The Interrelationship of Total Health (Part 1)
Chemical to Structural
If we take in (consume or breathe) chemical substances that irritate our system, the body will, in response, go into a contractile, or tightened, state. It is the body’s natural defense mechanism. If you burn your hand, you tighten up all your muscles in response to the thermal stress and withdraw your hand. This works with the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system. When stressed — whether thermally, chemically, structurally, physically, or mentally — your body goes into fight/flight response and secretes adrenaline, the hormone that prepares you for the encounter to either run or fight, in a sense.
When chemicals and toxins enter the body and adrenaline is secreted, your muscles are tensed. Sometimes they are so tense that they can pull spinal bones into misaligned positions, causing neuropathy or spinal nerve irritation. This causes a decrease in the functioning capabilities of whatever organ, gland, or tissue that nerve goes to, and results in pain, numbness, tingling, weakness, burning, or organ dysfunction (working at less than capacity).
I have patients who, when they eat foods they are sensitive or allergic to, like MSG, experience terrible back pain because of this cycle. So any offending chemical, toxin, or allergen can cause a contractile reaction due to the stress response and can lead to subluxation (misalignment of spinal bones which may cause pressure on nerves, which leads to pain or decreased organ function, and can eventually lead to disease).
Chemical to Eliminatory
As the toxic load on the liver increases, general toxicity throughout the body results and leads to many symptoms of illness, eventually culminating in disease. Chemicals, drugs, toxins and allergens enter the system through the digestive and respiratory tracts. If they enter via the digestive tract, they may lead to inflammation and the breakdown of the intestinal mucosal wall (our screen or selective mesh) which lets these toxins, chemicals, drugs, and allergens enter the hepatic portal blood supply to the liver. The liver cannot keep up with the additional work load (an analogy of a small air filter trying to filter the smoke pouring in from a fireplace with a closed flue, the air filter simply cannot keep up with the amount of smoke entering the room), and these substances enter the circulating blood and can affect all tissues and systems of the body, including the immune, neurologic (brain), and musculoskeletal systems. This can lead to a variety of toxin-related symptoms such as a suppressed immune system, poor memory, behavior changes, lack of concentration, joint aches and pains, and arthritis. As shown before, if the chemicals are inhaled, they enter these tissues much more quickly because the liver’s primary detoxifying ability is bypassed (blood from lungs goes throughout the body before it gets to the liver to be cleaned).
The third possible point of entry for chemicals is the skin. The time it takes for chemicals to enter the body through the skin is 20 to 30 seconds.
Chemical to Physical (Circulation)
The chemicals, toxins, drugs, allergens and fats that enter the body can affect the physical health by decreasing blood and lymph flow and increasing cardiovascular risk. As will be seen later, dietary intake of the above slows blood flow greatly, and with decreased blood flow there is a greater chance of tissue and cellular damage due to lack of oxygen and inability of those tissues and cells to rid themselves of waste products. This also can cause an increased risk of thrombus or embolis formation (clots), which can lodge in the heart or brain causing heart attack or stroke. It is also known that decreased blood flow becomes a better medium for cancer growth. The slower the blood circulation, the less oxygen is distributed, and the more the cancer can spread unchecked by the white blood cells which are designed to devour these abnormal cells. Returning to our filter analogy, the higher the blood flow rate, the quicker the toxins and chemicals can be removed from the body. Many drugs and toxic chemicals cause the body to go into the stress response in which it secretes adrenaline and constricts blood vessels. This again might cause an increase in blood pressure and heart rate, and temporarily increase the normal flow of blood in the vessels only to try to filter these harmful substances into the liver. The reaction of this constant intake of chemicals causes stress that can lead to many other diseases, from gastrointestinal (ulcer, colitis) to cardiovascular (heart attack and stroke).
