Principles of Clinical Level Detoxification, Part 1

This post is the first in a series that will outline the most important points we need to understand in order to safely and effectively detoxify the body from both exogenous external toxins such as particulate matter and microplastics, as well as endogenous metabolic toxins such as cholesterol, glucose, and inflammation. 

This is very concise and detailed information in an outline form, that I have presented to my students in various courses over the years. I recommend that you study each post as they come out over the next several weeks, and by the end of the series you will have a much deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the complexities of true physiological detoxification than most people have; with that knowledge you can use detoxification methods successfully when truly needed, and prevent the problems of excessive detoxification that are now extremely common.

Let’s begin with two short outlines about the problems caused by excessive detoxification. In following outlines you will learn more about why these methods are potentially harmful if done excessively, and how to do them correctly in a balanced way.

Risk Levels of Contemporary Detox Methods

Cathartic Methods with Higher Risk of Harm

• Water or juice fasts for prolonged times (risk of depletion and malnutrition)
• "Urtication”: beating the skin with stinging nettles (risk of immunological and histamine overstimulation) 
• Gallbladder flush (risk of damage to bile ducts)
• Niacin and saunas (risk of overheating and dehydration)
• Repeated coffee enemas and/or colonics (risk of laxative dependency, depletion of healthy microbiome)
• Risk and harm increase if done over extended periods of time, especially if simultaneously undernourished from long-term vegetarian or vegan diet  

Moderate Methods with Moderate Risk of Harm

• Typical parasite “cleanses” (risk of damage to healthy microbiome, increase of gut inflammation, weakening of gut immunity)
• Typical herbal flushes combined with elimination diets (risk of laxative dependency, damage to microbiome)
• Harm from both of the above methods increases when done repeatedly and over long periods of time 

Mild Methods with Low Risk of Harm 

• Gentle cleansing diets periodically, according to season
• Ayurvedic mono diet done with Pancha Karma treatments
• Ongoing low dose, highly targeted herbs and formulas 

Dangers of Excessive and/or Prolonged Detox

• Damage to gallbladder and bile duct
• Depletion of energy, weakness
• Immune weakness
• Decreased resistance to stress and toxins
• Dependency on continued cleansing; decreased ability to detox naturally
• Excess weight loss or chronic weight gain
• Loss of muscle mass and strength
• Weakening of joints and connective tissues
• Dehydration
• Laxative and/or enema dependency
• Depletion of gut microbiome
• Increased food sensitivities, intolerances and allergies
• Metabolic and endocrine damage: changing from chronic underweight to overweight
• Psychological obsession with toxins, similar to eating disorders
  

To be continued…

For more information, explore my flagship course on Natural Detoxification: