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As we covered in this article, we are born with specific cells, called stem cells, which are able to divide, creating new cells of any type needed in the body.
These are embryonic cells, in that they never became a specific cell type: muscle, bone, organ cell, etc.
Those cells are fixed. But these stem cells are not. They contain the full blueprints for every type of cell there is.
But… we only have so many of them, and they can each only divide so many times.
So when we injure our cells, accidentally, through workouts, or just through the normal hammer and pound activities of the day, these stem cells divide to create new cells to replace the old injured cells, or to create new muscle cells to grow muscle.
And every time they do, a tiny piece of the telomeres in the stem cells gets snipped off, shortening them.
These telomeres are like tiny tails, and their length determines how many more divisions that stem cell can make to create new cells, before it can make no more.
Now, while it’s been found that these telomeres can be lengthened again to some degree (just look at Jack Lalanne, the golden age bodybuilder who lived, quite healthily, to 96), anything that would needlessly destroy cells, causing these stem cells to use one of their divisions would obviously be something we don’t want.
And toxins entering our body through food, water and air do this more than anything else.
As of 2022 there were an estimated 350,000 chemicals used in the world, most of which get into our water supply.
And according to the CDC, less than 100 of them are regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act.
That’s a fifty-fold increase since 1950.
These toxins stress our nervous system, raise cortisol levels, mess up our hormones, directly damage or kill cells, and even cause trouble for our unborn children, disrupting the process by which both their nervous systems and immune systems form.
In short, they cause a great deal of harm to our cells, significantly increasing the need of these stem cells to divide and create new cells, snipping off a piece of the telomeres from the stem cells each time.
Now, we know this, we know how harmful they are. But let’s put this into perspective.
Someone born in 1950 started out life receiving 50 times less toxins going into their bodies than a child today. Their mother had grown up receiving even less than that and so had less to pass onto them before birth as well.
And they grew up on this much smaller toxic load.
So the amount of toxins injuring or destroying cells was much less.
But now look at where we are today — 50 times as many chemicals as we had then, and many of them are much more toxic.
These very definitely have an affect on our health. In some cases it’s quite obvious, but in most cases it’s something we don’t notice, because it happens over time.
When we’re still young, our body has many stem cells with telomeres with longer tails. As toxins come in and damage cells, these stem cells divide to create new cells to replace the damaged ones, snipping off a tiny piece of those telomeres.
But look at how much faster this is happening. A 50-time increase. That’s a lot!
We don’t notice it when we’re younger as there are so many active stem cells ready to handle anything we throw at them.
But we’re using them up much faster. And when we hit our forties, our even thirties or twenties in some cases today, we start to feel it. We start to notice it.
Just look at the amount of people with auto-immune conditions in their twenties today.
In the 1950’s and before, men and women in their 60’s and 70’s generally had more strength, energy and higher levels of health than people in those same age ranges today.
We’ve made great strides in protecting our bodies from other maladies since then, but in this corner — a long and healthy and strong life — we’re going backwards.
And these toxins, and their affects on our cells, are one of the key reasons for this.
We need to do our best to not take in these toxins, as well as to get rid of the toxins we do have.
At the same time, we need to ensure we're consuming high levels of omega 3 fatty acids, amino acids, antioxidants and phytonutrients from plants and fruits to protect our cells from toxic damage, and keeping out the processed foods rich in Omega 6 fatty acids, processed sugars and toxins that harm our cells.
Simply doing this can slow the rate of aging significantly, while at the same time act to increase the length of these telomeres.
One of the first things to do is stop eating processed foods.
Many of the ingredients in these foods are steeped in toxins from the herbicides used on them as crops.
Some of these foods even require us to heat them in the microwave with the plastic wrapping still on them. This allows these chemicals to leach from the plastic into the food itself.
Don’t drink from cheap, plastic water bottles. Look for BPA-free plastic water bottles.
Get a reverse-osmosis water filter for your kitchen and only drink from that.
These are the best water filters when it comes to removing these chemicals from our water, something that no city filtration system comes close to doing.
Do your best to eat only organic foods and meats that are 100% grass-fed, or, if not organic, then at least keep away from the Dirty Dozen and look into the Clean 15, fruits and vegetables where chemicals are very minimal.
Look for organic or EWG-approved personal care products that don’t contain harmful toxins. This is a wide area where these chemicals have been given many different names, so keep your eyes open here, looking into each product.
Beyond this, study up on the subject as you can. It may seem overwhelming at first, but there are a surprising number of affordable options to live a chemical-free life.
And take Metal-Free & Chemical Cleanse. It contains some of the most powerful natural detoxifiers there are, as well as one of the most powerful natural antioxidants, both removing toxins from the cells and body, while at the same time protecting the cells from the damage toxins do to them.
In todays world, this is now a staple. There are just too many toxins coming in, and prevention can no longer go far enough. It must now be prevention as much as we can, plus detoxification of what does come in.
I hope this helps.
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We’ve all heard of gluten.
We’ve heard that it can be bad for us, not bad for us, mildly bad for us, etc.
But what is it really and what does it actually do?
Gluten is a mixture of proteins found in many grains, processed foods and commercial drinks that contain two specific proteins called gliadin and glutenin.
Now, some people know they are sensitive to these, either severely or only mildly, but there are many more who actually are sensitive and experiencing reactions without knowing what’s causing it.
The amount of toxins coming into our body every day, from the environment and our food and water sources, grows every year. And it is affecting us in many ways.
But one area it affects us quite severely is in our microbiome, where these toxins kill off the beneficial bacteria that help to produce key calming neurotransmitters like GABA and serotonin.
We covered the microbiome in the last article: a colony of trillions of bacteria in our colon, and how it affects every aspect of our health, our hormones, our longevity and the ability to build muscle, lose body fat and stay fit.
Our body's ability to relax, de-stress, recover, and sleep deeply is heavily determined by one area of our body overlooked more often than almost any other — our Microbiome.
This colony of trillions of bacteria living in our large intestine helps produce the calming, relaxing, cortisol-lowering, and sleep-giving neurotransmitters GABA and serotonin.
These bacteria have more to do with our overall health, calmness of mind, nerve function, ability to sleep, ability to burn fat and build muscle, and even our hormones than you might think.
This colony, made up of about 500 different species of bacteria, is called the Microbiome.