“For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of conception until death. In the less than two decades of their use, the synthetic pesticides have been so thoroughly distributed throughout the animate and inanimate world that they occur virtually everywhere.”
While this quote sounds like a line from a recent news report, it is actually an excerpt from Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring published in 1962. Detoxification seems to be a buzz word these days. Just Google detoxification and you will find everything from water detoxification to colon cleanses.
So what is detoxification? In layman’s terms, detoxification is the way our body protects us from things that we take in or that our body makes, which could damage our health. The official definition of detoxification is this: the chemical changes of a xenobiotic, a phytochemical or an endogenous (one your own body makes) compound that renders it less toxic and ready to be excreted. In layman’s terms, detoxification is the way our body protects us from things that we take in that could damage our body.
The ideal situation is toxins in and toxins out, right? If the body is working as designed, then it should be toxins in and toxins out. And how does the body get toxins out? There are many organs that detoxify. The skin (through sweating), kidneys (through urination), but the liver is the most important detox organ. The liver detoxification mechanism involves 2 main processes: Phase I and Phase II detoxification.
Phase I detoxification involves the cytochrome P-450 system in the liver. This is the first line of defense against all toxins. Toxins are tagged and altered for further detoxification, which then occurs in Phase II. Any break down in this process will result in increased toxin load on the body.
We are what we eat, drink, breath, and touch. But did you ever think that we are what we don’t eliminate? Without elimination of the toxic chemicals we take in and produce every day, our bodies swim in a sludge pool of toxins.
This increased toxic load on the body leads to inflammation, the balance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory substances. The balance between Omega 6, a pro-inflammatory subtance, and Omega 3, an anti-inflammatory substance, is the perfect example.
It is the chronic imbalance of pro-inflammatory substances that then leads to disease. Shouldn’t the aim of all health care be to prevent inflammation and, therefore, disease? It is in fact, one of our main focuses in the Forum Health Knoxville approach to health and wellness.
Ever wonder if you need to detoxify? My first recommendation is look at and listen to your body. The body will tell you if it is in trouble or imbalanced. How? Physical signs or symptoms are our bodies’ message that all is not right. Here’s how to know if you bodies’ signs and symptoms are saying that you might be suffering from toxic build up. Here are some symptoms of toxin buildup.
Headaches
Muscle aches and pains
Fatigue
Asthma
Allergies
Skin disorders
Chronic infections
Altered mood
Altered cognition
Weight gain
Altered stress tolerance
Altered libido
Infertility
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