In Part 1 we talked about the every day exposure to toxins and our toxin load.  In Part 2 we talked about our internal detoxification pathways and what happens when they get bogged down.  In particular, we talked about the incredible liver and how it neutralizes and disposes of toxins that get into our system.  Now we are ready to find out how to aid our body in its detoxification processes.

There are several ways we can go about helping our body to detox.  We can use food, supplements, oral chelation and IV chelation.  We should all be using food as a way to maintain our daily detoxification.  That should be a no brainer for most people now that you  see the amount of toxins you encounter every day. Taking Chlorella supplements and/or adding lots of cilantro, which are both natural chelators, to your meals is a good way to use food to help your body chelate and get rid of toxins and heavy metals on a daily basis.  If you find that you have a larger toxin load due to lifestyle or where you live, you may want to periodically use supplements or oral chelation to prevent an accumulation of toxins in your body.  I only would recommend IV chelation in life threatening situations.

First, let’s talk about Glutathione.  It is one of the most potent antioxidants in your body and is concentrated in your liver.   Unfortunately, you can’t just take a bottle of glutathione to boost your body’s levels because it isn’t absorbed well.  Instead, it is smart to increase your consumption of its precursors, the amino acids cysteine, glutamic acid and glycine.  By keeping these precursors available in your body, it will be able to make glutathione more readily.  Secondly, it’s smart to increase alpha lipoic acid (ALA).  ALA is also a potent antioxidant.  These two work together really well.  I like to describe their relationship like this… The glutathione goes into the ring to take on the toxins and beat them into submission.  Then between rounds or between fights, ALA is there to clean up and sort of recylcle the glutathione so that it can go back in the ring and take on more toxins.  The more you have of both, the better your body and liver will be at taking on those toxins.

Its smart to load up on food sources as your first line of defense.  Make sure you are taking in plenty of amino acids, but cysteine in particular.  It is the dominant amino acid in this equation.  Foods rich in cysteine include poultry, yogurt, egg yolks, garlic, onions and broccoli. I also like supplementing your smoothies with Collagen Peptides which are amino acids. All three glutathione precursors are abundant in Collagen. This is the Collagen that I use.  Foods rich in ALA include dark leafy greens, beef and organ meats.  In this country people tend to cringe at eating organ meats, including me, so I use Beef Liver supplements.  This is the one I use.

You can also use supplements to support the liver.  As I suggested above, I like to use the Collagen for the amino acids but you can also supplement with cysteine in capsule form as well as the alpha lipoic acid.  Both are easy to find in capsule form and often come in combination.  I have these available at my office, but you can find them at local health food stores.  I actually use an ayurvedic formula for liver support with my patients as well, so there are many options available.

The next step is to do chelation therapy. As I said, I would only do IV chelation for serious health issues.  Chelation therapy goes into the tissues, grabs, bind and eliminates toxins and heavy metals that are being stored. The risk, in my opinion, in IV chelation is that you are removing a large quantity of toxins in a very short amount of time which can be rough on the kidneys.   I would rather try an oral chelation, which does the same grab, bind and eliminate, but at a much slower pace that is easier on your body.

It’s best to work with a practitioner if you are going to opt for chelation.  Practitioner oversight can help prevent any negative side effects.  Chelation not only binds the bad but can bind the good minerals as well, so it’s best to follow a schedule set up by a practitioner to avoid any deficiencies.  Also, it is imperative to eat whole food fiber while chelating (and always really!), so that the bowels move out all of those toxins and not let them stand idle in the intestines.  Apples, oats, pears, nuts, etc. are all good for this.

In reviewing all three parts of this detox series, you should understand how important not only reducing your toxic load should be to you, but also how important it is to eat a balanced whole food diet. McDonalds and the like will never furnish you with the nutrients that are required to support your bodies own detoxification pathways.

If you have any questions, or would like to workout a detoxification plan, just let us know.