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Introduction

Modern day living has imposed on all humans the necessity to detoxify the body in order to maintain a healthy state. The state of affair emanating from pollutants from the air we breathe, the additives, artificial colouring and the preservatives in food we eat, the contaminated water we’re drinking as a result of using plastic containers, the industrial waste and huge amount of chemicals in common items that we use or come into contact with daily, are rapidly making us sicker and sicker as the time goes by.

But what is toxin anyway?  Toxin is any specific substance that is capable of poisoning a living organism through the metabolic activities it produces in the organism, and is thus capable of causing a disease and also inducing neutralising antibodies or antitoxins in the body of the organism.

Toxin, a non-replicative and non-infectious substance, can be produced by such things as fungi, bacteria, protozoa, insects, animals (biological toxins) and substances such as metals, pesticides, man-made chemicals, pollution, and second hand cigarette smoke (non-biological toxins).

Toxins can either be internal or external, and the top five sources of toxins being food (processed foods, chemical additives and colourings), water (contaminants from various sources including the like of prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines, heavy metals, and chlorine), environment (including household cleaners containing bleach, ammonia and other toxic chemicals, industrial waste, exhaust fumes, fossil fuel particulates), beauty and personal care products (toothpaste, lotion, creams, soap, shampoo, conditioner, perfumes and makeup), and stress and negative emotion. Of these five sources, stress and negative emotion, subtle and mostly hardly noticed, wrecks the greatest havoc on the human body.

Toxins may generally be classed into two main categories, exotoxins (those excreted by an organism, such as bufotoxin) or endotoxins (those that are structurally part of bacteria, e.g. botulinum; the most toxic compound).

Now that we have covered what toxin is and where they generally come from, let us now take a closer look at the process of getting rid of these harmful substances from our body.

 

Detoxification Misconception!

When the word detoxification is mentioned, some people generally associate it with the process of ridding someone who is an addict of either hard drugs, alcohol or prescription drugs. That therefore it does not apply to them or to most people; but nothing can be further from the truth.

Some experts even say that detoxification, apart from that which is associated with drugs and alcohol abuse, is but a fad; a medical nonsense. They claim that you cannot detox your body, only the body is capable of doing that. They further claim that detoxification is nothing but a myth that is promoted by entrepreneurs, quacks and charlatans simply to sell bogus treatment and products.

That view, I beg to leave for individuals to investigate, judge and make up their minds on, based on their findings and perhaps even their real life experiences on the matter.

Whatever is your take on this matter, the fact still remains that the sources of toxins existing round and about us nowadays cannot be denied. How then do we deal with these, or are we saying that these things don’t impact on our health? If the organs we’re endowed with are capable of handling these high levels of constant abuse coming from modern day living and increasing toxicity we’re imposing on them on a daily basis, how come the diseases associated with toxins are on the increase?

 

What Really is Detoxification?

Detoxification, for the open-minded, can be defined as the removal of a poisonous substance from a person’s body, or neutralising or mitigating the negative effects of the substance within the person’s body systems. Therefore any process used or employed to aid the body’s own mechanics of expelling toxic wastes from the body, aimed at optimising state of health is detoxification.

The process can further be broken down into short-term and long-term detox regimes. The body naturally removes impurities from itself using the liver as well as the kidneys, intestines, lungs, lymphatic system, and the skin.

Why Do You Need to Detoxify?

Doubtless, toxin overload is a modern day problem. As more and more man-made materials are coming into popular use, and environmental pollution is getting worse; the worse actually in human history, and the body systems that we are blessed with by our loving creator cannot cope with the mammoth task of removing these toxins from the body, there is ever increasing need to aid the functions of these detoxing organs.

This is where I tend to support the proponent that condemns detoxification as a myth, taking on short-term detox regime as the all in all. Come to think of it, does the liver and the kidneys perform their function of waste removal on short-term basis? No, far from it. Rather, these faithful organs are constantly at work, removing toxins from the body non-stop.

Hence when it comes to detoxification, long-term approach is the only strategy worth considering if one wants to maintain optimal health.

 

What Do You Need to Detoxify?

For any detoxification protocol to work and be of significant benefit to the body, there are areas of the human anatomy that must be given attention. They include the blood, the kidneys, colon, lymph, and the liver/gall bladder.

Simply put, the process must include detoxification of these vital organs and body systems. Removing debris and waste materials from these areas of the body, especially at cellular level, will quickly return the disharmony and energy disequilibrium of the body systems to a normal level, allowing it to function yet again at an optimal capacity.

