A new study marks the first time that the number of chemicals to which pregnant women are exposed has been counted. Virtually all pregnant women in the U.S. carry multiple chemicals in their bodies. This chemical load includes some banned since the 1970′s, as well as others used in common products such as non-stick cookware, processed foods and personal care products.

Researchers analyzed data for more than 160 chemicals and detected polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides, perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), phenols, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), phthalates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and perchlorate in 99 to 100 percent of pregnant women.¹

Chronic childhood diseases linked to exposure to toxic chemicals in the environment have been surging upward, costing the U.S. almost fifty-five billion dollars a year. There are three thousand high-volume chemicals used today; for roughly half, there is no basic toxicity information publicly available. For the past six to eight years, national surveys have found these chemicals present in the blood and urine of practically everyone in the U.S.² If a baby is exposed to numerous toxic compounds in utero, changes may occur that either directly cause cancer, or lengthen the period of sensitivity to carcinogens, therefore making the child more susceptible to cancer, and other diseases, later in life.

Babies today, are actually born at considerable risk due to the toxic load of their mothers. One study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that blood samples from newborns contained an average of 287 toxins, including mercury, fire retardants, pesticides, and Teflon chemicals. 180 of those toxins cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to your brain and nervous system, 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests.³

About seventy-five thousand chemicals are regularly manufactured and imported by U.S. industries, three thousand of which are high-volume chemicals, meaning over one million pounds per year are produced. In short, chemicals are virtually everywhere, and we’re all exposed, pregnant women being no exception. It’s disturbing to know that humans are being bombarded with toxins at all, but it’s even more concerning when it’s revealed just how extensive the exposure is to those carrying our most precious cargo.

Toxicity reveals another piece of the autism puzzle.   On January 31, 2011, researchers at the International Child Development Resource Center reported that autistic children showed a five hundred percent increase in mitochondrial dysfunction compared to children without autism. Mitochondria, the “powerhouse” of your cells, generate the ATP necessary for cellular signaling and growth, processes that must take place in order for you to function properly and express health.⁴ What’s causing this mitochondrial damage linked with autism?  “Toxins, oxidative stress, inflammation, and decreased levels of antioxidants,” says Dr. Daniel Rossignol, M.D., the study’s head researcher.⁵

So what is a practical way to reduce this toxic load? Use glass containers for food, use natural cleaning products, eat organic pesticide free produce, buy natural hygiene products, drink filtered or bottled water, limit the use of medications and vaccines as much as possible due to the toxic ingredients, and get adjusted by your chiropractor.

Because these newer chemicals cannot be metabolized by your body, it’s also necessary to do something every day to boost the body’s own detoxifying pathways and processes.  The body’s own natural detoxifying agent is glutathione.  Gluthione is also a super anti-oxidant that reduces oxidative stress and inflammation in the body.

Under the kind of intense exposure you get today, you get what’s called “glutathione wasting.”  For example, children with autism were shown to have only fifty percent of the normal level of glutathione in their blood stream.  To rebuild glutathione and support your cells, we’ve made available Daily Detox.  You’ll need this or similar products to truly fend off today’s toxic onslaught.

As all function and detoxification is ultimately under control of the central nervous system, your Maximized Living doctor will also recommend an evaluation of your spine and nervous system to get the effects of a toxic world under control.

Schedule an appointment for you and your family on Monday February 14th for our ValenSpine’s Patient Appreciation Day evaluation.

Linda Bacon, Ph.D, dreads swimsuit season, but not because she has anything against the beach.

Instead, the California-based nutritionist fears what the season brings: scores of otherwise health-conscious citizens who subject themselves to deprivation diets (like the Master Cleanse) or intense exercise regimens, often in blazing hot weather, to look slimmer in revealing clothes.

Many unwittingly end up harming their health — and possibly even their hearts.

“Early June and January are the two times of year people do crazy, desperate things to get thin fast,” says Bacon, a nutrition professor at the City College of San Francisco, California, and the author of “Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight.”

“They go on fasts, yo-yo diets, detox programs, and ‘cleanses’ without realizing that there are serious consequences to weight loss and nutrient restriction.”

That crash dieting doesn’t work and can be dangerous is a message that gets lost in the national clamor over rising rates of overweight and obesity.

Thinking of trying a lemonade fast or cabbage soup diet? Here’s what to keep in mind if fitting into your skinny jeans or your Speedo is high on your summer agenda.

Crash diets may harm your heart

Cardiologist Isadore Rosenfeld, MD, a professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, in New York City, and author of the forthcoming “Doctor of the Heart: A Life in Medicine,” opposes crash diets (less than 1,200 calories a day) and detox plans like the Master Cleanse.

The Master Cleanse involves consuming a mixture of water, lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper — and nothing else — for several days.

Health.com: America’s healthiest superfoods for women

He says these very low-calorie regimens are based on the false theory that the body needs help eliminating waste.

Research suggests rapid weight loss can slow your metabolism, leading to future weight gain, and deprive your body of essential nutrients. What’s more, crash diets can weaken your immune system and increase your risk of dehydration, heart palpitations, and cardiac stress.

“A crash diet once won’t hurt your heart,” Dr. Rosenfeld says. “But crash dieting repeatedly increases the risk of heart attacks.”

