DAVID WELLS BSc. (Hons) Ost., cert. ICAK

What is Detoxing?

 

Nowadays this word seems synonymous with Spa retreats and promoters of anything vaguely herbal, but what does it really mean?

 

Detoxification is the process of removing toxins; in the human body it’s mostly carried out by the liver. Chemically it’s outrageously complicated, but we can reduce it to two simple processes; neutralize toxins, excrete them.

 

The neutralization processes in the liver are described by Phase 1 and Phase 2 detoxification pathways, and both are nutritionally dependant. Once neutralized, compounds are passed into the gut, and then excreted.

 

In theory that sounds pretty simple, in practice in today’s distorted world this process is frequently disturbed, leading to a long list of health complaints, for which Western Medicine has an equally long list of drugs, to add even more toxins to your body! Here are a few ways the processes are upset.

 

1) Nutritional deficiency prevents the Liver from neutralizing toxins. Half processed toxins are often worse than the original.

 

2) Nutritional deficiency may reduce the production of digestive enzymes resulting in poor digestive processes and only partially digested foods passing into the lower bowel.

 

3) Cholesterol or other deposits in the Liver or Gallbladder may reduce the volume of digestive enzymes from reaching their target, resulting in poor digestive capacity.

 

4) Long standing dehydration reduces gut motility leaving years old waste products in the bowel (some of which will be re-absorbed)

 

5) Humans harbor toxins which they have not evolved to excrete, like Mercury and Aluminum.

There are others reasons of course, but in a polluted world where we find metal toxins and artificial growth hormones in our food source, and nutritional deficiency is ubiquitous, it’s not difficult to appreciate how toxicity leads to a vast number of the health issues we see in the modern world.

 

Article written by David Wells, Osteopath & Applied Kinesiologist.

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The perspective shared in this article comes not just from medical training but from symptoms and treatment protocols observed over more than 20 years of clinical experience.

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If you found this article interesting, this topic and many more are explained in depth in the book, 'Finding Awesome: Proven Steps to Extraordinary Health'. Read more about it here.