Although an important part of the Healthy Cell Concept™, cell environment is perhaps the most frustrating element because it’s probably the hardest one for us to do anything about. We can easily eat cell food and incorporate cell exercise, but changing our environment is much more difficult. Of particular concern are air and water pollutants.
In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) protects human health and the environment through the regulatory process and voluntary programs. It sets limits on how much of a pollutant is allowed in the air anywhere in the United States. Air pollution comes from many different sources such as factories, power plants, dry cleaners, cars, buses, trucks, and even windblown dust and wildfires. Although national air quality has improved over the last 20 years, many challenges remain in protecting public health and the environment.
Air pollution comes in many different forms. The most well-known air pollutants are sulfur dioxide (power plants, diesel engines), suspended particulate matter (construction, industry, wood-burning), ground-level ozone (automobiles), and carbon monoxide (automobiles).
Our indoor air is often polluted, too—approximately 35 percent of the office space in the United States has pollution levels higher than the air outside. This comes from chemicals in cleaners, carpet adhesives, plastic products, and other sources, and is compounded by poor ventilation.
The result of these air pollutants is a decrease in quality of life and an increase in medical bills. Air pollution damages the lungs by causing irritation that leads to inflammation and the destruction of lung tissue. It weakens the lungs’ ability to fight further contamination, which makes the prolonged exposure to air pollutants increasingly destructive.
Air pollution also hurts our natural defenses against airborne invaders such as dust, pollen, and germs. Air pollution dries up mucus and destroys cilia. This is dangerous because the mucus in our airways traps germs and particles before they reach our lungs, and the cilia—hairlike cells—push the mucus out of the body.
Health statistics are telling. The examination of lung tissue from young people who were raised in cities indicate that 80 percent suffered from precancerous lung lesions, most likely due to breathing polluted air. Other studies estimate that five percent of the deaths in major U.S. cities can be linked to air pollution, and that some 60,000 deaths a year can be attributed to air pollution.
Monitor outdoor air quality and on “bad air” days, stay indoors, especially if you are young, elderly, or suffer from heart or respiratory problems. You can contribute to outdoor clean air by limiting your driving—use mass transit, join car pools, ride bicycles, or walk. Indoors, use an air filter or air purifier to remove pollutants such as smoke, pollen, dust, and pet dander from the air. Ideally, avoid cigarette smoke altogether by not smoking and staying out of smoking areas. Finally, support strong federal, state, and local pollution-control laws. These may seem like a hardship, but they will help your health and save you money. After all, would you rather pay a few dollars a year for car emissions tests or thousands of dollars a month in hospital bills for respiratory disease?
Water is perhaps the most important nutrient in our bodies. Although water does not contain “nutrients” as we know them—protein, carbohydrates, enzymes, vitamins, minerals—without water, we cannot survive.
One of the best things we can do for our health is drink water. The human body needs approximately 2 quarts (2 liters) of water each day. We get this through the foods we eat, through metabolism, and through drinking water. We should drink eight glasses (8 oz, 240 ml) of pure water throughout each day—try to drink a glass every hour.
This is important because if you don’t give your body enough water, it takes it from your cells and from your blood. This causes your body to close some smaller blood vessels, called capillaries, and makes your blood thicker and harder to pump around your body. This has implications in high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease. Lack of water may also be linked to headaches, arthritis, and heartburn.
Dehydration is also linked to obesity. Without water, your body can’t convert triglycerides (a type of fat) into energy.
Just any liquid will not do. Soda, tea, and coffee often function as diuretics, which stop your body from recycling salt and water and cause you to lose important nutrients.
Pay attention to what you drink. Tap water is polluted almost everywhere—according to the EPA, virtually every type of industrial substance we create ends up in our water supply. And when we use this water, the pollutants it carries harm our cells.
This means you should consider the options. Many people buy bottled water, but be careful. There are no standards for bottled water, and it can be as bad as, if not worse than, tap water. Others buy water filters. Today, technology has made possible efficient and cost-effective filters.
You can help maintain water quality by watching your habits. When you use fertilizer on your lawn or dump old paint in an alley, these substances eventually end up in the water supply. See if your community has a “hazardous waste day” when you can dispose of toxic substances. As with air-pollution standards, get together with others to ensure that water-quality standards in your community are sufficient and are met.
AIM products that aid detoxification are also helpful in ridding the body of pollutants picked up in air and water. These include AIM Herbal Fiberblend®, AIM Herbal Release®, and AIM Para 90®. When mixed with pure water, AIM BarleyLife®, AIM Just Carrots®, and AIM RediBeets® contribute to a healthy inner environment.
Adopting a healthy lifestyle is perhaps the best way to concentrate on cell environment. If you attempt to live a healthy lifestyle, you will be concerned with the environment both inside and outside your body. This will lead you to like-minded people and greater potential for interest in the AIM products and opportunity.
“ I was diagnosed with gouty arthritis at 32 and now that AIM Frame Essentials® has come along, I am drug-free and without pain." Darryl H.
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