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December 12, 2019: by Bill Sardi
There is no practical way that the toxicity of all of the environmental pollutants that people are exposed to in this modern world can be assessed as a whole. Exposure limits to toxins are established for individual toxins and don’t account for all of the complexities of occupational and non-occupational hazards.
As a troubling report in TOXICOLOGY REPORTS states: “There is no reason today to believe that the single exposure limits on potentially toxic agents that have been established by regulatory agencies are fully protective against serious adverse health effects in all real life exposure scenarios.”
A disconcerting report published in the American Journal of Public Health says: “Exposure to multiple environmental agents, including biologic, chemical, physical, radiologic, and psychosocial stressors, can, under the right circumstances, modify the toxic effects of these same agents acting alone.”
Because of multiple exposures to a variety of household toxins, the phenomenon known as “sick building syndrome” or multiple chemical sensitivity” has arisen. A broad number of nebulous symptoms (headache, fatigue, dizziness, itching, skin rash, mental confusion) confound identity of key triggers for these symptoms.”
Toxins may accumulate over time, or aggregate from multiple routes of exposure.
A toxicologist says: “We live in a soup. We’ve got to go beyond looking at one chemical or one exposure at a time and start looking in a more integrated fashion. In the future, toxicologists will need to consider cumulative effects of many exposures.”
Aggregate exposure is defined as repeated exposures to a single toxic agent from multiple sources or routes of entry (food, air, skin). For example, arsenic, a toxic heavy metal, is found in tap water, weed killers and foods.
Cumulative exposure emanates from toxins that buildup in the body, such as heavy metals that are stored in blood and the liver, or fat-soluble pesticides that build up in fatty tissues. For example, lead is a toxic heavy metal that accumulates in bone, blood, kidneys, liver and brain. After childhood growth, iron accumulates in the blood (90%) and liver, first in males and later in females (with the cessation of menstruation).
Bioaccumulation is when the body absorbs a substance at a rate faster than which it is lost or degraded by excretion. Many bio-accumulative chemicals are fat-soluble so that they tend to be stored in fatty tissues like the liver and brain. Bio-accumulative substances may also be stored elsewhere, including bone, muscle, or the brain.
A prescriptive antidote for each and every toxin is of course impractical and unaffordable. Yet the quest for a universal detoxicant against multiple poisons, infectious organisms (example: toxic mold), chemicals and heavy metals is in urgent need.
Such a universal detoxicant must be non-toxic itself and overcome resistance the body may develop over time. A master detoxicant would chelate (attach to) heavy metals. It would help to excrete toxins via urine flow or defecation. It would assist in detoxification of chemicals that the liver performs. It would inhibit replication of viruses and induce death of other pathogenic bacteria or fungi. It would negate the deleterious effects of airborne micro-toxins, industrial toxins, toxic effects of medical treatment (radiation and chemotherapy), and would nullify the potential adverse effects of pervasive toxins in tap water (arsenic, fluoride, drugs, etc.). It would maintain the blood/brain barrier that keeps toxins out of the brain.
The red wine molecule resveratrol (rez-vair-a-trol) has been called a “cure-all” and a “panacea” for what ails modern humans.
Resveratrol exhibits such broad biological activity on so many gene targets in the human body to call it a “promiscuous molecule.” Resveratrol also meets another important criteria for a universal anti-toxin – it must work at low doses.
Scientific evidence for resveratrol as a universal detoxicant is provided below, with clickable links to scientific references.
While resveratrol is an antioxidant and is known to be non-toxic with no serious adverse side effects noted by the American Association of Poison Control Centers over the past decade, resveratrol itself is referred to as a molecular mimic of calorie restriction (semi-starvation). Low-dose resveratrol (greater than dietary intake from wine, grapes, peanuts, etc.) initially activates a pro-oxidant (low toxic) effect that triggers the body’s internal enzymatic antioxidant defenses (glutathione, catalase, SOD) via a gene switch called Nrf2. This phenomenon is called hormesis. Mega-dose resveratrol negates this beneficial effect.
One brand of resveratrol, because of its unique molecular composition, does not exhibit any toxic effects even when given in otherwise high/toxic doses, and would theoretically be safe at even mega-doses. Part of resveratrol’s ability to negate cellular toxicity is its ability to activate endogenous antioxidant enzymes prior to any adverse health event such as mushroom poisoning, heart attack or stroke.
While the anti-growth factor properties of resveratrol may be prohibitive for use among growing children and pregnant females, low-dose resveratrol (100-350 milligrams) exhibits all of the criteria for a universal antidote to the most common toxins in modern man’s environment.
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