Fitness & Health Guide

Toxins don’t just have to be heavy metals or other ordinary chemicals. There are many living things that can produce toxic effects in your body. Think of the poisons that can be released from a snake bite or bee sting. There are countless examples. We’ll be focusing on the toxic effects from bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites.

These are always present in your body and any healthy immune system will do an excellent job of fighting them. But the degree to which our body is weakened, these biological toxins can wreak havoc.

1. Bacteria

Bacteria, in and of themselves, are neither good nor bad. In fact, we need certain bacteria in order to live properly. Others, not so much. When bacteria begin inflict harm on our bodies, they cause infection. If you get harmful bacteria in your digestive system you can have cramps, infections and problems with bowel movements. Other side effects can include tiredness, mood swings and poor brain functioning.

2. Viruses

Actually, it’s not quite clear whether viruses are living things. That’s still being decided. In any case, they basically take over cells and use them as factories to reproduce themselves and repeat the process. Most viruses are eventually dealt with by your immune system.

The only real defense you have against common viruses is by maintaining a strong immune system. This comes from a healthy lifestyle of diet, exercise, sleep etc. Other more harmful viruses sometimes have vaccinations or you just take the best precautions to avoid them, such as in the case of STIs.

3. Fungi

Again, there’s nothing inherently wrong with fungi. It is typically present in your body in the form of yeast, which is found in all kind of foods and typically poses no problem. When it starts to reach higher levels, however, the yeast can produce chemicals that have adverse effects, such as digestive problems, neurological problems or respiratory problems.

One thing that will nourish yeast is a diet high in sugar. Cutting back on the amount of sugar you eat, and only getting it from natural sources is a great way to starve out these fungi, so to speak.

A lot of issues with yeast can also occur after taking antibiotics. The way our bodies work is good bacteria helps keep the levels of yeast in check. When you take antibiotics to get rid of some infection, it ends up killing this good bacteria in the process. With the bacteria gone, it leaves the yeast free to reproduce. In fact, many women commonly suffer yeast infections after taking antibiotics.

4. Parasites

Like many other toxins, parasites are impossible to avoid. They are simply everywhere. Most of them reside somewhere in your digestive system to feed on nutrients. They can prevent your body from getting the energy or nutrients it needs to function properly.

There are methods to flush parasites out of the body, at least to some degree. These practices are not as common as they were in previous days, but they are becoming more well-known as people search for optimal health practices.