It is somewhat difficult to separate the concepts and practices of  detoxification from those of fasting. Fasting, or the avoidance of solid food, as I use the term here, is one method of detoxification, probably the most effective, yet extreme, form. There are many other ways to detoxify.

Toxicity is of much greater concern in the twentieth century than ever before. There are many new and stronger chemicals, air and water pollution,  radiation and nuclear power. We ingest new chemicals, use more drugs of all kinds, eat more sugar and refined foods, and daily abuse ourselves with various stimulants and sedatives. The incidence of many toxicity diseases has increased as well. Cancer and cardiovascular disease are two of the main ones. Arthritis, allergies, obesity, and many skin problems are others. In addition, a wide range of symptoms, such as headaches, fatigue, pains, coughs, gastrointestinal problems, and problems from immune weakness, can all be related to toxicity.

Toxicity occurs on two basic levels–external and internal. We can acquire toxins from our environment by breathing them, by ingesting them, or through physical contact with them. Chapter 11, Environmental Aspects of Nutrition, deals with chemical aspects of food and how they influence our lives and health. We all are exposed to toxins daily. We eat and drink them and impose them upon ourselves repeatedly and regularly. Most drugs, food additives, and allergens can create toxic elements in the body. In fact, any substance can have toxicity–water, sodium, and almost all nutrients can be a problem in certain circumstances.

On the internal level, our body produces toxins through its normal everyday functions. Biochemical, cellular, and bodily activities generate substances that need to be eliminated. The free radicals that have been discussed  throughout this book are biochemical toxins. When these substances/molecules/toxins are not eliminated, they can cause irritation or inflammation of the cells and tissues, blocking normal functions on a cellular, organ, and whole-body level.

Microbes of all kinds–intestinal bacteria,  foreign bacteria, yeasts, and parasites–produce metabolic waste products that we must handle. Our thoughts and emotions and stress itself generate increased biochemical toxicity. The proper level of elimination of these toxins is essential to health. Clearly, a normal functioning body was created to handle certain levels of toxins; the concern is with excess intake or production of toxins or a reduction in the processes of elimination.

A toxin is basically any substance that creates irritating and/or harmful effects in the body, undermining our health or stressing our biochemical or organ functions. This may result from drugs which have side effects, or from patterns of physiology that are different from our usual functioning. Recreational drugs also usually have some harmful effects. The free radicals irritate, inflame, age, and cause degeneration of body tissues. Negative “ethers,” psychic and spiritual influences, thought patterns, and negative emotions all can be toxins as well–both as stressors and by changing the normal physiology of the body and possibly producing specific symptoms.

Toxicity occurs in our body when we take in more than we can utilize and eliminate. Homeostasis means that our body functions are in balance. This balance is disturbed when we feed ourselves more than we can utilize or partake of specific substances that are toxic. Toxicity may depend on the dosage, frequency, or potency of the toxin. A toxin may produce an immediate or rapid onset of symptoms, as many pesticides and some drugs do; possibly, even more commonly, it may cause some long-term negative effect, such as asbestos exposure leading to lung cancer.

Of course, if our body is working well, with good immune and eliminative functions, we can handle our basic everyday exposure to toxins. The purpose of this section is to discuss ways to support the elimination of toxins, excessive mucus, congestion, and disease and to prevent, on a day-to-day basis, the buildup of toxicity. Through detoxification, we clear and filter toxins and wastes and allow our body to work on enhancing its basic functions.

Our General Detoxification Systems

• Respiratory–lungs, bronchial tubes, throat, sinuses, and nose
• Gastrointestinal–liver, gallbladder, colon, and whole GI tract
• Urinary–kidneys, bladder, and urethra
• Skin and dermal–sweat and sebaceous glands and tears
• Lymphatic–lymph channels and lymph nodes

Detoxification occurs on many other levels as well. Physically, this process can help clear congestions, illnesses, and disease potential. It can improve energy. I believe that many “detox” processes can help rejuvenate us and prevent degeneration. Mental detoxification is also important. Cleansing our minds of negative thought patterns is essential to health; the physical detoxification also helps this mental process. Emotionally, detoxification helps us uncover and express feelings, especially hidden frustrations, anger, resentments, or fear, and replace them with forgiveness, love, joy, and hope.

On a spiritual level, many people experience new clarity and/or an enhancement of their purpose of life during cleansing processes. A light detox over a couple of days can help us feel better, while a longer process and deeper commitment to a new way of life, such as eliminating certain abusive habits and eating a better diet, will help us really change our whole life.

Detoxification is part of a transformational medicine that instills change on many levels. Change and evolution are keys to healing. Enhancing elimination helps us deal with and clear problems from our past, from childhood and parental patterns to recent job or relationship stress. When our body has eliminated much of its toxic buildup, we feel lighter and are able to really experience the moment and be open for the future.

Detoxification is a relative term. Anything that supports our elimination can be said to help us detoxify. Doing nothing more than drinking an extra quart of water a day will usually help us eliminate more toxins. Eating more fruits and vegetables–the high-water-content, cleansing foods–and less meat and milk products will create less congestion and more elimination. There are many levels of the progressive detoxication diets, from these simple changes to complete fasting.

I want to express some concerns about over elimination or over detoxification, which I see occasionally. Some people go to extremes with fasting, laxatives, enemas, colonics, diuretics, and even exercise and begin to lose essential nutrients from their body. A negative balance can be created in this manner, such as protein or vitamin-mineral deficiencies though congestion from over-intake and under-elimination is a more common problem in this culture. I believe that the best and simplest way to look at symptoms and disease is in terms of excess (congestion) and deficiency; this is the basis of the traditional Oriental philosophy.

Who is Best Suited for Detoxification?

Almost everyone needs to detox, cleanse themselves, and rest their body functions at times. Cleansing or detoxification is one part of the trilogy of nutritional action, the others being building, or toning, and balance, or maintenance. With a regular, balanced diet, devoid of excesses, we will need less intensive detoxification. Our body has a daily elimination cycle, mostly carried out at night and in the early morning, up until breakfast. However, when we eat a congesting diet higher in fats, meats, dairy products, refined foods, and chemicals, detoxification becomes more necessary. Who needs to detoxify and when is based in part on individual lifestyle and needs.

More common toxicity symptoms include headache, fatigue, mucus problems, aches and pains, digestive problems, “allergy” symptoms, and sensitivity to environmental agents such as chemicals, perfumes, and synthetics. People who experience these and others on the list may benefit from diet changes or avoidance of the drug or agent that may be influencing the symptom.

It may be important to differentiate allergic symptoms from those of toxicity to determine the appropriate medical care. The diet and  detox program here is fairly similar to the Allergy plan discussed earlier and is often helpful in reducing allergic symptoms. Fasting can be extremely beneficial for people with allergies. Of course, there may be subtle characteristics of toxicity that differentiate it from other health concerns.

Signs and Symptoms of Toxicity

Many of the poisons (toxins) that we ingest or make are stored in the fatty tissues. Obesity is almost always associated with toxicity. When we lose weight, we reduce our fat and thereby our toxic load. However, during weight loss we release more toxins, and thus need protection through greater intake of water, fiber, and the antioxidant nutrients, such as vitamins C, E, and beta-carotene, selenium, and zinc. With exercise we can also turn fat into muscle (not literally) and help further detoxification.

