Minimizing "SNACC's" - Not the ones you Eat but an Acronym to Help you Reduce your Toxin Load

#1. Sugar

Is sugar really toxic? Yes, it sure can when we consume too much of it. I have had many clients tell me they consume zero sugar. How is this possible when it is virtually present everywhere in our food and beverage industry. Unless you live in a bubble which most of us don't you are consuming sugar on a daily basis. Unfortunately, most people consume more than they really should and in many cases it is the refined form that we really need to cut down on.

I believe the challenge for most people is that we generally consume it without really knowing or thinking about it. There are some more obvious foods/beverages that contain a significant amount of sugar such as pop, cookies, baked goods, ice cream etc. And then there are many products which are less obvious such as granola bars, sauces, ketchup, alcohol etc or perhaps we do not want to believe they have large amounts of sugar. What makes it tricky is the word "sugar" is just a generic term as there are so many different forms and types of sugar hiding out there. A general rule of thumb is anything that ends in –ose, has "sugar" or "syrup" in the name of the ingredient is likely a sugar though sugar has many other different names to make it even more confusing. Can we avoid sugar? The reality is we can't but can we minimize it especially the more refined kind? Yes, absolutely if we are proactive and more mindful about what we consume!

Excess sugar consumption can potentially cause a whole host of health issues that can affect you from head to toe such as:

• Your brain, mood, joints, teeth, heart, pancreas, kidneys, skin, body weight, sexual health, liver, gut etc.
  

So even though sugar tastes good to most of us we want to encourage people to minimize it in their diets. The reality is it can't be avoided as it is in so many different things in our day to day diet. A general rule of thumb would be to avoid or keep to an absolute minimal refined sugar that you typically find in baked goods, desserts, soft drinks, alcohol and other junk or packaged foods. The bottom line is sugar in excess can promote inflammation which is a common denominator in all chronic illnesses and many acute conditions.

If you have a health issue that is plaguing you and you believe sugar is not a problem, please consider keeping a diet and beverage diary for 2 weeks of what you are eating and drinking. Then come in to make an appointment to speak to our certified nutritional practitioner Emma Gritten. You will likely be surprised at what this may reveal about your true health status.

#2. Nicotine

Nowadays, it is pretty well a given that everyone knows that nicotine is "bad for you" as there are so many negative health consequences to nicotine usage. Most of this stems from nicotine's highly addictive property. Did you know that the effects of nicotine can reach the brain within 15 seconds via cigarette smoking? This rapid stimulation provides a release of adrenaline to the body followed by feelings of depression and fatigue which leads to further cravings. Hence that is why nicotine is extremely addictive. The tobacco industry would not survive if there were no nicotine in their products.

What one may not realize is the extent of the damage this toxin can cause. With continued use the damage is cumulative and affects every major system in our body. Regular tobacco usage will likely affect the following:

• Weakening of your immune system
  
• increasing your risk for heart disease
  
• impairing your ability to heal
  
• lowering your energy levels
  
• accelerating the aging process
• increasing the risk of cancer
• decreasing exercise tolerance/stamina
  
• increasing risk for depression
• making blood clot more easily than it should
• impairing breathing
  

While nicotine by itself is not likely to cause all of these health issues it is the 4000 plus chemicals that you find in cigarette smoke that is poisonous to the body. If it does not kill you it will severely compromise your quality of life. The carbon monoxide, tars, arsenic, benzene, ammonium, acetone, cadmium etc. found in tobacco will increase one's risk for many different types of cancers and a multitude of other health issues.

If you are ready to give up nicotine please make sure you get professional help. Most people are not able to do quit by themselves because nicotine is so highly addictive. If you do not have a plan in place to deal with the cravings you are likely to fail in your attempt or will get severe withdrawal. Quit for life your life!

#3. Alcohol

Unfortunately most people who drink alcohol regularly do not want to hear this - but regular consumption of alcohol can be toxic to most people's health. Chances are if you consume alcohol on a daily basis you are likely to have some form of health issue stemming from this pleasurable but less than healthy habit. You do not necessarily have to be an alcoholic for alcohol to have a negative effect on your health. Alcohol has zero nutrient value and is actually classified as a drug and is a known depressant.

