In an
interesting presentation at the 2018 Integrative Healthcare Symposium in New
York City, Joseph Pizzorno, ND, a leading expert on toxicity and chronic
disease, discussed some interesting and useful points. The first is we live in a toxic world. The
EPA’s data estimates that there are 84,000 chemicals used in commerce
currently. This is an approximate
quadrupling over the past 40 years, and the trend is expected to accelerate
over the next 30-35 years.
Most
troubling is the large group that are poorly broken down in the environment,
termed persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
POPs include many chemicals and insecticides. These tend to persist in the body for decades
and are more associated with triggering chronic disease. While humans have highly functional
detoxification mechanisms, they are not infinite in their capacity.
An example
of a food related toxin is BPA or bisphenol A, a component in plastics that are
heavily used in the food supply. BPA has
been used to line cans to prevent exposure of the contents and the metal
surface as well as in water bottles and other containers. BPA is a xenoestrogen, meaning a chemical
that comes from outside the body and mimics the effects of estrogen. These estrogen-mimicking, hormone-like
properties raise concern about its suitability in some consumer products and
food containers.
The
difficulty with these chemicals is that they are approved after only
shorter-term safety testing and yet their toxic effects occur primarily after
long-term exposure to repeated small amounts.
The reality is that we typically do not learn of the potential dangers
of these products until they have been in use for 10-15 years.
Some of the
most informing research about BPA has come from studies of the Agouti
mouse.(1) This mouse has a gene that
when activated during gestation causes most of the pups to be born with a
yellow coat and very prone to developing obesity and metabolic disease. The identical litter twins
in whom the gene does
not activate are born lean and disease resistant. The mice shown are identical
twins, one with the Agouti gene activated (yellow) and the other with it
present but not activated.
This
research manipulated BPA exposure as well as nutrient exposure to see how these
factors would affect the number of mice in a given litter that would have the
Agouti gene activated. When the mothers
were exposed to BPA in amounts typical to that of typical human exposure, the
percentage of the litter with the gene activated was significantly
increased. When the mother was given
nutrients such as vitamins B12, B6 and folate used in an important process
called methylation which helps with detoxification, the litter is biased towards
more of the mice being born with the gene inactive.
The author
of this research summarized that this knowledge helps to understand the effect
of nature (genetic make-up) and nurture (environmental influence of genetic
activation) on disease risk. Toxins
interact with the patterns of human gene activation which is highly influential
on disease risks.
The number
of chemicals and potential toxins in our environment and food supply is
staggering. Protecting ourselves must
come from a combined effort of minimizing exposure and maximizing inherent
detoxification mechanisms.
There are
several steps involved in minimizing exposure to toxins. There is important merit to eating
organic. This minimizes exposures to a
broad range of chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides used in commercial
growing. I had a vivid lesson as to how
much this is an issue. About 35 years
ago a friend who managed a large orchard complex and packing plant got a call
about a problem at the plant. He invited
me to go along when he went to investigate this.
Large wooden
crates of apples were brought to one end of the processing/packaging line and
dumped into a bin of water. They floated
to the other end of the tank in about 30 seconds and went onto a belt under a
blow dryer. Hardly enough to remove chemical
residues. The next step was spraying
with wax, a step that I could only think was sealing in any chemical
residues. When I asked how many
applications of different chemicals were applied over the season, the stunning
answer was about 25.
Other layers
of protection include avoiding processed and packaged food as much as is
possible. Walk the isles of any grocery
store and read the ingredient lists.
Some things such as synthetic dyes are recognized as chemicals. A
general rule is that those you do not know what they are, are likely to be
chemicals. Most people begin to appreciate that about 20-30% of most highly
processed foods are chemicals.
Packaging adds
other concerns regarding toxic exposure.
BPA is a classic example of a packaging-based toxin. Microwave in the bag vegetables are another
example. Heat can leech organic compounds
from plastic packaging.
Given all
the care possible, there will still be exposure which means it is important to
have detoxification mechanisms highly functional. These mechanisms are dependent on a high
nutrient diet as discussed above. The
same considerations about eating “cleaner” food ensures higher nutrient
density. The levels of the essential
nutrients have been shown to be about 30% greater in organic produce. The >15,000 phytonutrients such as flavonoids, many of which are highly involved in helping our
detoxification, have been shown to be about 70% denser in organic produce.
Toxicity is
an important disease contributing concern. Although the sources are many, food
is the top concern. The often expressed
concern about eating healthier is that it is a little more expensive. This is only true in the short-term. Nothing is more expensive than dealing with
long-term, chronic illness.
1) Dolinoy DC. The agouti mouse model: an epigenetic biosensor for nutritional and environmental alterations on the fetal epigenome. Nutr Rev. 2008 Aug; 66(Suppl 1): S7–11.