Problems Related to Congestion, Stagnation, or Toxicity

What is Detoxification?

Detoxification is the process of clearing toxins from the body or neutralizing or transforming them, and clearing excess mucus and congestion. Many of these toxins come from our diet, drug use, and environmental exposure, both acute and chronic. Internally, fats, especially oxidized fats and cholesterol, free radicals, and other irritating molecules act as toxins. Functionally, poor digestion, colon sluggishness and dysfunction, reduced liver function, and poor elimination through the kidneys, respiratory tract, and skin all add to increased toxicity.

Detoxification involves dietary and lifestyle changes that reduce intake of toxins and improve elimination. Avoidance of chemicals, from food or other sources, refined food, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, and many drugs helps minimize the toxin load. Drinking extra water (purified) and increasing fiber by including more fruits and vegetables in the diet are steps in the detoxification process. Moving from a more to a less congesting diet, as shown in the accompanying table, will help us to move along the detox road.

As I said, I believe that fasting/cleansing/detoxification is the missing link in Western nutrition, and if we used this process more in our daily lives and our medical system, we could heal and prevent a great deal of disease. Now is the time for all of us in the world to listen–and to clean and clear our bodies, homes, offices, our relationships, towns, cities, countries and the entire planet, lest we perish from toxicity.

When is the Best Time to Cleanse/Detoxify?

We need to incorporate nature ís cycles with our own cycles. We may notice regular periods of congestion, and we may reduce or prevent these by following a more detoxifying program. Whenever we feel congested, our first step is to follow detox procedures, many of which we can fine-tune in time with our experience of what works for us. I have found personally that if I start to feel congestion or a cold coming on, then I can exercise and sweat, sauna or steam, drink loads of fluids, take vitamins C and A, and get a good night ís sleep without eating much–and almost every time I will wake up healed! If I feel my bowels are backed up, I will usually take some herbs to stimulate them.

Each of us has a natural cleansing time when our body wants a lighter diet, more liquids, and greater elimination than intake. This occurs daily, usually in the night until midmorning; it may occur weekly but more commonly for a few days a month. Women, in particular, are aware of this natural cleansing time with their female cycle. In fact, many women do much better premenstrually and during their periods if they follow a cleansing program–more juices, greens, lighter foods, herbs, and so on–in the week before their menstruation.

The seasonal cycle is really the most important in regard to natural detoxification periods. If we can harmonize with these, we can do much to stay healthy. I discussed the relationship of the seasons to diet in other parts of this book, and in greater detail in my first book, Staying Healthy with the
Seasons, and explore this further in the program on Fasting.

To summarize here, the seasonal changes are the key stress times in nature and the times where we most need to lighten up our outer demands and consumptions and turn more within to listen to our inner world that mirrors the natural cycles.

Spring is the key time for detoxification; autumn is also important. At least a one- to two-week program is suggested at these times. In spring, we may eat more citrus fruits, fresh greens, and juices or try the Master Cleanser lemonade diet, while in autumn we may dine on other harvests, such as apples or grapes, and the many vegetables. Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables are appropriate when we are going into summer; and brown rice, vegetables, and soups may be best to simplify our diet when going into winter.

The sample yearly program provided here is designed for a basically healthy person who eats well. It would not be appropriate for those with deficiency problems such as extreme fatigue, underweight people, those who experience coldness, or those with heart weakness. There are even more contraindications for fasting, which releases more toxins than this program does. Releasing too much toxicity can make many sick people sicker; if that happens, they will need to increase fluids and eat again until they feel better.

People with cancer need to be very careful about how they detoxify. Prior to or just after surgery is not a good time to detoxify, but after healing, say about four to six weeks later. Pregnant or lactating women should not do any heavy detoxification, though they can usually handle mild programs.

Sample Year-Long Detox Program

Spring

For 7-21 days between March 10 and April 15, use one or more of the following plans:

• Master Cleanser (lemonade diet).
• Fruits, vegetables, greens.
• Juices of fruits, vegetables, and greens.
• Herbs with any of the above.

These plans can be alternated and even include a 3-5 day supervised water fast. Remember to take time (about half as long as the fast) for the transition back to the regular diet. Elimination and food testing can also be done at this time.

Mid-Spring

3-day cleanse at new moon time in May as a reminder and enhancer of food awareness.

Summer

One week of fruits and vegetables and/or fresh juices to usher in the warm weather sometime between June 10 and July 4.

Late Summer

3-day cleanse of fruit and vegetable juices around the new moon time in August.

Autumn

7-10 day cleanse between September 11 and October 5, such as:

• Grape fast–whole and juiced–grapes, all fresh.
• Apple and lemon juice together, diluted.
• Fresh fruits and vegetables, raw and cooked.
• Fruit and vegetable juices–fruit in the morning, vegetables in the afternoon.
• Juices plus spirulina, algae, or other green chlorophyll powders.
• Whole grains, cooked squashes and other vegetables (a lighter detox).
• Mixture of the above plans.
• Basic low-toxicity diet with herbal program.
• Colon detox with fiber (psyllium, pectin, and so on) along with enemas or colonics.
• Preparing and planning new autumn diet, enhancing positive dietary habits.

Mid-Autumn

3-day cleanse on juices or in-season produce around new moon in late October/early November.

Winter

A lighter diet in preparation for the holidays (can be done between December 10 and January 5):

• Avoidance of toxins and treats, with a very basic wholesome diet.
• One week of brown rice, cooked vegetables, miso broth, and seaweed. Ginger and cayenne pepper can be used in soups.
• Saunas or steams and massage–you deserve it!
• Hang on until spring!

Where Can We Detoxify?

During basic, simple detox plans, most of us can maintain our normal life functions. In fact, energy, performance, and health often improve. For some though, detox may produce symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, irritability, mucous congestions, or aches and pains; any of the symptoms of toxicity may appear, though usually not.

According to naturopathic theory, any symptoms that have previously been experienced may also be experienced transiently during detox/healing, and I have seen this occur. However, sometimes it is hard to know what is actually happening. Should we treat the problems that come up or simply watch them? Since my basic approach in medicine is to allow the body to heal itself and support the natural healing process whenever possible, that is what I try to do unless the person is very uncomfortable.

For many of us, especially the new or inexperienced, it is wise to begin any special programs, diet, or lifestyle changes with a few days at home. In time, experience will show what is best for us.

Most of us can maintain a regular work schedule during a cleanse or detox program (we may likely be more productive), but it may be easier to begin a program on a Friday, as the first few days are usually the hardest. This is because some people may be more sensitive during cleansing to their work environment or to chemical exposures, for example. Also, certain individuals may be faced with temptations or the influence of other workers or family members challenging their decisions, and for this, knowing and trusting what they are doing and having the support of a professional or group will add to their comfort and willpower.

At the end of the first day, at around dinnertime, symptoms may begin to appear, with headache and fatigue the most common, and it is good to be able to rest and spend time in familiar surroundings without a lot of outer demands. By the third day, we usually feel pretty stable and ready for work life. However, many people like to start new programs on Monday and just know that they will do fine, using willpower and visualization to see it through.

