DESCRIPTION
Toxins are substances that are injurious to the body. Toxins interfere with metabolism, nerve transmission and the micro-molecular cellular structure of the body. A toxic substance can affect the body in many ways. At one extreme, death coould occur. At the other extreme, the toxin could provoke just a rash. The reaction could manifest as the effect of an electrical impulse; or as a space occupying " toxic mass" - a tumor that may interfere with life.
Detoxification means reduce, remove, neutralize, eliminate, and avoid toxins.
One aspect of a toxic agent is the cascade effect which it may provoke in nerve tissue. An irritant or toxic substance can initiate and perpetuate an ever increasing transmission of abnormal signals through the nervous system. These signals could lead to malfunction of cell division and growth and healthy tissue formation.
Toxins can come into the body through the air we breathe, the fluids we drink, the foods we eat, the substances we expose ourselves to, and even to the images we see, hear and think.
Toxic substances also result from the normal metabolic activities of the cells of our body. Metabolism provides the nutrients our bodies need by breaking down nutrients into usable elements. In the process byproducts are created. These normal "leftovers" of metabolism are waste substances which must be eliminated.
An Externally Initiated Detoxification Program assists by removing, eliminating, breaking down or neutralizing unwanted or poisonous materials from the body. One would think that the body must have built-in mechanisms for dealing with these problems or it wouldn't have survived as long as it has. And that is absolutely true! But sometimes the body needs some assistance.
A Detoxification Program is not necessary under normal circumstances. Detoxification is important when the circumstances of living are greatly exaggerated. This could be performing greater than "normal" muscular activity like running, jogging or other strenuous continuous activity with minimal rest. The increased metabolic demands for energy elevates metabolism, resulting in the buildup of toxins. The problem is that all toxic substances are not immediately "dumped" out of the body, rather they must stand in line and wait their turn to be eliminated. These accumulated toxins can accumulate and cause damage to the body.
Ingestion of a particular kind of food or chemical is another way toxins can accumulate. Examples are preservatives, food additives, insecticides, pesticides, herbicides and industrial chemicals. It is reported that there may be more than a half-million industrial chemicals in our environment that were not there 50 years ago. Our bodies have no way of dealing with many of these chemicals. The effects of some of these chemicals are cumulative, building up to toxic levels over a period of time.
Toxicity can be created by too much of something as well as too little of something. For example, sugar is a nutrient. Too much of it can cause problems. Too little of it causes other vital structures to be metabolized to create the sugar required by the body. This reduction process (breaking down protein to create sugar, as an example) yields toxic metabolites.
People who undergo weight reduction programs do not realize that in order to lose ten pounds of body fat, the body must "kill" the fat, or change it to something else and eliminate it. In the process of breaking tissue down, toxic metabolites are created. When and if fat is broken down, by either dieting or exercise, it releases its stored toxic residues into the blood. Unmetabolizabled elements taken into the body, such as certain chemicals, are stored in the fatty tissue of the body. While stored in fat, these chemicals cause little or no problem. Disrupting the fat deposit causes spontaneous release, creating a toxic reaction. This is the reason many people who either begin a vigorous exercise or diet regime often feel very down during the first several days or even weeks of the program. The toxin overload is too much for the body to handle. Fortunately the body usually is eventually able to eliminate these toxins and everything normalizes.
In our society we live by the all-or-none philosophy meaning that, if you do something potentially damaging (drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, etc), and it doesn't kill you, we assume it must be safe. We carry that philosophy over to our eating habits and shrug our shoulders when someone points out that eating devitalized, processed foods is not good for us. Since we've been eating this stuff for years, we believe that if it was going to hurt us it would have done so long ago.
Another all-or-none concept is that if you lose weight, it must be only fat that you lose. Yet, in a diet that provides less fuel to the body than the body needs, tissue will be broken down and metabolized. That tissue could include parts of the brain, heart muscle, spleen, joint structures and especially troubling, the liver. Stopping food intake for just 24 hours can result in the liver reducing its size by 20 percent, that loss could double in 48 hours. Prolonged fasting can be dangeous.
INFECTION IS ANOTHER FORM OF TOXICITY
Infectious agents enters the body primarily through food, water, skin and air. Fungi, molds, bacteria, parasites, and viruses enter the body all the time. Usually these pathogens are encountered in levels that can be handled by the immune system. The incidence of food-borne bacteria is rising. Just recently a news report on San Diego television indicated that as many as 10 people per day die of bacterial infections from chicken, meat and fish ingestion. It is reported the tens of thousands of people become ill from tainted foods. Over 100,000 Americans die per year from dangerous infections they contract while in a hospital. Infection will be a problem of increasing severity. The overuse, the misuse, of antibiotics by the medical industry has bred "superbugs" which are resistant to even the most powerful antibiotics currently in production. New viruses are evolving. It is possible that a new strain of infuleneza will surface soon. These new strains of the influenza virus develop in either birds or pigs, and can be passed on to humans.
WHAT ARE THE MAJOR DETOXIFICATION ROUTES IN THE BODY?