Everyone knows that drinking too much alcohol will cause a hangover and perhaps have some affect on the liver. However that is just a tip of the iceberg as alcohol can affect the body in so many ways in which most people would not really think of. It could be something relatively mild to something more serious depending on the amount one consumes regularly and also how long they have been doing it for. Some of the health issues that may be brought on by excessive alcohol consumption are the following conditions:

• digestive (stomach) issues, anemia, heart disease, depression, anxiety, gout, nerve pain, low energy, slow healing, weakened immune functioning, poor muscle recovery, poor memory, reduced ability to learn new things
  

More serious health issues caused by heavy alcohol consumption are the following:

• Cancer, cirrhosis, dementia, seizures, infectious disease, pancreatitis, neuropathy
  

Alcohol like most drugs or toxins is likely to deplete the body of many essential nutrients as well. The common nutrients depleted are the following:

• B vitamins (more specifically B1, folate and B12), vitamin A, calcium, magnesium, amino acids, zinc, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin D, selenium, tyrosine
  

In general alcohol on occasion usually presents no problems or causes few issues with one's health. If you have a health issue and you are consuming alcohol fairly regularly it may be worthwhile to consider abstaining from it to see if it improves your health. In these cases it is likely causing you more harm than you want to think!

#4. Caffeine

By far the most under rated toxin in the SNAACs acronym is caffeine. It also seems to be the one that is affecting us the most nowadays as it would be unusual to not find a coffee or doughnut shop within 2 blocks of each other. Consequently most people consume it on a daily basis and it is no surprise to me why so many people are plagued with health issues in the modern world today. Like sugar, nicotine and alcohol most people get great pleasure from the consumption of caffeine. It provides rapid stimulation to the brain and gives that "kick" or "buzz" which people have become dependent on or in some cases addicted to.

While there are proponents who say there are some health benefits to the consumption of coffee I have found that any benefit that it might provide is greatly drowned out by the side effects people experience from it. Don't get me wrong I love the buzz that caffeine gives the brain but I restrict myself to no more than one per week which is usually a specialty coffee on Thursday mornings. Caffeine unfortunately is very nutrient depleting and it will rapidly lower your levels of the following nutrients over time:

• Magnesium, potassium, calcium, vitamin C, B vitamins, iron
  

Dr. James L. Wilson who has written the ever so popular book Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome says that for your adrenals to heal completely you need to abstain from caffeine as it over stimulates the adrenal glands. A local naturopathic doctor in Burnaby, BC described to one of our pharmacy clients consuming caffeine on a regular basis is like "being punched in the stomach".

In addition to all the nutrients it depletes, caffeine is a great promoter of inflammation in your body and as a result of this we see an onslaught of health conditions that continually arise to this day. There are times when practitioners have tried to treat their clients with pharmaceuticals or natural remedies with limited success because the root cause has not been properly addressed – that is removal of the offending agent (i.e. caffeine). In many cases clients also refuse to give it up because of it's highly addictive properties. The list of potential health issues is so long that it would be impossible to list them all here. You would literally need pages and pages to write them all down. Please see the Caffeine Tapering Consult web page for additional information.

As a reminder, in addition to coffee we find caffeine in soda drinks, chocolate and energy drinks which are very popular with the teen population and other young adults nowadays.

If you must consume caffeine find out what your limit is? That is how much can you consume and get away without compromising your health too badly. On the other hand if you are tired of feeling sick and truly want to improve your health please consider giving it up on a daily basis. If you need help which most people do, please speak to Peter Lee our resident caffeine expert.

#5. Chemicals

Last but not least we have chemicals to round up our last toxin in our SNACCs acronym. By chemicals we are talking about anything else in the modern day environment that can potentially be toxic to our health with extended use or repeated exposure. Some of the more common ones that come to mind are the following and by no means is this meant to be a conclusive list:

Chronic pharmaceutical drug use, recreational drug use, aspartame and other artificial sweetners, poor quality cosmetics, chemicals in your work place, pesticides, heavy metal exposure, pollution, preservatives and other chemicals in processed, packaged and junk foods etc.

Anything in our environment can be toxic to us at a certain amount or level of exposure. What we need to determine is what is the threshold or limit that an individual can consume or expose themselfto without causing too much ill effect on their overall health? This may vary widely from one individual to the next and one toxin to another.

When the body is subjected to an excess (i.e. beyond your personal limit) amount of chemicals/toxins you put your body under a lot of unnecessary stress. This in turn works the organs harder (i.e liver, kidney, etc.) and can potentially stress both the nervous and digestive systems as well. Unfortunately, when this happens over an extended period of time it will likely cause you to be sick!

"If we were able to keep the above toxins to an absolute minimum we would experience a paradigm shift in our overall health - unfortunately these toxins give people too much gratification for this to occur."

Peter Lee, Integrative Health Pharmacist
Founder of Balanced Health Integrative Pharmacy