People often feel better than ever and are able to accomplish tasks and meet challenges more easily than usual. In fact, experienced fasters may fast during busy work periods to improve their productivity. Preparation and projection, clearing doubts and fears, and keeping a daily journal are all useful during this vital process and are crucial to any successful undertaking.

Why Detoxify?

We detoxify/cleanse for many reasons, mainly to do with health, vitality, and rejuvenation–to clear symptoms, treat disease, and prevent further problems. A cleansing program is ideal for helping us to reevaluate our lives, to make changes, or to clear abuses or addictions. It takes us through our withdrawal and reduces cravings fairly rapidly, and if we are ready, we can begin a new life without the addictive habits or drugs.

I cleanse because it makes me feel more productive, creative, and open to subtle and spiritual energies. Many people detox/cleanse–or, more commonly, fast on water or juices–for spiritual renewal and to feel more alive, awake, and aware. Christ, Paramahansa Yogananda, and many other religious figures and teachers have advocated fasting for health and for spiritual attunement. It really does help move our energies from our lower centers of digestion and elimination up into our heart, mind, and consciousness centers. Fasting will be discussed more in a later program.

Detoxification can be helpful for weight loss, though it is not a primary reduction plan; I think it is more important as a transition. However, anyone eating 4,000 calories a day of a fatty, sweet, and poorly balanced diet who begins to eat 2,000-2,500 calories of more wholesome foods will definitely experience detoxification, weight loss, and improved health.

We also cleanse/detoxify to rest our overloaded organs of digestion and our liver, gallbladder, and kidneys and allow them to catch up on past work. Most often our energy is increased and more steady. There are many reasons why we may want to cleanse.

Reasons for Cleansing

How Do we Detoxify/Cleanse?

I have touched on ways to detoxify throughout this section; the remainder is a discussion of general and specific diet plans, other activities, and supplements, including vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and herbs, to aid us in this healing process.

There are many levels to this part of the program. The first is to eat a nontoxic diet. If we do this regularly, we have less need for cleansing. If we have not been eating this way, we should detoxify first and then make permanent changes.

The Non-Toxic Diet

• Eat organic foods whenever possible.
• Drink filtered water.
• Rotate foods, especially common allergens, such as milk products, eggs, wheat, and yeast foods.
• Practice food combining.
• Eat a natural, seasonal cuisine.
• Include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, and, for omnivarians, some low-fat dairy products, and fresh fish (not shellfish) and organic poultry.
• Cook in iron, stainless steel, glass, or porcelain.
• Avoid or minimize red meats, cured meats, organ meats, refined foods, canned foods, sugar, salt, saturated fats, coffee, alcohol, and nicotine.

Another aspect of the nontoxic diet is avoiding drugs–over-the-counter, prescription, and recreational types–and substituting natural remedies, such as nutrients, herbs, and homeopathic medicines, all of which have fewer side effects. Other natural therapies, such as acupuncture, massage, and chiropractic may help in treating some problems so that we will not need drugs for them. Avoiding or minimizing exposure to chemicals at home and work is also important. This lessens our total toxic load. Substituting natural cleansers, cosmetics, and clothes is helpful.

The effects of the detoxification diet may vary. Even mild changes from our current plan may produce some responses, while more dramatic dietary shifts will produce a profound cleansing. Shifting from the most congesting foods to the least–eating more fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and legumes and less baked goods, sweets, refined foods, fried foods and fatty foods–will help most of us detoxify somewhat and bring us into better balance, with more vitalized cells, organs, and body.

Maintaining the same diet but adding certain supplements can also stimulate detoxification. Fiber, vitamin C, other antioxidants, chlorophyll, and glutathione, mainly as amino acid L-cysteine, will all help (see the end program following this discussion). Herbs such as garlic, red clover, echinacea, or cayenne may also induce some detoxification.

Saunas, sweats, and niacin therapy have been used to cleanse the body. Simply increasing liquids and decreasing fats will shift the balance strongly toward improved elimination and less toxin buildup. Increased consumption of filtered water, herb teas, fruits, and vegetables and reducing fats, especially most fried food, red meats, and milk products will also help detoxification. This is a more structured, basic diet, but for most average Westerners, it will be a major shift to a cleaner diet.

A vegetarian diet would also be a healthful step toward detoxification for those with some congestive problems. In general, moving from an acid-generating diet to a more alkaline one, as discussed in earlier sections in Chapters 10 and 12, will aid the process of detoxification. Acid-forming foods, such as meats, milk products, breads and baked goods, and especially the refined sugar and carbohydrate products, will increase body acidity and lead to more mucus production and congestion to attempt to balance the body chemistry, whereas the more alkaline, wholesome vegetarian foods enhance cleansing and clarity in the body. The right balance of acid and alkaline foods for each of us is, of course, the key.

A deeper level of the detox diet is one made up exclusively of fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, either raw and cooked, and whole grains, both cooked and sprouted; however, no breads or baked goods, animal foods and dairy products, alcohol, or nuts are used. This diet keeps fiber and water intake up and helps colon detoxification. Most people can handle this well and make the shift from their regular diet with a few days transition. Some people do well on a brown rice fast (a more macrobiotic plan), usually for a week or two, eating three to four bowls of rice daily along with liquids such as teas.

The next level of detoxification involves a diet consisting solely of fruits and vegetables, all cleansing foods. The green vegetables, especially the chlorophyllic and high-nutrient leafy greens, are very cleansing and supportive for purification of the gastrointestinal tract and the whole body. Ann Wigmore and her staff at the Hippocrates, or Optimum, Health Institute guides people in a wheatgrass and sprout cleansing program that is a wonderfully rejuvenating experience for many.

A raw foods diet is fulfilling for many people, very high in energy and nutrition. It contains lots of sprouted greens from seeds and grains such as wheat, buckwheat, sunflower, alfalfa, and clover; sprouted beans; soaked or sprouted raw nuts; and fresh fruits and vegetables. Cooking food is not allowed with this diet; eating foods raw maintains the highest concentrations of vitamins, minerals and important enzymes, and allows them to find their way into our body and cells. Many people feel that this is the best of diets; it can be health supportive over quite some time if it is balanced properly. Other specialized detox diets include macrobiotics and diets that treat certain problems, such as a yeast overgrowth or allergies.

Beyond the fruit-and-vegetable diet are the liquid cleanses or fasts. Juices, vegetable broths, and teas can be used to purify our body and life. Miso, a paste of fermented soybean, can be used during fasting. It provides many nutrients and supports colon function and the intestinal bacteria, which help detoxification.

Spirulina, an algae powder, can also be helpful to many fasters when added to juices. It provides protein to meet body needs and may aid those who experience some fatigue with fasting. Consuming fresh, diluted juices from various fruits and vegetables is safe and helpful for many conditions described in this section. Fasting experts believe that it actually works better than a straight water fast, as it helps to eliminate wastes and old or dead cells while restoring and building new tissue with the easily accessible nutrients from the juices.

Water fasting is more intense, often resulting in more sickness and less energy, than fasting with juices. Paavo Airola, one of the pioneers of fasting in America, states in How to Get Well and other books that “systematic undereating and periodic fasting are the two most important health and longevity factors.” Dr. Airola lists fruit and vegetable juices that cleanse and help in the healing of specific organs (see more in the Fasting program).

