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the acute inflammation from dental drilling by significantly augmenting detoxification during and immediately after removal. This “hitting fire with fire” protocol on the day of drilling and for four days afterwards (and then on a reduced regular protocol for the next three to six months) consists of taking acute homeopathic remedies several times a day, doubling or tripling the dosage of detoxifying nutritional supplements and carefully adhering to a nutrient-dense Wise Traditions diet. Other important topics covered in my five-day protocol include dental galva- nism (abnormal electrical currents caused by mixed metals in the mouth), carcinogenic nickel often found in porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM) crowns, the allergenicity of gold crowns, and the pros and cons of heavy metal tests.8 I also include a list of relatively inert and nontoxic dental materials and a listing of holistic dental organizations.8
REMOVE TOXIC CHEMICALS
No one needs reminding of the vast number
of pesticides, insecticides, herbicides and other toxic chemicals that contaminate our food, wa- ter, air and soil. It is important to remember that these xenobiotics are very new to civilization and are primarily an outcome of the most toxic period ever known to humankind—the twenti- eth century. For example, from 1940 to 2000, eighty-seven thousand new chemicals were syn- thesized in the U.S. alone.10 This alarming trend has continued, with new chemicals invented at a rate of at least two thousand per year.10
The statistics on pesticides are especially dramatic. In 1950, less than 10 percent of corn- fields were sprayed with pesticides; by 1993, 99 percent were chemically treated.11 In 1929, the Swann Chemical Company (which later became part of Monsanto) first manufactured polychlo- rinated biphenyls (PCBs). Although Congress banned the manufacture and use of most PCBs in 1976, these neurotoxic and carcinogenic chemicals are still found all over the globe, even in the remote and once-pristine Arctic.12
More recently, Dr. Stephanie Seneff has exposed the widespread toxic inf luence of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, which is the most popular herbicide in the world. Glyphosate residues are found in all the major
SUMMER 2017
foods of the Western diet, including sugar, corn, soy and wheat. Glyphosate inhibits cytochrome P450 enzymes, our liver’s most crucial detoxi- fication system.13 This toxic chemical also im- pairs the sulfate transport system and interferes with the production of healthy gut bacteria. Dr. Seneff has found that the consequences of these and other disruptions to our body chemistry and natural detoxification systems are at the root of many diseases associated with a conventional Western diet, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s.13
The tragic repercussions of this profits- before-people economic model—a model that was and still remains the norm—are that no one is free from a significant body burden of these pervasive toxic chemicals. Extensive research in both the U.S. and Canada has revealed that everyone (whether fetus or senior citizen) car- ries a load of between one hundred and two hundred of these xenobiotics.14 As the authors of one report concluded, “Toxic chemicals contaminate people no matter where they live, how old they are, or what they do for a living.”15 The results of these studies are sobering and can feel rather overwhelming and depressing. However, as more and more individuals have become aware of the pervasive toxicity in our environment, organizations like the Weston A. Price Foundation and other environmentally responsible groups are encouraging and mak- ing changes.
At a personal and household level, we can reduce our body burden of toxic chemicals significantly through dietary changes (covered in the next section) as well as in our choice of household cleaners, soaps and personal care items. In fact, our home is the one environment over which we can exert significant control. One of the most consequential steps we can take is replacing toxic soaps and cosmetics with nontoxic alternatives. The great Rachel Carson once commented on “the harmless aspect of the familiar,” which characterized not only the widespread usage of the DDT insecticide in the 1950s but the current ubiquitous use of conven- tional cosmetics and soaps.16 The repetitive and seemingly harmless application of mascara, shampoo, shaving cream and nail polish can feel so familiar and “normal” that the thought that
Extensive research in both the US and Canada has revealed that everyone (whether fetus or senior citizen) carries a load of between one hundred and two hundred
of these xenobiotics.
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