New Year's Body Detox

Withholding liquor... for a good cause... my weight loss! No, to raise awareness of how damaging alcohol can be to our bodies. The truth be told, I won't take part in dry January...

...However, a week or so declining hot toddies will do me some good. The reality is, I've drunk a few more than I normally would. I've intoxicated my body. I've caused reversible damage. So, by removing a toxin from my diet, it will help the repair process. I'll sleep better and could save a little, which is always welcome right about now.

Therefore, it's a new year and a perfect time to cleanse my body - start as I mean to go on. I have to say, the added sugar and excess fat I spoiled myself with no doubt caused some destruction. It's no wonder we gravitate towards abstinence or clean eating or some kind of detox to make us feel better. The guilt sends us that way.

And yet, experts question why we'd 'cleanse'

They're quick to point out that the body is constantly detoxing. They tell us that severe toxicity might be a medical emergency while a chronic build-up of toxicity is best dealt with by your body's natural detox systems.

Regardless of their point of view, what's really happening? Are we simply following some crazy idea or is there more going on with toxins and removing them?

Even though purging became widespread in the 1800's, then questionable, and recently popular again since the 70's, there are limited studies to prove the benefits of cleanses. The available research generally lacks quality and overall evidence they work. The main problem for the investigators is that randomised controlled trials don't exist. The effectiveness of detox diets in humans hasn't been fully tested.[1]

Nevertheless, we're increasingly becoming toxic. There are more than 80,000 chemicals currently used in the United States, most haven't been adequately tested for their effects on human health. Then there's heavy metal exposure, pollution, bacterial and parasitic and fungal overgrowth, metabolic waste, and radiation. Our bodies might need support to naturally purify more than ever before.

Especially when almost everything we eat can be toxic... Multiple glasses of wine... Green smoothies... A pack of biscuits. Even overcooking and burning food is bad for you. So your body is often hard at work detoxifying. Through your digestive system. With your liver, kidneys, lungs, lymphatic system. And through your skin. Your body is breaking down the toxins and removing them.

The reality is, a well functioning body is capable of handling toxins, despite this...

...our exposure is in excess and our removal system seems compromised

Due to the pollution we've caused, even though we've banned their use, some pesticides are still causing toxicity today. Outlawed pesticides have spread to places we've never used them. They are in the waters; the lakes, rivers, and the oceans. They come down with the rainfall.

We are suffering from toxic exposure all the time. Within built-up city areas, we are breathing in a chemical cocktail of fumes. Even when we try to do the right things by juicing or going on a cleanse we can end up causing a toxic build up...

...By juicing your greens, you might be packing more nutrients than your body can handle. You're risking consuming too many glucosinolates, which could lead to hypothyroidism. Too much potassium and oxalates and nitrates, which can cause splitting headaches or leave you feeling light-headed and dizzy.

Then there are the cases where people follow a 'liver flush' and actually cause liver damage by overdosing magnesium with Epsom salts.

Which leads me to alcohol, a natural organic compound that is easily metabolised by your body. But when you overdose you can poison yourself. Obviously, that's the drastic end of alcohol abuse, however, even a little tipple, on the regular, damages your liver. Your liver becomes stiff and eventually diseased if you don't give it time to repair.[2]

Setting the scene for detox

Normally, your body switches between tasks. Some gain priority at times. While others will take to the stage when it's not so crowded. Above all, your sympathetic system will take centre stage. Any stress and your freeze, fight or flight responses involve this system. It will increase your blood pressure and heart rate and make glucose available in your bloodstream for energy.

Secondly, your parasympathetic system takes action. This includes digestion and detoxification. For your body to detox, it needs your sympathetic and other parasympathetic processes to be quiet. Indeed, digestion is more of a priority than detoxing.

In other words, the toxins you're exposed to might not be removed from your body. In fact, fat-soluble chemicals can be stored in fat. Your fat regulates the persistent organic pollutant (POP) toxicity. Also, substances such as heavy metals and pesticides can build up in your body. They're found in connective tissue, muscle tissue, and nerve tissue. They are also seen in bones and blood.[3,4]

So when you purge your body, you'll end up releasing these toxins into your blood which could contribute to fatigue, muscle soreness, and nausea.

Your Natural Detox Systems

In particular, every part of your body is joined up with blood. Your circulatory system not only supplies oxygen and nutrients, but it removes waste too. Plus, your blood also provides compounds to detox.

Included in your circulatory system is your lymphatic system. The lymph filters out waste and bacteria and viruses.

For the toxins that you ingest, they begin to be removed from your digestive system. For example, one protein that many consider a toxin, gluten, is bathed in stomach acid and pepsin enzymes attempt to break it down. We attack gluten with everything we have because we do not produce the right enzyme for the job. That's why some supplement with the actual enzymes to break down gluten.[5]

Another process is with the gallbladder. It emulsifies our fats with bile but it also excretes toxins through your bowel.

