With the advent of epigenetic research we now know that your environment controls gene expression.
Epigenetic research is the study of changes in genetic expression that do not involve changes to the underlying genome. Epigenetic change is a natural occurrence that can be influenced by factors like age, the environment/lifestyle, and state of one’s health or disease.
In other words, just because you have a particular gene does not automatically equate to your manifesting a particular disease. Epigenetic research shows us that your environment has the power to turn gene expression on and off.
There has always been a deep connection between human beings and our environment. When we change our environment, we change ourselves.
A collective entomology study showed there has been an astounding 75% decrease in insect population around the world in the last 50 years.
It’s estimated that 1.5 billion pounds of glyphosate are sprayed each year on soil. Glyphosate (aka Roundup), is a broad-spectrum systemic herbicide and crop dessicant. A crop desiccant is applied just before harvest each year on crops and soil for the simple reason that weeds are a nuisance to modern factory farms. There are natural ways to control weeds that are much less harmful to the environment, but typically these methods of growing are only practiced by organic growers, not conventionally grown crops and horticulture.
The toxic load to our system is greater than any other time in history. We are exposed to more than 80,000 chemicals most of which have not been tested.
Many medical experts are pointing to an excessively toxic environment as the greatest contributor to the escalation of disease epidemics. We are exposed to mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium and carbon based chemicals: insecticides, pesticides, solvents, petrochemicals, wood preservatives and phthalates (plastic softeners).
It’s estimated from biopsies that the average human has 20,000-30,000 different chemicals stored in our system.
Personal care products, used daily by men and women, contain an average of 168+ different chemicals. Because of this simple fact, I've made my own personal care products for more than 20+ years. When you make your own personal products you know exactly what ingredients they contain.
Our bodies are designed to handle and eliminate endogenous toxins, a natural by product of metabolic waste. But, it is not designed to handle the excessive amounts of foreign man-made toxins we are being exposed to.
A catch-22 situation develops as harmful chemical and environmental toxins can disrupt organs designed to deal with clearing them from our system. As this occurs our detoxification systems get overloaded and can get shut down by toxic overload.
The biggest damage is to our immune and neurological functions. The delicate balance in our autonomic nervous system (ANS) - between the sympathetic (fight/flight) and parasympathetic (rest, relax, digest, recover) nervous system - is thrown off. The research shows that two of the best essential oils to use for balancing the autonomic nervous system function are the geranium oils,
Toxins can keep you in an overly stressed state in which your fight/flight nervous system is chronically turned on. While your parasympathetic branch of the ANS, which is your rest, recovery, digest and restore system, is turned off. Poor digestion and assimilation of nutrients has far reaching consequences, including the health of your microbiota.
Healthy gut microbes help you get rid of toxins. By impairing your digestive system you lose an important part of your detoxification system. Research is showing use of certain essential oils can promote a healthy gut microbiome. To protect your gut microbiome avoid use of antibiotics and feed it nourishing plant medicine that can help it to flourish and thrive.
Sleep is also part of your detoxification. When you sleep your body does a lot of repair work to all your organs and systems.
Circadian rhythms are also negatively impacted when you don’t get adequate sleep. Shift workers are most at risk for disrupted circadian rhythms. When circadian rhythms are disrupted the natural detoxification process of your body’s organ systems, which are active at certain times during the day, is impeded.
Toxins are pervasive, but not obvious. Toxins can have long term effects that are not observable in the short term. Toxins build up in the body. Over time they accumulate and cause dysfunction. The body organism becomes polluted.
Mitochondria, our energy source for life, are extremely sensitive to toxins. When mitochondria get sick, we get sick.
Essential oils can take the load off a burdened detoxification system. They can support the liver, the kidney, body organs and systems to detoxify the body.
Now you can understand that one of the most important keys to healing and health is detoxification. People with diseases have issues with the ability to detoxify poisons.
Perhaps the greatest harm that toxic chemicals do is to bind to your proteins and manifest as new antigens, triggering an inflammatory response, as well autoimmunity. Chemicals break down your immune system's tolerance and weaken your immune function. While, autoimmunity is when your body starts attacking itself.
- The NIH estimates that 23.5 million Americans have an autoimmune disease. In contrast, cancer affects approximately 13 million Americans.
Chronic inflammation has been cited as the underlying cause of many disease like cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. Your body's immune response sends an alarm signal to fight off dangers to health. Inflammation is your body's way of protecting itself from infection, illness or injury.
Detoxification reduces inflammation. However, chronic inflammation turns down your detoxification system, resulting in another catch-22 situation.
Your body’s mechanism for handling inflammation takes precedence over detoxification. If chronic inflammation is an issue for you, using plant medicine and essential oils to cool the fire of inflammation, may be your first step towards detoxification of your body organs and systems.
READ first article in series on Human Longevity - Essential Oils Role.
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