The Importance of Detoxification (And a Recipe!)

Posted on 5/16/2013 by Dr. Adrian den Boer
Categories: detoxification, recipe

The amount of manmade chemicals in our food system is astounding. Our food system has been severely contaminated with over 70,000 chemicals, including thousands of chemicals that the European community has disallowed into their food system (Landrigan, Graham & Thomas, 1993). Unfortunately, research proves that much of our ill health is due to everyday exposure of these toxic chemicals in our conventional food supply. In order to rebalance and revitalize health, detoxification is an absolute crucial step and has been the cornerstone of DBC since it was established in 1989.
 
Examples of Toxic Chemical Exposure
 
Artificial sweeteners and food coloring are linked to cancer, altered behavior, and poor health in general. Many of these substances have been banned in the European Union due to their toxic nature, but our food system in the United States has not had the same privilege.
 
Bisphenol A (BPA) is another common chemical found in canned goods, plastic bottles and receipts. In fact, BPA was one of 232 chemicals found in the umbilical cords of unborn babies in a 2009 study by the Environmental Working Group (Scheer & Moss, 2012) and has been show to be a significant endocrine disruptor.
 
Genetically modified foods (GMO) are another example of a toxic food foreign to the body. For instance, most corn has been hybridized, coded with pesticides, and changed by companies to be so different from its original state that our bodies can’t recognize it. The nutritional value is TOTALLY gone in these types of foods.
 
Finally, we are unwittingly exposed to high levels of metals, stress from electronic devices, and things we don’t think about like hand lotions, exposure to gas fumes, chlorinated pools, sunscreen, and even house cleaning products.
 
When our bodies become overloaded with these chemicals, they end up getting stored throughout the body, creating inflammatory pockets of unhealthy cells in our fat, neurological and bone tissues. This can affect our health in a myriad of ways from childhood diseases to infertility-and too many problems in between. 
 
Because our bodies are tasked with metabolizing and disposing of these very chemicals, detoxification pathways in the liver and kidneys become so bogged down they are only a fraction of their capacity.
 
Therefore, it is critical to detoxify the RIGHT way in order to regain health, and when we do, it’s important to enhance all steps of detoxification – not just one or two.
 
Detoxification Gone Wrong
 
Most generic detoxification systems on the market release toxins but do not support the detoxification pathways, which causes great problems in the patient’s health. This imbalanced detoxification creates what is commonly called a “healing crisis,” but it’s not a sign of impending health.
 
It’s actually detoxification gone wrong. It’s a bit like using a blower to blow your garage floor without opening the garage doors. You create a huge dust storm, and this dust has to settle somewhere.
 
That is bad detoxification, and the ramifications include tissue damage, and hormone changes, weakness in muscles, brain fog, and fatigue further downstream. 
 
Another mainstream way of detoxifying is fasting. While there is nothing wrong with short-term fasts for some people, I do not recommend more than two days for most people given the impact it can have on muscle mass, brain health and much more.
 
On the contrary, DBC has a formula for detoxification that has worked for 10,000 patients and counting. The following steps are how we typically structure detoxification for our patients to be successful.
 
Detoxification the DBC Way
 
The exciting thing is that we truly can chip away at inflammation and toxicity and significantly increase our health even in this chemical-laden world, and experience vitality at any age!
 
1) Food and an Alkaline pH
 
Starting with food, we first eliminate foods that can be inflammatory and that many have reactions to like nuts, gluten, dairy, soy, and citrus.
 
Balancing pH is also critical, and we as a people have become much too acidic by stresses on body from food and lifestyle. Thus, changing pH to a more alkaline state is critical by eating lots of vegetables and omitting caffeine. See our Alkaline Broth recipe below for a great way to help alkalinize your pH! To learn monitor your body’s pH, you can buy pH strips from your local pharmacy. Aim to get as close to 7.0 as possible.
 
2) Medical Foods
 
In addition to cleaning up the diet, patients use medical foods prescribed by our doctors and formulated for detoxification from Nature’s Remedies. The medical foods have been clinically trialed and are extremely effective at reengaging the detoxification pathways within all of our cells, especially the liver and kidneys, ridding of toxins, and healing at the cellular level.
 
3) Walking, Proper Hydration, and Sleep
 
We also recommend walking daily to increase lymphatic flow, hydrate well, and to expect an increased need to sleep at least 30 minutes more per night.
 
4) Stress Management
 
A major component of toxicity is the body’s response to stress. If you’re under stress, toxicity is enhanced five-fold compared to when you’re not under stress. Your body creates more cortisol to respond to stressors which is inflammatory to the body when it happens continually. Exercise, eating well, breathing exercises and pursuit of spirituality can significantly address this concern.
 
5) Gut Health
Finally, the state of your gut health is absolutely critical, because if you detoxify but do not repair the gut, incoming toxins will re-pollute the body within weeks.
 
For more information on how to repair your gut, stay tuned for next week’s post!
 
ALKALINE BROTH RECIPE

Ingredients
3 stalks celery or bok choy
3 carrots
1 large onion and/or 2 cloves garlic
1 cup fresh spinach leaves
3 c. green beans
Fresh parsley

Instructions
1.     Coarsely chop all the vegetables into pieces. Cover them with water in a non aluminum pot.
2.     Bring to a boil then reduce heat and allow to a simmer until broth has a rich flavor. Strain and drink hot or cold.
3.     Store in airtight container in frig for several days.
 
References
 
Hennessey, Rachel.Living in Color: The potential dangers of artificial dyes. Forbes. 27 August 2012. http://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelhennessey/2012/08/27/living-in-color-the-potential-dangers-of-artificial-dyes/.
 
Landrigan, P., Graham, D., Thomas, R. Strategies for the prevention of environmental neurotoxic illness. Environ Res. 6 April 1993.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8472670
 
Scheer, Roddy, Moss, Doug. Why Are Trace Chemicals Showing Up in Umbilical Cord Blood? Scientific American. 1 September 2012.  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=chemicals-umbilical-cord-blood