Cheanu's Official Blog » immune system

101 Tips To Remove The Poison From Your Body And Your Life

Cheanu — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 20:11:38 +0000

With air pollution, harmful pesticides and an unhealthy diet, your body is probably full of chemicals and poisons that you don’t even think about. If you want to detox your entire body, mind, spirit and life, turn to this list, which has over 100 ideas from medical professionals for removing the poison.

Keep these 10 tips in mind each day for a regular detox session.

Watch less TV: Watch less TV, if any. Your mind will be freer to concentrate on more important things than annoying commercials, celebrity gossip and superficial materialism.
Limit your online activity: It’s pretty much impossible not to log on to your e-mail accounts everyday, but limit the rest of your online activity, including going to fluff sites and playing online games. You’ll be more productive and will probably end up using the time you would have wasted on something more important and fulfilling.
Stop gossiping: Always thinking and spreading nasty thoughts about others brings your own mood and self-confidence down.
Use non-toxic cleaners: Using non-toxic home cleaners helps rid your home of unnatural substances that can be harmful to your health.
Quit smoking: Cigarettes contain over 4,000 different chemicals, including nicotine, tar, hydrogen cyanide and even arsenic, all of which are poison to your body.
Exercise: Exercising helps purify your mind and your body by releasing aggressive emotions and endorphins. Exercise also helps your body take in more oxygen and pump your blood faster.
Sleep better and longer: Learn valuable techniques for getting a more relaxing, effective sleep each night in order to let your body fully recuperate from the previous day.
Introduce organic produce into your diet: Fresh, organic fruits and veggies are free of toxins that harm your body and interfere with great taste.
Limit the number of pills you pop each day: If you have a chronic health condition, we’re not asking you to stop taking pills. But if you pop several pills every time you have a teensy headache, you’re putting way too many kidney-damaging chemicals into your system.
Breathe deeply: Breathing deeply increases the flow of oxygen into your body and relax your mind.

Physical Poisons

From alcohol and drugs to chemicals in your beauty products, make a concerted effort to rid your body of these poisons.

Limit alcohol consumption: While researchers have found that moderate consumption of red wine does have health benefits, drinking too much damages your liver, weakens your heart, and can make you feel tired and worn out, since it interferes with your sleep.
Drugs: Drugs are incredibly toxic to your body and your life, weakening the immune system, causing rifts with family and friends, ruining your career and taking a major toll on your body.
Go easy on makeup and beauty products: Consider using natural makeup and beauty products that are free of chemicals that can be harmful to your skin. Or, take a look at these tips to limiting the amount of makeup you put on each day without compromising your looks.
Give your hair a break: Hair dyes contain a lot of unhealthy chemicals that are bad for your hair and scalp but can also be damaging when you breathe them in every couple of weeks.
Try skin brushing: This detox strategy involves stimulating your skin in order to increase “its rate of elimination of toxic waste products, which decreases the demands placed on the kidneys.”
Consider a colon cleansing: Colon cleansings are believed to remove the body of parasites and other toxins that can interfere with digestion and general health.
Have sex: Having sex can give you energy, help you sleep better, reduces cholesterol, reduces stress, increases the flow of oxygen to your brain, and can even be a natural pain reliever.
Do a juice fast: Juice fasting is controversial, but it’s also a popular way to detox. Juice fasts are done with the goal of reducing animal products and cooked food products from your system in order to cleanse your body.
Hydrotherapy: This alternative health practice can be done at a spa, sauna or even in your shower. By alternating the temperature of the water, you can reduce inflammation, stimulate your body’s circulation and remove waste from body tissue.
Take herbs: There are a number of natural herbs that can be used for internal and external detox, like yucca root and licorice root, which are laxatives; milk thistle seed and dandelion which support the liver; pumpkin seed which expels parasites; and cranberry and witch hazel, which are anti-inflammatory and antioxidant herbs.