A key to proper treatment at the proper time is to work with detoxification individually. It does take a sensitive person or a sensitive practitioner to find the right path. Detoxification experiences can range from subtle to intense. We have to look at a person ís general health, physiological balance, energy level, and current life activities in order to set up the right program. There are a lot of possibilities. If unsure, start with your basic diet and move along the changes toward juice fasting and see how you feel. Take a couple of days for each step, and, if you feel fine, move to the next level, as described.

• Basic diet
• Eliminate toxins daily from more congesting to less (see chart on page 910); for example, drugs, sugar, fried foods, meats, dairy, etc. Take one to seven days.
• Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes
• Raw foods
• Fruits and vegetables
• Fruit and vegetable juices
• Specific juices, Master Cleanser, apple, carrot-greens, etc. (See Fasting program)
• Water

When I set up a detox/cleansing program, I evaluate each individual with a history, physical exam, biochemistry tests, dietary analysis, mineral levels, and any other specific tests indicated to determine their status. Looking at the patient ís current state of health, symptoms, and disease as an outcome of their diet, lifestyle, and inherent/familial patterns, and then considering their health goals, we create the plan together. As is true with any healing process, the plan must be followed, reevaluated, and fine-tuned to make it work to its best potential.

If people are deficient in nutrients and/or energy, they may need a higher-nutrient, higher-protein building diet to improve their health rather than a cleanse. Fatigue, mineral deficiencies, and low organ functions may call for this more supportive diet. However, even in these circumstances, short cleanses, such as three days, can help eliminate old debris and prepare the body to build with healthier blocks.

Our individual detox programs can change, as our needs often vary with time. My own personal program has changed over the decades. Initially, fasts were very powerful for me, transformative and healing. Now I usually notice very little effect, as I feel much cleaner most of the time. If I do get congested with different foods, with travel, or when under other stresses, a few days of juices or just light eating will make a big difference.

I ate a low-protein, high-complex-carbohydrate, vegetarian diet for a number of years. Now a mild detox for me consists of more strengthening protein-vegetable meals. Fresh fish with lots of vegetables satisfies and energizes me more now than in the past. The higher-starch meals led me to overeat more to feel nourished. This new diet has let me reduce calories and weight and feel stronger and healthier. And this too, I am sure, will change in time. Yes, detoxification is an individual affair, and many personal aspects are involved in devising a complete plan.

Colon cleansing is one of the most important parts of detoxification. Much toxicity comes out of the large intestine, and sluggish functioning of this organ can rapidly produce general toxicity. During a detox program, most people will work on some level with their colon. There are entire programs for colon detoxification available, such as Dr. Robert Gray ís Colon Cleansing program, which includes a book and special supplements, found mainly in health food stores. A series of colonic water irrigations, best performed by a trained professional can be the focal point of a detox program, usually along with some cleansing diet and fiber supplements for toning and cleaning the colon.

During a basic dietary detox program, other, more subtle colon stimuli are usually used to enhance colon action. These may include herbal or pharmaceutical laxatives, fiber and colon detox supplements, such as psyllium seed husks alone or mixed with other agents, for example, aloe vera powder, betonite clay, and acidophilus culture. Enemas using water, herbs, or even diluted coffee (stimulates liver cleansing) may also be used.

To improve elimination through the skin, regular exercise is important to stimulate sweating. Exercise also improves our general metabolism and helps overall with detoxification. Regular aerobic exercise is a key to maintaining a nontoxic body, especially when we are a little abusive of various substances. On the other hand, exercise increases the production of toxins in the body, so it must be accompanied by adequate fluids, antioxidants, vitamin and mineral replenishment, and other detoxifying principles already discussed. (Also, see the earlier Athletes program in Chapter 16.)

Regular bathing is essential to cleanse the skin of the toxins it has released and to open the pores to eliminate more. Saunas and sweats are commonly used to help purify the body through enhanced skin elimination. Dry brushing the skin with an appropriate skin brush before bathing is usually suggested, especially during detox programs, to cleanse the skin of old cells and invigorate it. Massage therapy, especially lymphatic and even deeper massage, is very useful in supporting our detox program. It stimulates elimination and body functions and promotes relaxation. Clearing tensions, worries, and other mental messes also makes for a more complete detoxification.

Resting, relaxation, and recharging are important to this rejuvenation process. During detox, we may need more rest, quiet time, and sleep, although more commonly we have more energy and function better on less sleep. Relaxation exercises help our body rebalance as our mind and attitudes stop interfering with our natural homeostasis. Practicing yoga combines quiet, yet powerful exercises with breathing awareness and regulation, allowing increased flexibility and relaxation. It may be appropriate for many to help balance more active and/or more contractive exercise programs, especially during detox and transition times.

Certain supplements may be used during most of these detoxification programs. However, general supplementation is less important in this detoxification program than in many of the other programs presented in this book or in the specific detox plans for drugs, alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine, when higher amounts of nutrients can ease the withdrawal transitions.

For straight juice cleansing or water fasts, I usually do not recommend any supplements; however, I may suggest a couple of nutrients or herbs to stimulate the detox process. Potassium, extra fiber with olive oil to clear toxins from the colon, sodium alginate from seaweeds to bind heavy metals, and apple cider vinegar in water (1 tablespoon of vinegar in 8 ounces hot water) to help reduce mucus are among these. For people beginning to detoxify with transition diets, I often suggest a specialized nutrient program to help neutralize toxins and support elimination. With weight loss, toxins stored in the fat will need to be mobilized and cleared. More water, fiber, and antioxidants can help handle this.

The supplement program used for general detoxification is outlined in the table at the end of this section. It includes a low-dosage multiple vitamin/mineral to fulfill the basic requirements during the transitional diet. The B vitamins, particularly niacin, are important, as are minerals such as zinc, calcium, magnesium, and potassium. The antioxidant nutrients are also important. These include basic levels of beta-carotene, vitamin A and zinc, and vitamin E and selenium, with special focus on vitamin C, probably our main detox vitamin. Some authorities believe that higher amounts of vitamin A (50,000 IUs), vitamin C (8-12 grams), and vitamin E (1,000-1,200 IUs) are helpful in detoxification.

The liver is our most important detox organ because of its many metabolic fuctions. Certain authorities suggest liver-supportive nutrients and even a liver glandular during general detoxification. The liver needs water and glycogen (glucose storage) as glucuronic acid for many of its detoxification functions. A higher starch or carbohydrate diet with lower levels of protein and fats is helpful. This plan correlates with most of the previous detox diets I have suggested, from juices to brown rice and vegetables. The B vitamins, especially B3 and B6, vitamins A and C, zinc, calcium, vitamin E and selenium, and L-cysteine are all also needed to support liver detoxification.

Several amino acids are helpful in detoxification, particularly the sulfur- containing ones, cysteine and methionine. L-cysteine supplies sulfhydryl groups which help to prevent oxidation and to bind heavy metals, especially mercury (vitamin C and selenium also help with this). Cysteine is the precursor of glutathione, our most important detoxifier, and thus helps to counter many chemicals and carcinogens. Glutathione is part of detoxification enzymes, specifically glutathione peroxidase and reductase, which work to prevent peroxidation of lipids and to decrease many toxins, such as smoke, radiation, auto exhaust, chemicals and drugs, and many other carcinogens.

