Mental
balance will mean different things to different people, but for me an
important part of achieving mental balance it to stretch your brain –
socially, in the workplace and in your personal life.
PART
TWO
ENVIRONMENT AND THE MIND
There are many
environmental pollutants that tax your health and it is important not to
ignore their influence on your state of mental well-being.
HEAVY
METALS
Minute
doses of heavy metals and minerals can cause a variety of problems
including fatigue, irritability, insomnia, nervousness, headaches and
weakness - enough to cause depression in anyone! The main culprits are
lead, mercury and aluminium.
Lead
is highly toxic and is present in exhaust fumes from cars, old water
pipes, industrial emissions, the older paints, and cigarette smoke. Lead
is also found in many calcium supplements, namely bone meal and dolomite,
due to the animals and soil being exposed to lead pollution. The fall of
ancient Rome has been attributed to the poisoning of its citizens by their
lead water pipes and lead containers used for storing wine.
Lead
attacks the central nervous system primarily, causing symptoms like
nervousness, depression, apathy, headaches, restlessness, agitation,
irritability, psychiatric symptoms, visual disturbances and weakness, loss
of memory, poor sleeping patterns and nightmares. In children lead
poisoning manifests in hyperactivity, learning disorders, autism,
epilepsy, convulsions and mental retardation.
Mercury,
present in amalgam dental fillings, drugs and many other pharmaceuticals
(a large number of ointments, cosmetics, laxatives, contraceptive gels and
even eye drops contain sodium ethyl mercury), can cause various nervous
system disorders including speech defects and mental retardation.
There is some evidence that people with amalgam dental fillings are more
likely to suffer from depression than are people without such fillings.
Researchers at the Rocky Mountain Research Institute report that removal
of amalgam fillings can markedly improve the symptoms of manic-depressive
illness (or Bipolar disorder). Their study involved 20 patients who had
been diagnosed with this disorder. All the patients had amalgam fillings
(an average of 10 fillings each).
The concentration of mercury in the
mouth was measured at the start of the study and was found to increase by
almost 300 per cent after chewing gum for 10 minutes. (It appears that
mercury vapour is released by the action of chewing – it then enters the
bloodstream and passes into the brain.) The patients who had their amalgam
fillings removed showed significant reduction of anxiety, depression,
paranoia, hostility and obsessive compulsive behaviour.
Aluminium
(found in antacids, aluminium
cookware, fluoridated water, tap water, processed cheese, baking powder,
tea, toothpaste, antiperspirants and anti-depressants) is linked to speech
disturbances, psychiatric disorders, and is suspected of affecting our
short-term memory and possibly contributing to Alzheimer’s disease.
To
protect yourself, it is best to avoid exposure to these heavy metals, and
you should also try to replace amalgam fillings with less toxic compounds.
From a dietary perspective, foods that are high in natural antioxidants
(found in all raw fruit and vegetables) have been found to provide
protection against the many possible side-effects of heavy metal
poisoning.
Chlorophyll in particular is known to help the body neutralise
the effects of metals like lead. It is found in all green leafy vegetables
and the darker the colour, the more chlorophyll is present. (The juice
from barley leaves is particularly high in chlorophyll – yet another
good reason for including some Barley Life in your daily diet). It is also interesting to note that
our reaction to lead is far worse if the diet is high in refined
carbohydrates and low in fruit and vegetables.
PESTICIDE
RESIDUES
Many pesticides are used
in food production and residues are commonly found in the produce
available in supermarkets. Some of these pesticides are known to affect
the central nervous system. With behavioural problems like hyperactivity
and attention deficit disorder on the increase, it is a frightening to
discover that the very foods we encourage these children to eat, are the
foods contaminated by pesticide residues – chemicals that adversely
affect the system that in fact controls these disorders.
The solution is to buy organic produce whenever it is available and
if you can afford it. Alternatively, you can start to grow your own
vegetables, even if it means replacing a rose bush or two with some tomato
plants or carrots. Then make sure that you wash your fresh fruit and
vegetables well in an environmentally friendly soap to remove the
pesticide residues. Pesticides are generally oil-based and are not easily
removed by water alone.
As always, diet has a
crucial role to play. The antioxidants and nutrients contained in fresh
fruit and vegetables will certainly be of benefit and will also help the
body to deal with these residues. Mark and I take a good two to three
heaped teaspoons each day dried juice made from sprouted barley. We use BarleyLife
for a number of reasons: it is produced organically so there is no risk of
the presence of pesticide residues; it contains very high levels of
chlorophyll which is a powerful neutraliser of heavy metals and toxins
like pesticides; and it is also very high in powerful antioxidants (like
superoxide dismutase) which help rid the body of toxins. For very similar
reason we take Just Carrots and Redibeets,
dried juices made from organically grown carrots and beetroots.
Just in case you are
wondering – no, we do not have shares in the company that markets these
products and nor are we paid to mention them! They are just exceptionally
good and we have found them to be very beneficial to our general health
and mental well-being. You could grow all these vegetables organically and
make your own juices if you wish; we just don’t have the time or the
inclination to do so.
CELL
PHONES & ELECTRO-POLLUTION
There
are persistent concerns about the safety of cell phone use. Scientists
have discovered that a call lasting just two minutes can alter the natural
electrical activity of a child’s brain for up to an hour afterwards.
Radio waves from mobile phones have been found to penetrate deep into the
brain and not just around the ear as previously supposed.
A study
conducted by the Spanish neuro Diagnostic Research Institute has prompted
leading medical experts to question whether it is safe for children to use
mobile phones at all. To date I have yet to come across research
indicating what cell phones can do to the brain of an adult, but to be on
the safe side I would encourage you to use cell phones that can be placed
on ‘speaker phone’ or to opt for using a safe hands-free kit.
In
modern urban environments we are exposed to an inordinate amount of
‘electro-pollution’. This could be from living near power line or
simply from being exposed to far too many electromagnetic fields from cell
phones, televisions, computers and the other electrical equipment that
surrounds us. It is virtually impossible to avoid such exposure but
that’s where a healthy diet and regular exercise comes in, for they will
do much to counteract the harmful effects of electro-pollution on your
brain.