Social Poisons

Give your social behavior and expectations a real makeover by considering these detox tips.

Close or increase privacy settings on your online dating profile: Online dating companies can be extremely beneficial to some individuals, but posting photos and information about yourself online can attract unsavory characters who badger you with inappropriate messages.
Volunteer: Increase your social circle by volunteering. Doing something for the good of others is also a selfless act that is good for your conscience.
Reconcile with family and friends: Don’t let a grudge or a fight with friends affect your conscience or your mood. Reconcile with estranged family members and friends to give your social life a detox.
Stay in: If you’re always going out with friends, take a night to yourself and stay in. You can give your mind and body a rest from all of the external stimulations and social pressures by relaxing at home.
Go out: On the other hand, if you’re always at home, try to go out every once in a while and be social with the community around you. Even if you aren’t out for an organized event with friends, opening yourself up to spending time with other human beings canhelp you feel more relaxed.
De-stress at work: For some people, going to work means feeling stressed out as soon as they sit down as their desks. Learn to de-stress at work by staying organized and tuning out annoying or over demanding co-workers.
Learn to tune out: Tuning out gossipy friends, media messages and moody strangers will keep your mood elevated and your mind free from worry about everything going around you that you can’t control anyway.
Separate yourself from the pack: Don’t go along with everything everyone else is doing just because they say so. Separate yourself from the pack by doing what makes you feel right and the things that honors your life choices and long term goals.
Be responsible: Take responsibility for yourself and your actions, and you’ll find that you end up taking much better care of yourself, physically, emotionally and socially.
Smile: Smiling can help you focus on the positive and forget about negative thoughts and feelings that plague you.

Productivity Drainers

Mass e-mails, violent video games and even telemarketing calls are a real drain to your productivity and fill up your mind with useless garbage. Rid yourself of these poisons by taking a look at our list below.

Improve your focus: By keeping track of your time and setting goals throughout the day, you’ll be able to stay focused on the things that matter.
Unsubscribe to blog feeds: Clean out your inbox by unsubscribing to all the RSS feeds and newsletters that keep you away from your work and focused on unimportant things.
Eliminate distractions: Distractions can be poisonous to your schedule and your mindset, so turn off the TV, block certain websites and unplug the phone until you complete your to-do list.
Stay nourished: Hunger drains productivity and can negatively affect your metabolism if it’s been too long since your last meal.
Ignore “nasty people”: “Nasty people” drain productivity in the workplace, so try to tune out competitive co-workers, backstabbers and the office gossip to stay focused and keep your energy high.
Turn off the instant messenger: Unless you do business over instant message, sign off your account or create a new one just for work. Chatting with friends will keep you from your work, making you feel anxious and unprepared at the end of the day.
Violent computer games and video games: Playing violent computer or video games is not just a productivity drain: it also fuels your mind with overly aggressive images that can affect your perspective on real life.
Exercise your brain: Keep your brain sharp by doing simple mind exercises that can keep Alzheimer’s and dementia at bay.
Get a spam filter: Get a spam filter for your e-mail account so you don’t have to look at crass junk mail messages all day long.
Get an unlisted phone number: Keep your phone number out of the phone book and off of telemarketing lists so that you don’t have to stress yourself out over prank calls, sales calls and other annoying phone calls.

Meditation Tips

Meditation is an effective technique for ridding your mind and body of poisonous thoughts and energy drainers.

Follow a specific program: Play one of these meditation guides to help you focus and relax.
Meditate alone: Being along is an important strategy for effective meditation.
Eliminate external discomforts: Make sure the room is a comfortable temperature and the lighting is just right for your meditation.
Be patient: This tip will prevent you from getting too overwhelmed if you feel like meditation isn’t working at first.

Emotional and Mental Health

De-stress by opening up and acknowledging your feelings. These tips are also meant to boost your self-esteem and remove toxic thoughts that sabotage your emotional health.

