The Gentle Detox Solution

Th e Gentle
Detox Solution
Each one of the substances of a man’s diet acts upon his body and changes it in some way, and upon these changes, his whole life depends, whether he be in health, in sickness, or convalescent.
Hippocrates
In this chapter you will learn
• How detoxification helps create greater energy, balance weight, eliminate negative symptoms, reduce cellulite, and much more • About the major detoxification organs and how they help your body eliminate toxins and toxic buildup • What to expect while detoxifying • How to start eliminating toxins from your environment by choosing healthier cleaning and personal-care products • Why The 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan is uniquely suited to reduce or eliminate the side effects commonly associated with detoxifying as well as provide a thorough cleansing to all your body’s detox organs Chapter .: The Gentle Detox Solution ..
Diana is like many women: she unknowingly exposes herself to more toxins than she could ever imagine. She rises early to begin her day with her morning shower, which exposes her to chlorine and other water contaminants. She lathers her body with a liquid soap that smells and looks pretty (and is full of colours, fragrances, sudsing agents, and other chemicals), washes and conditions her hair with shampoo and conditioner that expose her to more chemicals. She slathers on creams and lotions full of synthetic chemicals that will be absorbed by her skin—her body’s largest detoxification organ. She uses deodorant containing the heavy metal aluminum among other toxic substances. Then she spritzes herself with perfume that is loaded with harmful ingredients that also are absorbed through her skin and that she inhales all day long. After blow-drying her hair, she sprays it with chemical-laden hairspray that exposes her skin and lungs to further toxins. Diana loves wearing beautiful clothes but they secretly hide harmful laundry soaps, fabric softeners, or dry-cleaning chemicals.
She takes pride in what she refers to as her “mostly healthy eating habits” and encourages her teenage children to eat similarly. She eats a whole-grain cereal with milk or whole-wheat toast every morning. The cereal she consumes contains preservatives and plentiful amounts of sugars disguised by their names. The milk contains growth hormones, synthetic estrogen, antibiotics, and other medications used in the raising of dairy cows. She chugs back a glass of orange juice that is also laden with sugar and still contains residue of the pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, fertilizers, and other chemicals used to grow the oranges. She grabs an apple for the drive to work—“After all, an apple a day keeps the doctor away,” she tells herself.
On the drive to work she breathes exhaust fumes containing many harmful toxins found in petrochemicals, alongside other air pollutants from industrial plants, cigarette smoke, and thousands of chemicals found in air pollution. Arriving at her office job, she inhales formaldehyde from the new desks, chairs, and other offi ce furniture.
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The building itself is only a year old and is still giving off the gas of many chemicals used in the manufacture of the synthetic materials. She unknowingly inhales these toxins with every breath. She rushes off to the laser printer to grab the document she has been working on and then makes numerous copies on the photocopier, the whole time breathing additional chemicals from the toner.
Janice, her friend and co-worker, passes her in the hall wearing a lovely new perfume that Diana immediately notices and admires (breathing further synthetic chemicals). But Diana still catches the odour of cigarette smoke that the perfume was intended to mask.
On her drive home after work, she sighs with fatigue, then notices the fl ashing neon of fast-food row. She internally debates whether she really has enough energy to make dinner tonight and finally decides to stop for food, after all, “that fried chicken really isn’t so bad occasionally, is it?” Along with the chicken, she grabs the bag of buns and four colas and heads for home. The kids will be nicely surprised. Diana would be surprised too if she saw the list of synthetic flavours, colours, dough conditioners, sugar and synthetic sweeteners, hormones, and other chemicals making up this “meal.”
After dinner she can barely scrape together enough energy to do some laundry (with chemical-laden soap and fabric-softener sheets). “It’s a good thing I picked up dinner tonight so I have enough energy to do a bit of housekeeping—well, a load or two of laundry,” she tells herself reassuringly, then heads for bed.
The number of toxic chemical exposures Diana encountered during her day is in the thousands. This is true for most people.
In Chapters 2 and 3 you learned about the myriad toxins present in our foods, homes, and all around us. The number of toxins to which we are regularly exposed sounds overwhelming, and our bodies may be feeling the same way. However, some minor changes to
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your daily routine and a little awareness about positive choices you can make will result in substantially fewer toxins for your body to cope with. As well, you are about to learn a powerful detoxifi cation method that will help you feel great every day while allowing your body to efficiently eliminate toxins and improve the functioning of your detox organs.
Nature created our bodies to have innate mechanisms to prevent an overflow of toxins. Although we have overwhelmed these systems, we can help to restore them to optimal functioning. Enter Th e 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan. After years of trying virtually every form of cleansing, I found that some worked while others did not. I found that almost every cleansing method involved negative symptoms and cleansing reactions. The authors of these plans said that these symptoms were a necessary evil: “no pain, no gain.”
I tried liver detoxes, gallbladder flushes, colon cleanses, toning and purifying herbs. I drank nothing but lemon juice in water with maple syrup for one program; during another I ate only apples for days; still another program had me popping over sixty nutritional supplements. I sickened of apples, grapefruit, and lemon juice. I tired of pill-popping. I thought only of the gourmet and decadent foods I would eat at the end of these harsh programs. I felt a bit like a character in Clement Clarke Moore’s Twas the Night Before Christmas—I was the one with visions of sugarplums dancing in my head. I also had visions of chocolate, pasta, and pie.
