Understanding Detox, Part 2: Ending the Vicious Toxic Cycle

In Part 1 of this post, I explained the real definition of detoxification, which is a lot different than what you’ve probably seen on television and the internet. I talked about some of the most common toxins, how they affect our health, and some of the symptoms of an excessive toxic burden in our bodies.

Because our first exposure to toxins occurs in the womb, the question isn’t if we’re toxic. The real question is, how toxic are we?

That question can be answered through comprehensive screening, including blood tests and surveys, to assess an individual’s level of toxification. In other words, detox isn’t for everyone.

The next step to understanding detox is to learn about the body’s detoxification pathways and how a real detox program helps.

The Body’s Detoxification Pathways in a Healthy Liver

Fat soluble toxins, including metabolic end products, chemical pollutants and contaminants, micro-organisms, food additives, drugs and medications, are transported from the intestine to the liver. While in the liver, Phase 1 Detoxification occurs to neutralize certain toxins.

Toxins that have yet to be neutralized move to Phase 2 Detoxification, where they’re transformed into water soluble compounds. These newly transformed toxins are transported to the kidney and bowel to be excreted from the body.

The Body’s Detoxification Pathways in an Unhealthy Liver

In an unhealthy liver, the detoxification process can’t keep up with the delivery of new toxins to the liver. Toxins build up and recirculate through the body and are stored in body tissue, including fat tissue, the brain and other parts of our nervous system, causing the symptoms discussed in Part 1 of this post.

The failure to neutralize toxins contributes to disease and long-term poor health.

90 percent of Standard American Diet is inflammatory and toxic, causing a vicious, unhealthy cycle within the human body. A poor diet causes inflammation and the production of cortisol. Elevated Cortisol caused by physical, nutritional and psychological stress leads to cravings for sugar and salt and leads to more junk food consumption.

The combination of cortisol and a poor diet causes further inflammation in the intestinal track. More cortisol. More inflammation. It’s a cycle that we can stop with a detoxification program.

The Detoxification Program

The detoxification program that we support at Natural Healthcare Center utilizes a well-researched dietary and supplement program to balance and support the body’s detoxification pathways. The duration of the program is 10 days for mild symptoms and 28 days for more severe symptoms.

This program nutritionally supports your liver and improves your body’s natural detoxification processes. It also supports your body’s ability to excrete toxins once they’ve been neutralized, reducing the chance that toxins will be recirculated and stored in the body.

Our detoxification program has helped people with some of the worst cases of toxicity feel better, leading to a dramatic drop in symptoms related to conditions like fibromyalgia, leaky gut syndrome, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Metabolic Syndrome insomnia and many more. Detox even helps to remove high levels of heavy metal from the body.

Our cells produce a protein called metallothionein to help us excrete small amounts of heavy metals from our bodies. A high heavy metal burden makes it difficult for the body to excrete these toxins, so they become stored in body tissue and cause health problems. Detoxification provides the body with nutrients that support heavy metal excretion by naturally increasing production of metallotheionein.

Detox is also a great way to start a clinical nutrition program. You can’t throw fire on top of fire and expect the problem to go away. Detoxification allows us to introduce the body to healthy food so it can begin to digest food the way it should be before diving into a long-term nutrition program.

Remember, when you see a commercial for a detox cleanse program or read about something similar online, be careful and be educated. If it doesn’t remove the toxins that cause serious, long-term health problems, it’s not a detoxification program.

If you’re dealing with symptoms of excessive toxic burden, let’s sit down and talk. This is the first step toward pinpointing the cause of the problem and developing an integrated approach to treatment that can help you feel better, function better and live longer.

Dr. James Prood­ian is an accomplished chiropractic physician and health educator who founded Proodian Healthcare Family of Companies to help people feel better, function better, and live longer. His expertise for the past two decades has been in physical rehabilitation, and he has successfully established himself as a spinal specialist. In his practice, he advocates the science of functional medicine, which takes an integrative approach to treating patients by addressing their physical, nutritional, and psychological needs. Alarmed by the escalation of complex, chronic illness in our country, Dr. Proodian has been speaking to companies and organizations through his “Wellness at Work” program since 1994, motivating thousands of people to make positive lifestyle choices and lead healthier, more productive lives. He can be heard weekly on his radio program, “Proodian Healthcare By Design,” on Tandem Radio.