Glycine is a secondary helper. An amino acid that supports glutathione synthesis, it also decreases the toxicity of substances such as phenols or benzoic acid, the latter used as a food preservative. Other amino acids that may have mild detoxifying effects include methionine, tyrosine, and taurine. For more information on amino acid metabolism and uses, I suggest a book by Eric R. Braverman and the late Dr. Carl C. Pfeiffer entitled The Healing Nutrients Within: Facts, Findings and New Research on Amino Acids.

As mentioned earlier, another detoxification supporter is fiber, as psyllium seed husks, often combined with other detox nutrients, such as pectin, aloe vera, alginates, and/or colon herbs. This helps cleanse mucus along the small intestine, create bulk in the colon, and pull toxins from the gastrointestinal tract. When fiber is combined with one or two tablespoons of olive oil, it helps bind toxins and reduce absorption of fats as well as some basic minerals.

Psyllium husks also reduce absorption of the olive oil, which is important, since it is caloric and it may have picked up fat-soluble chemicals that were released. In Vitamin Power, Stephanie Rick and Rita Aero suggest taking 2 grams each of psyllium and bran several times daily (with meals and at bedtime) along with one teaspoon of olive oil to help detoxify. Acidophilus bacteria in the colon help neutralize some toxins, reduce the metabolism of other microbes, and lessen colon toxicity. Supplemental acidophilus is often added to a detox program.

Remember, water should always be used during any type of detox program to help dilute and eliminate toxin accumulations. It is likely the most important detoxifier. It helps clean us through our skin and kidneys, and it improves our sweating with exercise. Eight to ten glasses a day (depending on our size and activity level) of clean, filtered water are suggested. Some authorities suggest distilled water for use during detox programs, since, because of its lack of minerals, it will draw other particles (nutrients and toxins) to it; however, I think it throws off our biochemical/electrical balance, and I prefer regular, purified water (see Chapter 1). Two or three glasses of water should be drunk 30-60 minutes before each meal and even at night to help flush toxins during our body’s natural elimination time.

A special elimination process has been developed and used in some clinics to help in the detoxification of chemicals, especially pesticides and even pharmaceutical drugs. This program usually involves several weeks at a center with a therapy including a high-fluid and juice diet, exercise, and large amounts of niacin (vitamin B3) with sauna therapies. The saunas are extended and may last for several hours daily, with breaks to drink fluids. The idea is to cleanse the hidden chemicals from the fat through juice cleansing, weight loss, niacin therapy, exercise, and sweats. Niacin is a vasostimulator and vasodilator, aiding circulation.

This “niacin-sauna” program is interesting and definitely has possibilities as an intense, medically supervised detoxification process. However, it is still experimental and does entail risks. Preliminary results are good, especially for people with symptoms caused by exposure to pesticides, such as Agent Orange, yet there are some drawbacks. Besides the cost and time required, the extreme detox can cause losses of nutrients, especially minerals, creating depletions from which it could take months to recover.

Special attention must be given to ensuring proper nutrient restoration during and after this therapy. I think that this program, even short versions of it, can be used to help detoxify from most drugs, especially the recreational types, and daily abuses of alcohol and nicotine. Many of us can do a modified version on our own with the use of a sauna, a few days of juice fast, regular exercise, and supplemental niacin, beginning at 100-200 mg. and moving up to 2-3 grams daily. Be sure to replenish fluids and minerals. If there are medical problems, weakness, or fatigue, I would not suggest doing this without the advice and supervision of a physician.

Many herbs can support or even create detoxification. In fact, this area is really the strength, I believe, of herbal medicine. There are hundreds of possible herbs to be used for blood cleansing and cleaning the tissues or strengthening the function of specific organs. The old term for blood cleansers is “alteratives,” which is the term used in many standard herbal texts. The following are some of the more important ones.

Garlic–blood cleanser, lowers blood fats, natural antibiotic

Red clover blossoms–blood cleanser, good during convalescence and healing

Echinacea–lymph cleanser, improves lymphocyte and phagocyte actions

Dandelion root–liver and blood cleanser, diuretic, filters toxins, a tonic

Chaparral–strong blood cleanser, with possibilities for use in cancer therapy

Cayenne pepper–blood purifier, increases fluid elimination and sweat

Ginger root–stimulates circulation and sweating

Licorice root–“great detoxifier,” biochemical balancer, mild laxative

Yellow dock root–skin, blood, and liver cleanser, contains vitamin C and iron

Burdock root–skin and blood cleanser, diuretic and diaphoretic, improves liver function, antibacterial and antifungal properties

Sarsaparilla root–blood and lymph cleanser, contains saponins, which reduce microbes and toxins

Prickly ash bark–good for nerves and joints, anti-infectious

Oregon grape root–skin and colon cleanser, blood purifier, liver stimulant

Parsley leaf–diuretic, flushes kidneys

Goldenseal root–blood, liver, kidney, and skin cleanser, stimulates detoxification

**anticatarrhals help eliminate mucus

The word “fever” is taken from the Latin word favere which means “to warm”. In adults, the normal body temperature is considered to be 98.6 F (37C), with young children being slightly higher. While the onset of a fever may be frightening , it is not caused by a breakdown of the body’s temperature-regulating mechanism as in heat stroke. Rather, it is the bodies normal self-preserving mechanism of “hyper-functional repair”. In other words, a fever is a normally occurring body process that destroys the infecting agent or toxemia and repairs the damage done by these agents. It acts to preserve the status quo of the healthy body.

Fever may occur for a variety of reasons. It is most often a response to a bacterial or viral infection that has occurred because of the body having a lowered resistance. But fever may also occur when toxic wastes have accumulated in the body, the increased temperature serves to neutralize and eliminate the toxemia. In response to the offending agent’s influence, an elevated temperature acts to increase resistance to disease and restore the body to health. Fever has been shown in research to elevate the white blood cell count. White blood cells act to bind toxic materials and engulf microorganisms, aiding in their removal from the body. In addition there occurs an elevation in the heart and respiration rates which aid to spread oxygenated blood to the site of infection. Microorganisms do not tolerate high oxygen environments well and are less likely to multiply. In addition, the body’s metabolic rate increases, causing elimination of toxic wastes from the infection site. While enhancing these normal body mechanisms to fight disease, fever also acts to lessen microbe growth. Most microorganisms that cause harm to the body are only able to live within a narrow temperature range. A higher temperature destroys these organisms by restricting their growth and allowing the white blood cells to get the upper hand.

In the wholistic view, an elevated body temperature is the organism’s way of correcting an imbalance between its own “vital force” and the external environment. Viruses and bacteria prevalent in the air, soil and water around us cause infections when a persons “vital force” is no longer able to oppose it. When we are in good health, exposure to these infective agents can occur without the person getting sick. This is why some people get a “flu bug” that is going around while others are unaffected.

Welcome Companion to Disease

It is important in therapy to support a fever, allowing it to do its work by eliminating the infective agent or toxin and building the immune system. If not allowed to complete its natural progression, the body will become progressively weaker, unable to mount the reactive power to overcome disease. Administering agents that block the ability to mount a fever is similar to teaching a child to tie their shoes then never allowing them to do so because someone finishes it for them. When the time comes to do it on their own, they are not able to do a good job as they have not been able to practice and are not well prepared.