Counseling: Talk to a counselor or psychologist regularly so that you can hear yourself work through your problems. Setting aside an hour each week also ensures that you make you time to address your feelings, instead of burying them until they manifest in an unhealthy way.
Be social: Getting out with friends or even going to a coffee shop will make you feel more connected to the community around you and can distract you from your own problems for a while.
Open up: Share your thoughts, goals and feelings with a friend or family member to purge yourself of anxiety, self-doubt, or any other negative emotions.
Self confidence: Give your self-confidence a boost and get rid of negative thoughts that harm your spirit and prevent you from doing the things that make you happy.
Set realistic goals: By setting realistic goals, you’re more likely to feel a sense of achievement and triumph as you complete each one.
Understand your body: To prevent poisonous thoughts and mental disorders like depression or anorexia/bulimia, get to know your body and your mind. Appreciate yourself for who you are and understand what triggers can set you off so that you can avoid feeling down.

Organization Tips

Staying organized will elevate your mood and keep your surroundings clean and bacteria-free.

De-clutter: Clutter around your house and in your schedule can cause you to feel stressed, anxious and even unhealthy, if your clutter is really dirty.
Take out the trash frequently: This tip may seem like a given, but taking out the trash instantly removes poisons and waste from your surroundings.
Budget: Organize your budget to avoid overspending, debt, unpaid bills, unpaid taxes and other stress factors that could land you in serious trouble.
Schedule: Prevent scheduling conflicts, missed appointments, over bookings and running yourself ragged by maintaining a calendar or date book.
Get tech help: Use an online program like Tada Lists or Remember the Milk so that you don’t have to keep up with to-do lists floating around your car, office and home.

Simplify Your Life

By simplifying your life, you can have more time to concentrate on your health. From re-prioritizing your to-do lists to automating regular tasks like bill paying, consider downsizing in the following ways.

Just say no: Don’t agree to run every event, attend every meeting or go to every party. Saying no can free up valuable time for yourself and prevent you from over stimulating your mind.
Keep things in perspective: Instead of overreacting to every setback, keep things in perspective. Ask yourself if the problem at hand will matter in six days’ or six months’ time. Most of the time it won’t, and you can save yourself a lot of toxic worry.
Automate regular tasks: Set up an automatic bill pay or savings action so that you don’t have to waste time writing checks each month, and so you won’t fall behind on payments.
Take time out: Slow down every once in a while to give your mind and body a rest by taking a long weekend, going on a relaxing vacation or just making room in your schedule for an extra nap.
Cut back on communication: Don’t isolate yourself, but minimize the different communication platforms like Twitter, e-mail, Facebook and VoIP that you check each day to eliminate extra junk mail, distractions on welcome pages and useless messages.

Food and Diet

If you aren’t ready to start a full-on detox diet, introduce fresh, organic produce, fiber and plenty of water into your diet as a gentle and healthy way to rid your body of chemicals.

Fiber: Fiber cleanses your body and your digestive tract, so opt for foods like whole wheat bread, brown rice, broccoli, bran cereal, corn and other raw vegetables and fruits.
Vitamin C: Vitamin C is a great detox agent for cleansing the liver, as it produces glutathione. (Take vitamins in moderation)
Water: Water is one of the easiest and most effective ways to flush out your system. It’s also a good substitute for soda, alcoholic beverages and sugary juices when you’re thirsty.
Garlic: Garlic is a great ingredient for promoting good health, especially detox, as it is rich in antioxidants.
Organic foods: Incorporate organic foods, especially fruits and vegetables into your diet, since they are free of harmful pesticides and chemicals.
Locally grown food: For a more socially conscious move, buy locally grown food to support your community in a green way.
Ethical food: Ease your conscience by making sure your food was produced in an ethical way, from conditions of slaughterhouses to Fair Trade coffee growers and harvesters.
Blueberries: Blueberries are extremely high in antioxidants and keep your brain sharp.
Say no to junk food: Processed junk food full of unnatural sweeteners and chemicals pumps poison into your body, can cause you to become overweight, and negatively affects your heart health. Even diet junk-food is processed and unhealthy.
Raw food: Whether you live a completely raw food and product lifestyle, or you’d like to try a raw food detox diet, raw food can be an effective way to cleanse your body of animal products and processed ingredients.

