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"The Wrong Way to Detox"
There is one proven way to accelerate the removal of these toxins - transfer them to your baby!
Changes in blood concentrations of PCBs during pregnancy: Some women cut their levels in half - they just deposited the pollution into their child.
So much so, that a significant predictor of pollutant levels in young people is their birth order. The firstborn gets first dibs on mom's toxic waste, leaving less for their baby brothers and sisters down the line.
Same thing with breast milk concentrations. This is how much you have in your breast milk after your first pregnancy. But by the next few, you've already passed about 20% along to your firstborn.
And even the mothers who were breast fed as infants tend to have higher levels in their breast milk when they grow up, suggesting a multi-generational passing down of toxic pollutants. So what women eat now may affect the levels of toxins in their grandchildren.
This, of course, raises the question of whether one should breast feed at all, given the levels of PCBs in human breast milk.
Researchers have long debated the adverse effects of exposure to PCBs on children versus the benefits of breastfeeding.
And the conclusion is: Breast is still best. Breastfeeding should continue to be encouraged.
So the best thing we can do for ourselves and our families, and their families is to lower our dietary exposure as much as possible.