An underappreciated aspect of immune health may be exposure to toxins. But the conversation on immunity cannot be limited to the ingestion of vegetables vs. sugar or wearing a mask vs. not wearing a mask.
Toxins contribute to a weak immune system in various ways. It’s important to be aware of your toxic load and how to reduce it while supporting your natural detoxification processes to support optimal immunity. So let’s learn more about toxins!
What Weakens the Immune System
Toxins can weaken your immune system through several mechanisms. Today I’ll introduce a few of those mechanisms, and then introduce five common toxins as examples. I’ll also explain how to test for and detox from toxins.
Burden on Your Liver
You know your liver helps you detoxify, but did you know it supports immunity too?
The liver:
Produces acute immune proteins
Kills antigen particles
Deletes activated T cells
Promotes T cell development
“The liver is a major site of extrathymic T cell development, which assumes increasing significance with aging in mammals. Perturbations in hepatic structure or function can result in significant ramifications in both the innate and adaptive immune systems.” (1)
For a robust immune response, keep your liver happy with the tips you learn in this article.
Damage to Your Lung Tissue
Your lung cells are just one part of the immune system, but they can be damaged from the stress of toxins, making them more vulnerable to infection and disease. (2)
Oxidative Stress
Toxins generally cause oxidative stress--that’s the body being overwhelmed by reactive oxygen species (ROS) without enough antioxidants to counter them. This oxidative stress can damage cellular DNA, and contribute to cancer and metabolic diseases. (3)
As we’ve learned during the COVID outbreak in the United States, metabolic diseases can predispose you to poor viral response. (4)
Damage to Gut Health
Toxins can disturb the function and bacterial population of the large intestine, a key area of immune function. Sadly, this includes development of autoimmunity and development of breastfeeding newborns. (5, 6)
Five Toxins That Damage Immunity
1. Mycotoxins
Mycotoxins are just one category of toxins released by toxic mold species like aspergillus, penicillium, and stachybotrys.
Mycotoxins can damage mitochondria and cellular DNA, potentially affecting any type of cell in the body.
“Most, if not all, of the reported effects of mycotoxins, are negative in terms of intestinal health, where beneficial bacteria are eliminated accompanied by an increase of the gut pathogen.” (7)
Indoor toxic mold is more common than people realize and can lead to frequent infections, asthma, allergies, food intolerances and digestive issues. You can read more about toxic mold at my previous blog. I’ll cover testing for toxic mold later in this article.
2. Glyphosate
Glyphosate is the common name for the herbicide/pesticide RoundUp, the most commonly used herbicide in the US. While our toxicity screening covers other herbicides as well, I thought I’d focus on this one for now.
Even when you do your best to eat organic, you’d be surprised at how much glyphosate may be in your body! Unfortunately it is so prevalent in our environment that you are still exposed to this toxin.
Because glyphosate is meant to kill critters, it does a good job of poisoning friendly bacteria in your gut. This imbalance is deleterious for your immune system. (8)
Glyphosate also suppresses liver enzymes, the important group of enzymes that detoxify other toxins! (9)
3. Benzene
“Benzene is a clear, colorless, flammable liquid with a gasoline-like odor that can volatilize to vapors in air. It is an organic compound found most often in air as a result of emissions from burning coal and oil, gasoline vapors, motor vehicle exhaust, cigarette smoke, wood-burning fires, and other sources.
Environmental contamination of benzene mainly comes from industrial uses through improper discharge and vehicle traffic. Means of transportation emissions represent the major source of benzene in urban ambient air, while its concentrations in indoor air are significantly increased in homes where people smoke.” (10)
Our toxic test also includes benzene, and again you’d be shocked at potential levels of benzene in health-conscious people thanks to airborne exposure.
Four ways that benzene can affect immunity are:
Cytokine dysregulation
Hematopoiesis (cell development) dysregulation
Lung inflammation and immune dysfunction (11)
Development of diabetes (12)
4. Phthalates
Phthalates (say ‘thal-lates’) are a class of chemicals that are commonly found in soft plastics and fragrances. I most often discuss their role in hormone disruption and weight dysregulation, such as in this article. But phthalates can also contribute to respiratory disorders and liver burden.
“High molecular weight phthalates like DEHP, BBP, and their monoesters have been associated with allergies, asthma, wheezing, hay fever, itchy rashes, and eczema in adults.” (13)
5. Styrenes
We’ll end with styrenes, another class of chemicals you may know little about and think have nothing to do with you, but are in fact lurking on your body.
Styrenes are in food packing, building materials and exhaust. (14) Their role in immun-dysregulation includes:
Side note: I also found an interesting study on styrene raising prolactin levels, which can inhibit fertility. (18)
How to Detox Naturally
If you have symptoms of liver toxicity such as nausea, fatigue, and weakened immunity, rest assured there is a lot you can do about it!
At Functional Detox Products we emphasize safe, gentle ways to support your body’s own detox mechanisms. I will list them out below, with links to learn more, and then we’ll cover lab testing for toxins.
Testing for Toxic Mold & Other Toxins
When it comes to toxins, the best policy is to ‘know your enemy.’ As I mentioned earlier, you may be surprised by your internal toxic load, even if you try to avoid toxins.
I believe that factors such as health history, co-infections and genetic background play roles in your toxic load.
Our favorite tests for toxins come from Mosaic Diagnostics and Vibrant Wellness. These are a few key factors in why I went with these labs:
Offers mycotoxin testing for toxic mold
Offers organic acid testing, revealing cellular health, Candida levels and more
Offers a comprehensive chemicals test with glyphosate add-on
Comes in an easy, at-home test kit
Leader in the field of detoxification and functional health
Our Mold/Toxins test lets you choose the level of testing that works for you and you have an option to get a private consultation with us to review your results and make a customized detox plan.
Our practitioners are skilled in reading your results and helping you navigate your options.I think you’re going to really love seeing your results on this test!
Bridgit Danner, LAc, FDNP, is trained in functional health coaching and has worked with thousands of women over her career since 2004. She is the founder of Women’s Wellness Collaborative llc and FunctionalDetoxProducts.com.
Check out her easy 5-Day DIY Detox Guide here!
The liver is responsible for hundreds of tasks in your body, including elimination of waste products, regulating energy, supporting metabolism, balancing hormones, and so much more. Read on to learn the symptoms of a toxic liver, and my top low-cost ways to detox your liver!