Fever then should be a welcome companion to any disease process. It signifies that the body is attempting to eliminate the disease and toxic influences upon it. The process can be enhanced by following a few simple guidelines.

1. Rest – decrease all unnecessary activity, take the day off from work or keep the child home from school. Take the time to keep warm and read a good book, or if your body tells you, sleep.
2. Increase fluids – drink at least 6-8, eight ounce glasses of water a day for an adult and slightly less for a child. If you feel the need for more, then do so. Decrease all foods, taking only soups and broths for nourishment.
3. Medicines – take only those that enhance fevers and sweating. Teas such as Yarrow, Chamomille or Cat Nip enhance this mechanism and also help to calm the person. Other immune stimulating herbs or homeopathic medicines are excellent for this process, and may be used along with hydrotherapy techniques which enhance their action.
4. Monitor the temperature frequently – especially in a child. Rectal temperatures run 0.5 F above oral temperatures and those taken under the arm will be 0.5-1.0 F below the oral value. The new electronic digital thermometers (battery operated), are felt to be slightly inaccurate compared to the standard mercury ones. This should be kept in mind if the temperature starts to approach 105 F. The skin temperature measuring strips are good only as a screening test and a more accurate measure is needed to obtain a true value.
5. Observe – for changes in behavior, levels of consciousness or onset of convulsions and dehydration. Most parents have little problem with this as “parental intuition” plays a role. Your “feeling” should be listened to as it may prevent a fever or illness from getting out of hand. Dehydration may be assessed by pinching and feeling the skin on the face and hands for turgor (does the skin bounce back to its normal position) and dryness and observing the tongue for moisture. In newborns, retraction of the fontenells is a sign of dehydration as well. If in doubt, contact your physician.
6. Let the person know – you are there for them and that you care. This is felt to be one of the main therapeutic values of “chicken soup”. Often times this is all it takes to ally fears and anxiety, which will aid in the healing process. Fear and anxiety have been shown in studies to depress the immune system.

Science Discovers Fevers

In studies done with animals, it has been discovered that with the first onset of fever, they will seek out a warm place in which to lie quietly. They refuse all food and take fluids only as necessary to maintain that which is lost with perspiration. Children and most adults, respond to fever much like animals. A child will often find a warm place to lie down or cling to an adult and insist on being held tight. They usually do not wish to eat their most favorite foods (even ice cream), and tend to drink fluids sparingly, or if perspiring. As time goes by, they tend to become more quiet and less likely to tell you what is wrong unless they are uncomfortable.This commonly observed behavior has been termed “adaptive withdrawal” and serves to concentrate the body’s efforts on fighting the disease process.
Some children however, may not show any discomfort with fevers below 102F (39 C) and, in fact, may wish to continue to be active and play. This may not hold true for infants, but refusal to breast or bottle feed and easy or unexplained irritability may be a sign of illness and fever.

Elderly persons do not often manifest temperatures like children or adults do, as they generally develop a lower temperature for a similar condition. In general, the elderly have a narrower tolerance range than adults or children and so a fever in an elderly person should be viewed as being serious and the reason for its occurrence should be sought.

Body Responses to Infection

When infection occurs, there may be a gradual or sudden onset of fever. Frequently it is of a gradual nature, but is more noticeable when it announces its presence with sudden chilling and shivering. When this happens, the body’s thermostat receptors in the brain, spinal cord, and in other parts of the body suddenly reset themselves at a higher mark. Vasoconstriction (flushed face and coldness of the hands and feet) and shivering occur. The heart and respiration rates increase and the person affected may become lethargic and wish to sleep or excitable, alert and restless. As the blood pours into the body’s central core for warming, the skin will often feel hot and dry while the hands and feet may feel cold. Pyrogens, given off by white blood cells, serve to increase temperature by acting with the body’s prostaglandins to reset the thermostat. Aspirin, which will reduce a fever, inhibits prostaglandin synthesis. Association of aspirin usage in children with fevers and the onset of Reyes Syndrome (inflammation of the brain), has made this type of therapy less popular in recent years.

After the body has reached a sufficient temperature to overcome the infection, its “thermostat” resets at a lower temperature and sweating occurs. The fever is said to have “broken” and it is a sign that the crises has now passed. The person affected will begin to feel better after resting.

As the person recovers, sweating may occur periodically as the body attempts to cool things down to keep the temperature from getting higher. For this reason, the fluid intake should be monitored, particularly in children, because fluid replacement is essential if prolonged sweating occurs. One of the values of “chicken soup” lies in its fluid and electrolyte (sodium, potassium, chloride and other mineral salts) content which helps replenish body fluid stores. If fever is accompanied by vomiting, then they may be given by enema in order to rehydrate. If diarrhea is present, then intravenous fluid replacement is necessary if the condition is prolonged.

Fevers above 106 F should be controlled as brain damage may take place. While a core body temperature of 105 F to 106 F will not cause damage, the brain is comprised of much more delicate tissue than other organs and convulsions may occur. Convulsions are one of the first signs, along with extreme lethargy and unresponsiveness, that a fever is too high and should be brought down to a manageable 102 F to 104 F. Cold compresses to the neck and scalp will help decrease the temperature as will rubbing with alcohol or a Brand (decreasing temperature) bath. Anytime convulsions are present, the person should be seen by a physician immediately, especially if it is a child.

Fever without sweating is of concern, because elimination of toxins through the skin is important to temperature regulation and the body’s ability to maintain optimal metabolic function. A fever can go on for a longer period of time provided it is accompanied by sweating. A high fever with no perspiration is cause for concern especially if the person is uncomfortable and unresponsive. In general, a fever can last anywhere from 1-4 days at temperatures between 101 F and 104 F and are higher in the morning and lower in the afternoon.

The duration of a fever is as important as how high it is. A high fever for a short period of time is tolerated better than a high fever for a longer period because there is less depletion of body energy reserves. The longer a fever goes, the less stamina a person has. While this varies from person to person, a person with a fever running longer than 4 days with no changes, should see a physician.

How one tolerates a fever then, depends upon how high it goes, how long it lasts, if there is sweating, and how much energy reserve a person has. In general, if the person eats well, tends to have few illnesses, and when they do, illnesses of short duration, and are fairly alert and oriented; they undoubtedly have a strong constitution and will be better able to handle the effects of a fever. They also tend to mount a fever quickly, a sign of a strong immune system.

By contrast the person who is frequently or chronically ill, has poor eating habits or eats poor quality food, and tends to be low energy when not ill is less likely to weather the effects of a fever. He or she will not spike the high temperatures needed to overcome the infection but will tend to have lower fevers which “hold the line” against infective agents but are unable to overcome them. Elderly persons are often in this group as a result of the ageing process, narrow tolerance ranges and generally poor diets.

Ideal Fever

Ideally a fever will follow a pattern somewhat like this. There is a period of incubation when the infective agent or toxin has taken hold. This is where we first notice that we are getting a cold or flu and are feeling a bit “under the weather”. Next, there is an aggravation period when temperature elevation occurs. The person tends to go into “adaptive withdrawal” as chilling often occurs. The destruction period is marked by a sustained high temperature to eliminate the infective agent and toxins. Next is the abatement stage which is characterized by sweating to bring down the fever; as mentioned previously, the fever is said to have “broken” and the person begins to feel better. The reconstruction period is the time when one wants to rest, as the body uses this time to restore its strength and resources.

