Biohacking & HealthSpan

Aleksandra Cabarkapa is a clinical scientist embarking on research into the effects of toxins on health. In this post, she explains the need to mitigate the effects of our daily exposure to a cocktail of toxins and offers some simple everyday tips that can help with detoxification.

Only a few hundred of the existing 80,000 chemicals we have available to industry today have been tested for safety. The exact consequences of these chemicals on human health is still being scientifically investigated. However, we do know that some toxins accumulate in the body over time and emerging research [1]indicates a strong correlation between toxin exposure and chronic disease.

As a nurse educator and ICU nurse, I remain surprised at how long it is taking my fellow medical colleagues to catch on. There are small pockets of acceptance of the need for healthy fats and less sugar. However, on the floor at work, where the rubber meets the road, we still feed our patients what I believe is toxic food.

I am often amazed to think our hospital kitchens provide very little in the way of a decent diet for our patients when they need it most.

If you get sick and need to go to hospital, I totally understand. But the best thing for you is to get out as soon as you can. Why? To get yourself some decent food with high quality fat and protein that makes you heal. You can’t heal in a hospital that feeds you poorly. So I am going to keep you all posted on how I am going to try to change my student nurses’ thinking on the current food pyramid and how we have got it so wrong for so long.

With the silly season upon us, it’s important to take care not only of ourselves but also of our family, friends and colleagues. So let’s enjoy the festive cheer this year with a few simple tips for how to stay healthy, happy and safe:

Staying Healthy: A recipe to avoid hangovers and kick start your day if you are feeling a bit fatigued from so many late nights and over indulgences. (Note: this is not a prescription that allows you to go out and overindulge and drink to excess, but simply suggestions to enable you to keep a fully functional mind, body and soul over the next few weeks and a healthy kick start into the new year.)

You may already be familiar with the Bulletproof Exec’s recommendation of a teaspoon of mineral rich salt with water first thing every morning. We’ve learned there’s an even better way; the premise is that a solution is much like a tincture , where for example taking Echinacea in a tincture/solution would be much stronger than having a cup of tea with echinacea in it. The salt solution therefore, which is saturated with salt contains a higher therapeutic value than simply a glass of water with salt mixed in.

Turmeric is a spice widely used in cooking that has a variety of health benefits.  It is commonly used in a variety of Indian dishes and curries for its colour and aromatic properties but also as a medicinal plant with healing properties.

Turmeric is also used in some spiritual and religious practice as it is associated with purity, fertility and auspicious beginnings in Hindu culture.

I’ve fasted before.  I’ve water fasted.  I’ve fat fasted.  I’ve juice fasted.  I once subsisted entirely on cold pressed vegetable juice and coconut water for 14 days.... and wanted to go longer. 

So yes, I’ve fasted before.  And these are some of the things I learnt.