(continued)

7. Eliminate Body Toxins: Look at the following list of the Toxic Top 10 and you will see how toxins have unknowingly been allowed into our lives and into our bodies.

• • Household Cleaning Products: Have you ever wondered what is in all of those cleaning products that you use around your household? Most household cleaners have toxic chemicals in them that affect our bodies.  Solution: Purchase natural household cleaning products. Be sure to check the labels, as some claim to be natural yet still have hazardous materials.
  • Pesticides and Herbicides: Like household cleaning products, pesticides and herbicides contain harmful ingredients that affect our bodies.  Solution: Purchase natural products and be sure to check labels to ensure that they do contain only natural ingredients.
  • Steroids, Growth Hormones, and Antibiotics: Chemicals such as steroids, growth hormones and antibiotics can be found in dairy, meat, poultry and pork products.  Solution: Shop for raw-milk products, grass-fed beef, organic free-range poultry and try to avoid pork. Also, check labels to ensure no additives have been added to the products.
  • Preservatives, Additives, Colorings, Hydrogenated Oils, Rancid Fats, and Other Chemicals: Preservatives, additives, colorings, hydrogenated oils, rancid fats and other chemicals can be found in most packaged, refined, fried and fast foods. Examples that you may find in your cereal may include excitotoxins (neurotoxins) like MSG (monosodium glutamate), Aspartame (or other artificial sweeteners) and hydrolyzed vegetable protein.  Solution: Read the labels of the products that you purchase. A good rule of thumb is that if you cannot pronounce it or know what the ingredient is, it is potentially harmful. Write it down and look it up.
  • Teflon Cookware: Teflon is made up of chemicals that have proven to cause health problems and birth defects in factory workers as well as those who live within proximity of the manufacturing site. Solution: Use stainless steel cookware and cook with extra-virgin olive oil at low to medium heat or coconut oil at high heat to reduce sticking.
  • Water: There have been many recent reports on how America’s water supply has been tainted with jet fuel, pesticides, hormones, and dangerous chemicals due to current filtering and treatment practices. It is even reported that depending on where you live in the US, you may have certain prescription drugs in your drinking water based on the percentage of use of the drug in that particular region. Also, beware of many bottled waters and make sure that you do research on if they are in fact filtered and chemicals have been removed.  Solution: Buy purified water or use a water purification system.
  • Personal Care Products: Many personal care products contain many harmful chemicals that are toxic to our bodies such as sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), DEA, propylene glycol, and fluoride.  Solution: Review and research the chemicals that are in the products that you use. Buy natural products, which are now available at your local grocery or drug store.
  • Heavy Metals: Many elements such as mercury and lead are present in our everyday lives. High levels of mercury have been found in vaccinations, fillings and fish. While many toys, paint products (usually older products) and kitchenware contain lead.  Solution: Do further research on toxic heavy metals and the levels found in certain products. For example, do a search on mercury levels in fish and you will locate which fish is safer to eat and how often to keep levels of mercury in your body in the non-toxic levels.The only solution to avoid toxicity due to heavy metals is to educate yourself on the ingredients and content of these items and make an informed decision.
  • Biotoxins: Biotoxins, such as mold and lyme, surround us in our everyday household environments.  Solution: Do some research on biotoxins in the home and how to keep lower levels. Mold and Lyme are the most common of biotoxins. Natural physicians that work specifically in this area can come up with the best way to treat and remove these hazards.
  • Medicine: Medicine is one of the largest toxins affecting society today and is the source of many debates that is apparent all over the media. Did you know that over 4 billion prescription drugs are taken in the U.S. alone each year? Columbia University School of Public Health reported that 95% of all cancer is caused by diet and environment. The scientists in this study believed that toxins are stored within your body, and build up over time, eventually leading to disease. Our parents’ generation hadn’t started producing symptoms of toxicity until well into their sixties, while our generation is manifesting symptoms in their twenties, and even worse, their teens! The purpose of medication is to radically alter body function and change physiology with volatile chemicals. There are alternative ways to treat health problems through natural outlets and are directed towards your overall health instead of just treating the symptom.
    Solution: Talk with your doctor to find out if there is a natural alternative to the medication you may be taking. They will be able to provide the expert advice and alternatives so that you may make an educated decision.

Minimizing your exposure to toxins means minimizing your use of drugs, other similar toxins and surgery.

In our current day and age, obtaining — and maintaining — your best overall health can be a challenge. Being able to avoid suffering from various diseases, as well as taking drugs to prevent them, does not mean that you are healthy.

As consumers, we are constantly bombarded with commercials and brochures that describe to us all of the wonders of modern medicine, but the real wonder is that consumers don’t question what drugs they are willingly putting into their bodies. It is the goal of Maximized Living to help you acknowledge the constant invasion of toxic substances and poisonous build-up in your body. If you choose to ignore these toxins and continue to live blindly, it will be impossible to avoid the disease onslaught that this new millennium is providing – not preventing.

It is a popular concept in our society to think that poor nutrition, stress or lack of exercise are the only factors that interfere with your overall health and well-being, but did you know that your spine also plays a crucial part in health and your overall body function?

While the body can go days without water, weeks without food, and minutes without oxygen, it cannot last even one second without power. That power is your nerve supply. Your spine must function correctly so that it can send signals to every nerve in every cell and every organ in your body. This means that your spine is truly your lifeline. All real wellness is ultimately dependent on your spine and your nervous system’s ability to provide maximum nerve supply.

Did you know that next to the stomach, the spine is the most regularly abused part of the body? The most common way to interfere with maximum nerve supply is for the spine to become damaged or to shift or rotate out of place. This interference is a major underlying cause of poor physical and emotional health or sub-par performance. Determining how well your spine is positioned and how well it is performing is a major factor in determining whether or not your body is producing either a state of health or a state of disease.

By minimizing your exposure to toxins, you are keeping your body free from the unknown risks that are associated with trying to cover up symptoms such as headaches, weight gain, nausea, and depression. Americans today are developing more life threatening diseases than ever before. Heart disease, cancer, arthritis, autoimmune diseases, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s victims are at an all time high. This, in correlation with the staggering numbers of children falling victim to Attention Deficit Disorders, Autism, and serious heart conditions are calling the nation’s attention to the possible causes for the spike in diagnosis and the lack of preventative treatment. Asthma, depression, acid reflux, thyroid failure, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue have also begun to pop up mysteriously in ghastly numbers.

Your overall health – whether it is functioning or healing – is controlled by your nerve supply which is directly related to your spine.