According to IntegrativeMedCrossRoads.com, “Our bodies invest an enormous amount of energy in removing the chemical byproducts of normal metabolic processes. One estimate is that 80% of our basal energy expenditure goes to detoxification and cleansing. This process is what allows for order and efficiency in all of our bodily systems. Disease and a loss of well-being will result when the detoxification process is impaired. The most dramatic examples of impaired detoxification processes are end stage renal disease and end stage liver disease (cirrhosis). As in all biological phenomena, these processes happen along a continuum that begins with optimal function and ends with total malfunction. Conventional medicine addresses these problems when they manifest as overt diseases. Integrative Medicine aims to optimize the detoxification processes in order to prevent illness and maximize health throughout the life span[1]

In view of the possibility of dire consequences of toxic and waste poisoning of the body, it makes perfect strategic sense to employ whatever aid and assistance one can find to support the vital role that those primary organs charged with the function of waste and toxins removal in the body are doing.

 

List of Detoxification Processes.

Here are the list of body detoxification processes you should consider as essential for your overall detox strategy and wellness. Basically, this intuitively suggests these to be the likely areas of the body where the accumulation of these toxins and waste materials are predominantly going to be lodged within the body.

 

Detox Processes:

Blood detoxification deals with removal of those toxins and waste materials that are flowing round the body with the blood circulation and other body fluids. With the colon however, this relate to the residues of food items that are in the corners and crevices of that part of the intestinal tract that were not passed out as excrements.

Cleansing these organs and/or systems of hazardous substances will without doubt, result in rejuvenation of the body metabolism resulting in a feeling and a state of excellent health.

 

The Critical Detoxification Sequence.

Though detoxification is essential for healthy living, one thing that most people get completely wrong is the sequence they should apply in detoxifying these various body organs and systems.  Except where you’re employing true cellular detoxification strategy (the cell intelligence takes care of what it needs to sort out itself, given the right ingredients), here is the correct sequence to adopt in order to achieve outstanding results.

Blood detoxification
Heavy Metal detoxification
Colon detoxification.
Lymph detoxification.
Liver detoxification.
Gall Bladder detoxification.
Kidney detoxification.
Intestinal detoxification.
Parasite detoxification.
Skin detoxification.

Cleansing and Detoxification Sequence

  1. Lymphatic Cleansing and Detoxification
  2. Colon Cleansing and Detoxification
  3. Parasite Cleansing and Detoxification
  4. Kidney Cleansing and Detoxification
  5. Liver & Gall Bladder Cleansing and Detoxification
  6. Blood Cleansing and Detoxification
  7. Skin Cleansing and Detoxification

This sequence, tried and tested by many top practitioners of holistic, natural and cellular medicine, will ensure that you derive the greatest amount of benefits from your effort and expense on detox protocol.

 

Detoxification Healing Crisis!

One vital point often missed by many in support of detoxification, a necessary component for excellent health, is the aspect of healing crisis. People miss this point because they firmly believe that detoxification ought to only bring benefits, rejuvenating the body and having a positive impact on well-being. So why will such a procedure produce  any crisis or negative reactions they may ask?

What is this healing crisis anyway? The healing crisis, sometimes also called detox reaction, cleansing reaction or Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction, is usually an initial reaction to the detoxification procedure when the person feels even worse than before he/she starts the detox process (learn more about this vital health and wellness topic on a full blog post on the subject on this same website).

According to an article published by Dr. Edward Group in April, 2014, updated in November, 2015, it was put this way:

Environmental toxins accumulate in tissue throughout the body, especially fat tissue. Additionally, the human body has bacterial colonies. When you cleanse your body, the toxins dislodge and the bacteria die off and release endotoxins. When the toxins and waste are dislodged, the body begins to flush them into the bloodstream to be filtered and eliminated. This sudden circulation of toxins can temporarily impact your well being and symptoms of illness (sweating, fever, discomfort, etc.) may occur.

 The indications that you’re experiencing a healing crisis can include headache, nausea, and fever symptoms typically experienced during illness. During the crisis, a recurrence of symptoms from long-forgotten illnesses may also occur. Symptoms of a healing crisis vary from one person to another and may include:
Fatigue
Diarrhoea
Aches and soreness
Low-grade fever
Anxiety
Mood swings
Nausea
Skin irritations
Congestion
Low blood pressure

A healing crisis generally lasts around three days, depending on the individual and the severity of their situation. The more severe the toxicity, the more intense the healing crisis can be. As your body begins to expel toxins, your energy may decrease and you may begin to feel ill. If it happens, take it as a sign that your body is working to flush out toxins and waste.[2]

Therefore whenever you’re doing detoxification, and you observe any of these symptoms, be determined to stay with the procedure because that is not the time to abandon what you’re doing and jump the ship. Rather, you should see this as a positive indication and it should reinforce your confidence that things are working well for you, telling you that you’re on the right track.

