Our Toxic World

The oil spill in the gulf cannot help but impact all of us. While we are physically removed from seeing what’s happening here in California, it will affect everyone in the whole world. Thinking about it has made me want to revisit the effect of the environment on our bodies. When we are exposed to chemicals or infections or anything that’s foreign to our systems, the correct reaction of the immune system is to protect us. Sometimes our immune system is like an overprotective parent, reacting to something that we don’t want it to react to.

An overloaded immune system stops working normally and sends incorrect messages to the rest of the body. Allergies, autoimmune diseases, chronic infections, cancer, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, early or late menopause, and environmental sensitivity are just a few of the signs of a stressed immune system.

We used to say that the people who were environmentally sensitive were the “canaries” of our society in that they were the ones who felt the effects of our toxic environment first. Increasing numbers of people suffer from some form of environmental sensitivity all the time because the level of toxicity has kept increasing. It was recently driven home to me when I moved into a new apartment and started waking up sneezing at 3 in the morning. No way was it due to plants, since there weren’t any nearby.  I had to assume it was the chemicals in the apartment that made me react.

Obviously we can’t get away from chemicals entirely no matter how hard we try. So what does one do to help the body cope with all the toxicity? Stay tuned for the next installment on this theme.