According to a report by the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice, American people are at serious risk from the daily intake of dioxin. The exposure to this chemical comes in a manner most may not even suspect—it’s in the food we eat.

The risk of getting cancer from exposure to dioxin is 1 in 10,000 for the general American population and 1 in 1,000 for highly exposed members of the population. These risks are 100 and 1,000 times higher, respectively, than the one-in-a-million “acceptable” cancer risk. And we know that the daily dioxin intake of Americans is already too high, exceeding federal risk guidelines.

Dioxin is the common name for the chemical 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). All American children are born with dioxin in their bodies. The greatest impact appears to be on the growth and development of children. Disrupted sexual development, birth defects and damage to the immune system may result.

It has also been associated with low IQ, withdrawn and depressed behavior, adverse effects on the ability to concentrate and focus attention and an increase in hyperactive behavior in children.

What foods contain dioxin? Mostly meat and dairy products—even ice cream. An independent laboratory found unacceptable levels of dioxin in a sample of the vanilla flavor of one of America’s most popular ice cream brands.

Dairy cows and beef cattle absorb dioxin by eating contaminated crops. Dioxins are in the air and settle on the crops. They can enter the air from thousands of sources, including incinerators that burn medical, municipal and hazardous waste.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) holds the view that any exposure, no matter how small, increases the risk of cancer. The EPA has calculated a “virtually safe dose” (VSD) for dioxin—generally regarded as an acceptably low exposure.  The amount of dioxin in the serving of the tested ice cream exceeded that VSD.

Studies conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences show that dioxins are very slow to leave the body and accumulate in our fat tissue. In his book Clear Body Clear Mind, best-selling author L. Ron Hubbard shows exactly how poisons like dioxin accumulate in the fatty tissue of the body and why this causes long-term serious health effects.

The book outlines the only program that can effectively rid the body of substances like dioxin that are stored in the fatty tissue. There are several elements to the program—incremental doses of niacin assist in releasing the toxins and aerobic exercise increases circulation to “mobilize” the chemical residues from the body tissue. Low-heat sauna sweats these residues out. Oil intake helps replace the fatty tissue which is impregnated with toxic substances, and an exact regimen of vitamins and minerals are taken to provide nutritional supplementation.

While no medical claims are made for the program, and the benefits vary person to person, papers documenting the safety and value of the program have been published in the journals of such organizations as the American Public Health Association, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, the Society for Occupational and Environmental Health and the Royal Swedish Academy of Science.

Clear Body Clear Mind is available in a paperback format in your local bookstores and online. For more information on the book and program, visit www.clearbodyclearmind.com.

While it may not always be easy to avoid dioxin in our food, it is comforting to know that there is a safe and effective way to reduce toxic residues that could cause serious long-term health effects.