THE LIVER is one of the most important organs for building up and tearing down chemicals created by the body. There are certain nutrients the liver requires to function. Supplying those nutrients in supplemental form can support the liver's function. Anything which enters the body; nutrients or poison, must be dealt with; even something as important as vitamin C. Your body chemistry uses a particular amino acid molecule to prepare vitamin C. It takes one molecule of glutathione to prepare one molecule of vitamin C for use. Glutathione is made of three amino acids. Does this mean that three amino acid molecules will be consumed for every molecule of vitamin C absorbed? It would appear so, so any health program or detox program should include extra amino acids.
THE BOWEL is the second major detoxification organ. Not only can bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses proliferate in the bowel, some can gain entrance to the interior of the body to wreak their havoc through leaky "gut" walls. Abnormal chemicals can be created in the bowel when normal bile acids combine with undigested proteins. This is why constipation is so detrimental to health. These self-manufactured chemicals can be absorbed with devastating consequences. It is important these digestive materials move through the bowel within a normal time span - no more than 22 hours. You can time your digestive cycle by eating corn and noting how long it takes before some of the corn kernals appears in your stool. The longer the contents remain in the bowel (constipation) the more absorption of unwanted, toxic substances will occur.
THE BLOOD is helps in detoxification, but only as long as it is circulating properly. If certain kinds of molecules, especially highly charged minerals, enter the blood, the electrical property of the blood can change. By becoming less negative, (which can be measured by the specific conductance of the fluid portion of the blood), red blood cells, platelets and even white blood cells can stick together, forming larger and larger clumps. This makes circulation through tiny vessels, the capillaries, difficult.
Blood circulates through blood vessels. They range in size from one inch in diameter to 2 microns (2 millionths of a meter) in diameter. The smallest vessels are called capillaries. The smallest capillaries are in the spleen. These smallest capillaries in the spleen are 2 microns in diameter. The average red blood cell is 8 microns in diameter. Eventually all the blood must flow through these invisible-to-the naked eye tubes. Red blood cells flow through these small vessels one cell at a time in a folded shape. If there are clumps consisting of dozens or even hundreds of red cells, the movement of blood through the small vessels will be reduced. If the blood flow is reduced the nutrition and oxygen carried to the cells will also be reduced. Also, as blood flow or circulation slows, elimination of toxic metabolites slows and carbon dioxide elimination is reduced.
Maintaining adequate blood flow throughout the body is especially important in a detoxification program. Exercise increases blood flow. Reduces hardening of the arteries, widening the diameter, increases blood flow. Unclumping the red blood cells increases blood flow. Certain nutrients can restore the normal electrical potential in the blood and "unclump" the cells, reducing their size and enabling them to flow more easily.
THE KIDNEYS are a major detoxification organ. The most important function of the kidneys is to assist in the removal of excess positively charged minerals. To accomplish filtration and mineral removal the kidneys must have a good blood supply, and enough water to do their job. The daily water requirement for normal body kidney function is far more than most people think - or drink.
Two to three quarts of fluid is necessary to maintain optimum health. Generally, water derived from food is pure. Water from the environment and the public water supply is not as pure. Water is a chemical and must be consumed in its purest and cleanest form. The use of purified bottled water or super filtrated water for drinking and cooking is helpful. An excellent long term investment for your home is a whole house water filtration unit.
OXYGEN is a very effective detoxifier. Few of us get enough oxygen to maintain optimum health. If we want more oxygen we ordinarily have only one resource-breathe more. It is very difficult to voluntarily breathe deeply more than once or twice (usually at great intervals) and ultimately it doesn't make much difference unless there is an internal need for it. People who exercise, jog or run will quickly begin breathing fast and deeper. Why? To provide more oxygen because it is needed for fuel conversion and to eliminate the carbon dioxide created.
Ordinarily people aren't going to get more oxygen into their blood stream by beathing; because of "sludged blood" or poor circulation referred to earlier. Low hemoglobin levels in the blood prevents the oxygen offered in the lung to be picked up and circulated.
One answer to more oxygen in your environment is to create it with an ozone generator. Another way to help is to filter and treat the air you breathe with HEPA filters and negative ions.
Another way to get more oxygen into the blood is to drink it in an absorbable form. Drinking supplemental, stabilized forms of hydrogen peroxide is an excellent source of increasing oxygen in the blood. Oxygen oxidizes ( breaks down or converts) toxins very effectively and efficienty.
TO SUM IT UP..........
1. TOXEMIA IS A POTENTIAL PROBLEM FOR MOST OF US. IT WILL SAP OUR ENERGY AND REDUCE OUR RESISTANCE TO OTHER PROBLEMS.
2. Stringent diets may increase rather than decrease the level of certain toxins.
3. We need to assist the liver to cleanse itself.
4. Our bowels often are the source of self-induced toxicity.
5. We can have "blood sludge" which decreases our ability to detoxify.
6. Our kidneys are a major detoxification organ, but require more water than most people consume.
7. Oxygen is the most effective and efficient detoxifying agent.