For the most part fevers follow this pattern. There are exceptions however and different types of fever patterns can point to various infective agents.
Fevers in adults tend to show up differently than in children because “grown ups” often do not allow their body’s to fight the infection the way it was designed to. More often than not, adults continue to work and not rest, eat meals even though they may be nauseated or not hungry, take medications to “get rid” of symptoms and, in general, ignore the process. Continuing to ignore the condition will only prolong it and in the long run, make it worse.

It is interesting to note that many of the elderly will undertake actions that act to enhance the body’s healing mechanisms similar to those discussed earlier in children. Perhaps this is due to lifestyle patterns learned in early childhood when there were fewer medicines available to counteract fever symptoms. It is also possibly due to instinctual patterns inherent in our body’s which are now heeded, as the effects of illness can be much more serious in this age group.

Only through supporting the body and its natural ally, fever, will it be able to overcome the disease or toxic process and simultaneously strengthen the vital force. In the long run it will make for less illness and a longer, healthier life.

We like to think of newborn babies as pure and free of the poisons of every type that we encounter in life. The sad truth is that by time they are born, babies are contaminated with a stew of toxins. In 2004, researchers found a total of 287 industrial chemicals and pollutants in umbilical cord blood, including pesticides, consumer product ingredients and wastes from burning coal, gasoline and garbage in the blood of newborns. These chemicals were only the ones they tested for – who knows what others were in the mix? We do know that 180 of these toxins cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development and overall health of these children.

The average American consumers 14 pounds of chemicals a year in the form of food additives such as artificial food coloring, flavorings, emulsifiers, humectants and preservatives.

Then beyond the known “bad stuff,” that we ingest more or less voluntarily, we are also exposed to environmental toxins caused by everything from contaminated food to air pollutants and second hand cigarette smoke.

No matter how much we try to avoid toxins, all of us are exposed to them all the time.

In addition, toxic overload can actually cause food sensitivities and allergies.

Because toxins are unavoidable, we’re recommending a simple detoxification process of elimination and challenge. That means you eliminate common toxins and allergy-causing substances, including foods, from your diet for a period of time. You’ll notice how much better you feel. Then you can do some detective work and challenge your body by re-introducing certain foods one at a time, so you can determine exactly which foods are causing problems.

This is the basic program: For the next week, avoid or the following:

• refined sugars
  
• alcohol
  
• caffeine
  
• wheat and other gluten products (barley, rye, oats)
  
• dairy products
  
• corn and all corn products, especially high fructose corn syrup
  
• canned and processed foods
  
• food additives, preservatives and artificial flavorings
  
• hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, including margarine, shortening and most commercial salad dressings and sauces
  

• animal protein: skinless organic poultry, eggs and wild game
  
• wild caught cold water fish (not more than two servings a week)
  
• tofu and tempeh
  
• organic sheep and goat’s milk products, organic yogurt and organic butter
  
• rice, millet, quinoa
  
• vegetables (all except corn), organic if possible
  
• all dried beans and legumes
  
• extra-virgin cold-pressed olive oil, sesame or macadamia nut oil for cooking
  
• flaxseed oil for dressings
  
• bottled spring water that contains minerals not present in filtered water
  
• fruit juices (diluted at last 50% with water), vegetable juices, herbal teas, rice milk
  

Note: You won’t be eating fruit this week. While fruits contain wonderful nutrients, they are high in sugar and this week is intended to detox your body of the toxic organisms that feed on sugars, so we want to deprive the “bad guys” of their food for this first week.

Your energy levels and general feeling of well-being will probably improve within a few days. Don’t worry if you experience flu-like symptoms in the first few days. Among your toxins may be yeasts and parasites. When they are deprived of the sugars that feed them, they begin to die, releasing their toxins into your system and causing temporary discomfort called “die-off.” If this happens, drink more water and add 1,000 to 3,000 more milligrams of vitamin C.

Be sure to use our Wellness Journal to document this important journey. You can download the template pages at: www.8weekstovibranthealth.com/wellness-journal-and-more.php.

The Wellness Journal will help you get a very good idea of your “good” and “bad” foods.

With the journal as your guideline, you can very gradually re-introduce certain foods, one at a time, and determine your physical and psychological reactions to them. For example, if you re-introduce gluten products like bread and if you sudden find you have gad or other intestinal upsets, you’ll know that you are sensitive to gluten products. It won’t take more than one or two negative experience with the results of eating these foods to convince you that they are not for you.

Try this little experiment. You’ll find it will profoundly change your life.

Detoxification is the bio chemistry of handling potentially harmful chemicals that appear within the system and which must be neutralised before they pass from the body.

This does not refer exclusively to harmful environmental chemicals: lead, mercury, the heavy metals, additives, dyes, hormones, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and petrochemicals of all sorts or pollutants of the air, water and food supply that we ingest.

Detoxification is what your body’s chemistry does to rid itself of any unwanted chemicals, whether the chemicals are left over from your own metabolism or enter your system from the air you breathe, the food and water you consume, substances you put onto your skin or use to treat your hair, or the toxins and allergens produced by the germs that inhabit your intestine.

Detoxification is the biggest item in each individual’s biochemical budget. It handles waste not only from the environment, but from every process in all the organs and sytems of the body. Nearly every molecule the body handles has to be gotten rid of when it has served its purpose. Doing so involves a delicate process of rendering the molecule inactive. It is a synthetic activity, a creative enterprise in which small molecules such as the ammonia left over from protein metabolism, hormones no longer needed by the endocrine system, used neurotransmitters from the nervous system, or the byproducts of a well functioning immune system must be changed before they can be safely excreted from the body.

Illness and disease will affect the body’s detoxification chemistry, and if there is something wrong with this chemistry, any other problems will be aggravated. It is central to all systems.

The biologic process of detoxification mostly involves synthesis, as opposed to degradation. That is, if you want to get rid of a molecule, such as oestrogen, your chemistry usually sticks another molecule onto it, making it bigger, but less toxic. “Packaged” in this way, the unwanted molecule is discharged from the body directly from the liver into the bile where it travels to the intestine and out, or the liver puts the package into the bloodstream where it travels out of the body in the urine via the kidneys.

Some toxins, such as heavy metals, find their way out through hair and nails. A minor exit for toxins is through perspiration. For the most part, however, toxins are bundled for excretion from the body by a process that results in a bigger, not smaller package.

For a child, the cost of growth is also very high, but in adults, detoxification is the major molecule making activity. Even detoxification jobs that look as if they are mostly breaking things down turn out, in the end, to involve costly steps in which new molecules are made just for the sake of safe disposal. Methylmalonic acid is the stuff that may pile up in the body’s process of getting rid of the amino acid valine. Amino groups, removed from their amino acid or protein origins, turn into ammonia the same strong poison that you recognise by its noxious odour. Ammonia cannot simply be allowed to go free inside your cells or in your blood. It is captured by alpha ketoglutarate (AKG), which becomes glutamate.

