Imagine working 24/7, 365 days of the year, without a break. How would you feel? Tired? Stressed? Overworked? Well, let’s spare a thought for our overworked organs and the unconscious processes we take for granted. Since the industrial revolution some 250 years ago, our body has been forced to deal with the changing environment. Pesticides, medications, plastics, chemically-laden skincare products, processed foods, air and water pollution – the list goes on.
Everything we breathe, drink, eat and absorb needs to be dealt with at some point through the boy’s most important internal communications system, the endocrine system. This system is a complex network of glands and organs. It uses hormones to control and coordinate your body’s metabolism, energy level, reproduction, growth and development, and response to injury, stress, and mood. It is how cells tell each other what to do to keep everything working correctly.
Disrupting normal endocrine function can have serious repercussions for health so even if feel like you are working out and consistently eating healthy, attention also needs to be turned to the surrounding environment you are living in.
6 Tips to Clean Up Your Endocrine Health
1. Clear out all wrappings and containers in your pantry and cupboards that contain the chemical BPA (Bisphenol A). Pollutants leach into and contaminate foods stored in items that are canned and plastic. Opt for glass containers and choose fresh foods as much as possible rather than those that have been stored in plastic.
2. Bin everything that contains a fragrance. Fragrance = fumes that filtrate into our lungs and skin, which are toxic to our system. Air freshener, oven cleaners, furniture polish, clothes detergent, cosmetics, hair sprays, nail polish, paint, glues -the only way to eliminate fumes is to find alternative products. Orange oil makes a great air freshener, and there are lines of fragrance-free alternatives for most products. There is a growing market too of natural cosmetics and skincare for things such as moisturisers, hair dyes to tanning sprays that reduce the emulsifiers that are absorbed into your skin.
3. Switch to natural products for cleaning and personal items. Chemicals in washing materials and rinses cling to garments and then penetrate your pores. Choose natural fibres over synthetics, especially items like bedsheets and blankets. Even electric blankets give off an invisible vapour from heated wires coated in plastic that will ultimately enter your body.
4. Ditch Teflon coated cook wear and choose stainless steel and cast iron. Teflon and aluminium emit waste laden fumes that leech into foods. If you microwave use glassware instead of plastic.
5. Choose organic produce where possible, but if not, ensure pesticides, herbicides and fungicides are reduced by properly rinsing. Xenoestrogens (mimic estrogen and disrupt hormones in the body) are rampant in meat and dairy products because the animals are fed diets that are high in estrogenic drugs to fatten them. Also, the livestock feed is laden with chemical sprays that accumulate in animal tissue and promote hormone disruption in the person consuming them. Grass-fed meats, organic milk, butter and free-range organic eggs are well worth the extra money spent.
6. Assist the body to detoxify free radicals, used up hormones and derivatives of mimic hormones through increasing the intake of cruciferous vegetables (such as cauliflower, cabbage, garden cress, bok choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts and similar green leafy vegetables). Include protein with helpful amino acids. Fat cells are storage sites for excess estrogen (hello, hips and thigh weight gain in middle age) and chemicals, so weight loss is helpful.
Removing toxins from your diet can kickstart any weight loss effort. Usually, the inches around our waist reflect our internal mental and physical toxins.
