Sunday 26 June 2011

The big smoke

Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love London. Even after a lovely weekend away on the coast I'm always glad to be back in the city. Something I do appreciate when I go away though, is the fresh air. For all it's great qualities London isn't the cleanest least polluted place to live and you can feel it/even taste the difference in the air when you get out into the countryside or to the coast.

Whilst most detox regimes are purely focussed on not eating any toxins, but it’s also important to bear in mind how many toxins can be absorbed or ingested into the body from your environment, particularly if you're a city dweller. This includes exposure to car fumes if you live, work or commute next to a busy road, using synthetic cleaning products in your home and exposure to electro-magnetic radiation from routers and cordless phones.

All these can increase free radical damage in the body increasing your need for antioxidants and the increasing the toxic load on your liver.

So in the same way that you should minimize toxins in your diet you should also look at your environmental exposure to toxins and make changes to reduce these where possible:

•Journey into work – if you walk, run or cycle to work is it on a busy street? Could you travel on a less polluted route and if you’re cycling could you use a mask?

•Do you exercise outside? If so could you run/cycle in a park or along a footpath rather than next to a road.

•Do you use non-natural cleaning products or air fresheners in your home? If so you may want to switch to using natural products such as Ecover. Most supermarkets also have a ‘natural’ range of products.

•Do you have a router, wireless phone, or any other wireless devices in your home? These all emit electromagnetic radiation. Turn these off whenever you’re not using them to reduce your exposure. Also make sure you position any routers and base stations in areas of the house where you spend the least time, in particular don’t have these devices in your bedroom.

•Have a look at the ingredients in any cosmetics/skin products that you use as these will be absorbed into your body. Avoid products containing paraffin, petroleum, propylene glycol, sodium lauryl sulphate, DEA or synthetic colours or fragrances. More natural brands such a Liz Earle, REN and Korres, avoid using these ingredients.

No comments:

Post a Comment