At the end of most programs, I felt modestly improved or unchanged. On some cleansing programs, I felt worse than when I started. On one program, my body actually swelled. I felt like a balloon on a helium machine. My legs became so bloated I could barely put weight on them without discomfort. I looked and felt terrible. One thing became abundantly clear to me: there had to be a more effective and less painful way to cleanse one’s body.
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My quest for the ultimate detoxification program resulted in Th e 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan. I discovered that the results of other programs would always be minimal because they targeted one or two detoxification organs in the body—usually the liver or the colon. So I devised a program that targeted the whole digestive tract, the liver and gallbladder, the skin, the kidneys and urinary tract, fatty deposits in the body, the lymphatic system, and the bloodstream and cardiovascular system. Now I was getting somewhere. I started to feel immensely better than before.
But I still experienced some side effects of cleansing. I discovered that whether you target one or all of the cleansing mechanisms in the body, it is imperative that you cleanse in the right order. I tested my theory, and the results were substantially improved.Although you may experience some minor symptoms of cleansing (depending on how toxic your body is), these symptoms will be greatly reduced. You may experience no symptoms at all. By following The 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan, you will experience greater energy, less pain, and improved mental clarity. You may even experience freedom from the nagging symptoms of disease that have plagued you for years.
DETOXIFICATION 101 Dr. Elson Haas, at the Preventive Medical Center of Marin in San Rafael, California, defines a toxin as “any substance that creates irritating and/or harmful effects in the body, undermining our health or stressing our biochemical or organ functions.”And, as you learned earlier, detoxification is the process of cleansing the body of these harmful substances, thereby restoring the body’s natural healing ability. There are many different types of detoxifi cation processes, ranging from water fasts to programs that have minor dietary restrictions. Some programs use herbs, while others use foods. Some cleansing plans incorporate exercise while others do not.
Like many people, you may be looking for the “miracle pill” or the “magic program” that requires little or no effort on your part.
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I can guarantee that pills or programs that prevent your participation in the approach taken will yield few, if any, results. Their lists of claims make up for the lack of effort expected from you, and surprise: they simply do not work!
During The 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan, you will be an active participant in your own life. While this may sound like an obvious statement, it is actually rare in the world of medicine and healing.You will eat the foods, drink the teas, and perform the exercises. What’s more, you will feel empowered that you are restoring your body to its optimum functioning. You will feel great, knowing that you are creating the sense of well-being that comes from following this program. You will have taken charge of your life and you will thank yourself upon completion. If you are like most people who follow this program, you will savour the delicious foods, you will enjoy the simple, at-home therapies, and you will appreciate the stress-relieving techniques.
The 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan incorporates herbs, foods, juices, aromatherapy, exercise, breathing techniques, and many other enjoyable therapies. Most importantly, you will give your body a break from dietary and lifestyle habits that may be wreaking havoc on your health.
Detoxification is often referred to as fasting. I distinguish between the two concepts. Traditionally, fasting has meant water fasts, whereas detoxification can be any number of different types of programs, ranging from grapefruit or apple diets, to juice fasts, to ones that incorporate foods as well. I am not a fan of water fasts because I think they have the potential to be dangerous, particularly in people who have pre-existing health concerns. Even when relieved of the burden of excess food the body, still has specifi c nutritional requirements that cannot be met by water alone. Your brain has high fuel requirements, particularly for natural sugars. If your body is not supplied with this fuel, it will break down muscle tissue by day two of the fast or it will enter a process known as ketosis.
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Ketosis is a process by which your liver converts stored fat and other nonessential tissue into substances called ketones, which can then be used by the brain, muscles, and heart as energy. This is the process that high-protein, low-carb diet proponents encourage to achieve fat-burning. It works to eliminate excess weight; however, over long periods of time, ketosis can be dangerous.Your body thinks it is starving.
As you will learn later in this chapter, many nutrients are required for your body to be able to conduct the many processes of detoxifi cation. Without any of them, toxins will build up faster than they can be eliminated.
The 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan does not incorporate water fasts. You will never starve on this plan. Neither will you eat only apples for days or skip meals. Instead, you will enjoy the foods and beverages you eat and drink so much that you will forget you are following a detoxifi cation program.
Does Detoxification Really Work?
While many misinformed or, more accurately, uninformed journalists and health professionals may tell you otherwise, the resounding answer is yes. The approach taken in The 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan helped give me my life back. Many of my clients with whom I use detoxification therapy share the same feeling. Ronnie stopped suffering from chronic back pain that she had endured for over six years within one month; Norm had severe fibromyalgia that relented within one month; Jane needed more extensive detoxification but was able to stop using depression medication after several months of cleansing, and her moods have been substantially improved; Connie’s debilitating fibromyalgia totally subsided within one month; Kirk is free from seasonal allergies and sinus problems that had bothered him most of his life after just one month of cleansing; and Darla’s high blood pressure normalized in two months. Others who have tried it have
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experienced weight loss, increased energy, the easing or elimination of arthritic symptoms, and much more. Research shows that detoxifi cation works.Various detoxification approaches were used in the studies that follow, but all had statistically signifi cant results.
