound of a cure, then a detoxification is equal to a pound of prevention.
When Milk Does a Body Bad: Lactose Intolerance and Milk Allergies
Milk does not always do a body good, as the milk campaign would like us to believe. There are a large number of people that have allergies to one or more proteins in milk, and/or a lactose intolerance. The diagnosis and treatment for milk allergies and lactose intolerances can be confusing.
Lactose Intolerance
First let’s discuss lactose intolerance, which is when one does not make enough, or any, lactase enzyme. Lactase is the enzyme your body makes to digest lactose, the sugar that is in all milk products. The symptoms of lactose intolerance can be similar to those of milk allergies. Among the many symptoms that can be experienced by someone who is lactose intolerant are stomach pain when consuming milk, digestive problems such as diarrhea or indigestion, and excess gas.
In infants this can be difficult to diagnose, because most infants are on a daily diet that contains lactose from human, cow, or goat milk. In infants the symptoms are varied, and can present as a very whiney baby who folds up into a ball in an attempt to ease the stomach cramping. It is possible and common for people to start out their lives making adequate lactase enzyme to break down lactose, and then as they age, stop making adequate amounts.
Although all ethnicities have a large number of problems with lactose intolerance, it is most common for people of African ancestry to develop a lactose intolerance over time. The best way to diagnose a lactose intolerance versus a milk allergy is to take lactase enzymes when you eat anything that contains milk products. If your symptoms go away completely, then you will know that your milk problem is actually a lactose intolerance. Many people are familiar with lactaid, which is a lactose-free milk. This milk has been treated with a few drops of lactase milk, which has broken down the lactose, and makes it possible for lactose- intolerant people to drink it.
Milk Allergy
People who continue to have problems while consuming lactose-free milk products most likely have a milk allergy. The most common milk allergy is one to cow’s milk or, more specifically, the two proteins within it—lactoalbumin and casein. The best way to understand the differences between the two allergies is to better understand the processing of milk products.
When milk is allowed to sit after being collected, the fatty cream rises to the top. This can be removed off the top of the milk, and then can be used as cream or churned into butter. The cream and butter contain trace amounts of casein, and no lactoalbumin as long as no milk is added back. If the butter is then clarified into the form of ghee, the trace amount of casein in butter and cream that occasionally bothers people is removed. The remaining milk that settles below the cream is what people drink, and what is used to make cheeses.
Cheese is made by adding mold to the milk, which then, if aged long enough, will consume the lactoalbumin protein and leave casein behind. Only hard cheeses are fully aged to the point that all the lactoalbumin is removed. Soft cheeses are not fully aged and therefore contain lactoalbumin and casein. Therefore,
- people who can eat 100% cream, real butter, and hard cheeses, but not soft cheeses, milk, yogurt, ice cream, or half and half, are lactoalbumin allergic but not casein allergic.
- people who cannot eat cream, butter, hard cheeses, soft cheeses, half and half, or yogurt are allergic to both casein and lactoalbumin.
Because lactoalbumin is a protein, and proteins get denatured and change shape at high temperatures, there are some lactoalbumin-allergic people who do not have an allergic reaction when they eat foods containing cooked milk. However, due to the potential long-term damage caused by food allergies, it is my opinion that those allergic to lactoalbumin should avoid even cooked foods that contain milk.
Understanding lables
Reading labels on food is imperative to properly determine, and then avoid, what one is allergic to. Milk is used in most baked products, soups, and dressings. Unless consciously avoided by reading ingredients, then exposure is only a matter of when—not if. When looking for a hard cheese, the label should read “cultured milk” not “cultured milk, milk.” If there is a comma after the cultured milk, so that the ingredients read “cultured milk, milk,” then the product contains milk and will be problematic for lactoalbumin-allergic individuals. The same is true when shopping for cream and sour cream. If the cream or sour cream reads “cream,” then it is fine for lactoalbumin-allergic individuals. However, if it reads “cream, milk,” the product is not acceptable.
Food labels do not do a good job of enabling the general public to understand the difference between a lactoalbumin and casein allergy; therefore, if the product simply says that is contains milk in the food-allergy disclosure, that does not necessarily mean that the product is going to be allergenic. This is why people must learn to read the ingredients on products rather than just the printed allergenic disclosures.
Allergic Responses
Allergic responses are usually driven by proteins that people are exposed to in the environment, which their immune systems have marked as problematic. Food allergy responses are usually hereditary, and manifest in numerous ways that are often misdiagnosed as other problems. People who suspect or know that they have problems with milk would benefit from finding out what proteins they are allergic to so that they can more easily avoid only those allergens. In addition, if parents know that they have food allergies, then allergies should be considered in their children.
Children with milk allergies often develop chronic ear infections, asthma, and digestive problems, among many other symptoms that one may not otherwise attribute to a milk allergy. For these children, the best option is to get them completely off the food they are allergic to. There are many healthy alternatives to milk. Goat milk is usually not an allergy problem for people, and is a healthy substitute for milk products.
Choose Healthy Milk
If you determine that you are capable of tolerating milk, then choose healthy milk whenever possible. There is a large difference between conventional and organic milk. Organic milk is produced without antibiotics, synthetic hormones, or harmful pesticides, and is higher in beneficial fats. Whenever you are given the opportunity to choose milk from grass-fed cows, choose it over the product from those fed grains, such as corn.
Because dairy products are high in fat, they can become sources for concentrated toxins that the cows were exposed to. Many toxins are fat soluble, and therefore will store in the fat cells more readily than other food products. This makes it very important to buy organic cream, butter, milk, and yogurt whenever possible.
If you would like to learn more about milk allergies or lactose intolerance, or would like consult with Dr. Sutton about testing for food allergies, then please make an appointment with her at Austin Holistic Health: 512-328-4041.
Webster’s Technique
Chiropractic care may be effective in correcting and preventing fetal breech positioning during pregnancy. In a technique developed by the late Dr. Larry Webster, a pregnant woman’s sacrum is evaluated and adjusted in specific manner to create adequate space in the pelvic area, and equalize nerve flow to a uterus in disharmony.
Webster’s technique is a precise, non-invasive manipulation that assists in biomechanical balance and reduces nerve interference.
Balancing the pelvis through chiropractic care is ideal for all women—not just those with breech diagnosis. This is due to the fact that having a balanced pelvis also reduces back labor. Back labor is very painful in the low back area and can be accompanied by an irregular contraction pattern, a labor that is slow to progress, and an extended pushing stage. Having a balanced pelvis reduces the cause of intrauterine constraints, and allows the baby to settle into the best possible position for the birth.
In the publication Williams Obstetrics, it is stated that “any contraction of the pelvic diameter that diminishes the capacity of the pelvis can create dystocia (difficulty) during labor.” Further asserted is that the diameter of the woman’s pelvis is decreased when the sacrum is displaced. Dr. Sutton can address the displacement of the sacrum by delivering a gentle adjustment to realign the sacrum and thus reducing the chances of a difficult labor.
Why Cant You Get Good Sleep?
Why Cant You Get Good Sleep?
By Christy Sutton D.C.
We all find ourselves occasionally having a hard time falling asleep, staying asleep, waking up not feeling rested, or just not getting enough sleep in the first place. So why are so many people having sleep difficulties? I think that the answer is often stress, which causes our bodies to secrete more cortisol and fatigues our brains and bodies. Cortisol is a stress hormone that helps regulate your blood sugar during times of stress and fasting. Having the ability for your body to keep a constant blood sugar is necessary for survival—one can die very quickly from too low of blood sugar. However, too high of cortisol has many detrimental side effects that can contribute to diabetes, increased intestinal permeability, and difficulty falling asleep among many other serious health issues. This is opposed to too low of cortisol which can cause people to wake up periodically throughout the night. The waking up throughout the night is a result of low blood sugar that occurs from not having enough cortisol to regulate blood sugar while sleeping at night. Our bodies have a cortisol rhythm that follows the circadian rhythm ( See picture below).
The body’s natural cortisol rhythm is to be higher in the morning and lower in the evening. The reason for cortisol being higher in the morning is because your body has been fasting all night while you sleep; therefore, your body makes cortisol to allow you to have a stable blood sugar while you are not eating. Conversely, cortisol should be lower in the evening because the food consumed during the day should provide you with a stable blood sugar that would then not require you to need cortisol. If your body is not making enough cortisol throughout the night or if you are insulin resistance (which high cortisol can cause), then you may wake up due to the cells lacking sugar. The neurons in the brain are highly sensitive to low blood sugar, and will make you wake up so that you do not go into an acoma and die. In summary, often people with high cortisol level have a hard time falling asleep, and people with low cortisol level will wake up periodically throughout the night.
So what causes you to have high cortisol that keeps you up at night? Stress! In fact most people that are waking up throughout the night, and have too low of cortisol, are reactionary to having already gone through a stressful period of very high cortisol that eventually caused them to go into adrenal fatigue. I think everyone knows that they have stress, but many people don’t realize how many different things can cause our bodies to be stressed. We all know that family, work, and financial issues cause stress. Some of the less obvious and more commonly underestimated stressors include unknown infections, over training, eating highly processed foods, exposure to toxins, waiting too long between meals before eating, physical traumas, being anemic ( 70 percent of female athletes are anemic), stimulants such as caffeine and cigarettes, artificial sweeteners, mono-sodium glutamate, hormonal changes, nutritional deficiencies, drugs (both legal and illegal), not sleeping enough, lack of aerobic exercise, diabetes, hypoglycemia, any acute or chronic disease, taking corticosteroids such as prednisone, menopause, and andropause.
It is common for sleeping problems to develop as we age, and much of this has to do with the hormonal changes that occur due to menopause and andropause, but often lack of sleep can be a result of decreased brain function and neurotransmitter production—particularly serotonin. Serotonin is one of the neurotransmitters involved in helping us fall asleep and preventing depression. Serotonin’s involvement in sleep is due to the fact that it is converted to melatonin, which helps us fall asleep. It is possible to have depression and difficulty falling asleep from a serotonin deficiency. Cortisol actually decreases serotonin while insulin increases serotonin. The serotonins decrease due to cortisol further explains why it is hard to fall asleep with high cortisol and stress. Insulin is a hormone secreted when blood sugar levels are high to help lower blood sugar levels. The fact that insulin increases serotonin, the calming neurotransmitter, would further explain why people often crave sweets or alcohol in the evening before bed. If you are interested in knowing if you may have a serotonin deficiency then you can fill out the braverman assessment as a beginning point.
Menopause and andropause are other common periods of time for people to experience sleep disorders. During these periods of dramatic hormone loss our bodies struggle to find a way to keep in homeostasis. In doing so we make adaptations that often increase our adrenal cortex output of hormones as an attempt to get more sex hormones from the adrenal cortex. Before going through menopause and andropause the sex hormone production of the adrenal glands is normally insignificant in comparison to that of the gonads and testes. However, after going through” the pauses” out body starts to increase the overall production of all adrenal cortex hormones, including cortisol, in an attempt to get more sex hormones. Unfortunately, our adrenal glands are not as sophisticated as we would like, and the adrenal gland ends up producing higher cortisol in addition to the sex hormones that out bodies are primarily interested in getting from the adrenal glands. If you are interested in seeing if your hormones are contributing to your sleep difficulties then the metabolic assessment, a good physical exam, and possibly a salivary hormone test would be a good starting place.
There is no substitute for sleep. Not getting enough sleep, and then living off of coffee, cigarettes, sugar, and other stimulants is a poor short term solution that will end of causing you to go into an energy deficient. Living off of stimulants to counter a lack of sleep is much like living out of your means off credit cards that you only pay off the minimum balance. We live in a cause and effect universe, so if know that you are having sleeping problems then there must be a cause. The question then is what is that cause? As of yet I have not found someone with an ambient deficiency being the primary cause, although according to the New York Times, data from IMS Health showed there were 43.1 million prescriptions for hypnotics in the U.S in 2005, and this very well may be an underestimation.