Glutamate can take on another ammonia to become glutamine, which, in turn, delivers the unwanted ammonia to the single most expensive chemical department in the body, the urea cycle, where an elaborate process of handing off the ammonia is carried out with the final formation of urea which can safely pass through the kidneys and out of the body.

The breaking down of each amino acid molecule eventually requires making a molecule. The making of molecules for detoxification requires the lion’s share of all the energy we expend on making any kind of molecule every day.

To understand the substantial portion of daily expenditure of energy on all the chores of living that require making new molecules, consider how it would go if the body were a municipality. The budget would look like this:

Sanitation, 80 per cent (the various detoxication activities)

Police, 5 per cent (the immune system)

School system, 10 per cent (the central nervous system)

Public works, 6 per cent (maintenance of organs)

Detoxification is a two step process. When we need to get rid of unwanted molecules from our bodies, the first phase renders the molecules easy to pick up. “Sticky” is a better image. A system of enzymes called cytochrome P450 prepares leftovers to toxic molecules and affects the molecules in a way that is very roughly like rubbing a balloon on your sweater. At this moment, the molecules that have been made more sticky, or “activated”, are more dangerous than they were to begin with.

The next step, then, is the timely appearance of the molecules that carry the toxins away after safely containing them. The process, called conjugation, is analogous to sticking the sticky trash to individually tiny, somewhat sticky trucks. When each activated toxic or leftover molecule is stuck to a carrier molecule, it becomes deactivated and more soluble in the water of your blood or bile so that it can leave your body via your kidneys or intestine.

Of the main carrier molecules, one comes directly from sugar (glucuronide) and the other is an amino acid (glycine) that is sweet and sticky like sugar. Two other carrier molecules owe their stickiness to sulphur.

Sulphur is a nonliving substance that has the character of living or once living material: it burns. As such it is indispensable to life and a critical component of the diet. If the body does not get enough of it. or if it misuses it, the detoxication systems and the synthesis and repair of tissue are impaired. Methionine is one of the principal ways that sulphur enters the body to become the most important adhesive that holds it together and helps it safely get rid of your toxins and left overs.

The enemy within

In living systems there is a mechanism of adaptation in which cells change in response to how much of a particular stimulus they receive. In addicts, the more opium is presented over a period of time, the more receptor sites are created to accept opium. In the case of opium, the narcotic molecules in the opium work because they closely resemble peptides we use in our own nervous and immune systems.

An amino acid is a small molecule that may function independently as the raw material for making thyroid hormone, various neurotransmitters and other important message carriers in biochemistry. All but one (taurine) of the 22 amino acids found in nature can be combined in small numbers to form peptides or in large numbers to form proteins. The digestive process breaks down protein molecules into shorter and shorter segments, the ultimate goal being the liberation of single amino acids that are absorbed as such into the bloodstream where they are used as raw materials.

If the digestive process is incomplete and/or there is a leakiness of the intestinal wall separating the intestinal contents from the bloodstream, short segments of several amino acids may enter the blood. These peptides join other peptides in the blood and tissues that the body has made to carry messages from place to place.

Considering that many different peptides may enter the bloodstream as a result of incomplete digestion of various foods, there exists the possibility that the outside (exogenous) peptides may be mistaken in the body’s communication systems for inside (endogenous) peptides. Exogenous peptides that may cause mischief by being mistaken for endorphins and other endogenous peptides are called exorphins. Observations made years ago by Dr. F C Dohan have led to more recent evidence (Brain Dysfunction, 1990; 3: 315-27; British J. Psychiatry, 1989; 136: 59-72) that peptides from gluten and casein (one of the principal proteins in the milk of all mammals) may be particularly mischievous in producing unwanted endorphin like effects in certain susceptible individuals.

Many children I know have gone from being wild and disorientated to almost completely normal within weeks of eliminating gluten and casein from their diets (see box, above). All food contains at least some protein and all proteins yield at least some peptides even when they are properly digested. Every person absorbs not only the small molecules liberated at the end of perfect digestion but a substantial quantity of larger ones, including not only peptides but proteins as well. Many people have intestines that are leaky, permitting excess absorption of unwanted molecules.

What we observe in peptide sensitive autistic children has implications that will turn up in other ways in the future. Over the next decade, more and more troublesome peptides will be found to cause problems in all of the many areas of human chemistry where normal peptides carry out the body’s business, particularly in the brain and immune system, as a result of faulty detoxification.

There are really two fires in each of us. One is our own fire, or our metabolism. The other produces a collective “smoke” of metabolic by products from all the infinitesimal fires of the germs inhabiting our digestive tract. Much of this smoke passes from our gut with the bowel movements and gas that we pass. Some of it, however, is absorbed into our body and must then be detoxified and excreted just as if we had consumed it in some other way. Perhaps there is something in this smoke that disagrees with us; perhaps we might be especially sensitive to these organic acids and the other toxins that keep them company.

These toxins might be conventional toxins, say, from lead or aluminium, they can be alcohol, hormone mimics or allergens.

Because they are organic acids, they might look so much like our own organic acid that they would wend their way into our metabolism and screw things up along the same lines as the peptides can.

Lead is one of the oldest, most ubiquitous and most insidious of toxins. It is greeted by the body as if it were familiar; it is treated as if it were calcium so its absorption is favoured by calcium deficiency.

Thus, symptoms of chronic lead poisoning, such as seizure, increase during the northern summer months when the increase of sunlight raises vitamin D levels to affect the mobilisation of calcium and lead.

The most subtle danger to our chemistry comes from molecules that, like peptides, so resemble our own molecules that they blend in with the crowd and go unnoticed until it turns out that they not only cannot function as do the molecules they mimic, but they occupy strategic spaces in our chemistry and interfere with our own molecules.

Common toxins

Alcohol exercises its toxic effects in a variety of ways. Alcohol interferes with many different enzymes. Alcohol has a particularly bad effect on a group of enzymes called ctyochrome P450 that are the main workers in the body’s detoxification system.

In this way alcohol can function as a sort of master toxin, enhancing the toxicity of all other toxic substances and even turning a relatively harmless substance such as the common pain reliever acetaminophen into a poison, seriously interfering with a person’s ability to detoxify the drug. Alcohol also interferes with the activity of key enzymes in the transformation of fatty acids into hormones.

Improperly disposed of hormones can also exert toxic effects. Dr Rosemary Warring at the University of Birmingham in England has pioneered the connection between childhood autism and a weakness of one of the body’s main detoxification systems, which get rid of leftover hormones, neurotransmitters and a wide variety of other toxic molecules. Some pesticides mimic hormones and meat contains oestrogens that have been used to fatten animals. The quality of our detoxification chemistry is likely to make all the difference between benign and deadly effects of hormones.

Allergies and food intolerances, yeast overgrowth, filtered and refined oils, inborn metabolic errors, biolotical toxins, including a variety of intestinal germs, a leaky gut, poor digestion, chemicals and moulds are just a few of the other conditions that can weaken our detox systems or even cause some to shut down.

!ADr Sidney Baker

Dr Sidney Baker is a specialist in environmental and biochemical aspects of disease. Adapted from material in his latest book Detoxification and Healing (Keats, 1997). NCT, 4255 W Touhy Ave, Lincolnwood, Ill 60646 Tel: 847-679-5500.

You can be successful in improving your health and vitality!