Published at: 04:01 pm - Tuesday January 19 2016

One of the most frequently asked questions at the new year is “Do I need a detox?” It seems to be the great debate. Your traditional western medical doctor usually says you don’t need a detox because your body was made with a built in detox mechanism. So, who’s right? Well… both actually. Let me explain. You do have detox pathways built into your body. Your liver is really the big power house here although the lymphatics help as well, but let’s just stick to the liver for simplicity’s sake. Your liver works tirelessly for you 24/7, 365. However, I need to shine a light on the environment in which we live here.
Since the beginning of time there have been toxic minerals in the environment. There is also metabolic waste in your system just from the functioning of your body. The liver was made to neutralize and eliminate all of these toxic substances. The problem comes in when we realize that most of the chemicals on this planet were not around 100 years ago. The chemicals that surround our everyday lives were not invented 100 years ago. The liver was never intended to process the volume of waste that we encounter, ingest and absorb every day. There is the question of adaptation. We evolve to survive in our environment. Remember the concept survival of the fittest? The problem is our bodies haven’t had a chance to adapt. The generations of frogs goes by very quickly, whereas human generations are much slower and take centuries to adapt to this sort of environmental change. And, consider it isn’t just the added chemicals, it’s the diet changes as well. The liver requires specific nutrients to work properly. Most people on the standard American diet don’t take in the required nutrients that the liver needs to do its job properly. The higher the toxic load, the higher the nutrients needed by the liver.
Most people aren’t even aware of all the chemicals they encounter each day because they are so common. Consider this very small sample of chemicals that surround you every day.
Dry Cleaning Chemicals
Gasoline and Exhaust fumes from cars, semis and industry
Smoke not only from tobacco, but also from candles and incense
Perfume (this is a whole other blog post!)
Glues, Resins and Paints. These are in our homes & offices as carpet, paint, cabinetry, furniture, etc.
Not to mention the big guns: mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium, PCB’s, Dioxins, Pesticides, BPA & Plastics, Prescription Meds in the water supply (yes, in the water!)
I always have some people that think they buy organic food so they don’t encounter any toxins and thus would never need a detox. Hmmm… Most of the above toxins you are exposed to daily have nothing to do with food. The issue is that most people are completely unaware of their toxic load.
It’s the Load. The toxins accumulate and interfere with normal functions of the body, normal detox functions, and normal immune system function.
In case you think I’m an extremist and making this stuff up… yes some people do! Let me share some facts with you. The CDC is continually measuring over 300 environmental chemicals in our blood and tissues. There is actually a thing called the Human Toxome Project which measures over 500 chemicals in our blood. Real organizations are continuing to keep track of our toxic load. You may have heard this a couple of years ago but the watch dog organization The Environmental Working Group tested the cord blood of newborns and found 232 chemicals present. Now that brings to light the fact that now we don’t just accumulate toxins every day of our lives, but we are now being born with a significant toxin load from day one on this earth! You can go to their website to check on this study as well as other information about our toxic load here.
This will be a 3 Part Series on Detoxing. The first is to just shine a light on the vastness that is our toxic load, identify where some of these toxins come from and how to reduce our exposure and toxic load.
Part 2 of the series will be understanding common symptoms of a high toxic load and your health risks from exposure to these chemicals. We’ll also begin to understand how the liver filters these chemicals and what it needs to function properly.
Part 3 will cover what we can do about detoxing the chemicals from our bodies. Detoxing plans will include using foods for detoxing, supplements for detoxing and lastly chelation therapy.
So stick around with us and follow this New Year Detoxing journey.