What is detox?
Detox is the process of mobilizing the body’s resources to eliminate toxins. Whether they are metallic or non-metallic, detoxification can be done independently or under the guidance of a specialist. However, specific health issues in the body can hinder the detoxification process.
What is chelation?
Chelation involves the use of unique chemical compounds to remove metals from the body. It is not effective in eliminating non-metal toxins. Nonetheless, chelation can assist in removing certain toxins and enhance the body’s ability to detoxify non-metal toxins.
Currently, the situation is unclear. To provide a comprehensive explanation, it is necessary to start from the beginning.
What are xenobiotics?
Xenobiotics are substances that are foreign to our body. They can be naturally occurring or man-made. Xenobiotics are conventionally categorized into metal-containing and non-metal-containing compounds.
Xenobiotics can damage cells and cause mutations, leading to the development of malignancies or hereditary diseases that may affect your children or grandchildren.
Groups of xenobiotics include:
- Products generated from human economic activities such as:
- Industrial byproducts
- Agricultural chemicals
- Transportation-related pollutants
- Household chemicals, including:
- Detergents
- Pesticides
- Perfumes
- Medications
Smoking is also a significant source of continuous toxin exposure to the smoker’s body, as well as those around them and the environment.
How xenobiotics enter our body
From the environment:
- Heavy metals;
- Pesticides;
- Petroleum products, plastic;
- Electromagnetic radiation.
As waste products of infections:
- Lyme neurotoxins and co-infections;
- Toxins are released by microbes (mold, parasites, viruses).
Products of our wrong metabolism:
- Toxins due to the presence of food intolerances, for example.
Cumulative effect
Cumulative effect The main consequence of the Second World War is the toxins that have firmly entered our lives. What was produced for the conduct of hostilities after the end of the war began to be used in civilian life. We feel the consequences of this now much more acutely than in previous generations precisely because of the cumulative effect.
- In each generation, the level of toxins rises due to the cumulative effect;
- The level of entry of toxins into the body depends on the place of residence and lifestyle;
- 2/3 of the toxins from the mother’s body are transmitted to the child during pregnancy and lactation. The placenta does not protect the baby from many toxins;
- The older the expectant mother, the more toxins the mother has accumulated during her life;
- The more toxins in the body of the future father, the lower the activity of his spermatozoa.
Sources of toxins
Permanent sources:
- Agriculture;
- Housing complex;
- landfills;
- Ground and underwater burials;
- Mines and mines;
- Industry.
Toxin Sources Disasters and Accidental Leaks (Examples):
- Nuclear reactor explosion
- Oil spill from a tanker
- Gas pipeline explosion
- Crash of a cargo train carrying toxic waste
Examples of toxins entering our bodies from the environment:
- Toxins are washed out of landfills and pesticide-treated fields by rain. Then they seep into the soil and flow into reservoirs through groundwater, from where they enter:
- Your homes through the water supply or via an artesian well
- Fields, where they enter plant-based food or become feed for livestock
- Many things around us pollute the air with toxins:
- Furniture releases formaldehyde into the air
- Household chemicals contain ammonia
- Cheap floor tiles may contain lead, and this problem is still unresolved. There have been cases of lead poisoning in children who crawled on such tiles
- Old “popcorn” ceilings may contain asbestos; never remove such ceilings yourself
- Old paint on walls may contain lead
- Soil near major highways is still contaminated with lead. That’s why food from your small roadside urban garden can do you more harm than good
- Fluorescent lamps contain small amounts of mercury inside (try to remove them from your home without breaking them)
- If part of your life was spent in an industrial region or near an industrial disaster site, you may have health problems caused by toxins that have been lingering in your body since then.
What is a food chain?
Numerous oceanic deposits of toxic materials have now rusted and release a huge amount of toxins into the oceans.
- These toxins enter plankton
- Shrimp consume the plankton
- Small fish consume the shrimp
- Larger fish consume the small fish
This cumulative effect, where the toxin levels increase by an order of magnitude with each step, is called a food chain. That’s why it’s important to consume large fish as little and as infrequently as possible.
How is chronic intoxication different from acute intoxication?
- Acute poisoning does not allow the body to adapt to rapidly changing conditions, which is why the reaction to acute intoxication usually does not go unnoticed by doctors.
- Chronic poisoning can take a long time. In addition, the response to prolonged intoxication is highly individual. It depends on the body’s ability to eliminate the toxins it receives.
What determines the body’s ability to eliminate toxins?
- The environment: The more toxins burden the body, the more difficult it is for it to eliminate all the toxins entering it.
- Age: The immune system is not fully developed until the age of 12. As people age, their immune system functions less effectively. That’s why children and seniors are the most vulnerable parts of our population.
- Genetic characteristics: The level of glutathione production is an individual trait that cannot be changed. That’s why even members of the same family may react differently to the same level of toxins.
- Health condition: If the body is already burdened with toxins, it becomes more difficult for it to eliminate newly incoming toxins.
- Condition of the excretory organs.
What are excretory organs?
The body’s ability to eliminate toxins is determined by the condition of the excretory organs:
- Liver health – for the elimination of fat-soluble toxins.
- Kidney health – for the elimination of water-soluble toxins.
- Lymphatic system function – to transport toxins from tissues to other excretory organs.
- Skin health – for the elimination of toxins from adipose tissues through sweating, bypassing other excretory organs.
Why is it important to cleanse the body of toxins?
Strictly speaking, it is important not only to cleanse the body of toxins but also to always reduce the toxic load on the body. The higher the burden, the greater the risk that at some point, you won’t be able to eliminate all the toxins that have entered your body during the day.
Why during the day? Because your body undergoes general detoxification at night. Yes, that’s one of the reasons why you need to sleep at night – the immune system eliminates toxins during sleep.
How does chronic intoxication occur and what is toxin redistribution?
If, at any given moment, the situation is such that your body cannot eliminate everything that has entered it during the day, some toxins will accumulate in the tissues. Over time, the amount of toxins will continue to increase.
In the case of chronic intoxication, the body does everything it can to protect you from the effects of toxins. One option is to store toxins in adipose tissue, where they are safer for you. This helps protect you from the accumulated toxins until the amount of adipose tissue becomes excessive, which can lead to weight-related problems. Alternatively, until you decide to lose weight, the toxins may enter the bloodstream. It is crucial for your body to intercept and safely eliminate them. If this doesn’t happen, the toxins will simply redistribute throughout the body. The redistribution from adipose tissue to the brain is the most dangerous form of toxin redistribution in the body.
When might you need specialist assistance?
A specialist can help you:
- Assess the condition of the excretory organs through laboratory tests.
- Evaluate any health problems that need to be addressed before safe detoxification or chelation can take place. For example, chronic constipation should be resolved before undergoing these therapies, as there is a risk of toxin redistribution.
- Determine if there is a current source of toxins and eliminate it.
- Identify which toxins are blocking your body and develop a plan for their safe elimination.
- Devise a detoxification and/or chelation protocol that may include:
- Proper diet.
- Necessary supplements.
- Lifestyle changes (movement is important for lymphatic system function, for example).
- Deciding on the need for chelators, which chelators will be used, and how they will be administered.
Required tests for assessing the level of toxin intoxication in the body:
What tests are currently used to determine the level of intoxication and which toxins are present in the body?
- Porphyria test: Indirectly indicates the level of intoxication. It is the only test that can help assess the amount of toxins in the body.
- Non-provoked urine toxin test: Shows what toxins your body can eliminate naturally.
- Provoked urine toxin test: Shows what toxins your body can eliminate with the use of a chelator.
- Stool toxin test: Shows what toxins your body eliminates through feces. Sometimes this test helps understand why nothing is detected in the urine test.
Additional tests:
- Organic acid test: Helps understand how the body functions at the biochemical level. It is a highly informative and useful test if interpreted by a specialist knowledgeable in biochemistry.
- Genetic test: Helps identify genetic mutations that may interfere with detoxification and chelation processes and
What about the hair test?
The hair test is not indicative and is no longer used for detoxification and chelation purposes. It simply shows what you have been able to eliminate over the past two months. It has many limitations: the hair should not have been dyed and should not be exposed to toxic substances (such as hair care products). Provocation is not possible because the provoking agent only works for about 6 hours. And lastly, you would have to cut a significant amount of hair because you need to collect the required quantity by cutting 2 centimetres of hair closest to the scalp, discarding your beautiful locks.
Conclusion
I constantly hear stories about serious health problems that arose after someone decided to do a “harmless” detox on their own. I believe that now such stories won’t surprise you after I explained a small part of the complexity of this issue. Whether you have a diagnosed health problem or even if you don’t have one yet, it is always better to ensure in advance that you can safely undergo detoxification.
For this, it is best to consult a specialist, even if you don’t plan on doing chelation. You never know what layer of toxins lies in your body until you throw the stone that can cause an unexpected avalanche.