In one study, conducted at the Center for Conservative Th erapy in Penngrove, California, 174 patients who were suff ering from hypertension participated in an eleven-day fast. By the end of the study, 90 percent of the participants achieved a blood pressure reading of 140/90—substantially improved over their starting blood pressure. Th e people who had the worst hypertension at the beginning of the study had the most significant improvement in blood pressure. Many were able to eliminate their blood pressure medication. Forty-two of the patients were able to maintain the improvements after the study concluded.1
In a Norwegian study, researchers found that fasting may help alleviate the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. Twenty-seven arthritic patients adhered to a four-week detoxification program followed by strict vegetarian diets. After one year, the patients reported signifi cantly less pain, stiffness, and swelling, as well increased strength and better health.2
Laboratory experiments also found that short-term detoxifi cation may even help you live longer.3
During one study, researchers at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, found that mice that fasted for four consecutive days every two weeks had a significantly longer lifespan than the mice that ate a typical diet.4
The National Institute on Aging found that detoxifi cation increases a person’s lifespan as well as or better than caloric restriction.5
Still more research has shown that periodically fasting for short periods of time lowers LDL (the “bad”) cholesterol, boosts insulin sensitivity, stimulates the release of growth hormones, reduces the rate of viral infections, helps protect the brain from excitotoxins (a category of synthetic food ingredients, characterized by a dangerous
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combination of amino acids that overstimulate the nervous system—examples of excitotoxins includ MSG and aspartame), and improves the quality of sleep, concentration, vigour, and emotional balance.6
These are just a handful of the studies that show detoxifi cation works. More studies are needed to prove the beneficial eff ects of detoxification, but I am convinced more time and money will result in additional studies that show how promising detoxifi cation can be. Those of us who actually try it, don’t need the studies to confi rm the difference in how we feel.
With The 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan, the results of cleansing all your body’s detoxification organs will positively surprise you.
THE DETOXIFICATION ORGANS There are many organs in your body whose primary function is to eliminate waste products: either those that are created internally like stress hormones (endotoxins) or those that come from our food, air, pharmaceuticals, lifestyle habits, and environment (exotoxins).Your body has numerous detoxification systems to deal with diff erent types of toxins. Th ese include:
• the digestive system, particularly the intestines, liver, and gallbladder • the kidneys and urinary tract • the lymphatic system • the skin • the lungs and respiratory system • the bloodstream and cardiovascular system • fatty deposits (while not officially a detox system, this is a mechanism your body uses when too many toxins threaten to overload the other systems) Most of these systems have numerous organs that they depend on to help the whole system function smoothly.
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A Brief Tour of the Digestive System
The digestive system comprises many organs, but the main ones we will be dealing with are the stomach, small intestine, large intestine (also known as the colon), liver, and gallbladder. Although teeth are not frequently included in texts about the digestive system, I am also including them, as well as salivary glands and the mouth. When you eat food, digestion begins immediately. Your teeth grind food into smaller particles that can be handled by the other digestive organs, and the salivary glands secrete digestive juices full of substances called enzymes. These enzymes break down foods such as starches and sugars.
Mom was right when she told you to chew your food well. If you don’t, your body misses one whole step of digestion. Th is process is not performed by another part of the digestive tract. After you swallow, the food passes through the esophagus down into the stomach. In the stomach, secreted hydrochloric acid is released to break down protein foods.
Intestinal Tract
The food then passes into the small intestines, where nutrients and toxins are absorbed by the intestinal wall and passed into the bloodstream. Without regular bowel movements (after every meal), toxic waste starts to accumulate on the walls of the bowels and is absorbed into the blood. It may even prevent nutrients from being absorbed.
The liver produces a green-coloured substance called bile and sends it to the gallbladder for storage and secretion as necessary. The gallbladder secretes bile to help break down fat and stimulate contractions of the intestines to push waste matter out of your bowels. Then the remaining waste products are pushed down into the large intestine. The digestive tract is a tube that runs approximately
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thirty-five feet through your body. In addition to digesting food, it absorbs nutrients and eliminates remaining waste products. One hundred times greater than the area of your skin,7 it contains massive numbers of microorganisms to assist with these functions. Actually, there are more microorganisms found in your digestive tract than there are cells in your body.8
It is believed that many of these organisms make essential nutrients that our bodies need to live and that are absorbed into the bloodstream through the intestinal walls. However, some of these organisms can become overgrown, primarily due to our unhealthy lifestyles, which are loaded with sugar, harmful fats, synthetic chemicals, and stress hormones; other factors play a role, too. When these organisms become overgrown, some of them can create harmful toxins that also pass through the walls of the intestines.
When the intestines are not kept “flushed” of toxic residue and buildup, this fecal matter along with the accompanying toxins and harmful bacteria can be re-absorbed into the bloodstream, where it can travel throughout the body. This is because vitamins and minerals that are extracted from food are absorbed into the bloodstream through the walls of the intestines. If debris is backed up in the intestines, it is absorbed into the bloodstream instead of the nutrients. Not only does your body become self-intoxicating, it cannot adequately take up the nutrients it needs for maintaining its health.
Toxic buildup in the intestines can result in virtually any health problem by simply allowing toxins to travel throughout the body via the bloodstream and by preventing nutrients from being absorbed from the food you eat and the supplements you take. That’s right. If your intestines are backed up, no amount of pill-popping is going to mean good health. You can pop all the calcium or vitamin C, or any other vitamin or mineral supplement, you want but your body will not be able to absorb it.
