Dr. Alison Chen, ND has written a wonderful primer on detoxing in “Everything Men Need To Know About Detoxing—Fact, Myth, and Healthier Solutions.”
Do magic detox pills work?
Detox pills, programs, and products may or may not work at speeding up some or any of the eliminating organ systems.
Regardless, preparing for a detox is key.
If you overloaded the dishwasher or blocked the front door with heavy bags of garbage your house may appear cleaner, but it’s really just backing up the systems of elimination.
If the dishes aren’t actually getting clean and the garbage is still inside your house, it is still toxic.
Speeding up detoxification without actual elimination out of the body will be more harmful than letting your body regulate its detox speed itself.
Remember, your body naturally detoxifies itself in a safe way.
More important than speeding up detoxification is healing and ensuring that the organs of elimination are working optimally.
Fixing those systems will increase detoxification as a by-product.
The 14 BEST gentle detoxifiers and healers of eliminating organs
- Drink more water and start your day with morning lemon water—keep hydrated and encourage sweating and urination
- Castor oil packs over liver—if not taking medication or birth control pills
- Try some Magic socks—let your feet do the work as you sleep
- Drink Taraxicum (dandelion) tea—gentle diuretic
- Drink green tea—antioxidant and metabolic supporter
- Dry skin brushing and lymph massage—lymph mover
- Alternating showers—get your pores opening and closing to pump your lymph
- Gratitude journalling—increase positivity in your thoughts everyday
- Get more active and exercise—sweat, contract those muscles and lose fat to increase toxin release
- Daily fresh air—oxygen carried in your blood gives nutrients to your whole body (muscle, nerves, brain, vital organs)
- More fiber (fresh fruit, fresh veg, grain)—be careful with inflammatory digestive issues
- Abdominal massages—always massage in a clock-wise direction to stimulate bowel movements
- Eat more healthy fats—stimulates bile secretion to promote cholesterol and waste elimination through your stool
- Practice deep belly breathing—eliminate as much residual ‘stale’ air with each breath and maximize oxygen consumption
Many people try colonics, juicing diets, water fasts, and even more extreme laxatives and liver stimulants without the proper preparations.
Some people feel great after doing an aggressive detox for a short period of time. Others have extremely negative effects. These people are what I term as becoming over-detoxified, which means too many toxins are released within the body to safely remove. In other words, the safely stored toxins in the liver and fat cells are being pushed into the bloodstream and are unable to be excreted.
The overburden of toxin within the body now causes serious health ailments.
Never perform an aggressive detox without consulting with a medical professional, and I’m not talking about a health store worker (no offense—I was one in the past and there was no professional training except from supplement companies, which were slightly biased).
People who should avoid or be extremely cautious of aggressive detox programs
- Medicated individuals—Detoxes can increase drug metabolism via the liver and change the amount of medication absorbed into the body.
- Peri-operative, blood thinning medication—Many herbs associated with detoxes contain blood thinning constituents (coumarins) with should be avoided at least 2 weeks prior to surgeries and completely avoided with similar medications.
- People with multiple sclerosis (MS)—Due to neurological imbalances, changes to nutrient intake and excess toxin release is not recommended.
- Elderly people—Weakened immune and detoxification systems can inhibit the removal of toxins and contribute to further exasperation of any condition
- Eating disorder (anorexia, bulimia), below normal BMI or underweight—Any practices of limiting foods or nutrients should be avoided for people who are underweight or have a history of an eating disorders, for physical and mental considerations.
- Addictive behaviours—Extreme detoxes should not be practiced on a regular basis due to nutritional deficits, physical irritation and unhealthy habit formations. Orthorexia is a term for people over consumed with trying to live healthily.
- Heavy metal poisoning—Chelation therapies can be very dangerous for the body with the concern of heavy metal recirculation and re-exposure. It should be performed by a trained professional.
- Colitis—Inflammatory bowel diseases (UC, Crohn’s), diverticulosis, megacolon, irritable bowel syndrome—Any severe inflammation to the gut will potentially be worsened on a high fiber diet, not to mention toxin exposure to injured tissue. Never use coffee enemas.
- Cancer—Further limiting nutrition is not recommended for cancer patients.
- Depressed immune function—People with low immune systems (ie. AIDs or chronic infection) will need to strengthen their immune system before undergoing any heavy detox program to avoid concomitant conditions.
- High stress situations—High cortisol levels result in depressed immune function leading to an inability to properly eliminate toxins and handle the emotional release that often accompanies a detox.
- High consumers of toxic materials—For people who are living a very toxic life (food, fluid, environment, activities, social practices, etc) doing a detox is not wise unless you stop your toxic intake. A detox is not meant to allow you to continue with your poor habits and you will end up exhausting your organs of elimination and probably damaging them.
Severe side effects from a aggressive detox
- Anemia (B12, folate, B6, intrinsic factor) leading to methionine toxicity
- Anemia (iron)
- Food sensitivities
- Toxic re-absorption and re-circulation
- Kidney dysfunction
- Liver impairment (bilirubin conjugation, phase II inhibition)
- Bacterial overgrowth
- Excess sugar intake
- Fiber, mineral deficiency, electrolyte imbalance
- Inflammation
- Mercury, lead, arsenic poisoning
- Ketosis (A life-threatening buildup of certain acids (ketones) in the blood.)
Please note that these are NOT common side effect. However, if you do have any of the condition mentioned above these are very possible adverse effects of doing an aggressive detox. Even a gentle detox can affect a sensitive or severely ill person. Always consult with your Medical or Naturopathic doctor before starting a detox. It’s always wise to have someone monitoring your health status before and after any treatment.
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Photo: Tammy Gordon/Flickr
This essay originally appeared on Dr. Chen’s Blog.
Read Dr. Alison Chen, ND every week here on The Good Men Project!