Exercise and Sleep

Getting enough of the right kind of exercise and sleep purifies both your mind and your body.

Cardio: Besides being a major calorie-busting workout, a cardio routine is also good for anger management.
Yoga: Yoga is one of the most popular exercises for a de-stress, detox lifestyle because it eases the mind, decreases blood pressure, increases your respiratory efficiency, helps digestion, improves focus and posture, and helps you sleep better.
Pilates: Like yoga, pilates can boost energy and your immune system without requiring a sweat-inducing cardio workout.
Reduce your body fat: Besides looking more in shape, reducing your body fat, which is where a lot of toxins in your body are stored.
Swimming: The website The Natural Path describes swimming as a good exercise for detox, as it works out your muscles and heart but also “increases your breathing and your body temperature, thus aiding in your internal cleansing.” Try to swim in a pool with as less chlorine as possible, or in a natural body of water.
Sweat: Pick an exercise that makes you sweat, which cleanses some toxins from the surface of your body.
Exercise the right way: Make sure you’re following the routine or fitness plan exactly; otherwise, you might injure yourself.
Keep a regular sleeping schedule: This schedule should include a routine for preparing for bed and making yourself sleepy, as well as waking up at around the same time each morning.
Exercise for sleep: Maintaining an active lifestyle can wear your body out just enough to ensure a restful sleep.
Protect your sleep environment: Polluting your bedroom with TV, artificial light from your computer and work materials can interfere with your sleep.

Good Lifestyle Choices and Links

Make good lifestyle choices, by avoiding promiscuity, maintaining proper hygiene and considering a holistic or even macrobiotic lifestyle.

Go organic: An organic lifestyle rids your body and environment of pesticides and may also mean that you support local growers and more ethically produced foods and products.
Promiscuity: This bad habit increases your chances of catching an STD and feeling emotionally dragged down.
Holistic lifestyle: A holistic lifestyle gives equal attention to your mind, body and spirit, so that you monitor the health and toxicity of every part of yourself.
Macrobiotic lifestyle: A macrobiotic lifestyle “is a way of life based upon living in harmony with nature through a balanced whole foods diet, an active lifestyle, and respect for the natural environment,” according to CrescentLife.com. Get tips for living this way by following the link.
Go vegan: There are a host of benefits associated with a vegan lifestyle, like good nutrition, disease prevention, avoiding harmful processed ingredients, helping the environment and more.
Oral hygiene: Your oral hygiene affects your overall health, so make sure your floss and brush a few times daily.
Bathing: Wash off the dirt, chemicals and other toxins on your skin by bathing regularly.
Wash hands frequently: Avoid getting sick by washing your hands frequently, which kills germs and washes off other harmful bacteria.
Feng shui: The purpose of practicing feng shui is to balance out your elements and promote the free flow of energy, greatly reducing the toxicity and stress of any environment. Get easy-to-follow tips here.
Pranayama: This yoga breathing exercise maximizes the amount of oxygen that goes to your brain, controlling “Prana, or the vital life energy.”
Strategic massage: Get a massage that stimulates your digestive system and increases your body’s ability to eliminate waste.

Purifying Your Environment

This list features different ways that you can purify your environment and ensure that your home, office and commute are free of all kinds of pollutants.