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The Liver and Gallbladder
The liver is a relatively large organ that sits beneath the rib cage on the right side of the body. With over five hundred functions, it has more jobs than any other organ in the body. It is critical to good health that the liver function up to par. It has the task of metabolizing fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. It also metabolizes hormones, foreign chemicals, and wastes that are created within your body as a by-product of day-to-day living and all the functions that entails—day-to-day living results in the creation of many by-products. It is responsible for forming bile and lymph, both of which will be discussed in a moment. The liver produces blood-clotting factors and helps with the assimilation and storage of fat-soluble vitamins. In addition to these vitamins, the liver stores carbohydrates and minerals. This powerhouse organ also helps to regulate blood sugar levels by storing excess blood sugar as a substance called glycogen, which can be released and converted into glucose (sugar) for energy when your body needs it.
The gallbladder is a small organ that looks like a little bag tucked under the liver. Connected to the liver in an area between the stomach and the intestines, the gallbladder collects bile from the liver and pumps it into the intestines as needed. Bile is a greenish-yellow liquid that assists with the removal of waste products from the intestines and helps break down fat.
The Kidneys and Urinary Tract
The kidneys are two small organs in the abdominal area that have several main functions: they strive to maintain balance in your body, particularly fluid and sodium balances; excrete toxins in urine; and regulate blood pressure through hormone production. Our main concern is with the first two functions. However, the kidneys secrete a hormone that increases blood pressure to allow suffi cient pressure in the blood entering the kidneys, thereby enabling them to
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adequately perform their filtering functions. By lessening your toxic load, you may notice that your blood pressure normalizes as well.
The kidneys allow most substances to enter the urine, then they filter it and reabsorb the many compounds that the body needs. Some of these substances include glucose (simple sugars that your body needs to function), amino acids, and minerals that were circulating unabsorbed in the bloodstream.
Many of the toxins that are created as by-products of normal metabolic functions in the body are excreted in the urine, via the kidneys.
Kidneys also regulate the amount of fluid in your body: if you drink more, you urinate more, and vice versa. This prevents your body from becoming dehydrated or overhydrated.Your kidneys also monitor salt levels. Most people consume far more of the mineral sodium than they need so this puts a fair amount of stress on the kidneys.
According to some research, sodium was scarce in Stone Age times, yet the mineral potassium was found in abundance in all the plant foods our ancestors ate. In response, the kidneys developed a mechanism to more readily store sodium and excrete potassium, the opposite of what is needed based on our modern diet. Th is excess sodium strains your kidneys and makes them work harder to maintain a proper mineral balance in your body. Detoxifying your diet of excess sodium, as we will do in The 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan, will allow your kidneys to focus their energy on the important task of eliminating toxins from your body.
The kidneys also attempt to maintain the acid/alkaline balance in your body. This is an immensely difficult task because the average North American person’s diet is largely acidic. The high level of acidity means that your kidneys will have to work harder to perform their jobs and may eventually become sluggish from overwork.
All the kidney’s jobs require adequate fluid intake. If you do not drink enough water, your kidneys simply cannot function up to par, and your body’s cells will become dehydrated, making virtually every
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function in your body less efficient. Most people do not drink enough water to adequately bathe the cells in fluid to enable them to function properly. That lack spells trouble if it is not rectifi ed.
THE SKIN YOU ’RE IN Skin is the body’s largest organ. It shields our bodies from the elements around us (sometimes taking a beating in the process), assists with detoxification, and protects our tissues and organs from damage. It is also a reflection of the condition of our bodies at a deeper level. Skin reflects our inner health. It may show up toxic overload, stress, hormonal imbalances, and nutritional deficiencies. When you work on the internal causes of skin concerns, the results are more effective than just applying a cream or ointment and hoping for the best.
Problems with the skin can suggest that the other elimination organs are overloaded, thereby forcing the skin to deal with greater amounts of toxins than it is capable of. Rashes, hives, acne, psoriasis, or eczema are the possible results.
In Chinese medicine, skin problems often indicate lung stress or toxin overload. The approach to diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is quite different from a Western approach. Th ere are many pathways in the body that carry energy to all the organs, tissues, and cells. The pathway, or meridian, as it is called in Chinese medicine, for the lung also governs the skin. Skin problems are a symptom of a blockage or blockages in the lung meridian. You will learn more about energy and blockages in Chapter 6.
THE LUNGS AND RESPIRATORY SYSTEM Symptoms such as a chronic cough, runny nose, bronchitis, wheezing, and sinusitis are signs that your body’s respiratory system is overloaded with toxins and needs cleansing. The respiratory system enables you to breathe. It includes the nose, sinuses, pharynx,
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hypopharynx, larynx, vocal cords, trachea, and, of course, the lungs. While all these parts are important, we will focus our attention on the lungs, since they are so vital to life.
Air enters the upper passage of the respiratory system and divides into the two bronchial tubes behind the rib cage, then moves into smaller tubes called bronchioles, until it reaches millions of tiny sacs called alveoli. It is in these sacs that oxygen is extracted and supplied to capillaries in the bloodstream, where it can combine with red blood cells and be carried to every part of your body.
With every exhalation, your lungs work in reverse to release carbon dioxide. The lungs have the greatest exposure to the environment of all our internal organs, making them susceptible to the many air pollutants they come in contact with. Air contains microorganisms, synthetic chemicals, dust, and pollutants, all of which need to be filtered by the lungs.
THE LYMPHATIC SYSTEM If you are like most people, you have never heard of the lymphatic system. This is quite tragic because it is one of the main systems that encourage effi cient detoxification in your body. Effi cient detoxifi cation spells vibrant health and healing.
