Naming Neurotoxins: The Enemy Within
The neurotoxic effects of everyday chemicals on our body
PROTECTING OUR YOUNG
“I’m from California.”
That’s my excuse when people ask why I prefer to eat organic.
If you grow it without pesticides, it may be safe to eat.
We were brought up eating healthy stuff because it was less expensive.
Later, when my own kids were born, I wanted to protect them from pollutants.
Most of them were born at home, and nursed for at least a year. My oldest child complained I wouldn’t let her eat sugar until she was two years old.
NEURODEGENERATIVE DOMINOS
But I had no idea what I was up against, when my younger son was born with Down Syndrome, (DS) aka Trisomy 21. That’s an extra copy of chromosome #21, so he has 3 instead of 2. That results in tons of gene over-expression. Your body is like an elaborate Rube Goldberg contraption anyway, so that extra chromosome causes all kinds of havoc with gut issues, methylation, DNA damage and a permeable blood brain barrier, for starters. Its like a domino effect — one problem after another — in a degenerative death spiral.
BREAK OUT THE HEAVY METALLICA
So I spent years reading up on how to protect him.
Children with DS are more vulnerable to adverse reactions to vaccines. They can’t handle heavy metal exposure, so I tried persuading his pediatrician (who knew nothing about Down Syndrome) to space out the vaccines, as many parents are doing now. Nope. Instead of spacing them out, he decided to combine a bunch of them, and didn’t bother telling me about it until afterwards.
What happened? My already immune-compromised son developed all kinds of gut issues and was diagnosed with autism.
(Warning: before you start howling about “there’s no connection,” take a look at a few of the many, many studies: https://www.drjohnbergman.com/disease/autism/ showing a clear connection between injected neurotoxins like aluminum and mercury and autism. It’s 2018. Even the criminally negligent FDA is finally climbing on board.)
I learned to check labels. We stopped buying toothpastes with fluoride and shampoos and conditioners with sodium laureth sulfates and propylene glycol. But there were more dangers lurking in the shadows.
When my kids were small, they loved to build a blanket fort in our big living room and watch Jurassic Park. If it got too scary, they could hide under the covers and feel safe. No dinosaurs in here.
When you’re little, a soft blanket is all you need to protect you from the bad guys. It’s much tougher to fight the enemy once he’s invaded your own body.
PLASTIC: ITS IN YOUR PEE
I opened the mail this morning and found the test results from my son’s integrative medicine specialist. Organic acids test. Oxidative damage, DNA damage, Omega 3 levels. Then, somewhere on page 24 a word leaped out at me:
Styrene.
Wait. Isn’t that plastic? What is plastic doing in my son’s test results?
I call his group home. Do they use styrofoam cups or plates? They tell me “no.“
I look it up. According to the Journal for Toxicology, styrene is in the air we breathe. Its in breast milk. Its probably in everybody’s pee.
You can be exposed to it by standing too close to a poorly-vented copy machine. It could be from car exhaust, or packaged foods. The FDA says its okay to use styrene — a petroleum derivative — to flavor processed foods. Kind of makes me wonder who’s lining their pockets.
In other words, its everywhere.
GLUTATHIONE
I do some more research. Apparently, glutathione helps. I can add glutathione powder to my morning shake, and slather Swanson’s 95% glutathione cream on my skin. I talk to my son’s specialist about adding glutathione to his diet. I’m already juicing some dark, leafy greens every morning, and cutting down on plastics by bringing my own reusable bags to the grocery store. My husband and I are looking for a local butcher who sells grass-fed meats. What else?
PROTECT AND DEFEND
Time to relax. Obsessing about this won’t help anything.
We are surrounded by toxins, indifference and greed. This is where we live.
We reap the benefits of convenience and inhale man-made poisons.
At the same time, we live inside a body designed by our Creator to be self-healing and self-regulating. Every life is a gamble, from the moment we draw our first breath, to our last. What can we do?
My plan:
I can reduce the amount of toxins I take in by every means possible.
I can reduce the amount of damage I do to the Earth, on which I depend for survival.
Beyond that, I can leave the rest up to the Creator.
Heading back to California soon, for my annual visit home. Time to pick some fresh, organic goodies from my mom’s garden.