Drive an eco-friendly car: An electric car is good for the environment and your health, since you won’t have to breathe in toxic fumes at the gas station.
Walk or bike to work: Another way to prevent inhalation of gas fumes is to walk or bike to work, if you can find a route that doesn’t involve riding behind other gas guzzling vehicles.
Grow a garden: Grow your own vegetables to cut back on pesticides and environmentally harmful packaging and delivery methods.
Make your own household cleaning products: There are a lot of recipes online for concocting your own supply of household cleaning products, free of dangerous chemicals and chlorine.
Composting: Recycle your waste and feed your garden by composting.
Keep plants indoors: Having plants indoors increases oxygen production and zaps up extra carbon dioxide, purifying your air.
Aromatherapy: Natural aromatherapy can be a great help to simple ailments and colds, and it’s also a good stress reliever.
Throw away pet waste: Clean out the cat’s litter box and pick up after your dog, even in the backyard, to prevent the spread of bacteria that can make you and your family sick.
Air quality: Make sure the air quality in your home or office is healthy by ventilating the rooms, changing out your air filters and using natural home furnishings and carpet.
Sustainability: Sustainable living is an ethical and practical way to live, as it saves you money on energy costs and is good for the environment. Get tips for living a sustainable, poison-free lifestyle here.

Source: Megan Jones at www.nursingschools.net

31 Simple Ways To Prevent Cancer

Cheanu — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:09:44 +0000

Small changes to inoculate yourself against the Big C.

Consider this number: 10 million. That’s how many cases of cancer are diagnosed worldwide each year. Now consider this number: 15 million. That’s how many cases of cancer the World Health Organization estimates will be diagnosed in the year 2020—a 50 percent increase—if we don’t get our act together.

Most cancers don’t develop overnight or out of nowhere. Cancer is largely predictable, the end result of a decades-long process, but just a few simple changes in your daily life can significantly reduce your risk.

Here are 31 great tips:

Serve sauerkraut at your next picnic.
A Finnish study found that the fermentation process involved in making sauerkraut produces several other cancer-fighting compounds, including ITCs, indoles, and sulforaphane. To reduce the sodium content, rinse canned or jarred sauerkraut before eating.
Eat your fill of broccoli, but steam it rather than microwaving it.
Broccoli is a cancer-preventing superfood, one you should eat frequently. But take note: A Spanish study found that microwaving broccoli destroys 97 percent of the vegetable’s cancer-protective flavonoids. So steam it, eat it raw as a snack, or add it to soups and salads.
Toast some Brazil nuts and sprinkle over your salad.
They’re a rich form of selenium, a trace mineral that convinces cancer cells to commit suicide and helps cells repair their DNA. A Harvard study of more than 1,000 men with prostate cancer found those with the highest blood levels of selenium were 48 percent less likely to develop advanced disease over 13 years than men with the lowest levels. And a dramatic five-year study conducted at Cornell University and the University of Arizona showed that 200 micrograms of selenium daily—the amount in two unshelled Brazil nuts—resulted in 63 percent fewer prostate tumors, 58 percent fewer colorectal cancers, 46 percent fewer lung malignancies, and a 39 percent overall decrease in cancer deaths.
Pop a calcium supplement with vitamin D.
A study out of Dartmouth Medical School suggests that the supplements reduce colon polyps (a risk factor for colon cancer) in people susceptible to the growths.
Add garlic to everything you eat.
Garlic contains sulfur compounds that may stimulate the immune system’s natural defenses against cancer, and may have the potential to reduce tumor growth. Studies suggest that garlic can reduce the incidence of stomach cancer by as much as a factor of 12!
Sauté two cloves of crushed garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil,
then mix in a can of low-sodium, diced tomatoes. Stir gently until heated and serve over whole wheat pasta. We already mentioned the benefits of garlic. The lycopene in the tomatoes protects against colon, prostate, and bladder cancers; the olive oil helps your body absorb the lycopene; and the fiber-filled pasta reduces your risk of colon cancer. As for the benefits of all of these ingredients together: They taste great!
Every week, buy a cantaloupe at the grocery store and cut it up after you put away your groceries.
Store it in a container and eat several pieces every morning. Cantaloupe is a great source of carotenoids, plant chemicals shown to significantly reduce the risk of lung cancer.

