19: Breaking the Boundary: Understanding Neurotoxins and Entrepreneurial Health

Ever wondered how your health could be silently sabotaging your entrepreneurial journey? Brace yourself as I, Jeffrey Mort, take you through a revealing exploration into the overlooked realm of neurotoxins that might be stealthily draining your entrepreneurial energy and performance. We're breaking down common neurological obstacles like anxiety disorders, ADHD, depression, bipolar disorder, and autism spectrum disorders. Plus, we're shedding light on 20 neurotoxins - from lead to glyphosate - that could be impacting your success. Buckle up, as we embark on this enlightening journey!


LINKS:

Free Toxicity Assessment

Minerals and Metals Test

Glyphosate test

Environmental Toxicity Test

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Chapters

• 0:00 Common Neurotoxins Impacting Entrepreneurs
• 10:42 Neurotoxic Substances and Health Symptoms
• 20:04 Breaking Boundaries
• 25:34 Toxic Burdens and Healthspan

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome visionary entrepreneurs to another transformative episode of Breaking Boundaries. In this electrifying exploration, we dive deep into the shadowy labyrinth of cognitive performance, unmasking the lurking culprits, those ubiquitous neurotoxins that unwittingly sabotage your entrepreneurial prowess. But fear not, for you have a seasoned guide to lead you through this treacherous terrain, unveiling the radiant path towards unleashing your mind's limitless potential. Prepare to reshape your cognitive destiny, igniting the flames of innovation through the fusion of science and soul. Hello, I'm Jeffrey Mort. If you're like most entrepreneurs, you're busy taking care of business. Yet who's taking care of you? If you're ready to take your energy and performance to the next level in your life and your business, then this podcast is for you, because today you're going to start breaking boundaries of your mind, body and business with integrative health, and when you do that, your possibilities are limitless. I'm grateful you're here, yes, grateful, as always. My friends, thank you so much for joining me here. On another Mind, your Monday episode of the Breaking Boundaries podcast for entrepreneurs. This is episode 19. And, of course, as always, you'll want to stay till the end when we bring it all together on how to avoid failure and reach that next level of success with integrative health. And for all the show notes and links from today's episode. You can visit JeffreyMortcom and click on the podcast button.

Speaker 1: 1:44

So today you're going to discover 20 common neurotoxins that are silently holding you back from your entrepreneurial energy and performance. I have a lot to go through here today, so I'm going to try my best to not veer off on any side paths, side bars, tangents or ramps or anything like that. So what exactly is a neurotoxin and how can this become a boundary in life and in business? A neurotoxin, specifically, it's a chemical substance that exerts deleterious effects on the nervous system by disrupting normal neural function and potentially causing cellular damage and cellular death. These toxins typically target neurons, glial cells or neuromuscular junctions, interfering with essential progress such as neurotransmitter synthesis, release, uptake and receptor binding.

Speaker 1: 2:47

Neurotoxins can lead to a wide range of neurological symptoms and disorders, including paralysis, cognitive impairment, sensory disturbances and even life-threatening conditions. Neurotoxins can occur through various routes, such as ingestion, inhalation or direct contact on the skin, and the severity of the effects can vary based on factors such as dose, duration of exposure and individual susceptibility. So many entrepreneurs have health boundaries holding them back, and today we're going to detail some common neurological hindrances that entrepreneurs might face. Keep in mind that these hindrances can affect anyone, not just those in the entrepreneurial demographic. It's also important to note that neurological conditions can vary widely in their impact and prevalence. Now, before we get into the 20 neurotoxins, here are five neurological hindrances that might affect entrepreneurs.

Speaker 1: 3:52

Number one anxiety disorders. Entrepreneurs often face high levels of stress due to uncertainties and challenges of running a business. Anxiety disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder or panic disorder can be particularly prevalent in this demographic due to the pressures and demands of entrepreneurship. The second one is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, adhd, and it can affect an individual's ability to focus, to organize tasks and manage time effectively. Entrepreneurs need to juggle multiple responsibilities and tasks, and ADHD symptoms can pose challenges to staying organized and on track.

