Detoxification

Proper Detoxification can be the key to unlocking your health, but it’s one of the most overlooked aspects of health.

There is a great deal of talk about cleanses, detoxes, flushes, etc.; but a true detox takes time and work. Unless toxic levels are measured before and after doing a detox, you cannot know whether or not it is working. A cleanse is more of a means of flushing or temporarily “cleaning” the intestines, while a true detox cannot be done in a couple of days or weeks.

In my experience and opinion, detoxification is frequently done wrong. Because of this, it often ends up doing more harm than good.

Yet, when done right, can be the cornerstone of restoring one’s health.

I have had many patients state that it has been years — or even decades — since the last time they have felt well. They have tried all of the latest diets, fads, supplements, magic potions, lotions, and pills. Yet, they don’t feel any better. In fact, many say they now feel even worse.

After spending tons of money, time, and energy on all of these different things that are supposed to heal the body, they have gotten nowhere fast. They end up feeling as though they have been falsely led, and that they have been spinning their wheels in a relentless effort to feel good.

Without proper guidance or the right “sequence” to health restoration, we will simply be a hamster on a wheel running our little hearts out and getting nowhere fast.

In almost every case I see, I will start patients on a detox that can last anywhere from 3 to 24 weeks; or sometimes even more.

A properly designed and safe detoxification can be the key to restoring one’s health. So, why is a detoxification so often the health issue holding you back?

Many of the most common toxins in our environment interfere with the metabolic processes in our bodies.

You can take all the supplements, vitamins, pills, and  medications available, but if you have toxins in your body blocking the processes you are trying to restore, nothing will help. You must remove the toxins in order to restore the metabolic pathways so that the vitamins, nutrients, co-factors, and enzymes can get back to work.

There are a plethora of toxins in the environment that we get exposed to on a daily basis. Learning about these various toxins can be an eye-opening experience to say the least.

It can be very overwhelming when you start looking into all the different toxins and the types of effects they can have. As of 2015, there were approximately 80,000 chemicals in industrial use for manufacturing.

Only a small percentage of these have been tested for any type of toxicity to animals or humans. In fact, most of them don’t even have to be tested unless they exhibit some sort of toxic effects.

In addition to those 80,000 chemicals already in use, there are 1,000 new chemicals introduced every year for manufacturing.

The list of environmental toxins is growing exponentially. There is little we can do about that.

The best we can do is minimize the exposure to those chemicals, how we react to them, and make sure our bodies can effectively excrete them.A detoxification can be a bad thing, if it’s done wrong. Or it can be the best thing for you, if it’s done right.

 

So, I will try to give you the short story of why detoxification can be detrimental if it’s done wrong.

As you can see from the diagram on the right, there are 2 phases of detoxification: Phase 1 and 2

Phase 1 detoxification uses the Cytochrome P450 enzyme to convert a toxin into an intermediary metabolite.

Phase 2 will then attach another particle to the intermediary metabolite which can then be excreted by the body through the stool, bile, or urine

The problem with detoxification is that those intermediary metabolites that phase 1 makes are often worse for our bodies than the actual toxins are. In essence, the toxins are activated so that a molecule can be attached to it and excrete it. Those activated toxins tend to be very reactive in the body, and they can do some major damage.

 Metal Toxicity and Detoxification are not issues that should be underestimated.

Heavy Metal toxicity is a massive problem that is growing every day. At Premier IFM, we routinely send patients out for a simple provocation urine test to see if there are heavy metals present. On average, we do about four of these per week, and 95% of those patients end up needing a heavy metal detox.

Suffice it to say, heavy metal detoxing could and probably should have its own webpage on our website. However, there is just too much information to go over.

Unfortunately, heavy metal toxicity tends to be one of those issues that is “out of sight, out of mind” and most people don’t think about its possibility until they are sick and struggling with their health.

 The short list of possible heavy metals that can and do routinely cause health problems include the following:

  • Aluminum

  • Antimony

  • Arsenic

  • Barium

  • Bismuth

  • Cadmium

  • Calcium

  • Cesium

  • Chromium

  • Cobalt

  • Copper

  • Creatinine

  • Gadolinium

  • Gallium

  • Iron

  • Lead

  • Length of Collection

  • Lithium

  • Magnesium

  • Manganese

  • Mercury

  • Molybdenum

  • Nickel

  • Niobium

  • Platinum

  • Potassium

  • Rubidium

  • Selenium

  • Strontium

  • Sulfur

  • Thallium

  • Thorium

  • Tin

  • Total Urine Volume

  • Tungsten

  • Uranium

  • Vanadium

  • Zinc

Many people wonder where and how they became exposed to heavy metals.

While there are certain things that greatly increase your exposure to heavy metals, the fact is if you live in an industrialized nation, you have been exposed to heavy metals.

It’s what the body does with those toxins that can determine what happens with your health. Some people are gifted with good detoxification; and others, not so much.

Many of the heavy metals and toxins in general tend be be lipophilic (meaning they like fat), so when we get exposed to these toxins they can build up in our systems, gradually gaining strength until the day they have enough “reinforcements” to wreak havoc on your health.

 Rest assured. We will leave no stone unturned when it comes to restoring your health.

Assessing heavy metals is absolutely one of those stones.