The Best Dietary Detox
By eating at a lower rung on the food chain, those choosing plant-based diets suffer less exposure to the industrial pollutants that bioaccumulate up the ladder.
Topic summary contributed by volunteer(s): Selena
Cadmium is a toxic heavy metal that accumulates in our bodies over time and may contribute to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and infertility in men. It is found in cigarette smoke, seafood (particularly tuna), meat and organ meats, some protein powders, as well as in vegetables and whole grains. The bioavailability of cadmium in plant foods, however, is poor compared to animal foods. In fact, it appears that plant foods may inhibit cadmium absorption from animal foods; cadmium levels have been shown to drop significantly by switching to a vegetarian diet. Organic produce may contain half the amount of cadmium found in conventional produce (likely due to commercial fertilizers), suggesting that switching to an organic, plant-based diet may provide the least exposure to this metal.
For substantiation of any statements of fact from the peer-reviewed medical literature, please see the associated videos below.
By eating at a lower rung on the food chain, those choosing plant-based diets suffer less exposure to the industrial pollutants that bioaccumulate up the ladder.
Researchers tested 76 samples of different kinds of organic and conventional meats for 33 different carcinogens.
What dietary change can simultaneously help detoxify mercury, lead, and cadmium from the body?
Should we be concerned about the pimples, cadmium, and “colonic crunch” associated with consumption of sunflower seeds?
What evidence is there that our meat-sweet diets play a cause-and-effect role in dementia?
The same diet that helps regulate hormones in women may also reduce exposure to endocrine-disrupting pollutants.
Brown rice contains more arsenic than white rice, but the arsenic in brown rice is less absorbable, so how does it wash out when you compare the urine arsenic levels of white-rice eaters to brown-rice eaters?
Iron, zinc, oil, and even doughnuts are put to the test to see if they can block lead absorption.
What’s the best way to fulfill the omega-3 essential fat requirements?
If we increased our consumption of conventionally-produced fruits and vegetables, how much cancer would be prevented versus how much cancer might be caused by the additional pesticide exposure?
Though the most concentrated sources of the toxic metal cadmium are cigarette smoke, seafood, and organ meats, does greater consumption from whole grains and vegetables present a concern?
Dioxins, endocrine disrupting pollutants, heavy metals, saturated fat, and steroids in the meat supply may be affecting sperm counts, semen quality, and the ability of men to conceive.
An evolutionary argument for a plant-based diet is presented, in contrast to “Paleo” fad diets.
A Consumer Reports investigation into the safety of protein supplements found that more than half exceed the California Prop 65 Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act action levels.
Both U.S.-made and imported Ayurvedic dietary supplements have high contamination rates of toxic metals such as mercury—though only a small fraction of the levels found in canned tuna.