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Spring has traditionally been associated with the theme of “rebirth” or ‘renewal” in Chinese medicine and Ayurveda. Just as cars get congested with sludge after long periods of use, our body’s natural filters, like the liver, kidneys, colon, and lymph system can occasionally become congested with metabolic waste. Supporting our bodies’ natural detoxification systems can help us clear these toxins faster, so we can recover from certain ailments (i.e. stubborn weight gain, frequent colds) and feel our healthiest. The term “detox” is often thrown around as a marketing ploy, or to describe short-term fixes. In reality, our bodies are always naturally “detoxing”, but there are protocols and lifestyle adjustments we can implement that better support our body’s detoxification systems, especially as we age.

If you have customers searching for detoxification tools, educating them on the science of a healthy reset can be beneficial in helping them establish a sustainable routine, year-round.

Here’s what you need to know about detox from a scientific perspective.

Your Body Has Natural Detoxification Mechanisms

As mentioned before, your body has specific organs which help with filtering out harmful substances. The skin, for example, is the largest organ in your body and is constantly filtering out environmental toxins through sweat. The kidneys help carry out metabolic waste and toxins by excreting urine. The liver is one of the main organs that facilitates detoxification. It helps convert harmful toxins into less harmful compounds so that they can be removed from the body safely.

Detoxification in the liver occurs in two stages:

1. A group of enzymes convert harmful substances into less toxic compounds.

2. These compounds are neutralized and removed through the body via urine or feces. This is done by making the byproducts water soluble.

Glutathione is an antioxidant and primary molecule responsible for detoxification. It’s the most abundant antioxidant found in the body and can regenerate itself. Glutathione can be found in foods like broccoli, asparagus, and avocado. It also plays a significant role in neutralizing free radicals in both phases of the liver detoxification process and acting as a co-factor for many antioxidant enzymes.

In phase 1 of liver detoxification, glutathione neutralizes the harmful chemical toxins. In phase 2, glutathione is involved in one of the 7 reactions that help remove neutralized compounds through the kidneys.

Detox Crash Diets Don’t Work

Many times, detox is associated with juice cleanses or other forms of extreme diet ‘cleansing.’ The truth is, there is little clinical evidence to support these types of regimens. Most often, extreme cleanses that restrict calories can lead to more health problems. This is due to the little inclusion of proteins, omega-3s, fibre, and carbohydrates. Weight loss that often follows diet cleanses is generally attributed to water weight loss. Extreme diet cleanses can lead to short-term metabolic damage, which makes it easier to gain weight when one starts to resume normal eating habits. You’re much better off eating a well-rounded diet full of nutrients from vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean protein, and healthy fats. A diverse, whole-food diet allows you to reap the synergistic benefits of different nutrient and food combinations. For example, a healthy diet can help increase our levels of glutathione by delivering the necessary building blocks. Consuming lots of cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts) can help increase the activity of liver detox enzymes. According to a study published in Nutrients Journal, supplementation with amino acids cysteine, glycine, and glutamate, and vitamins C and E can increase the body’s production of glutathione.

How to Naturally Support Detoxification

Although Glutathione is naturally occurring in fruits and vegetables, it’s poorly absorbed by the digestive system because our bodies don’t have direct transport for this molecule. Glutathione production in your body decreases with age, and producing glutathione in the body requires energy. Therefore, one way to ensure you’re getting enough glutathione is through supplementation.Arcwell, is a Canadian supplement company that specializes in producing high-purity L-glutathione, amongst other powerful antioxidants to help your body restore its natural reserves for the maintenance of good health.

Arcwell, Glutathione Reduced, 500mg

You can also take N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine (NAC), which is a stable form of the amino acid Cysteine and converts to Glutathione in the liver and kidneys.

Milk Thistle can act as a complementary supplement for liver support. Milk thistle is an herbal plant, belonging to the same family of daisies. The active ingredient in milk thistle, silymarin, acts as an antioxidant by reducing free radical production. A 2016 study revealed that milk thistle improved diet-induced liver damage in mice. Notably, the administration of silymarin significantly reduced epididymal fat mass and suppressed insulin response.Provita carries Silymarin 300 which is synergistically blended with Milk Thistle extract (standardized to 80% Silymarin) and Glutathione.

Provita Nutrition, Silymarin 300

Astaxanthin is one of the strongest antioxidants found in nature and is sourced from marine plants. It can scavenge skin-damaging free radicals and promote a healthy immune system. Regenurex’s Astaxanthin is sourced from freshwater algae and uses a proprietary natural extraction process that’s never dehydrated or exposed to chemicals.

Regunerex, Astathanxin

Matcha is an extremely high antioxidant raw food. Just a teaspoon of matcha daily will yield the same nutrional benefits of 10 cups of steeped green tea, making it a perfect choice for people who want to get a high amount of antiodiants efficiently and deliciously. DōMatcha® sources matcha exclusively from Uji, Kyoto and Kagoshima, providing pure, quality, and expertly blended matcha powders.

DōMatcha® Organic Ceremonial Matcha

Lifestyle habits: Sleep and exercise

Getting enough shut-eye is perhaps one of the most underrated detoxification activities. Although your brain doesn’t take up much of your body mass, it uses about 20% of your body’s total energy to work efficiently! Just like we go to the bathroom after we eat and digest food, the brain regularly spits out debris when carrying out its metabolic functions. This debris comprises mostly leftover proteins, and when it's not properly flushed from the brain, it can form toxic clumps. The clumping of the protein amyloid beta has been linked to decreases in cognition, memory, and overall brain function in people with Alzheimer’s disease.