Harvey Diamond, author of Fit for Life, describes the lymphatic system as the “number one factor in achieving good health.”9 I agree with him. Yet has any doctor ever told you that your lymphatic system is overloaded when you are experiencing health problems? I doubt it. For that matter, has any doctor, nurse, teacher, or public health official ever even explained to you what the lymphatic system is? Not likely. It is time that someone explained this “number one factor in achieving good health” to you.
The lymphatic system is a complex network of fl uid-fi lled nodes, glands, and tubes that bathe our cells and carry the body’s “sewage” away from the tissues to neutralize them. It is comparable to a
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street-sweeping system throughout your body’s tissues. Th e lymphatic system relies on lymph fluid to suspend toxins, thereby enabling your body to pick up waste that accumulates in every cell in your body, break it down, and get rid of it.
You have three times as much lymph fluid in your body as blood. While blood has the heart to pump it, lymph fluid relies on movement to flow effectively. If you get inadequate exercise or live the life of a couch potato, you can see how this could be a problem. Th e lymphatic system will not function at its peak. It will be ineffi cient at eliminating all the toxins that build up in your tissues. Th ese toxins can be waste products of metabolism, fat molecules, and chemical waste that found its way into your body. The result: weight gain, aches and pains, fibromyalgia, or other states of disease. The less you move your body, the more stagnant toxins remain in the lymphatic system, and lymphatic fluid will back up, causing bloating.
Stress plays a role in causing this system to get backed up as well. Ann Louise Gittleman, best-selling author of The Fat Flush Plan, states that “the muscles and motion of breathing is a primary way our bodies move lymph, and when we’re under stress our breathing becomes shallow.” Gittleman suggests that “in many cases, bloated tissue can cause you to swell two extra... sizes. Many experts also believe that a lazy lymphatic system is directly connected to the formation of cellulite because backed up fluid ‘sticks’ to fat cells.”10
In addition, bloated tissues prevent cells from properly absorbing oxygen and nutrients. The cells begin to starve and cannot function at their best.
THE BLOODSTREAM AND CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM From the moment we sustain our first scraped knees or cut fingers, we are familiar with blood. What we may not be familiar with, however, is how our bloodstream works to help detoxify our body. Your
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veins carry fresh oxygenated blood throughout your body to bathe your cells, tissues, and organs in the oxygen that is needed for every function.Your arteries carry toxins to their predetermined exit route in the body. The lymphatic system dumps toxins into your blood after it has swept them up so the blood can carry them to the other detox systems such as the kidneys or liver.
Your heart is the pump that helps push oxygenated blood throughout your body and helps your body deal with the toxins carried by the blood. If you don’t get regular exercise to increase your heart rate to boost your blood’s circulation, your cells will be deficient in oxygen, and toxins will not be adequately eliminated from your body.
FATTY DEPOSITS While not officially an organ or a detoxification system, your body stores fatty deposits when it cannot break down and eliminate the toxins to which you are exposed. The same is true of cellulite, particularly if your lymphatic system is not functioning up to par. You may have noticed that many women, even quite fit and athletic ones, suffer from cellulite. You may be one of these women. No matter how hard you try to exercise, the cellulite remains. This is typically because the lymphatic system is not able to eliminate the overwhelming number of toxins to which it is exposed and deposits the extra ones in cellulite or fatty deposits around the body. The more you reduce your exposure to and eliminate excess toxins, the greater your chances of eliminating excess fat and cellulite.
You will learn more about these organs and organ systems in greater detail in Chapters 8 to 11. Th roughout The 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan you will find herbs, foods, juices, and therapies that target the various organ systems to get them to function far more effi ciently.
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RATE OF DETOXIFICATION Everyone is unique, so the same exposure to the same toxins can cause totally diff erent effects. One person may feel as though he is on death’s doorstep while another person may feel no symptoms at all. The December 1987 issue of Discover magazine reported on ten-month-old fraternal twin girls in Washington, D.C., who had equally high levels of lead in their blood. One girl had many symptoms of lead poisoning such as insomnia, crankiness, and constipation, while the other girl had no symptoms.11
Although infants have enzymes in their bodies for detoxifi cation purposes at the time of birth, they are more vulnerable to toxins, partly because they breathe more heavily than adults for their weight, and their detoxification rate is slower than that of adults.12
Research shows that people of European descent are less effi cient at metabolizing toxins than people of Asian descent. Some people have genetic weaknesses in particular detoxifi cation processes, making them more susceptible to toxins. Th e effi ciency and speed of detoxification are affected by the number and capabilities of the enzymes required for each detoxification process. Enzymes are a particular form of protein found in all living things that speeds up chemical processes. They are required for every function in your body, including digestion, elimination, and detoxifi cation. Without them, life would simply not be possible. Digestion, elimination, and detoxification would not be possible without enzymes. You will learn more about enzymes found in food throughout the rest of this book.
Another factor determining the efficiency of detoxification is nutritional status. This is because your body needs specific vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients to create enzymes or allow them to function. If these nutrients are not found in a person’s diet, the enzyme essentially becomes paralyzed or inactive and unable to complete its specific phase of detoxification, leaving a person further
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susceptible to toxins. For example, as you learned in Chapter 2, people who cannot break down and eliminate pesticides from their bodies are more susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease.
The quantity and buildup of toxins in your body is another factor that determines how long it will take to return your detoxifi cation processes to full efficiency. It is similar to what happens to a piece of clothing if you spill grape juice on it but do not wash it for a week: the clothing will be more difficult to clean than if you washed it immediately after staining it.
