Update: Latest Toxins To Say No To

If you wish to protect your health, nutrition and exercise are no longer enough. Avoiding toxins in the environment may be vital.

That is the message that Scientific American presented earlier this week in an article that reported a possible link may exist between a pesticide (DDT, which breaks down to DDE) found in fish and the risk of developing diabetes. According to the magazine,

…evidence came from a sweeping study of more than 2,000 adults, conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that found people with the highest levels of six pollutants were 38 times more likely to have diabetes than those with the lowest exposure. The chemicals, including PCBs, dioxins and DDE, were chosen because they were present in at least 80 percent of participants.

The magazine also points out wisely that although the study’s data does not indicate that DDE is a causal factor in diabetes directly, it does highlight the need for more scientific research relating to environmental exposure to pollutants and their implications on health.

Scientific American’s news came only weeks after ScienceDaily reported that nitrates and nitrites (chemical preservatives used largely in cured meat products) may be a possible ”environmental trigger” for diseases associated with aging such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and diabetes. 

Nitrates and nitrites had already been long regarded as harmful after substantial documentation established their role as carcinogens. 

Still, the worst bit of toxin news yet has to do with the kind that humans put into their bodies on purpose, this time in form of electronic cigarretes. Medscape Business of Medicine reported that proponents suggest the new smoking devices are better for you than normal cigarettes:

“In our product you have nicotine or no nicotine, PEG, and some flavoring. In cigarettes you have nicotine, PEG, and 4,000 chemicals and 43 carcinogens,” Youngblood last April told WebMD. “I am a proponent of harm reduction. People have rights and choices and should be allowed to make them.”

But there is strong opposition,

Jonathan Winickoff, MD, chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics Tobacco Consortium, warned that the products seem “tailor-made to appeal to kids.” He said the devices could addict kids to nicotine and turn them into smokers.

Why are these products even allowed on the market? Medscape reports,

“The products we reviewed so far we found to be illegal,” attorney Michael Levy, director of the FDA’s office of compliance in the division of drug evaluation and research, said today during an FDA news conference. But the FDA has not banned them because “There is pending litigation on the issue of FDA’s jurisdiction over e-cigarettes,” Levy said.

Once again it’s up to consumers to be knowledgeable and take action for staying healthy long-term. In a nutshell: stay away from pesticides, nitrites/nitrates, e-cigarettes and the regular cigarettes too.