Bacon adds that long-term calorie-cutting can eventually lead to heart muscle loss. “Yo-yo dieting can also damage your blood vessels. All that shrinking and growing causes micro tears that create a setup for atherosclerosis and other types of heart disease,” she says.

Chip Stinchfield, a 55-year-old shop owner in New Canaan, Connecticut, has experienced the cardiac effects of dieting firsthand. On the advice of friends, he went on a Master Cleanse for days and exercised vigorously. Another time he ate nothing but cottage cheese, beets, and peanut butter. Both were “quick, easy fixes” that helped him drop up to 10 pounds fast.

But both diets also gave him shortness of breath, heart palpitations, and “the feeling like I was going to have a heart attack.”

Under pressure from his family, who thought his dieting might disable or kill him — like many extreme dieters, Stinchfield kept his doctor in the dark about his radical habits — he eventually went back to sensible eating.

Beware of fad diets

Experts have known for decades that extended crash diets can be dangerous — especially when the diets become a fad.

In the late 1970s, an osteopath named Robert Linn published “The Last Chance Diet,” a best seller that advocated a miraculous “liquid protein diet.” Following the lead of their favorite celebrities, millions of people bought quarts of Dr. Linn’s liquid formula and embraced the diet (or one of many copycat versions), averaging just 300 to 400 calories a day.

The diet seemed to work wonders — some people reported losing as many as 10 pounds a week on the formula. But then the news of sudden deaths began to trickle in.

Health.com: 6 diet trends you should never try

An investigation led by the Food and Drug Administration turned up nearly 60 deaths among liquid dieters. Although some of the deaths occurred in people with underlying diseases such as atherosclerosis (and therefore could have been coincidental), government researchers who examined otherwise healthy dieters who died of ventricular arrhythmias found that the pattern of deaths suggested “the effects of protein-calorie malnutrition on the heart,” including atrophy of the heart muscle.

Experts have since tried to pinpoint the dangers of crash diets (technically known as “very low calorie” diets). Shortages of potassium, magnesium, and copper have been suggested as possible causes of the arrhythmias seen in crash dieters, and studies have also found that the diets can cause a drop in blood pressure and sodium depletion.

The true extent of the risk posed by crash diets is unclear, however. Much of the research has been conducted in obese people — a population that can actually benefit from these extreme diets — and in most studies the health of the participants is carefully monitored.

Experts stress that very-low-calorie diets should only be followed with a doctor’s supervision. But crash dieters are more likely to consult their friends than a doctor — which can get them into trouble.

Brooke Robertson, 23, learned these lessons the hard way. Last spring the Auckland, New Zealand, mom reportedly suffered a minor heart attack after she lost 100 pounds on a diet of Red Bull and the occasional fistful of dry cereal.

Despite the international publicity, Bacon doesn’t think desperate dieters will consider Robertson a cautionary tale. “There’s absolutely no benefit to fasting or detoxing,” she says. “Extreme diets are simply bad for you and they don’t work. But every year people engage in magical thinking.”

How to lose weight — safely

If you’re overweight, slimming down is critical for your overall health. Even moderate weight loss can lower your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancer.

But it’s important to lose weight safely, which usually means slowly: Most experts recommend dropping just 1 to 2 pounds a week. And despite what some brand-name diets claim, the best way to do so is to exercise regularly and stick to a diet that limits saturated fat and sugars and emphasizes fruits and vegetables, lean meats and fish, and whole grains.

“The key to losing weight is a combination of diet and exercise,” says Dr. Rosenfeld. “One alone will not do it.”

I went to the Maximized Living Class with my daughter Kristina and my friend, Jenn. The class was about four hours and we got a book that gives you the details of what foods are doing to us.

In May 2009 my scrap booking group meets the third weekend of the month and consists of 8 women all decided to do the Biggest Looser for a year. We are putting $5 a month into a pot to see who will win the challenge! To date no one has lost more than 3 pounds and then puts it back on.

During Lakewood’s Chiropractic Biggest Looser challenge being offered I decided to go for it. I have been watching what I eat, and following it strictly. I have been eating brown rice, sweet potatoes, and a spinach salad with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, a few croutons, chicken and salmon with salsa and avocado. Snacks would consist of almonds and apples. Drinking 8-8oz glasses of water a day. I would have a cup of coffee on the weekends and the rest of the time I drank an organic green tea from Sam’s Club that was full of antioxidants. I cut out breads, sugar and pop and fast foods. I gave myself permission to eat pizza once a week or a sub from subway. I have surged trained a few times. I need to improve on the exercising. I cleansed 4 times during that month.

During the 30 days I felt really good and had lots of energy. I suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome and found that it was more under control eating the same foods. I always gain weight because my body wasn’t absorbing nutrition. There was nothing processed in my diet. Since Thanksgiving I haven’t felt as good. I ate sugary foods again and I am tired all the time! I am jumping back into my good habits like yesterday!

During the Thanksgiving holiday I guess it was a noticeable amount of weight lost. My daughter Kristina asked, ‘How much have you lost now?’ My friend Jenn noticed the change when we went shopping with me and I went down a size in my jeans. My brother-in-law asked, ‘You losing weight Lisa?’ I need new PJ’s because they look like big bags! I lost 20 pounds and I lost 11.5 inches in 15 days and on the 30 day mark, I lost a total of 20.5 inches total. It is a great start to being a healthy person!