This initial reaction or healing crisis phase doesn’t last very long anyway, in matters of a few days or so, it’s over and you’re on a climb to higher level (height) of wellness.

 

Role of Fasting in Detoxification Process.

Fasting in various forms that people across many cultures have observed throughout human history, is known to have health benefits. The question perhaps is why this is observed to be true and seen to be the case.

An analogy that may better describe why this is essential is true is this: consider your car or auto-mobile needing a repair either because of a major fault or for a routine maintenance. You take the car to an auto workshop for this work to be done and leave it there while they are carrying out this needed repair. The question is, will you still have access to the car to run around to places you want to go? No! And why not? It’s because you need to leave that time, to allow the work needed to be done to put the car in good working order, to get done.

Maybe another analogy is that of our inherent need to sleep at certain time of the day. Buy why? The reason is simply; to give the body organs and systems a break or a window of opportunity, to perform the essential repairs and  maintenance works that are required for the body to remain in optimum state, so to speak.

Similarly fasting, be it abstaining from food completely, or lightly eating only fruits or drinking just water only, is giving the vital organs in the body a little break from heavy duty. During this time, these organs have the chance to regain their power and strength by having very little to do by a way of active duties, so that when they return to work, it’s with renewed vigour.

 

How Often Should You Detoxify?

An interesting and very valid question. But because each person is different and are exposed to different levels of toxins, it’s very difficult to give one answer that is going to be suitable for everyone. Some experts say aiming for four times a year is what they would recommend.

Frankly, what I would suggest as a general rule for anybody to follow, is to learn the symptoms that their body presents for the right time to detoxify it, once a year being the minimum.

Clues that may suggest that you need to detoxify include, but not limited to, depression and sleep disturbance (insomnia), frequent constipation, brain fog, frequent fatigue, and an overall lack of focus.

Also frequent and unexplained headaches, rapid weight gain, skin rashes or conditions with sensitivities and allergies, and suffering from muscle soreness and stiffness for no real reason may be signs your body is giving you that it is time to do a detox.

Just be aware that if you detoxify for too long or too often, you can loss valuable nutrients along with the toxins and leave your body depleted. Therefore you shouldn’t do this more than say four times a year as a rule of thumb. Adequate nutritional regime should also be applied immediately after such endeavour.

The Cellular Approach to Detoxification.

The approach we take at GWI for detoxification is the cellular version. This is because of our strong believe that all illnesses and diseases are manifestation of sick cells of the living organism; a disharmony at the cellular level, also confirmed as well by those of the results and experiences we observe in our clients and patients that follow this approach.

Hence the holistic approach to resolving that disharmony is to address the root cause right at the cellular level. This usually involves resolving the state of compromised mucus membranes associated with various body systems which in essence takes care of all those previously mentioned aspects of detoxification, from the lymphatic right through to the blood and skin.

 

The Benefit You Get, If Done Correctly!

Words cannot do justice to the health benefits you’ll get if you rid your body of these harmful substances. All that can be said is: you will be in a state of excellent health. But for completeness here is a list of some of the many benefits you can derive from detoxifying the body.

 

Detoxification Benefits

      1. Increased energy level throughout the day.
      2. Rids the body of any toxins from foods, beverages and excess waste.
      3. Helps with weight loss.
      4. Stronger immune system.
      5. Controlling cravings and curbing food addiction.
      6. Improved skin.
      7. Better breath.
      8. Promotes healthy changes, thus resetting your choices of food.
      9. Clearer thinking.
      10. Giving your body the micro-nutrients it needs.
      11. Healthier hair.
      12. Lighter feeling.
      13. Managing stress by reducing the toxin-induced stress level .
      14. Anti-ageing benefits.
      15. Improved sense of well-being.

 

Conclusion

Without any shadow of doubt, detoxification is good for the overall state of excellent health. It should be part and parcel of any routine of healthy living. Use it wisely and use it correctly.

To Your Good Health and Disease Free Living,

 

Dare Awobiyi,
Chief Executive.
GWI Curative Wellness,
Lekki, Lagos.
https://www.gwi.ng/  

 

Reference

[1]:http://www.integrativemedcrossroads.com/education/detoxification_and_cleansing.php

[2]: https://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/what-is-a-healing-crisis/

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