Our level of health and wellbeing is really governed by our level of toxicity. We’ve all heard of toxins but do we understand what they are? When we talk about something being ‘toxic’, we understand that it’s damaging or even poisonous.
We create some toxins INSIDE our bodies and some we take into our bodies from the OUTSIDE. The ones we create inside are called ‘free radicals’ and are a result of a process called ‘Oxidative stress’. This process is a result of our metabolism. Our metabolism is the sum total of our bodies functioning and processes.
Put another way, as we live and breath and function we are ‘oxidising’ – going ‘rusty’, ageing…it’s part of our functioning as a human organism. To function, we have to produce energy from the food we eat and the oxygen that we breathe – the waste materials from this process are called ‘free radicals’ – they are unstable and can cause massive damage in the body. Albeit some of them are necessary for our immune system function, unfortunately nowadays we have too many of them and they cause us to degenerate (age) prematurely and develop diseases.

Mental and emotional stress are another way we produce internal toxins – stress triggers a chain reaction of chemicals that if not checked long term render the body weak and vulnerable to disease of both body and mind.

Outside the body, we have a plethora of toxins bombarding our system, from the water we drink (which is chemical soup), to the air we breathe, the chemical cleaners we use to clean our homes and the personal hygiene and cosmetic products we slap on our absorbent skin. Things like plug-in air fresheners and sprays and the fragranced bits of cardboard that we hang in our cars are a lethal cocktail for our nervous systems.

We can make a conscious effort to get away from some of these toxins some of the time, but occasionally it is just unavoidable and our bodies have to make an attempt to get rid of these toxins.
The main organ responsible for this important task is the liver. The liver function is driven by plant nutrients – if those plant nutrients (tools) are not present in the body, the body has to store the toxins in the fat cells as a safe house. If a person has no fat, the toxins may be stored in the joints or wreak havoc floating around the vital organs… and long term this means imbalance and disease.

Nature didn’t set us up to fall. Nature gave us an antidote to them. Nature gave us ‘anti-oxidants’, to combat the ‘oxidative stress’.
These powerful natural substances are found in plentiful amounts in ripe fruits, vegetables, and berries.
Much of what we eat now is forced to grow chemically and picked before it’s ripe – the nutrients are only formed when the fruit is ripe – think about it, that’s when the produce smells and tastes good – nature’s way of encouraging us to eat ‘our medicine’ at its peak. If we’re too late, the active enzymes in fruits and veg start working to break the organic matter back down and the seeds are released to start the cycle (of seed, flower, fruit) again. So nothing in nature is accidental or without purpose.

The fact is that in our present day, we can not get the nutritional protection from the foods that we eat anymore, mainly because most of us do not eat enough of the ‘good stuff’ and secondly even if we do, there’s not much ‘good stuff’ left in the ‘good stuff’!

So we have a dilemma – too many toxins AND a lack of the nutrients that nature provided; yet we need to protect ourselves or fall short of our requirements.

So we as individuals can help ourselves by making better choices – about what we put into our internal and external environment.
By giving the body the nutrients ‘tools’ it needs to cleanse itself and build strong body tissues, we can become and stay strong and vibrant.
It takes a bit more effort initially to hunt out the health options to be a Wellbeing Warrior but the payback is immense… think increased energy, great health and a positive mindset… life’s so much more fun that way!