Speaker 1: 4:37

Number three depression. The stress, isolation and constant demands of entrepreneurship can contribute to higher rates of depression. Entrepreneurs can often experience intense pressure to succeed and may struggle with work-life balance, leading to depressive symptoms. Number four is bipolar disorder, and bipolar disorder can cause some extreme mood swings, impacting an entrepreneur's ability to maintain consistent productivity and decision-making. The manic phases might lead to impulsive decisions, while the depressive phases can hinder motivation and energy levels. Number five autism spectrum disorders, also known as ASD. Some entrepreneurs may be on the autism spectrum, which can provide them with unique strengths such as intense focus and intense attention to detail. However, challenges in social communication and interaction might hinder networking and relationship building, which are crucial aspects of entrepreneurship. So it's important to remember that every individual's experience with these hindrances can be unique, let's say, and many successful entrepreneurs have overcome these challenges, often by seeking effective testing and receiving bio-individualized wellness plans, building strong support systems and implementing strategies not to manage their conditions, as most conventional modalities may suggest, but to discover the root causes and rebalance the body and the mind.

Speaker 1: 6:17

If you or someone you know struggling with neurological hindrances, it's recommended to seek professional guidance from medical, from integrative health and mental health experts. So I mentioned a lot of clinical names there and I have to give you my disclaimer that this podcast does not offer medical advice, because I'm not a medical doctor. That comes from your medical physician, your medical doctor, your primary care physician. But what I can do for you as an integrative health practitioner is I can help you to discover these underlying root causes of these imbalances in the body and in the mind and the brain, and I can help you to remove those issues, and I'll talk more about that later by rebalancing the body and getting you back into a state of well-being. So I personally struggled with mild to moderate neurological hindrances throughout my entire life, really, as far as I can remember at least, from age 14 into my late 40s, and only until I discovered the underlying root causes was I able to break through some of these boundaries that these hindrances caused me.

Speaker 1: 7:31

And although I'm providing you with a list of 20 common neurotoxins today, there are sources and related health symptoms. Please note that while some substances have been suggested as neurotoxins, their classifications and effects can be debated in scientific and medical communities. And again, the information provided here is for general knowledge and should definitely not replace professional medical advice. So here we go. Here's the list. Number one, to no surprise, is lead and the source. I'm gonna give you a source and health symptoms for each one of these neurotoxins here. But lead the source is, as you may have guessed, common lead-based paints, but also its source comes from contaminated water, from soil and from many consumer products as well. And keep in mind that lead is a natural occurring element, so of course it's going to be occurring naturally in our environment, but it's also used heavily in a lot of consumer products as well, and some of the health symptoms of lead toxicities are cognitive deficits, developmental delays, behavioral problems and learning disabilities.

Speaker 1: 8:43

So number two is mercury and mercury, again naturally occurring, and it's very prevalent as a source in fish, especially big game fish as well, fish like swordfish and tuna fish, and this is one of the reasons why I maybe only consume tuna fish once a month. I used to feel as though it was healthy, so I was consuming it maybe twice a week. Before I used to eat swordfish a couple of times a week as well, but once I discovered the high content of mercury in those bigger game fish, I just stopped completely. Mercury is also found in dental amalgams, certain cosmetics and many industrial processes. The health symptoms related to mercury toxicity cognitive impairments, memory issues, tremors and mood disturbances. Number three is methylmercury, and this source is from contaminated seafood, especially, again, large predatory fish. Health symptoms of methylmercury are impaired motor skills, developmental delays, cognitive issues as well.

Speaker 1: 9:53

So next, organophosphate pesticides. It's a big word and it's a big product that's commonly used in agriculture but not allowed for use in organic farming, and I actually had to look that one up because of the name, organophosphate pesticides. I thought that that might be found in organic produce, but it is not. But some health symptoms associated with those pesticides are nausea, vomiting, headaches, muscle tremors and cognitive dysfunction. Can you begin to see the pattern here of cognitive dysfunction with some of these? Now you may be thinking that you might not be exposed to things like lead and mercury and methylmercury and organophosphate pesticides, but as we go through this list, you're going to discover that some of these are a little more common than you think.

Speaker 1: 10:42

Number five polychlorinated bisphenols. So these are known as PCBs, formerly used in electrical equipment, now present in the environment all over the place, and health symptoms are impaired learning and memory, developmental issues, in children especially, and I want to note that the source for PCBs formerly used in electrical equipment. I spent 30 plus years in the electrical industry and was definitely exposed to my share of PCBs in my time there. So number six one that you've probably heard a lot about lately, and this is glyphosate. Its source is widely used as an herbicide in agriculture and some health symptoms are possible links to developmental and cognitive issues, as well as cancer.

Speaker 1: 11:37

Number seven is manganese. Now, manganese is a mineral that's very important to the body for energy production, for glucose tolerance for integrity of tendons and ligaments, and it's definitely essential for bone development. And you might be wondering well, if it's essential for all of these functions of the body, then why is this a neurotoxin? Well, I'll get to that in one minute. The source for manganese is typically or high manganese is typically well water, occupational exposure in mining, welding. So if you know any welders, they're definitely susceptible to high levels of manganese and certain industrial processes as well. Some health symptoms related with manganese toxicity are cognitive and motor deficits, mood disturbances and even Parkinson's-like symptoms. It makes the body catabolic, which means you get cellular breakdown, and it also is synonymous with the alarm and resistance stage of chronic fatigue syndrome.

Speaker 1: 12:42

Cadmium is number eight on our list of 20 here, and I'm trying to roll through these as quickly as possible for you. Cadmium is a heavy metal that causes toxicity. Of course, cadmium is a natural occurring heavy metal, but it has no business in the body and its main source is actually cigarette smoke, as well as contaminated foods and industrial processes, and some of the health symptoms are cognitive impairments, tremors and neuropathy. So number nine, arsenic again another one of our top five heavy metals that we talk about, and its source is contaminated drinking water. Certain foods I'm just gonna go into a food list, but I won't certain foods, industrial activities and the health symptoms for high levels of arsenic or any level of arsenic is cognitive deficits, peripheral neuropathy and skin changes as well.

Speaker 1: 13:36

Number 10 is toluene. Toluene is found in paints, solvents and fuels. So if you work in the paint industry when I was in construction, the painters always seemed to look the most unhealthy and it's from the chemicals and toxins that they are exposed to on a daily basis. So toluene is one of those chemicals and definitely something we wanna avoid. Number 11 is hexane. Hexane its source is on industrial solvents and it's a component of gasoline. So if you are fueling up your vehicle, if you're at the gas pump and you can smell the gasoline, you are actually inhaling hexane, and some of the health symptoms are peripheral neuropathy, motor deficits and cognitive impairments. You can sort of see the pattern here, with a lot of the same health symptoms related to a lot of the same neurotoxins.

Speaker 1: 14:31

Number 12, aluminum. This is one of the most prevalent heavy metals. It's found in cookware, it's found in antacids medications. Lots of vaccines have aluminum in it and the health symptoms are controversial, linked to Alzheimer's disease and possible cognitive effects. Now I do intend on doing an entire podcast episode on aluminum in the future as well as this next one.

Speaker 1: 14:59

Number 13 is fluoride, again very controversial here. I don't know how many healthy debates I've gotten into with my children's dentists when they try to give them, or orthodontists when they try to give them, a bottle of mouthwash that contains fluoride or toothpaste that contains fluoride. This, the source, is added to water supplies and it's also added to toothpaste and some foods. Now, fluoride it's naturally occurring, but we don't need to add a neurotoxin to our food or our water or our toothpaste. When they're adding fluoride to water, this is medication without consent, and how can you regulate how much a person is going to ingest? You know, if you have a little old lady that drinks maybe a quart of water per day, she's getting a little bit of fluoride. But if you have an athlete that's consuming tap water from a municipal water supply that's fluoridated, you know, and they're drinking a gallon, maybe a gallon and a half of water a day, they're getting in way too much of this neurotoxin that has no business being in water, and the United States is one of the only countries that still allows this neurotoxin to be put into water supplies for no apparent reason. It really doesn't do any good for bone health or anything like that. So sorry, I'm going off on a tangent here.

Speaker 1: 16:21

Number 14, bisphenol A you know this as BPA and it sources found in certain plastics and food containers as well. The health symptoms possible impact on brain development, behavior and hormone regulation as well. Number 15, phallates, found in plastics, personal care products and some medications as well. The health symptoms possibly links to neurodevelopmental issues, especially in children. So next is Perafloro octanonic acid, so PFOA. In the source you might have heard this before referenced in non-stick cookware and water-resistant coatings. And the health symptoms are potential impacts on brain development and especially liver function. So these PFOAs, if you're using non-stick cookware and it actually gets scratched, then that's coming off into your food little by little.

Speaker 1: 17:21

Next, number 17, polychlorinated Di-benzo-P dioxins Big big word, PCDDs, and also polychlorinated Di-benzo-4-ans, so PCDFs. And where do you find these? You find these. They're a byproduct of combustion, so everybody's getting exposed to these, especially people that live in the city or high traffic areas. You know, maybe you know somebody that's a road worker and they're constantly exposed to combustion and exhaust and definitely certain industrial processes. Health symptoms, cognitive and developmental issues and immune system effects. Number 18 is ethanol. This is also known as alcohol and, yes, its source is alcoholic beverages, so alcohol is definitely a neurotoxin. There are, like I wanna say, no health benefits to alcohol. At this point in my life, I would say that there's no benefit of alcohol that outweighs all the risks, and some of the health symptoms are neurological impairments, cognitive deficits, addiction of course, like liver disease and all kinds of things like that.

Speaker 1: 18:32

Number 19, tobacco smoke, smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke are obviously the main sources Health symptoms, impaired cognitive function, developmental issues in children especially. And rounding it out is number 20, which is copper, and this is another interesting one. Like manganese, copper is definitely required in the body for energy production, for the female reproductive system and for blood formation, and in excess, though copper toxicity, you get neurological symptoms like fear and anxiety and ADHD symptoms and even Wilson's disease as well, and the source can be from drinking water, from copper pipes and lots of dietary sources as well. And the interesting thing about copper is it works in a ratio with zinc, so if your zinc is low, your copper is going to be high, and we'll talk about how to find that out in just a minute but very, very important to keep your copper and your zinc in balance in your body so that you have that energy production and you don't end up with reproductive system issues and infertility issues and things like that and poor blood formation. So remember that exposure levels, susceptibility and individual responses can vary greatly and if you suspect exposure to any of these substances or experiencing related health symptoms, it's important to consult with a healthcare professional for appropriate evaluation and guidance.

Speaker 1: 20:04

And again, after mentioning all of those diseases, just reiterating this disclaimer not medical advice here in the Breaking Boundaries podcast, and we don't claim to diagnose, treat or cure diseases. So how is this a business boundary? Well, there's a good chance of exposure to all of these on a weekly basis leading to impaired processes of body and the brain and seriously, folks, that's not good for business. So imagine life without those boundaries. Imagine having your body's central nervous system shifting more towards the parasympathetic nervous system and being calm and in that rest and relax in growth mode, like we talked about in our very first episode here of the Breaking Boundaries podcast. The opposite of growth mode is survival mode, and so we're moving, we're shifting from fear and anxiety over to growth and love and inner peace and clarity is what life can be like without some of these boundaries.

Speaker 1: 21:07

So now you're probably thinking, jeff, what should I do? Well, in a moment You're about to discover how to break that boundary, and your call to action, as I always like to give you in these episodes, is To be aware and to avoid those neurotoxins as much as possible. And I gave you the sources of these neurotoxins on purpose, so that you knew what. Where to start avoiding some of these things. You know trade in your, your non-stick cookware for either stainless steel, glass, stoneware or cast iron is a great alternative. Get rid of all of your aluminum, your aluminum foil, your aluminum cookware pans. You know baking dishes, things like that, anything that's aluminum. You want to get rid of those, because every time you're cooking with those, you're actually ingesting it. Start reading ingredient Labels, such as your baking powder, and make sure there's not aluminum. Your cosmetic products, like deodorant, is one of the top ones that have Aluminum in it and start getting rid of those things. So avoiding these neurotoxins is step one, and then number two, the answer is Don't guess.

