“Toxic load” and “total body burden,” are terms used frequently by environmental medicine practitioners. It refers to toxic exposures we encounter on a daily basis adding up over time until it overwhelms the body and causes symptoms. Let me take a moment to explain how these accumulate in the body using the Barrel Analogy.
For example, imagine you are born with a barrel inside of you. At birth it is virtually empty or maybe only slightly filled, depending on your circumstances. By day, it starts to fill with toxins from our external environment. This could be from your food, water, and air sources, or from the pesticides you encounter. It could also be the chemicals used in industrial settings, schools, or the workplace, the toxic relationships you have, the excess stressors in your life, and so on. Your body attempts to clear the barrel using the help of your detoxing organs, but eventually it gets overwhelmed.
Once the liver is overwhelmed and the gastrointestinal tract is unable to eliminate toxins, the body attempts to remove the toxins through other means or store them for containment. For instance, you may experience a rash or achy joints. Your skin is a final detoxing organ utilized extensively when the liver is not able to fulfill its duties. In addition, your bones are a perfect place to store things (like heavy metals), to ensure they are not floating freely in your bloodstream and a threat to your vital organs. Over time the barrel fills completely and the detoxing organs can no longer help. This is when you begin to experience exaggerated symptoms and chronic illnesses. When your barrel simply cannot hold anymore and it spills over into various tissues around the body, your immune system begins to tag many unnecessary things as foreign in order to protect you. This may lead to multiple chemical and food sensitivities.
For me, learning about the toxic burden we face daily scared me. Everywhere I looked, I could see toxins spewing out. I allowed the fear to consume me. Until I learned that the fear and anxiety are also toxic. So, my fear was counterproductive and was actually contributing to the toxicity. Knowing about our vulnerability to toxins shouldn’t cause us fear; it should bring us confidence. If we can control what is in our home–the place we spend most of our time–and on our bodies, then we can decrease our toxic burden significantly.
Filling the barrel occurs at different rates for each person based on your genetics and predisposition for disease. The thing that remains constant for each individual is that the barrel needs to be emptied periodically. Cleansing/reseting and detoxing are an effective way to empty your barrel. I recommend cleansing/resetting 2-3 times per year and one good 4-6 week detox a year. By doing this, you can help your body respond more efficiently to the unavoidable threats you encounter on a daily basis. Once you have emptied your barrel, it is important to eliminate as many day-to-day toxins that will quickly fill your barrel back up.
Consider the following resource for further learning about environmental toxins.
Learn more about the most common toxic threats in my blog, Cleansing Your Toxic Load.
