Article by Dr. Jade
The wait is almost over! The much anticipated release of Dr. Nasha Winters and Jess Higgins Kelley’s book “The Metabolic Approach to Cancer. Integrating Deep Nutrition, the Ketogenic Diet, and Nontoxic Bio-Individualized Therapies” is just a few short days away.
In celebratory fashion, here’s a quick peak at one of my favorite chapters “Carcinogens, Cancer, and Detoxification”. But let’s be honest, it’s hard to pick a favorite. The entire book is incredible! It just happens that I have a particular passion for the role that environment plays on our health. This likely stems from my early ties to a small community where a wafer board factory moved into town, starting pumping carcinogenic formaldehyde into the air, subsequently leading to an exponential increase in cancer rates in the years following. Thankfully, this factory was cited with air quality violations and shut down in the 1990’s, but not before it took its toll on the health of many people close to me.
The reality is that even aside from the extreme examples of environmental toxicity, such as the aforementioned wafer board factory or the lead contamination in Flint, MI, we are exposed to a plethora of chemicals in our modern day-to-day lives, making it absolutely vital to identify and reduce exposures in our home and work environments, where we spend the majority of our time.
“Our exposure to cancer-causing chemicals often happens on a completely unconscious level. While toxic chemicals are everywhere, most of them are invisible. Since the Second World War, more than eighty thousand new synthetic chemicals have entered commercial use. In all, more than twenty million chemicals have been created; most are not in direct commercial use, but the by-products of their manufacture contaminate the air, the earth, and the water. Globally a new chemical is synthesized on average every 27 seconds.[85] Unbelievably, less than 5 percent of these chemicals have been tested for their safety, and none have been tested for their synergistic effects (meaning how they interact with each other, important because in some cases inert chemicals can become carcinogenic when combined). Meanwhile, we ingest, inhale, inject, absorb, and endure ambient exposure to them.”
“Carcinogens can be found in new cars, couches, lawn-care products, baby pajamas, baby powder, air fresheners, laundry detergent, pesticides, dry-cleaning chemicals, cookware, certain foods, food wrappers, arts and crafts supplies, kids’ toys, building supplies, hair coloring, drinking water, perfume, prescription medications, and more. They have names like aflatoxins, found in stored grains; arsenic, used in vegetable pesticides and animal feed; and formaldehyde, used in cosmetics, house paint, and vaccinations.”
While this may seem overwhelming, it is important to remember that:
“Knowledge is power, and assessing exactly how “toxic” you are is extremely important.
“As environmental medicine expert Dr. Walter Crinnion once explained “It is never a question of ‘if’ someone is burdened with toxicants. It is a question of is their toxicant burden a causative factor in their illness or if it is an obstacle to cure.”[98] Starting with a realistic idea of how toxic their world is and what types of toxins are present has been paramount to the success of our patients.”
The world of “detox” can be very confusing, especially in the field of Oncology. It is also very individual, ”making genetic analysis a key consideration before embarking on any detoxification program”. There is a TON of well meaning, but conflicting information out there. Optimal Terrain is here to guide you in safe, individualized and effective toxin avoidance and elimination.