When the body goes into a flight/fight stress response, the blood flow is increased to the extremities (arms and legs) to prepare for action, but is decreased to the gastrointestinal tract. This regular decrease of blood supply for people who are under regular stress causes poor digestion, inflammation (colitis), and increased acid secretion (which leads to various ulcers). The increased adrenaline stress response on the cardiovascular system causes high blood pressure and overworking of the heart. This sustained high blood pressure leads to greater risk of heart attack and stroke.
The primary reason the cardiovascular system is at risk is cholesterol buildup and high fat diets. These narrow the coronary and cerebral arteries and can lead to insufficient oxygen supply to the brain or heart, thus causing strokes and heart attacks. It also leads to systemic hardening of the arteries and increased blood pressure.
The greater the resting pressure in the system, the greater the chance of many diseases developing, especially the blowout from aneurysms and loosened clots causing heart attacks and strokes, the No. 1 and No. 3 causes of death in the United States.
The relation between chemical and physical health can also be seen in lymphatic buildup or congestion. It is important to remember that whatever comes into our bodies via our lungs, skin, or digestive tracts that causes a slowing of circulation will also cause lymphatic congestion or buildup.
Let me explain what lymph fluid is, what it does, and how important it is in our total health = wholeness. (I will discuss the lymphatic system in greater detail in the Immune Health chapter.)
The lymphatic system is a system of channels like the blood vessels through which the white blood cells (WBCs) circulate. The body’s immune cells congregate in the bone marrow, spleen, thymus, lymph nodes, and liver. Here the WBCs are made and stored. They circulate through the body from the blood vessels. When they get to the microvessels, the capillaries, they actually come out of the vessels and patrol the tissues looking for and being sent to areas of infection, or anything that does not have the right chemical code (antigen). Once these WBCs have eaten bacteria or viruses that have invaded the tissues, they re-enter circulation via the lymph channels, which have check points guarded by massive amounts of WBCs which kill the intruder, thus stopping the spread of infection. The stopping points are lymph nodes located in the abdomen, neck, armpits, elbows, groin, and knees. After going through the lymph nodes, some of the WBCs re-enter the circulating blood, while others remain in the particular lymphatic channel.
Lymphatic circulation is critical in maintaining a strong immune system because 2⁄3rds of your WBC’s are located in your lymphatic system. This is why anything that causes lymphatic congestion is potentially devastating to the body. Imagine an army at war, with battles being fought at many locations. Now imagine that wherever the troops go to fight, their vehicles run out of gas and cannot return to fight new battles and cannot reload ammunition and supplies. This is analogous to what happens when our lymphatic channels clog or stagnate.
Cancer, soon to be the No. 1 cause of death in the United States, is a battle between the immune system and cancerous abnormal cells. The body can win this battle if the army works in perfect harmony, the troops are well-nourished, well-rested, and in excellent health, the ammunition is in great supply, and the vehicles are mobile and able to get anywhere they need to be in the least amount of time. Only in perfect harmony can your immune system fight cancer and win. A major part of this fight is efficient lymphatic flow.
So if lymph fluid is congested, the effectiveness of the immune system is reduced due to the decreased number of white blood cells circulating to destroy bacteria, viruses, foreign substances, and even cancerous cells. The fats we ingest will slow circulation and increase lymphatic congestion. This is especially true of animal fats. Therefore a diet high in animal fat will decrease circulation and increase cholesterol buildup in the blood vessels, causing:
• increased chance of heart attack
• increased chance of stroke
• increased blood pressure (which increases development of many
diseases)
• increased chance of aneurysm
• decreased immune system response
• decreased lymphatic flow
• increased chance of cancer
Lymphocytes are a type of WBC that protect the body against anything that is foreign. All molecules in the body have a chemical code, or antigen, that the body recognizes as its own and does not attack. All other substances that don’t have this code are treated as intruders and are attacked. This includes bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi, pollen, and other allergens; even foreign tissue from a transplant will be attacked if immunosuppressive drugs are not administered.