Speaker 1: 22:10

Test, test yourself, and you can simply use our Minerals, minerals and metals. Hair tissue sample test. It uses a simple snippet of hair and it looks at your mineral levels, so you can look at things like manganese and copper and zinc and the ratios between your minerals, and it also looks at all five of those heavy metals that we mentioned lead, cadmium, mercury, aluminum and arsenic. You can also use what's called an environmental toxin test, and this is a urine based test where it looks at hundreds of environmental toxins to let you know what your levels are there. And then, if you're specifically interested in your bodily toxic load of glyphosate, we now have a very reasonably priced glyphosate lab that also is a urine based test that'll tell you your exposure to glyphosate Fantastic and really easy lab to do to see Exactly what your exposure is to glyphosate and how do you avoid glyphosate. Go back to our clean 15 and dirty dozen episode and and you can definitely avoid pesticides and herbicides there.

Speaker 1: 23:16

And then, to round out our Call to action here, you want to rebalance, you want to rebalance the body, you want to remove toxicities, you want to replace deficiencies, and you can do this using something like our functional medicine detox protocol. So we're talking about our last episode, so this is 19 episode. 18 was about toxin removal, going through our de stress protocol series of Episodes, and we talked about our functional medicine detox protocol. We also have a heavy metal detox protocol where, when you test for the minerals and metals lab, you can see your exposure to those five most common heavy metals that are extremely toxic to the body and then you know what to do next. Will you move into a heavy metal detox protocol? Really easy to do. It's eight week program and, honestly, you know the next two months are gonna go by anyways, so it would be amazing to feel your best, would it not? The heavy metal detox protocol we didn't talk anything about mold today, but we also have a mold detoxification protocol. It's just as easy.

Speaker 1: 24:17

You can do things like sauna, infrared sauna or dry or wet sauna, and that can help to detoxify some of these things as well. I can't link up any of the protocols like the functional medicine detox or the heavy metal detox on the podcast, but I can link up the tests like the minerals and metals lab. I can link up the environmental toxins test. I can also link up the glyphosate test and our free Toxicity assessment. I'll link that up as well. So I want you to avoid failure, because it's not about moderation, like the old adage goes. It's all about balance, it's about homeostasis and it's about biological equilibrium. I want to hear about your success story, because healthy entrepreneurs know that they need to test and they need to Detoxify on a regular basis to stay in top performance. So do in some of these functional medicine lab tests that can easily be done right at home, and then do in a seasonal Detox, like we have coming up in our love, energy, wellness, support and community Amazing program, and we can walk you through how to detoxify your body from all of these Neurotoxins so that you can open up those pathways and be able to have clarity in your life.

Speaker 1: 25:29

So your three key takeaways from this episode is number one Neurotoxins.

Speaker 1: 25:34

They're all around us and even the essential minerals that we need for metabolic function can be toxic in in excess amounts and when they're out of ratio. Number two is the only way to know your total toxic burden for sure is to test. And number three Removing toxicities, replacing deficiencies, is the only way to get healthy and avoid neurological issues and increase your health span, which is how healthy you are at the end of your lifespan, and you may or may not be thinking about. You know when you're towards the end of your life, after your midlife and then towards the end of your life, maybe, maybe you are, I'm not sure, but Wouldn't you want to be healthy during those years, right up until you know the very last day, when you know? Maybe you just don't wake up one day, you feel, feel great right up to a hundred years old, and then you know, you just move on after that.

Speaker 1: 26:27

So, removing those toxicities, replacing those deficiencies, honestly, it's the only way to get healthy, and I'm here to help you do that, because I'm 100% committed to your health and I hope you are too. So much gratitude for you listening to this episode and all the other episodes. Please share if you feel as though this could serve somebody that you love, and leave a review so that we can help more people. Leave that review right on your favorite podcast platform and we will see you next time with breaking boundaries. Bye, bye, everybody.