If you are immensely stressed out on a regular basis, none of your body’s functions will be at optimum levels. Also, your body will need to detoxify itself of stress hormones—an added burden as it tries to filter other substances.
Additionally, some synthetic chemicals are foreign to the body, and it may have inefficient or no means to eliminate them eff ectively. This is not surprising when you consider that there are approximately 500,000 chemicals in use today, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and each year more than 5,000 new chemicals are added. There are bound to be some that your body has diffi culty eliminating.
The body finds some toxins difficult to eliminate and chooses to absorb them as part of its fatty tissues, allowing them to remain in the body for lengthy periods of time. This obviously slows the process of detoxification down further since the body will also have to eliminate the fat deposits.
An imbalance in the effi ciency of various detoxifi cation pathways in your body will result in a slowing of elimination of toxins as well. The process is something like a dammed river. If the water flowing into a dam flows substantially faster than the amount moving through the dam, eventually the water will overfl ow onto riverbanks and potentially cause flooding. Toxins are comparable to the water flowing through the dam: the process needs to occur in a balanced
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manner, allowing all organs to complete the tasks they need to before the toxins are sent on to the next organ; otherwise there will be a backlog and potential outpouring of toxins, making you feel lousy and resulting in any number of negative symptoms or disease.
NUTRIENTS REQUIRED FOR DETOXIFICATION Based on current research, there are many known vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that are essential for optimum detoxifi cation to take place in your body. Some of the vitamins required include beta carotene (converts to vitamin A), folic acid (vitamin B9), niacin (vitamin B3), pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), riboflavin (vitamin B2), thiamine (vitamin B1), vitamin B12, pyridoxine (vitamin B6), vitamin C, and vitamin E.Your body requires the following minerals for superior detoxification functions: calcium, copper, germanium, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, sulphur, and zinc. In addition, other nutrients such as alpha-ketoglutaric acid, chlorophyll, choline, cysteine, d-glucarate, digestive enzymes, fatty acids, glycine, lecithin, l-glutathione, methionine, n-acetyl cysteine, silymarin, and taurine are required for adequate internal cleansing. You need not be familiar with all these nutrients. I include them to help you understand that a diet deficient in nutrients will have detrimental effects on your body’s ability to cope with an onslaught of toxins.
Many other nutrients are essential to a properly functioning body, but those listed above are widely recognized to have a specifi c role in the many functions of detoxifi cation in the digestive tract, liver, kidneys, skin, and other systems. See the following charts to learn about some of the vitamins and minerals that are essential to detoxification and the best food sources in which they are found. You may notice many food sources that are missing from these lists: this is not an oversight. The body varies in its ability to extract and assimilate
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the nutrients from different foods. For example, calcium is found in milk and other dairy products, but they are not suitable foods for cleansing. In truth, they are not really suitable for human consumption at all. Forget what you read about dairy products providing an excellent source of calcium for your diet. While it is true that they are high in calcium, so is soil in parts of the planet. Th at does not mean that eating dirt will ensure your body gets adequate calcium, although many young children may have tried this approach.
Yes, it is true that dairy products contain high amounts of calcium. However, the body must digest, utilize, and absorb this calcium to benefit from it. There are many biochemical problems in the way in which dairy products are broken down by the body. What many so-called experts are not considering is some basic biochemistry with respect to the way in which dairy products are used by the body or, more accurately, not used by the body.
Although dairy foods may be high in calcium when studied in a laboratory, the body does not offer the same conditions as a laboratory. Conversely, the conditions of the body cannot be simulated in a laboratory. In addition, because each person is diff erent, the laboratory cannot account for biochemical individuality.13
Dairy products are extremely acid-forming in the body. Acidic blood requires—you guessed it—calcium pulled from the bones to neutralize all that acid in the blood. Dr. Robert O. Young, a renowned microbiologist and nutritionist, and co-author Shelley Redford Young state in their recent book, The pH Miracle: Balance Your Diet, Reclaim Your Health, “Overacidification of body fl uids and tissues underlies all disease, and general ‘dis-ease’ as well.” Th ey add, “No matter how many times you were told by teachers and parents to drink your milk, and cute milk moustache ads notwithstanding, the idea that dairy products are healthy is pure hype—a cultural myth. Even if cows lived in some kind of bovine utopia and produced the perfect milk, let’s face it: It simply isn’t a human food. It is designed
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for baby cows, whose requirements are far different from those of humans.... No other animal species drinks milk beyond infancy: and certainly not from a species outside their own!”14
Harvey Diamond says:“In the same way that we have been conditioned to think of meat whenever the word‘protein’ is mentioned, we have also been taught to believe that dairy products are the fi nest source of calcium, and the best means by which to prevent osteoporosis.”15
Unfortunately, the high amount of acidity resulting from excessive dairy consumption can pose a problem for detoxifi cation. Besides that, if calcium is being used to neutralize blood acidity, there may be inadequate calcium for the processes of detoxifi cation.
Many nutrients are required for adequate detoxification. Th e following chart indicates the vitamins and minerals that are most critical. It is by no means a complete list, but it gives you an idea of the importance of obtaining adequate nutrition from your food to ensure healthy detoxifi cation.
