Anna Rodgers: Our Toxic World
With over 80,000 chemicals found in the air, food, water and personal care products we use every day, there’s no doubt we are living in a toxic world. It’s a topic renowned blogger Anna Rodgers knows only too well. Having personally experienced the health effects of childhood toxic exposure, this former model found a path to healing, and has made it her mission to help others. Her new book, “Toxic World, Toxic People—The Essential Guide to Health, Happiness, Parenting and Conscious Living” is receiving international acclaim for its spotlight on toxins and what’s essential for healthy living. Anna recently sat down to answer questions about her book and how you can thrive in a toxic world.
What inspired you to write “Toxic World, Toxic People”?
It came from my journey of almost 2 decades of extremely poor health. I suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Severe Depression and mainstream medical care did not make me better, in fact, it often made me worse.
I only healed after I included natural and holistic therapies, detoxing, and a good diet into my life. It made me realize just how many other people are stuck, seeing doctors and coming away with treatments for symptoms instead of solving the root cause.
Despite coming from a medical family (my Dad is a Doctor) I quickly became aware that the medical system was very broken and causing people to suffer unnecessarily.
I used to think only people like me were affected by toxins—those that had undergone a whole lot of stress, had come into direct contact with a chemical, or taken lots of medications—but sadly, I realize now that every single one of us is affected by so many different toxins. It’s an epidemic with horrific consequences.
The people I am most concerned about are our children. They are at greater risk because of their low body weight, and are born into a time in history where toxicity is at an all-time high.
My book is about making people understand the risks from toxins. I see so many people out there who think that eating organic food and using safer beauty products alone means they are ‘living clean’ but it’s an illusion, a false sense of security.
How did your early childhood exposure to toxins affect your life?
When I was about 5 or 6 years old I put some very toxic lead paint on my body ‘for fun’! Lead accumulates in the body and can weaken bones through displacing calcium. By the age of 26 I had broken 4 bones!
I also discovered I had a lot of mercury in my body, which I believe was from childhood vaccinations. To this day mercury is still found in the flu vaccine.
Throughout adolescence I suffered from severe concentration problems at school. I took anti-depressants for years and I never got better, in fact my very low times were always when I was on those medications.
Your book describes the everyday ways people are exposed to toxins. Do you think it is possible for anyone to avoid toxins today?
Unfortunately I don’t think it is possible. Our air is incredibly toxic for one, and there isn’t much we can do to avoid breathing it.
People have a false sense of security. I see this in the raw food community, where they eat only organic food and do a lot of juicing and they think that means they won’t ever get sick.
Yes eating well, and changing your beauty products is super important, but you must include daily, effective detoxing supplements in your routine. This is the most important key.
What are some of the worst toxins people are exposed to?
Heavy metals and endocrine disrupters are of greatest concern. In a nutshell, it would be:
Mercury
Found in vaccines, mercury fillings and other medications
Aluminum
Found in water, personal care products, medications, food, air and vaccines
Lead
Found in air pollution, old houses, lead pipes and soil
Endocrine disrupters
We now have an epidemic of hormonal problems, thyroid problems and cancers from the broad spectrum of chemicals we are exposed to in personal care products, plastics, and food packaging. It’s actually quite hard to pinpoint one chemical on its own as being the worst.
People often don’t see immediate symptoms with chronic exposure to toxins; does that make small exposures more dangerous?
Without a doubt accumulation is incredibly worrying. The average cancer can take up to 10 years to grow before being noticed by an individual so we have to ask ourselves, why did this start growing, what triggered it, what could we have done to avoid it growing in the first place?
This is where our health care providers are going very wrong. They are looking in all the wrong places. They are ignoring the biggest cause of disease—accumulation of toxicity. Much of this is to do with their medical training, they simply aren’t being told to test their patients for heavy metals when they are at Medical School.
Pharmaceuticals are often made using heavy metals. Even common indigestion products can contain 400mg of Aluminum in one dose.
You share some of the steps you’ve taken to restore wellness. You give particular attention to Touchstone Essentials’ natural zeolite Pure Body and Pure Body Extra.
I must say, answering this question gets me a bit emotional because before I took zeolites, I was still not well. I had begun healing, but I still had a daily problem of poor concentration, brain fog, and ‘heavy’ legs. It was difficult to walk up stairs without holding onto the railings. I felt like I was 80 but I was only in my early 30’s!
After 2 weeks on zeolites ALL of these things went away! To say that it was a life changing product is an understatement. Finally, I feel like I am a reasonably intelligent person instead of someone with a poorly functioning brain.
I dread to think what life would be like for me if I hadn’t discovered zeolites! I am very thankful that Touchstone Essentials has Pure Body and Pure Body Extra available to help families thrive in this toxic world.
In addition to taking out the bad toxins, you also cover the importance of putting the good back inside. What are your top picks for nourishing the body?
Good nutrition is key! So the best quality wholefoods are essential. I do believe in taking supplements, definitely, they changed my life.
This is why I also love Touchstone Essentials’ nutritional range. You can take a whole variety of fruits and vegetables, herbs, grasses and oils, without having to eat that same amount, which would be impossible to do!
Your book has received national and international press coverage and seems to have touched a nerve. Is now the tipping point for toxin awareness?
It is exciting to see the press coverage in the UK and US, from national magazine features to being interviewed on radio.
In May, the UK’s Sun Newspaper, which has a readership of over 2 million people each day, published a full-page story about my book, highlighting the dangers of toxins.
Seeing mainstream media cover these important topics gives me hope that we can improve the lives of more people than ever before.
Toxic World, Toxic People: The Essential Guide to Health, Happiness, Parenting and Conscious Living is now available in print on Amazon.com, on Kindle and via e-book.
Print version USA Kindle Version USA
Print or Kindle Version UK
