Working on the principle that, if it’s in the British press it has to be right, then it seems that – at long last – a couple of bits of common sense are dripping through. When I was last in England, an article appeared in the Daily Mail about the dangers of underarm deodorants. The piece pointed out that the vast majority of deodorants nowadays contain harmful ingredients. It also explained that, by applying the product to the area under the arm, users were in fact helping the absorption of these harmful ingredients directly into the system. Well, hallelujah! How long have I been singing that same song? How long have friends and fellow converts to products that are free from cancer-causing ingredients been trying to get this message across?
The area under the arms is where you will find lymph nodes, parts of the body’s natural waste disposal system. If they get clogged up with poisons, they cannot get rid of the toxins that need to leave the system. So you have a double whammy – you are effectively sealing toxins into your body with a layer of potentially cancer-causing ingredients such as aluminium. Not very healthy, is it? And when these toxins back up, like rotting waste in your pipes at home, where do they filter into? Your breasts, those highly sensitive organs right next door.
Just last weekend I read in the Sunday Times newspaper that research has now shown that the levels of many nutrients in the food we eat may have fallen since 1940. I am delighted that this has finally made it to a leading national newspaper, but it is hardly new to anyone who is interested in food or nutrition.
Once the minerals and nutrients have gone from the earth, they have gone. They do not magically grow back overnight. Farmers know this, which is why they use ‘KMP’ – a mix of sodium, magnesium and potassium. Fine, but what about the rest of the 90 or so minerals and nutrients that we need every day, in the right proportion? If you take out everything, and only put back some of them, then the system is going to be out of balance, isn’t it? What about copper, iron, zinc, selenium, calcium – the list goes on? For some of these, we only need a trace each day – but we need it. Some of the minerals and nutrients have to be taken with others, to help absorption and maximise efficiency. Studies have shown that deficiency in certain key minerals and nutrients can be responsible for a huge range of ailments and illnesses. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Our bodies are amazing, finely-balanced machines. If we deprive them of the essentials they need, and insist on filling them with rubbish instead, we should not be surprised if they break down.
The author of this particular research paper is one David Thomas. He says: “What we found is that since 1940 the minerals and other nutrients that help to make fruit and vegetables good for you have been in startling decline.” His findings compared levels of key minerals now with records taken from 1940, when government scientists began studying foodstuffs to work out the best diets for people with nutrition-related diseases. Judging by what the government has done so far, it would seem that the best diet is fast food – and we all now realise how wrong that is, don’t we?
I have not seen any government-led campaigns to get schoolchildren eating healthier meals, for instance. In fact, what I do see are initiatives supported, it seems, by the British government, to ban the very nutrients, minerals and vitamins that are so beneficial to our health. I mentioned the dreaded European Directives at various times throughout last year. They have not gone away, and in one form or another, they will come into force. Once these products are taken off the shelves, they are gone. Like the minerals from the soil, they won’t be brought back. It will be a major victory for the drugs companies. But where is the logic, the common sense? On the one hand we have the British government acknowledging that foodstuffs no longer contain the vital minerals and nutrients they used to have. And on the other hand, the same government is backing proposals to make it virtually impossible for the public to buy the mineral and nutrient supplements that can replace them.
I personally take natural supplements every day. One is a liquid that contains all the minerals and nutrients that our bodies need, in the right balance. One gulp a day keeps the system working as it should, in all sorts of ways, at all sorts of levels. In addition, I take a powerful anti-oxidant in tablet form.
We are all oxidizing, or rusting, because of all the pollution around us and the harmful ingredients in our foods and so on. Our bodies were never built to cope with such overload. So these anti-oxidants, a strong mix of maritime pine bark, grape seed, circuminoids and various vitamins, reinforce the body’s natural defences. The result? I feel disgustingly healthy for a majority of the time and, if I do succumb to a passing bug, I get 10 per cent of it as opposed to 100 per cent of it because my defences are so good. But how much longer I – and all my fellow converts – will be able to buy and sell all these totally natural products, nobody knows.
What can you do? First of all, check your shampoo, underarm deodorant, body lotion and other everyday personal care products. If in the list of ingredients you see Sodium Laurel Sulphate or Sodium Laureth Sulphate, beware. If you see Proplyne Glycol, beware. If you see Parabens or Aluminium, beware. All of those – and more – are known, proven carcinogenics and can provoke cancer of one form or another. Do you really want to be massaging these ingredients straight into your system?
Secondly, think carefully about the food you eat. We are lucky, we live in an area where fresh fruit and vegetables are easy to find and cheap to buy. You know that the classic Mediterranean diet is one of the healthiest in the world – so take advantage of what is around you and eat well.
But do not think that even by eating food from your garden that you are getting all the minerals and nutrients you need. I would think that the minerals from around here were used up generations ago. So supplement your diet with good-quality, natural minerals and nutrients. Look after your health and hey, you never know, one day, it might even make the papers!