The Power of Antioxidants

Mix half a cup of blueberries into your morning cereal.
Blueberries rank number one in terms of their antioxidant power. Antioxidants neutralize free radicals, which are unstable compounds that can damage cells and lead to diseases including cancer.
Learn to eat artichokes tonight.
Artichokes are a great source of silymarin, an antioxidant that may help prevent skin cancer. To eat these delicious veggies, peel off the tough outer leaves on the bottom, slice the bottom, and cut off the spiky top. Then boil or steam until tender, about 30-45 minutes. Drain. Dip each leaf in a vinaigrette or garlic mayonnaise, then gently tear the fibrous covering off with your front teeth, working your way inward to the tender heart. Once there, gently scoop the bristles from the middle of the heart, dip in a little butter or lemon juice, and enjoy!
Coat barbecue food with a thick sauce.
Grilling meat can create a variety of cancer-causing chemicals. But researchers from the American Institute for Cancer Research found that coating the meat with a thick marinade and thereby preventing direct contact with the charring flames reduced the amount of such chemicals created. Another tip: Precook your meat in the oven and then throw it on the grill to finish.
Every time you go to the bathroom, stop by the kitchen or water cooler for a glass of water.
A major study published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 1996 found that men who drank six 8-ounce glasses of water every day slashed their risk of bladder cancer in half. Another study linked the amount of water women drank to their risk of colon cancer, with heavy water drinkers reducing their risk up to 45 percent.
Take up a tea habit.
The healing powers of green tea have been valued in Asia for thousands of years. In the West, new research reveals that it protects against a variety of cancers as well as heart disease. Some scientists believe that a chemical in green tea called EGCG could be one of the most powerful anticancer compounds ever discovered.
Have a beer tonight.
Beer protects against the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, known to cause ulcers and possibly linked to stomach cancer. But don’t overdo it. Drinking more than one or two alcoholic drinks a day may increase your risk of mouth, throat, esophageal, liver, and breast cancer.
Throw some salmon on the grill tonight.
Australian researchers studying Canadians (go figure) found those who ate four or more servings of fish per week were nearly one-third less likely to develop the blood cancers leukemia, myeloma, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Other studies show a link between eating fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, halibut, sardines, and tuna, as well as shrimp and scallops) with a reduced risk of endometrial cancer in women. Ah, those amazing omega-3s at it again!
Take a multivitamin every morning.
Many studies suggest getting the ideal levels of vitamins and minerals can improve your immune system function and help prevent a variety of cancers.

