published: Friday, February 05, 2010

Detoxification a way to cleanse the body

Michael Visconti, A.P., N.P.

Correspondent

I have just started eating normally again. (For some of you my normal is still abnormal!) I finished a 12-day detoxification protocol and lost 11 pounds that accumulated over the past six months of abnormal eating.

For most of you that eat the Standard American Diet, that's SAD for short, my abnormal is your normal. Not including the holidays I was eating more junk food and sweets than I usually do. I needed to get back to eating right and to get rid of the "toxins" that had built up since my last detox about nine months ago.

I usually do detoxes about every 3-4 months but I had slacked off a bit.

I must stress I did not do the detox to lose weight, it just happens when you get rid of things your body is not supposed to store. Being healthy will make your body find it's proper weight.

Most people say, "When I lose the weight I'll be healthy." It doesn't seem to work that way for 66 percent of American adults who are overweight or obese. You need to start getting healthy and then you will lose weight, your illnesses will start to improve or disappear and you will start to feel better and younger.

So, what am I talking about "toxins" and "toxicity"? Most people talk about doing detoxes and cleanses and don't know what they are trying to do.

There are a few different things that can cause toxicity or a condition in the body in which cellular materials, chemicals, hormones, etc. disrupt the function and structure of the cells, tissues and organs in the body. Our cells make up tissues, which make up organs, which make up systems, which make up us. At any level things can start breaking down and waste materials from normal everyday processes at each level can cause that break down.

For instance, at the largest level if bowels or kidneys stop working we will stop the flow of garbage out of our bodies. The waste material in the body will get out of control and start to be reabsorbed causing an adverse working environment for the other organs.

This can eventually lead to death if the urine or feces are not allowed to exit. So that is the first category: elimination. We must facilitate the elimination of the waste material from the body, system, organ, tissue or cell. There are different detoxification protocols for each one, depending on what is going on. This must be done before you start other categories of detoxification. If not, you will cause whatever you are trying to release to back up and be reabsorbed into the system, causing more problems than if you left everything alone in the first place. Also, taking the standard colon cleanse detoxes with senna, cascara or rhubarb, etc., may not be the best thing for you depending on why you are having constipation.

The next, more classically described detoxification category is a liver detox. The liver is the primary organ of detoxification in the body. It processes chemicals, hormones, drugs and whatever enters the body via the digestive system and also what is floating around in the blood. There are different chemicals, herbs and nutrients that will "up-regulate" or stimulate the liver to increase it's detoxifying function and those are what you take to do a "liver detox." This will make the balance of hormones, the clearance of chemicals, pesticides, drugs more efficient and will help the body to regulate cholesterol and triglycerides.

The things you need to watch then, are conditions your body needs medications for. For example, if you are taking a heart medication and your liver starts to clear it more effectively due to your cleanse it will change the level of medication in your body and your heart may be adversely affected. This can be potentially life-threatening, depending on the condition you are taking meds for.

Another detox people use is the parasite cleanse or candida, a type of yeast cleanse. We still live in nature no matter how civilized we get. We are constantly exposed to bacteria, viri, mold, parasites, amoeba, etc. Our bodies fight most of these off but many are still residing inside us. Some of them are beneficial and some are not. Again there are things that can be taken to help decrease the load of these on our bodies and therefore decrease the harmful effects.

All these detoxes are done for specific reasons and can have their challenges and benefits. Your individual health issues must be evaluated before doing this type of treatment to determine the type of protocols needed, the safety factors that need be watched for and what the ultimate goals are.

There are many detoxes in the health food stores and online that may be fine for people with no health issues but they can be disastrous for others.

There are many people who work in health food stores that are knowledgeable but they are not trained health care practitioners. They are not able to evaluate your health issues to determine if these protocols are safe for your conditions or your medications. They will be the first to point out that they are not providing any direction with regard to your medical conditions. This absolves them from responsibility but it also points out their limitations.

If someone cannot take responsibility for their recommendations then should you take recommendations on your health and potentially your safety from them?