In most organs, the lymphatic system acts as a waste disposal factory to clear away harmful debris. The lymphatic system is made of an extensive series of vessels which produce a liquid called lymph. Lymph flows through every organ, cleans up the debris and washes it into a network of ducts that drains into the blood vessels. Once in the blood, the debris travels to the kidneys and liver, where it’s eliminated from the body.

The brain is surrounded by a type of fluid called cerebrospinal fluid which acts as the lymph of the brain. Cerebrospinal fluid mops up the proteins and eventually clears out through the same ducts used by the lymphatic system.

Scientists found that during sleep, glymphatic flow significantly increased, and this increase was correlated with a twofold clearance rate of amyloid beta in sleeping mice, as opposed to awake mice. Sleep is critical for the clearance of harmful debris in the brain.

Exercise also showed a twofold increase in glymphatic flow in awake mice. Prior to this study, increased glymphatic flow had only been observed in mice that were asleep or anesthetized. This suggests that sleep and exercise are independent, yet powerful drivers of brain waste disposal.

Switch to natural products

To reduce exposure to harmful chemicals, switch over to more natural cleaning ingredients like baking soda, water, and vinegar. Switch to laundry detergents and cleaning agents that use less chemicals. Nellie’s is an excellent example of a natural cleaning line that is harmful and chemical-free. For any product that goes on the body, like soap, cleansers, and makeup, stick with brands that use primarily ingredients sourced from nature, without the addition of synthetic chemicals.

Nellies, Fruit & Veggie Wash

Obstacles to Detoxification

Unhealthy lifestyle habits or certain diseases can inhibit your detoxification organs from performing optimally.

Excessive alcohol consumption:

Your liver enzymes metabolize alcohol to acetaldehyde, which is a cancer-causing chemical. Recognizing it as a toxin, your liver converts it to a harmless substance called acetate which is eliminated from the body. Though your liver is powerful enough to process moderate amounts of alcohol with no issue, excessive drinking can damage your liver, cause fat build-up, inflammation, and scarring. When that happens, your liver cannot properly filter waste and toxins from your body.

Try limiting your alcohol consumption from low to moderate. If you happen to foresee indulging more than usual, make sure you take an antioxidant-rich supplement like Milk Thistle or No Days Wasted DMH Blend to help out your liver.

More people are becoming sober curious, check out our trends article here.

No Days Wasted, DHM Blend

Heavily processed food and sugary diet

Our modern diet is becoming more processed, and less nutritious. Even in whole foods like fruits, vegetables, and grains, research has found decreased levels of essential vitamins and nutrients. Diets that are comprised of heavily processed foods and refined sugars have been linked to diseases like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity. These diseases heavily hinder your body’s ability to naturally detoxify by harming organs that play an important role, such as the liver and the kidneys. For example, fatty liver disease occurs from consuming excess calories which causes fat to accumulate in the liver. This can hinder its ability to function properly.

Read our article about how sugars are out, and natural sweeteners are in.

Environmental pollutants

Excess number of pollutants in our atmosphere can produce expressive free radicals. These molecules can cause damage to the cells, and play a role in conditions such as dementia, heart disease, liver disease, asthma, and cancers. Eating a diet rich in antioxidants can help reduce or reverse oxidative stress caused by free radicals or other toxins in the environment. Complementing your whole food diet with antioxidant supplements can help ensure you’re getting absorbable and sufficient levels, especially if there are nutritional gaps in your diet.

Conclusion

Often when we think of detoxing, we think of a protocol that counters something negative we did; whether it was drinking one too many glasses at a party, or a 10-day vacation full of eating outside of our typical rainbow diet. The problem with this is we falsely believe that drinking green juices for a week, eating cabbage soup, or downing lemon-cayenne water will somehow “cleanse” or rid our bodies of all toxins. This cannot be further than reality. Firstly, our bodies are not some deadly breeding ground for nasty toxins that slowly derail our energy and vitality. Many of your organs exist primarily to filter out anything that would potentially hurt us. We produce metabolic waste simply just by existing and breathing, but that waste is carried out through respiration, sweat, and going to the bathroom. Detoxification truly becomes an issue when your organs are not functioning properly due to persistent health issues. When the organs in charge of detoxification such as the liver, cease to carry out their normal processes, that is when dangerous levels of toxins can accumulate in your system. Not sleeping enough can also lead to a build-up of dangerous toxins in your brain, leading to degenerative conditions. None of these problems can be solved with diet alone, and it is recommended you seek professional advice from a medical practitioner if have persistent health problems. For relatively healthy individuals who want to stay on top of their health game, it is recommended you maintain a consistent sleep schedule (minimum 7 hours), get regular exercise, and eat a nutritious and diverse diet. Supplement with potent antioxidants like Glutathione, NAC, and Silymarin which will help support your liver and kidneys as you age and naturally start to produce less Glutathione. These simple lifestyle tips are not meant to be difficult, but sustainable. Unlike that cabbage soup.

Sources

Andreone, B. (2019, May 22). Clearing out the junk: Healthy Lifestyle Choices Boost Brain Waste Disposal. Science in the News. https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/clearing-...

Burgess, L. (2024, January 25). Milk Thistle benefits: Liver, skin, cholesterol, weight loss, and more. Medical News Today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320362#...

Gould, R. L., & Pazdro, R. (2019, May 11). Impact of supplementary amino acids, micronutrients, and overall diet on glutathione homeostasis. MDPI. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/5/1056

Guo, Y., Wang, S., Wang, Y., & Zhu, T. (2016, July 8). Silymarin improved diet-induced liver damage and insulin resistance by decreasing inflammation in mice. Pharmaceutical biology. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27387273/

Walle, G. V. de. (2023, November 14). Full body detox: 9 Ways to Rejuvenate Your Body. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-to-detox...

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