Do you support detox or disease? Every choice you make sends your body into one direction or the other. Disease is an imbalanced state where the level of toxins overwhelm an individual’s capacity. Think of your body as a toxic bucket. If you keep adding to it, it gets full! That’s disease. What do you do when a bucket is full? You stop putting more stuff into it and you start draining some out. That’s detox.
Our body must balance metabolism of acid-alkaline, water, minerals, the nervous, glandular, immune and digestive systems. In addition to the current toxic load, genetic predisposition plays a role in how well we detox. That means our genes in our human body and all the genes in our microbiome too. That’s why some people can handle things better than others and why changes in your microbiome might make a difference in your ability to detox.
The body is a natural detox machine.The liver, kidneys, lungs, skin, gastrointestinal tract, emotions, rid us of cellular waste and environmental pollutants. Continual cleansing of the mental, emotional and physical body frees the expression of the spirit.
Toxins come from many sources:
- Pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides on our food
- Mold and mildew
- Chemicals from manufacturing plants and industrial farm in the air and waterways
- Exhaust from vehicles on the road and boats in the water
- Off-gassing from paints, plastics, and other chemicals we might inhale at work or home
- Heavy metals like lead, mercury, and cadmium sneak into our bodies, too. Do you store any food in lead crystal? Do you have mercury tooth fillings?
- Food sensitivities
- Alcohol consumption
- Dust, pollen, animal dander
- Food storage such as plastics, Teflon coating, and lead paint on dishes
- Household cleaners and laundry detergent, dryer sheets
- Personal care products with sodium laureth sulfate, triclosan, fragrance, perfume, BHA, BHT, coal tar dyes, DEA-related ingredients, dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde- release preservatives, parabens, PEG compounds, petroleum, or siloxanes. Check out https://davidsuzuki.org/queen-of-green/dirtydozen-cosmetic-chemicals-avoid/ for more information and support.
Emotions, which produce chemicals in our body, if inadequately processed, build up and remain physical and get stuck in tissues. Have you had a major stressor such as abuse, trauma, job change, moving, death, divorce, or a natural disaster hit you in the last six months? Energetic detox and re-balance is key to health.
Acids naturally found in the body. If they accumulate, become toxic to our health. Excessive consumption, of certain foods, and sometimes genetics, can put the acids out of balance and tip the scale towards disease.
- Uric acid – meat consumption and cell breakdown
- Lactic acid – prolonged exercise
- Tannic acid – coffee, black tea
- Sulfuric acid – gas retention, excessive pork
- Acetylsalicyclic acid -analgesic consumption
- Acetic acid – sugar and fats
- Oxalic acid – rhubarb, spinach, cocoa
- Chlorhydric acid – stress, fear, anger, noise
- Nitric acid – cured meats and cheeses
Detox
The evacuation of toxins begins from inside our cells and works its way out. We can support our organs of detox in a number of ways:
- Eat fresh, vibrant, organic, hormone, chemical free foods
- Use of natural cleansing products where possible
- Use of natural cosmetics
- Drink pure water
- Support with plant-based therapies
- Hydrotherapy – water based, application of heat and cold
- Manual – massage, osteopathic, lymphatic drainage
- Energetic – acupuncture, sound and vibrational, homeopathic, colour, talk therapies
- Exercise
- Sauna
Deficiencies
Physical, emotional and mental symptoms together with a formal evaluation of blood and urine chemistries assist in the determination of deficiencies. Nutragenomic evaluation additionally aids in prevention of long term, chronic disease.
De-Stress
If you are distressed, you also need to de-stress. Stress on the body comes from toxic build up and poor waste elimination. Proper sleep, diet, exercise, emotional regulation and infection control are all important. The use of breath and generative feelings of love, care, gratitude and appreciation are formidable contributors to healthful living.
More detox, less disease.
So what is your decision? Better said, in every choice you make when you shop, eat, live, work, travel are you choices leaning towards detox or disease? Is your toxic bucket full? In every decision you make lies a second chance. any moment you can choose a new direction.
Naturopathic Medicine exists to strengthen and encourage optimal health. It is a practice that addresses the fundamentals of disease. It honours and cooperates with the healing power of nature.
If you seek a caring professional who is a registered naturopathic doctor in Ontario with a functional medicine approach, you’ve come to the right place.
