Learning to Navigate a Toxin-Ridden World with Dr. Aly Cohen

From pollutants in the air to hormone-disrupting chemicals in our shampoo. From pesticides and preservatives in our food to mascara which made women blind in the 1930s. Needless to say, modern humans live in a toxic soup of novel man-made chemicals which humans have never been exposed to until recently. The worst part is, thousands of new chemicals are being synthesized every single year! How are these chemicals even safety tested, especially long term? With more new chemicals hitting the shelves than ever, how are consumers supposed to know which ones are truly toxic and which are safe to use? 

In this interview, Jorge Roman, host of the Live Damn Well podcast, interviews Dr. Aly Cohen, a triple-board certified physician, regarding her new book: Non-Toxic: Guide to Living Healthy in a Chemical World.

For those of you who follow the independent research and educational resources from the Environmental Health Trust, you are likely aware that technology such as 5G, is deemed safe until proven unsafe. The same is true for many household products, cosmetics, and preservatives. Why is this the case? Dr. Cohen explains that safety testing by the FDA is often inadequate. In fact, in depth long-term exposure studies usually do not come from the FDA or the company which makes a product, but rather from educational institutions or independent organizations such as the Environmental Working Group. Another issue which arises from the creation of these man-made chemicals is the fact that they are often not tested in combination with other chemicals. The results from this type of testing are thus unrealistic and cannot be applied to the real world, where people are exposed to hundreds, if not thousands of environmental toxins daily.

If this is such a big issue, why aren’t more government agencies or conventional health professionals on board with the fact that toxins have such a profound effect on human health? First, Dr. Cohen explains that the United States has a bias towards free trade and innovation. In other words, entrepreneurship and profitability is prioritized, which often leaves proper safety testing of chemicals on the backburner. These chemicals are created to serve a certain function well, not to be safe for human consumption or long-term exposure on human skin. In addition, many problems exist within the conventional medical system. The allopathic medical model is pharmaceutical-based, focused on managing symptoms of disease with drugs, rather than disease prevention or reversal through diet and lifestyle interventions. How is this relevant to the topic of environmental toxins? Many conventional medical professionals are simply not educated on the importance of toxins in food, water and cosmetics. In fact, many western medical institutions only require a few hours of nutrition education to graduate (1, 2).

What does this all mean for the consumer? Consumers often end up being the guinea pigs for the thousands of new chemicals synthesized and patented every single year. 

In this interview, Dr. Aly Cohen talks about:

• The problems with safety testing on household products, cosmetics and food products
• Why you should look out for the word “fragrance” in your cosmetics
• The effects of environmental toxins and endocrine-disrupting chemicals on our immune systems
• The science behind glyphosate: why it’s one of the most pervasive toxins in our environment and how it affects our health
• Simple ways to dramatically reduce the amount of toxins you are exposed to from your food, water, and household products
• Which independent environmental organizations you can look to for unbiased reviews of the science, such as the Environmental Working Group

Watch the full episode #8 on YouTube here and listen to the Live Damn Well podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!

https://ehtrust.org/learning-to-navigate-a-toxin-ridden-world-with-dr-aly-cohen/ Source: Environmental Health Trust