Nutrients Required for Detoxification
Vitamins Some of the Best Food Sources Beta carotene Carrots, beets, leafy greens, melon, squash, yams Folic Acid Mushrooms, nuts, whole grains, broccoli, asparagus, beans, lettuce, spinach, beet greens, sweet potatoes, leafy greens Niacin Avocados, dates, figs, green vegetables, whole grains, brown rice, sunfl ower seeds Pantothenic Acid Green vegetables, beans, kale, caulifl ower, peas, sweet potatoes, whole grains, brown rice
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Riboflavin Whole grains, almonds, sunflower seeds, currants, asparagus, broccoli, leafy greens Vitamin B1 Brown rice, nuts, seeds, nut butters, oats, (Th iamine) asparagus, beets, leafy greens, plums, raisins Vitamin B12 Kelp, bananas, peanuts, Concord grapes, sprouts Vitamin B6 Bananas, avocados, whole grains, cantaloupe, (Pyridoxine) walnuts, soybeans, peanuts, pecans, leafy greens, green peppers, carrots Vitamin C Citrus fruits, apples, strawberries, beet greens, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, papaya, Swiss chard, squash Vitamin E Whole grains, Brussels sprouts, leafy greens, spinach, cold-pressed vegetable oils, soybeans, brown rice
Minerals Some of the Best Food Sources Calcium Leafy greens, tofu, soy beans, soy milk, almonds, carob, sesame seeds, tahini, navy beans, walnuts, millet, kelp, carrot juice, oats, and broccoli Copper Almonds, peanuts, dried peas and beans, avocados, plums, cherries, citrus fruits, raisins, whole grains, oats, leafy greens Germanium Garlic, shiitake mushrooms, onions, whole grains Iron Apricots, peaches, bananas, raisins, fi gs, whole rye, walnuts, kelp, dry beans, leafy greens, asparagus, potatoes
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Magnesium Apples, figs, lemons, peaches, kale, endive, chard, celery, alfalfa sprouts, beet greens, whole grains, brown rice, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, honey Manganese Nuts, whole grains, spinach, beets, beet greens, Brussels sprouts, peas, kelp, tea, apricots, blueberries, bananas, citrus fruits Molybdenum Brown rice, millet, buckwheat, legumes, leafy greens, whole grains Selenium Brown rice, soybeans, Brazil nuts, kelp, garlic, mushrooms, pineapple, onions, tomatoes, broccoli Sulphur Radish, turnip, onions, celery, horseradish, kale, soybeans, cucumber Zinc Sprouted seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, onions, nuts, leafy greens, peas, beets, beet greens
CLEANSING FROM THE INSIDE OUTThe 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan takes a three-fold approach:
1. We will cleanse your body of toxins that have built up in your cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems (this will be discussed in greater detail in Chapter 5). 2. At the same time, we will work to reduce your exposure to further toxins (see below). 3. Once we have achieved results in these two areas, we will help your body to rebuild through proper nutrition and healing therapies. Toxins affect the body primarily at the cellular level, where symptoms may not be evident. But lack of symptoms is not synonymous
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with perfect health. By now you have completed “The Detox Quiz” in Chapter 1. So you are aware of the types of symptoms linked with toxins in your body’s cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems. Th e quiz gives you an indication of the most common symptoms and conditions associated with toxins, but toxic buildup in your body can create any symptom. Symptoms are signals from your body that something is wrong and ignoring them can be risky.
Your body strives to restore health in every millisecond you are alive but this can happen only when its specific needs are met. Your body needs enzymes, oxygen, clean water, vitamins and minerals, a proper pH balance, a healthy system of digestion and elimination, electrically charged tissues and cells, healthy emotions, love, and a sense of purpose and fulfi lment, among other things. It needs you to stop exposing your body to toxins so that it can eliminate those that have already built up.
WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT WHILE DETOXIFYING? I have organized The 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan to lower your chance of experiencing negative symptoms, but you may still experience some minor ones. Your reaction will depend on how many toxins have accumulated in your body. The more toxins you have, the more likely you will experience some minor symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, or minor body aches; however, they will be short-lived and will soon be replaced with feelings of energy and a reduction of aches and pains you may be living with.
Your body has accumulated many years of toxins that will begin to be pulled out of your tissues, which in the short term means that they will be dumped into your blood to be taken to the most suitable exit route: the liver, the kidneys, the skin, or another detox mechanism in your body. In the short term, the toxins in your blood may create some minor negative symptoms and your organs will
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have more work to do to eliminate them. That is the reason you will experience some minor discomfort and a decrease in energy while your body uses its energy to eliminate toxins.
Some people should not do a detoxification program. If you are diabetic, pregnant, or nursing or have been diagnosed with a serious medical condition, you should consult your medical or naturopathic doctor or other qualified health practitioner. If you have a history of medical concerns, you should be monitored throughout the detoxifi cation process.
Having said that, most people will experience no negative symptoms at all. This program has been designed to prevent too many toxins from being dumped into your body all at once, instead, releasing them as your detoxification systems can keep up with them. It is also designed to cleanse your intestines and lymphatic systems before targeting the liver, skin, blood, and respiratory systems. In my experience, inadequate bowel function can prevent toxins from being eliminated from your body. Instead, they will be absorbed from your bowels into your blood and be deposited in your tissues, creating a tremendous burden on the lymphatic system and other detoxification systems. By first cleansing the intestinal tract so that toxins are rapidly eliminated from the body, we can prevent new ones from overburdening the lymphatic system.
Afterward, we will focus on each cleansing system, in a sequential order to lessen any negative symptoms and improve the effi ciency of each detox mechanism in your body. This will result in improved health as you continue with the program.
