What are Toxins ?
One dictionary defines a toxin as 'a poisonous substance of plant or animal origin' - ingest one of those and you could be in for some seriously sick-making effects, if not death. However, when most of us use the word 'toxin', we don't mean such things. Instead we mean substances we believe are bad for us, such as caffeine, nicotine, alcohol and perhaps red meat. While it's true that these can be toxic for our body in certain doses, they are not the only things we should be thinking about. So, to get you started on learning how to help make your body toxin-free, here's what you may need to be cutting down on - and why.
Alcohol
It's one of the toxins most of us worry about, but alcohol in small doses is actually harmless to the body. In fact, studies show that people who have one or two drinks a day are healthier and live longer than teetotallers. However, if you drink more than two a day this good news quickly becomes bad. Regularly drinking this amount can increase the risk of certain cancers and strokes, while binge drinking (defined as having more than four drinks in one day) can attack major organs, brain cells and vision. Still, most of us will find that three drinks in one evening is enough to ensure that we will have some level of hangover the next day.
Caffeine
We often hear people, ourselves included, say they must give up caffeine. But must we really give it up? While many of us think caffeine is a major toxin, the truth is there are no major health effects reported if you take in less than around 600mg a day (roughly six cups of coffee). In some people, however, minor health effects do occur at lower levels than this. As little as 350mg has been shown to lower concentration and energy levels, and research from Duke University in the USA has found that people whose intake is regularly greater than 400mg a day actually produce higher levels of stress hormones than those who consume less caffeine. Knowing how much you yourself consume can therefore be a valuable part of detoxing
Nicotine
From the ingredients used in cigarettes (and other smoking materials) and the reactions that occur when they are burned, you can take in 4,000 types of particle with every puff - many of them harmful. You will inhale poisons such as lead, arsenic and cyanide, and even in minute doses these don't do your body any good. You will also breathe in carbon monoxide, which starves the body of oxygen. Furthermore, during smoking your body produces chemicals, called nitrosamines, that cause cancer in practically everything they touch. If there's one vital step you can take to detox your body, it's to give up smoking.
Get information about more toxins and know about what happens when toxins build up in the body.