My friends swears that he has toxins in his body. He works with acetate, rubbing alcohol and various foam rubber mixtures. He is of the opinion that these substances have somehow been absorbed into his body and if he doesn’t take this little herbal-vitamin powder he’ll get really sick. I maintain that the only toxin present is between his ears (hey, what are friends for?), and he’d be better off not eating a large 4-meat pizza for dinner every night.
I am aware of what the Master spake , however, I’m curious if there is any basis in fact for his belief.
I’ve asked him to explain the mechanism that causes his herbal stuff to remove the bad chemicals from his fat cells and he answers “Because it’s an anti-oxident.” This sounds vague and new-agey to me.
Since he’s staying with me for the week and we love few things more than a good argument my question is:
Is there any basis at all for his idea that he’s absorbed these chemicals?
There’s no doubt that he’s absorbing chemicals; ethyl acetate is a potent industrial solvent and exposure can cause acetylation in organic tissue. How much risk this poses depends on the amount and duration of exposure; check out health & safety regulations (primarily OSHA) for recommended protective methods.
Antioxidants are real–they serve to reduce free radicals and prevent oxidative damage–but this is more of an impact on long-term chronic health (i.e. preventing cellular damage, perhaps reducing the incidence of cancer, et cetera) than immediate well-being. And you can get plenty of antioxidants from green leafy vegetables and fruits, whereas the four-meat and cheese pizza your buddy is eating every night is packed full of nutritional nastiness that no herbal supplements are going to entirely counteract.
It’s not clear what the long-term impacts of antioxidant supplements are (and because the herbal “medicine” industry is almost entirely unregulated, making any statistically valid determination is enough to make an acturialist choke on his SAS code) but even if they provide some protection they don’t purge “toxins” from your system. And Cecil is right about purge routines and the like; they have little effect on systemic removal of toxins, and many increase levels of undesireable substances or can otherwise prove harmful. Eating and living heathily about regular application of good habits, not a quickie treatment and back to the steak & martini diet.
If your friend is seriously worried about the effects of solvents he should take active protective measures. On the other hand, the supplements probably aren’t doing him any harm, and you’ll do him little good by shattering his illusions with the unwieldy hammer of logic.
Well put Stranger On A Train, I’ve often tried to gently steer him towards a healthier life style, but, he’s a grown man. I’m not going to nag him. It’s just that as he’s been staying with me I’ve heard a lot of new-age claptrap and it gets on one’s nerves after awhile.
Don’t geyt me wrong, he’s a true friend but I see this as to simular to trying to save someone from $cientology, but not as severe.
BMalion, you didn’t say where your friend works, or if it’s a big enough place to have a safety department. I can tell him, though, that he’s working on the wrong end of the problem. It is always better to keep the chemicals from getting inside you than to deal with them once they are in you.
I’m a codger who worked 34 years in an auto parts plant. Even in a fairly safe place like the one I worked in, there were hazards ignored by workers and management. The feeling was that, after the company provided safety equipment, it was up to the worker to save his own ass.* If your fellow workers are working without gloves or vapor filter masks, that doesn’t mean it’s safe to do that.
If you are breathing crud on the job, and absorbing other crud through your skin, don’t be a fool. Protect yourself. It’s your own body, and you have to wear it for a long time. If you poison your lungs or your liver, you have to live with that, too.
*After all, if a retiree dies young, the company saves money on his pension and medical insurance.
The belief that the body bears a heavy load of “toxins” that must be purged or flushed from one’s colon, liver etc. is an outgrowth of the old belief in enemas which was common in Kellogg’s day (nineteenth century).
Apart from specific chemical exposures which can be harmful, there’s no basis for the belief in some generalized buildup of toxins through exposure to everyday foods and products, and no basis for assuming that various supplements and “flushes” remove said toxins.
I’d be more worried about regular consumption of supplements of unknown quality and composition, than I would about toxins. If your friend substituted salad for pizza it would do more good than all the crap lining the shelves in the GNC store.