But most important is via your liver. As elements pass through your intestines and into your bloodstream, they flow through your liver where it filters toxins and neutralises them for elimination. This process happens in two phases:

Phase one, where your liver uses enzymes to metabolise the toxins. Simply put, it converts a toxic chemical into a less harmful chemical. And some are excreted down the toilet. However, this process can be disrupted by some foods that we eat. Notably, grapefruit juice can hinder phase one's work from the high amounts of the flavonoid naringenin it contains. Also, turmeric's natural phenol, curcumin, is powerful enough to switch your body's focus onto phase two detoxification and slowdown phase one. This might be beneficial in some cases when preventing certain types of cancers.

On the other hand, alcohol and caffeine can stimulate phase one activity. I guess it's relatively clear why that happens.

On to phase two. This is where the liver adds another substance to the toxin to make it less harmful. Thereby, making it water-soluble by binding them to protein so they can then be removed in bile or urine.

Other than going to the toilet, your body also detoxifies by sweating and breathing.

Cleansing your Diet

As you can imagine, your body is hard at work and might need some help at times. Especially after we've been pushing our limits. So cutting back on foods that contribute toxins and add foods that aid detoxification seems like a good idea.

We know the oceans are polluted and large oily fish such as tuna, mackerel, and salmon are contaminated with mercury. So changing to smaller less toxic oily fish to get our Omega-3 fats might be a better choice than not eating them at all.

In other cases, we can make sure we wash our fruit and vegetables in bicarb to remove as much pesticide residue as possible. Plus, we can peel them. And cooking also reduces the number of pesticides on foods.

Then you can boost your detox system by making super-meals. By packing in the nutrient-dense foods, you can stimulate and boost detoxification. One of your major detox substances is glutathione. This is not easily consumed by your body. The primary way to provide glutathione is by your body making it. Although, eating your greens and a probiotic can boost glutathione levels.

Needless to say, I'm not sure I'd support following a detox plan. Well, they don't seem effective. Other than losing a load of water weight in a short period of time, inquiries into their claims haven't proven factual. One investigation into companies promoting detox supplements couldn't get hold of evidence they were efficient or safe.

Then we have multiple detox strategies promoting juices and teas and colonics or simply fasting. And many of these plans do not provide fibre. Juicing strips out the fibre which is beneficial for cleaning your colon and feeding good bacteria (which is also beneficial for detoxing your body) and limits your ability to absorb minerals (the slower your food passes through your bowels, the more minerals you're able to take).

All in all, the draw towards detoxing is not simply to detox. There seems to be a greater or added pull from people claiming to have lost weight and feel good about themselves. Despite this, much of the seen weight loss comes from your body's need for energy. You might believe it comes from excess fat, but more than likely it will be from the stored glucose sugar in your liver. This will last for a day or so and you will lose a load of water too. It's because glycogen (your stored glucose) is made from glucose and water.[6]

Simply Diet Ideas Wrapped in a Detox

Not only are there purging promises, but there are vegetarian diets masked as a cleansing way of life. They guide you to removing junk food (which is obvious right?) and foods believed to be bad for your health (without any strong evidence, I have to say). Often, participants are switching from a poor diet to a fruit and veg based diet. This could mean a low energy diet. But inevitably to a high vitamin and mineral diet.

Nevertheless, eating more than your one-a-day has got to be beneficial, hasn't it? But then there are those who fuse two ideas together. They take the detox concept and mash it with the alkalising notion. Again, more fruit and veg and remove animal products because they "increase blood acidity levels".

In reality, your body is extremely good at keeping blood acid levels in the correct range. Although, eating more fruit and veg is a good idea because they provide nutrients to help your body with this process and replace nutrients used to do the jobs.

As a consequence, the claims surrounding an alkalising diet has produced many scientific studies. The conclusions demystify the claims but speculate why adding more fruit and veg into your diet might be good for you, while also pointing out the benefits of eating animal foods too... It's likely that you'll balance out your potassium and sodium ratio, and increase your magnesium levels while increasing your growth hormone too.[7,8]

Ultimately, detox diets fall short of living up to the claims. To my knowledge, there are only a few ways to actually...

...target toxic substances and increase detoxification process

Due to the accumulation of organochlorine pesticides in every living thing, smart people have discovered a drug to restrict the pesticides in the intestines, whereby, they can become part of your waste.

For the similar reason to pesticides, doctors are proving medical procedures to remove heavy metals. The common heavy metals, such as lead, mercury, copper, iron, and aluminium can be expelled through chelation therapy. EDTA and ALA are both used to bind heavy metals so heavy metals can be eliminated.

But most importantly, a toxic substance some plants produce in defence of being attacked acts as an adaptogen when we eat it. Sulphoraphane, found in cruciferous vegetables, can provoke glutathione S-transferases. Out of all of the cruciferous vegetables, broccoli sprouts contain the highest amount of sulphoraphane. And when consumed, sulphoraphane acts with anti-cancer, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. It is truly a superfood and should be part of our diet to aid your natural detox systems.

Conclusively, your diet should be rich in nutrients to help your body detox. Some foods can be limited or eliminated for short periods to aid the process such as our Skinny & Lean in 5 plan. It's a short-term diet that incorporates many of the nutrients your body needs to cleanse. Plus, because of the design, it will open up those fat cells to remove any toxins. It can kill damaged and unnecessary cells you don't need through autophagy. Also, you'll switch your body into a fat burning machine and actually lose body fat. It is a safe an effective 5-day strategy to repair your body.