The title of the article is a weird one. Am I saying you may continue to consume foods laden with toxins? Yes. Why? Because its impractical to think that one can avoid eating toxins which naturally occur in food. I know this sounds strange so let's explore the topic a bit better.

First, let's acknowledge the simple fact that food must be edible. Ideally it should have some nutritional value. Second, the ideal food should contain zero toxins. But most food if not all foods that we consume contain toxins and many of these toxins are naturally occurring. So how can a toxic food provide nutritional value if it appears to be killing you at the same time?

Unavoidable Contaminants

The FDA has established tolerances for the unavoidable contaminants that are in food.

Yes, naturally occurring toxins are consumed albeit in low quantities and don't require an immediate trip to the emergency room.  For example, seafood may contain high amounts of mercury but that doesn't stop your local fish restaurant from serving whole fish fried bass.

The peanuts which you eat might contain over 25 different types of fungal toxins called mycotoxins although you'd never know unless you sent those peanuts into a laboratory to be analyzed. Certainly, the guy at the ballpark doesn't have any idea he's selling toxin-laden peanuts to you!

But, I Love Eating Bread!

Do you enjoy eating bread? Wheat contains a particular type of toxin group called mycotoxins, which includes the highly carcinogenic aflatoxin.

Corn? Yes, this also includes toxins.

What about cereal? A lot of cereal in today's market contains a grain most people have never heard of but its virtually everywhere. It's called sorghum and it contains – you guessed it – naturally occurring fungal toxins.

This is not the Scary Part

The point of this article isn't to scare you because natural toxins in food are just a fact of life. Here in the U.S., most of the time, the end result of consuming these toxins are only nuisance symptoms including gastrointestinal distress and indigestion.  

The FDA recognizes naturally occurring toxins within foods to be a fact of life because the presence of naturally occuring food toxins is unavoidable. The concern is at what level these toxins exist. The FDA instructs that these toxins should be at a tolerable level. In other words, a level where the harmful constituents won't do too much damage to the body.

 When Naturally Occurring Toxins Can be Lethal

The situation here in the U.S. differs from other parts of the world where the quantity of naturally growing toxins is extremely high. As such, the consumption of the most basic staple foods can be severely hazardous to one's health.

In sub-Saharan Africa for instance, naturally growing fungal metabolites grow on foods including grains and corn. In times of severe draught, the growth of these toxins multiply and threaten the population's health, particularly the young and elderly. This has turned into a very serious cause of concern for governments there. There are many articles on this subject matter should you wish to read more.

Healing Power of Clay

Edible clay, or calcium montmorillonite clay, has been studied for its health benefits in these populations. The ability of clay to absorb and adsorb toxins and subsequently eliminate them from the body has been a growing subject matter of interest to clinicians. The absorption of these toxins by clay prevents their uptake in the body and redistribution to target organs.

So, for now, it's really impossible to avoid food with naturally occurring toxins. You do your best to eat healthy, drink plenty of water, exercise, and eat a spoonful of clay per day.

To learn more about the effects of natural supplementation with clay, check out Healing with Clay: Natural Healing from the Earth by Ran Knishinsky.