All Together Now

Get about 15 minutes of sunlight on your skin each day.
You’ve heard of the sunshine vitamin, vitamin D haven’t you? Turns out we’ve been so good at heeding advice to slather on sun lotion and avoid the sun’s rays that many of us aren’t getting enough of this valuable nutrient. Researchers find that getting too little vitamin D may increase your risk of multiple cancers, including breast, colon, prostate, ovarian, and stomach, as well as osteoporosis, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and high blood pressure.The best source? Exposure to UVB rays found in natural and artificial sunlight. About 15 minutes a day ought to do it. Avoid overexposure, of course. That can increase your risk for cancers of the skin. You can also get vitamin D in your calcium supplement if you choose a supplement that contains both.
Carry a shot glass in your beach bag.
Then fill it with sunscreen and rub it all over your body. A shot glass holds about 1.5 ounces, which is how much sunscreen dermatologists estimate you need to protect yourself from the cancer-causing UV rays of the sun. Repeat every two hours.
Cut a kiwifruit in half, then scoop out the flesh with a spoon.
Now eat! Kiwi is a little hand grenade of cancer-fighting antioxidants, including vitamin C, vitamin E, lutein, and copper. You can also rub a couple of cut kiwifruit on a low-fat cut of meat as a tenderizer.
Use a condom and stick to one partner.
The more sexual partners a woman has, the greater her risk of contracting human papillomavirus, or HPV, which causes cervical cancer. Having an unfaithful husband also increases her risk.
Cut out high-fat animal protein.
A Yale study found that women who ate the most animal protein had a 70 percent higher risk of developing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, while those who ate diets high in saturated fat increased their risk 90 percent. So switch to low-fat or nonfat dairy, have poultry or fish instead of beef or pork, and use olive oil instead of butter.
Have your partner feed you grapes.
They’re great sources of resveratrol, the cancer-protecting compound found in wine, but don’t have the alcohol of wine, which can increase the risk of breast cancer in women. Plus, the closeness such an activity engenders (we hope) strengthens your immune system.
Sprinkle scallions over your salad.
A diet high in onions may reduce the risk of prostate cancer 50 percent. But the effects are strongest when they’re eaten raw or lightly cooked. So try scallions, Vidalia onions, shallots, or chives for a milder taste.
Make a batch of fresh lemonade or limeade.
A daily dose of citrus fruits may cut the risk of mouth, throat, and stomach cancers by half, Australian researchers found.

Unecessary Chemicals

Take a 30-minute walk every evening after dinner.
That’s all it takes to reduce your breast cancer risk, according to a study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Turns out that moderate exercise reduces levels of estrogen, a hormone that contributes to breast cancer. When 170 overweight, couch potato women ages 50-75 did some form of moderate exercise for about three hours a week, levels of circulating estrogen dropped significantly after three months. After a year, those who lost at least 2 percent of their body fat had even greater decreases in estrogen. Another study linked four hours a week of walking or hiking with cutting the risk of pancreatic cancer in half. The benefits are probably related to improved insulin metabolism due to the exercise.
Buy organic foods.
They’re grown without added pesticides or hormones, both of which can cause cellular damage that may eventually lead to cancer.
Learn to love dandelions.
Using commercial pesticides on your lawn may increase your risk of cancer, since most contain pesticides such as 2,4-D (linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma) and MCPP (associated with soft-tissue cancers). Plus, pesticides used solely on lawns don’t have to go through the same rigorous testing for long-term health effects as those used on food. And, as E/The Environmental Magazine noted in a 2004 article, no federal studies have assessed the safety of lawn-care chemicals in combination, the way most are sold.
Buy clothes that don’t need to be dry-cleaned.
Many dry cleaners still use a chemical called perc (perchloroethylene), found to cause kidney and liver damage and cancer in animals repeatedly exposed through inhalation. Buying clothes that don’t require dry cleaning, or hand washing them yourself, can reduce your exposure to this chemical. If you must dry-clean your clothes, take them out of the plastic bag and air them outside or in another room before wearing.
Choose cucumbers over pickles, fresh salmon over lox.
Studies find that smoked and pickled foods contain various carcinogens.
Switch from french fries and potato chips to mashed potatoes and pretzels.
A potential cancer-causing compound called acrylamide forms as a result of the chemical changes that occur in foods when they’re baked, fried, or roasted. Not surprisingly, many foods with the greatest amounts of acrylamide are also some of the worst-for-you foods, such as french fries, potato chips, and baked sweets. Although the results aren’t final yet, Michael Jacobson, Ph.D., executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, estimates acrylamide causes between 1,000 and 25,000 cancers per year. His agency has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to set limits on the amount of acrylamide foods can contain. The FDA is studying the issue.
Go for a spray-on tan.
They’re available in most tanning salons these days and, unlike tanning beds, there’s no evidence that they increase your risk of skin cancer.
Call up your bowling pal and hit the lanes.
A study from the State University of New York at Stony Brook found that men with high levels of stress and those with less satisfying contacts with friends and family members had higher levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in their blood, a marker for the development of prostate cancer.