How Toxins in Our Food and Environment Cause Joint Inflammation
Long-Term Effects of Red Tide and Toxic Chemicals
Most people trust the FDA and EPA to keep us safe from toxic food and a toxic environment. According to the FDA, they help protect public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and quality of our nation's food supply and dietary supplements. They oversee the regulation of the process of food production and food labeling. I have very little trust in the FDA considering their allowance of additives, preservatives, dyes, and other chemicals that are known to cause health issues. Food labels are convoluted with words people don't recognize or understand the side effects of.
The EPA was developed to ensure environmental protection. The EPA’s responsibility is to help reduce waste and clean up harmful substances that pollute our land. Unfortunately, they do very little about the use of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers that are making our land more toxic. Chemical run-off from these fertilizers ends up in the rivers, lakes, and oceans and leads to the death of animals and marine species, as well as, cause neurological conditions and cancers in humans.
I had my first experience with severe debilitating joint pain on September 15th, 2019. It was a little over nine months after Florida experienced the worst red tide incident in recent history. I had to look back into my health history to understand what led to my joint pain. The first thing that came to mind when I fell ill was to recall what activities I participated in and what I ate that week prior to the incident. On September 11th, 2019, I had the best mile run of my life finishing at a pace of 7:49. That evening I decided to go out to eat, and I ordered Wild Maine Scallops. I've eaten scallops numerous times in my life with no issues. The portion size of the scallops was more than I had ever been served, so I was very excited. They were good but probably could've been cooked 30 seconds longer to perfection. The following Thursday I had Mahi tacos and a Prime Rib dinner on Friday. I did not feel ill after any one of the meals.
I woke up Saturday morning with mild joint pain and swelling in my feet, ankles, knees, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hands, and fingers. I had never felt this stiffness in my joints. I moved a little slower that day, but the movement seemed to ease the discomfort a bit. I would've attributed the discomfort to running but feeling it in my upper body the way I did told me something different.
On Sunday, I felt like I was hit by a truck. The pain and inflammation of the joints were exacerbated. I stayed home, rested my body, stretched a little, and drank a lot of fluids, specifically ginger tea & apple cider vinegar in water. I thought it may have been gout that I was suffering from. The problem with that theory was that gout usually only affects one joint, especially the big toe. My big toe was fine, and my pain was in several joints. Sunday night I woke up with debilitating pain. My spouse at the time took me to the ER immediately. I got out of bed and could hardly walk, it hurt so bad. My hands were so inflamed I couldn't take the top off the toothpaste. I couldn't turn the doorknob. I couldn't put my sports bra on. My fingers were curving like rheumatoid arthritis. All I could do was cry because I didn't know what was going on with my body. I was scared. I barely made it down the stairs on my own, and my spouse had to help lift me into his truck.
The ER doctor walked into my room and asked me what my symptoms were. He said it wasn't gout based on my symptoms, but he didn't know what it was. His only guess was that it might have gone viral. They did diagnose me with arthralgia, which is joint pain with several possible causes. I was prescribed prednisone 60 mg. for five days and was told to come back for testing if symptoms return. I took my first dose at the hospital, and I returned home. The next day I felt so much better, just after the first dose of prednisone. I was able to get up and walk again without discomfort. The scared feeling I had that morning prompted me to do more research online.
I believe it's important that doctors start talking to their patients about how the environment can impact their health in a negative way. Everyone needs to learn and understand the processes our food goes through to get to the consumer. There should be an awareness of the potentially harmful side effects of the chemicals that are added to and sprayed on our food. People should understand that how we treat our environment has a major impact on our health. The use of fertilizers, pesticides, and insecticides has a negative impact on our food and water supply, environment, and bodies.
Is there a connection between environmental pollution and the increase in the number of people with allergy issues, asthma, cancer, diabetes, hormone issues, joint pain, etc.? Here are my hypotheses of why I experienced severe joint inflammation and pain:
1. Long-term effects of living on a farm
I grew up and lived in Ohio until 2018. I moved to Florida in July 2018. From 2005 until 2018, I lived on 2.5 acres of land that were surrounded by farmland. I remember the smell of the pesticides and herbicides when they were being sprayed. It almost felt like a film of chemicals was lingering in your throat. It happened a few times a year. The pesticides can be linked to osteoarthritis, R.A., gout, lupus, and fibromyalgia. Many of the symptoms related to these diseases and disorders I have experienced.
2. Poor eating habits as a child
I was a heavier-set kid from about 8 years old until high school. I was not old enough to understand the true importance of diet. I ate a lot of processed food, fast food, and sugar, and drank soda and alcohol until the age of twenty-seven. Chemicals and sugars that are used in these processed foods and soda pops are linked to many inflammatory disorders.
3. Effects related to red-tide
In July 2018, I moved to Florida. Only three weeks after we arrived, one of the worst red tide incidents was caused by a combination of fertilizers, cyanobacteria, and enterococcus bacteria from sewage overflow. Cyanobacteria or blue-green algae are the most toxic being linked to BMAA. BMAA is associated with Alzheimer's and dementia, ALS, Parkinson's, and other neurological disorders. It is known to bioaccumulate in the marine food web. Our food is not tested for BMAA, so there is a possibility we are exposed to it in our seafood. Many people were exposed to BMAA by breathing it in during the red tide of 2018. It's a neurotoxin and the long-term effects are not yet known.
4. Lyme Disease
Did I get bitten by a tick that could’ve caused Lyme Disease or a virus-infected mosquito? I know I never had a bullseye rash that can indicate Lyme disease. Viruses and Lyme Disease both have side effects of severe joint inflammation.
5. Cleaning Products
As a young kid, I used to clean my house without using gloves. The chemicals used for cleaning will absorb right through your skin and into your bloodstream. The chemicals contained in cleaning products have side effects of arthralgias and myalgias aka joint and muscle pain.
6. The STTP chemical in shellfish
Did the accumulation of all the above finally get set off by the scallops I ate a few days prior? I had to do a lot of research on this topic. Scallops filter our oceans, and our oceans are polluted more now than ever before. Our oceans and the Gulf are toxic with all the chemicals, bacteria, and oil spills getting filtered through them. Harvested scallops and most other shellfish are soaked in a chemical called STTP, which helps preserve the scallop. Could the toxins, bacteria, chemicals, or development of an allergy to scallops have set off this severe debilitating joint pain?
I believe these are all possible causes of my joint pain and fibromyalgia incident. I know my body and recognize the errors that I've made over the years that may have led to this. People say to me "But you are so healthy, how could this happen to you?" I am just as at risk as anyone else. We all breathe the same air, drink the same water, and are surrounded by a toxic environment. There's no running from it. I do my best to live a healthy and happy life and asses the challenges as they arise. No one is immune to disease no matter how healthy you are. My best advice to you is when a sudden health issue occurs, be mindful and educate yourself on what you are doing that could cause it and make the necessary changes.
Originally published for Longboat News