HOW TO REDUCE YOUR EXPOSURE TO TOXINS Before I explain the process we are going to undertake to help your body eliminate the toxins that have built up, it is important to reduce the number of toxins you keep inhaling, ingesting, or absorbing,
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otherwise the process will be futile. We need to eliminate the toxins that already exist in your body without adding too many more. Otherwise, your body’s detox systems will be similar to a mouse running in a spinning wheel. They will go nowhere fast.
This part of the plan is as critical as the actual detox process itself. If you continue to increase your body’s burden of eliminating toxins by exposing yourself to them in the many ways you learned in Chapter 2, you will have minimal results. It is important to reduce the toxins you eat, drink, inhale, or absorb by tackling the toxins in your foods and beverages; in your home, in the form of cleaning products and furnishings; and in your personal hygiene products and cosmetics.
In the next chapter you will learn additional ways to decrease the toxins you are exposed to in your food and beverages. Before we start with that, begin to lower your toxic exposures by choosing “clean” cleaning and personal-care products. By “clean” I am referring to products that have no synthetic chemicals and unnatural ingredients.
Choosing Cleaning Products
Cleaning products are one of the most common ways to expose your body to toxins, both in the air you breathe on a regular basis and through skin contact. On the positive side of things, changing your household cleaning products is one of the simplest ways to decrease your exposure to harmful toxins immediately. Here are some simple ways to limit your exposure to toxic chemicals in cleaning products:
1. Stop using most commercial brands of cleaning products. 2. Choose natural brands of cleaning products found in most health food stores. (Many of the grocery store “environmentally friendly” cleaning products are not free of toxins that affect people, so avoid them.) Some grocery stores have started including a natural food section within the store. Usually cleaning items found in this section are safer options. Chapter .: The Gentle Detox Solution ...
3. Alternatively, you can make your own cleaning products from natural products such as white vinegar, baking soda, and club soda. Baking soda serves as an excellent scouring powder, a polish, and cleaner. It absorbs odours and is a natural fungicide. Aromatherapy oils such as citrus and tea tree have excellent antifungal and antibacterial properties and leave your home smelling fresh and clean. They can be added to natural cleaners. Vinegar removes calcium deposits. Lemon juice removes ink stains on clothes. 4. Avoid so-called air fresheners or potpourri mixes. Th ey are loaded with toxic chemicals. 5. Avoid “natural-like” oils for burning in aromatherapy burners. They are synthetic chemicals and are absolutely not safe. Freshen the air with pure essential oils. Add a drop to your natural cleaning solutions or burn in a potpourri burner. Choosing Cosmetics and Beauty Products
Stop inundating one of the most important detoxifi cation systems in your body (your skin) by slathering on creams, oils, lotions, cosmetics, deodorants, or other personal-care products that clog your skin. Using products that contain harsh, synthetic ingredients will only prevent your skin from eliminating toxins. It will be working in reverse—absorbing more toxins! Switching to natural hair- and body-care products and cosmetics is a simple and eff ective way to lessen your body’s burden.
Here are some important things to consider when purchasing cosmetics, skin-care, hair-care, and cleansing products:
1. Avoid products that do not list their ingredients on the label. Usually these products are full of nasty ingredients that the manufacturers do not want you to be aware of. 2. Avoid perfumes and colognes and other products that ... The .-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan
list “fragrance” on the label. Most contain harmful petrochemicals and are loaded with hundreds of diff erent toxic ingredients. As I mentioned in Chapter 2, there are over four hundred potential chemicals in this “one” ingredient. If you must wear a scent, choose a natural, high-quality product made with pure essential oils available in health food stores. Be aware of the fragrances contained in cleaning products, shampoos, conditioners, lotions, creams, beauty masks, deodorants, cosmetics, and other personal-care products.
3. Avoid products that list FD&C or D&C (Colour) (Number) such as FD&C Red No. 6. 4. Avoid many popular brand deodorants since they contain aluminum—a heavy metal that has been linked with central nervous system disorders and other illnesses. Make sure the natural one you select says “aluminum-free” or something similar. 5. Beware of most “natural products” that are not sold in health food stores. Many cosmetic manufacturers boldly declare the “natural” status of their products. They may even look and smell natural but may be loaded with toxic chemicals. The word “natural” really does not mean anything, based on the lack of legislation over what “natural” should mean. Unfortunately, salespeople and advertisements throw the word “natural” around quite prolifi cally. In some cases, the claim is true, but in most it is not. 6. Start purchasing your hair products, deodorants, moisturizers, facial masks, hand and body lotions, soaps, bath and shower gels, hairsprays, hair gels, and cosmetics at a health food store. 7. Use natural hair dyes or hennas found in health food stores. Many hair salons claim their products are “natural” but a quick look at the ingredient list reveals items I would never want to come in contact with. Chapter .: The Gentle Detox Solution ...
Become conscious of the cleaning, beauty, and hygiene products you use on a regular basis. This will prevent the addition of new toxins to your body. In the coming chapters, you will learn how to eliminate the toxic buildup that your body is facing.
In this chapter you learned
• Detoxification helps create greater energy, balance weight, eliminate negative symptoms, reduce cellulite, and much more • The major detoxification organs and systems, such as the kidneys and urinary tract, intestines, liver, gallbladder, lymphatic system, and lungs, help your body eliminate toxins and toxic buildup • You can immediately start eliminating toxins from your environment by choosing healthier cleaning and personal-care products ... The .-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan