Seasonal Detoxification for Year Round Health

We all walk through a field of invisible, time-delayed landmines every day. Toxins - invisible, often odorless "bombs" that surround and fill us - are in our food and water, in the air, in beauty and cleaning products, insecticides, fumes from cars and planes and carpets and paint, lead in toys from China. These days over 200 chemicals are found in the average American's blood. And, like landmines, these toxins can lie dormant for years, until their effect accumulates and we “suddenly” get sick.

But there's something all of us can do about this, for ourselves and for our children, who rely on our leadership and example for their wellbeing. Detoxifying the body twice a year is one of the best preventative measures any person can take to stop symptoms from growing into chronic diseases. It's surprisingly easy, relatively painless, it doesn't cost a fortune in money or time and you can do it yourself.

In the June/July edition of Sentient Times, Dr. Daniel Smith presented ways to avoid toxic exposure and some simple daily habits that help our bodies eliminate those toxins we can't avoid. In this article we would like to add a third vital component: seasonal detoxification. We believe that these three practices—avoiding toxic exposure, daily detoxification habits, and a seasonal detoxification cleanse—are necessary for all of us to survive and thrive in an environment that has become more poisonous.

Elson M. Haas, MD, founder and medical director of the Preventive Medical Center of Marin, says, “Through my 25 years in medical practice and health care … I have come to believe that the cleansing/detoxification process is the missing link in Western nutrition and one of the keys to real healing. I have seen hundreds of patients over the years transform regular or persistent illness into health and greatly improved vitality.”

According to the United Nations Environmental Program, the tissue of every human being on Earth has traces of several hundred man-made chemicals. Some of us have already become very sick because of them. Others of us will in the future. Just how toxic are we? Consider that an EPA test found 20 different chemicals in the fat cells of people living throughout America. That was in 1982. The same test conducted in 2005 found an average of 200 chemicals—in babies! 76 were linked to cancer, 94 to brain toxins and 79 caused brain defects.

Bizarre as it may sound, every one of us has been enrolled—without our permission—in a grotesque global chemical experiment. We are presenting this article to offer a solution for ordinary people to become part of a control group of those who are learning how to reduce their toxic load. If you agree there is a toxic problem and if you are ready to take action, read on.

So, What's In It For Me, Really?

We have found that when we start any treatment regime with a month long detoxifying cleanse, an average of about 70% of all the patients symptoms resolve before we start any specific therapeutics. What benefits might you expect from a seasonal cleanse? Most people feel lighter, clear headed, an increase of energy and vitality and general wellbeing. Some sleep better, their digestion improves, their sexual interest and power revives. Memory improvements occur. In our experience as doctors, we've come to understand that the best approach to the treatment of any chronic illness, many of which are aggravated or caused by a build up of waste, begins with a balanced, supervised detoxification program.

Why the supervision? A properly trained doctor is like a private eye for hire, helping you hunt down the toxins stored in the joints that may be causing your mysterious aches and pains, or finding toxins that could be concentrated in your nerves which are causing headaches, numbness and tingling or muscle weakness. Some bodies will attempt to eject toxins through the skin, causing rashes, acne or jaundice. In others, toxins are stored in fat cells, leading to excess weight gain with risks of diabetes and heart disease. We have seen a wide variety of complaints—autoimmune diseases, menstrual complaints, prostate congestion, menopausal complaints, headaches, elevated cholesterol, metabolic syndrome, fatigue and mind fog, joint pain, facial paralysis, eczema and mystery rashes, gall bladder disease, obesity, sugar addiction, rosacea, high blood pressure, infertility and more—respond successfully to a preliminary detoxification program.

The seasonal detox can rid the body of accumulated poisons that may eventually make us sick. We recommend a gentle three-week seasonal detoxification program that provides enough time to slowly remove toxins. Because it is crucial to make sure that toxins aren't released so fast that the eliminative channels create more toxic damage we don't recommend fasting, even juice fasting. Although just a couple of generations ago fasting was a healthy option for detoxification, the unprecedented level of poisons in our bodies these days means fasting creates an unacceptably high risk of overloading our eliminative channels and actually creating more toxic damage.

Most accumulated toxins are stored in our fat until the liver can convert them into water soluble molecules and send them to the kidneys for removal from the body. Fasting can produce a sudden release of these stored toxins which can overload the liver and suddenly expose us to high levels of chemicals. In other words, the fast can actually degrade our health, not improve it. What many people refer to as a “healing crisis” is, more often than not, a toxic overload. Releasing toxins slowly over the period of a few weeks is a safer protocol which, as an added benefit, also makes it much easier to continue with a regular work schedule.

Keep The Eliminative Channels Open

Even if we release toxins slowly, if our eliminative channels aren't open we won't be able to get the toxins out. Our eliminative channels, or “emunctories,” include the colon, kidneys and bladder, skin, and lungs.

• The Colon: During a detox we have two main goals for the colon. The first is to keep the bowels releasing toxins and prevent them from being reabsorbed. During a cleanse we should have at least two bowel movements per day, and preferably after each meal. Being a little too loose during a cleanse is OK, but not moving enough is a problem. Magnesium citrate, laxative herbs (cascara and senna), drinking plenty of water, plus enemas and colonics, will keep the bowels moving freely. The second goal is to scrub the bowels clean with fiber, bentonite clay, and charcoal (scrubbing can slow down the bowels, so using bowel movers may be needed while taking these).
• The Skin: The skin is our largest eliminative organ and is often overlooked during a cleanse. We recommend dry skin brushing, an oil rub with sesame oil before showering, saunas, steam showers, salt scrubs, wet sheet wraps, warming socks, contrast hydrotherapy (alternating hot and cold in the shower is the easiest) and lymphatic drainage massage. The supplement most needed to assist in skin detoxification is glutathione. The Kidneys and Bladder: The most important support for the kidneys is to drink plenty of water. During a cleanse we recommend that you drink half of your weight in fluid ounces plus an extra 8 ounces for every 30 minutes of exercise. If you weigh 120 pounds and run for 30 minutes you would need 60 + 8 = 68 ounces or 8 ½ large glasses of water. We also recommend mild kidney cleansing herbs to soothe and protect the kidneys as toxins are filtered out.
• The Lungs: Increasing the oxygenation of the tissues substantially increases the effectiveness of a cleanse. The three things that can help the lungs bring in more oxygen are mild aerobic exercise, breathing exercises and drinking water. We don't want to overdo exercise during a cleanse and put added stress on the body, but mild exercise is one of the best things we can do to increase the effectiveness of detoxification. Besides more tissue oxygenation, lymph flow and almost all metabolic processes are increased. Diaphragmatic breathing (deep belly breathing which optimizes oxygen exchange, calms the nervous system, and relieves stress and tension) for 5-10 minutes prior to exercise will both strengthen the respiratory muscles and increase the oxygen in our blood. Also, herbal steam showers will open the lungs, while taking glutathione will protect them from oxidative attack.
• The Liver: Although the liver doesn't directly eliminate toxins from the body, it is crucial in the detoxification process. We support the liver during the detox with a mild cleansing tea, castor oil packs (see Dr. Smith's article in last month's Sentient Times for a description of how to do these), and stage two liver detoxification agents (described in the next section). We also “scrub” the liver with some deeper cleansing herbs during the second week of the cleanse. Liver cleansing herbs we use include Greater Celandine, Dandelion Root, Licorice, Fenugreek and Peppermint. Tonifying liver herbs include Milk Thistle, Fringetree, Burdock Root, Fennel and Ginger One of our goals during detoxification is to avoid the loss of muscle mass through protein starvation. If there is no protein in your diet, after just a few hours your body will begin to borrow needed amino acids from your muscles. Muscle is the key to both our vigor and our resistance to disease. It is the source of building blocks for white blood cells and is the tissue which burns fuel, giving us energy to think and to move. We have found the addition of a hypoallergenic, high quality protein-based medical food provides enough protein and is cleaner than alternative sources. The products we use are UltraClear (Metagenics) or Mediclear (Thorne). These have vitamins and minerals specific for detoxification, rice based protein, and the phase one and two liver support. In order for the liver to convert mainly fat soluble toxins to water soluble benign waste, two phases of detox occur. The first phase destabilizes the toxic molecule and creates a reactive intermediate or free radical, which has much greater potential to do damage than the original toxic substance. This intermediate then moves through phase two of liver detoxification and becomes a stable benign water soluble end product ready to exit through the kidneys. We want to make sure you have support particularly for phase two, so you don't experience a toxic back-up problem in your liver.

To prepare for a seasonal detoxification eliminating sugar, alcohol, caffeine, processed foods and animal products for at least a week before beginning the cleanse is essential. During this preparatory week, making sure to have good bowel elimination, at least two or three movements a day, is also necessary. Magnesium citrate can be used at night to ensure that soft, easy bowel movement in the morning (if you get too loose, take less). Herbal laxatives may also be used if necessary. Drinking the recommended amount of water is also required. These practices begin to open the five organs of elimination before the start of the actual detoxification process.

Unless you are very toxic or going through caffeine, sugar or alcohol withdrawal, you will probably feel pretty good during this preparatory week. Life is stressful enough without getting bent out of shape about the cleanse. Deep breathing is one of the simplest ways to de-stress. During this preparation time focus on breathing, pause when hurrying, release anxieties when they arise (in traffic jams, handling disappointments, during an argument, etc.). We don't need to pile emotional toxins on top of the physical ones we are readying to release.

Ideally, by the end of this preparatory week, your body has acclimated to a cleaner state and is now ready for the deeper cleansing, to stir up and release the “silt at the bottom of the lake.” You are ready for the three week detoxification program. When we conduct these supervised cleanses we monitor everyone's progress carefully, in order to adjust the speed of toxic release. When you undertake this on your own you'll need to rely on common sense. How are you feeling? Usually drinking more water and deep breathing can help immensely if you begin to feel hungry, irritated or “overloaded.” Remember, more and faster is not better. Your goal is to release those toxins, not just stir them up. That requires keeping the emunctories open, which is our most important task.

Week One

During week one we recommend eating only fruits, vegetables, non-gluten whole grains in unprocessed form (no breads, crackers, etc.), legumes, nuts and seeds, and healthy cold processed oils (olive, sesame, sunflower, coconut, etc.) All food should be fresh and organic. No canned, frozen, or fried foods. What we are doing here is eliminating all of the major allergens and toxins found in our foods. Eat a wide variety of vegetables and lots of them as the phytonutrients in them help the detoxification process. Although you may feel an emptiness from not having the heavy or comforting foods you are used to, you will probably not be hungry.

If you do feel hungry eat some vegetable soup or a salad or steamed veggies with a little olive oil and lemon juice on them. In addition, supplement your diet with the medical foods we recommend or others which offer a high quality protein with stage one and stage two liver nutrients, antioxidants and a probiotic formula to feed your good intestinal bacteria, magnesium citrate and laxative herbs for the bowels.

A mildly cleansing tea can help the detox process. Antioxidants which neutralize toxins and protect the body during the detoxification process include beta carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, B vitamins, chlorophyll, alpha lipoic acid, glutamic acid, glutathione and cruciferous sprouts.

Many people feel better than usual during this first week with lots of energy to work and play. You might have occasional irritability, headaches, fatigue or spaciness. As long as this isn't too intense or doesn't last too long, that is OK. Make sure your eliminative channels remain open (see detailed instructions above) and that you are getting enough phase one liver detox nutrients (copper, zinc, magnesium, vitamin C, B vitamins, and catechin which is found in green tea) and phase two liver detox nutrients (glutathione, the premiere intracellular anti-oxidant; MSM, sulfur donor; amino acids n-acytelcysteine, glycine, taurine).

Week Two

What you do in week two depends on what happened in week one. If you are having excessive symptoms, can't function well, or just intuitively feel it's right, you can continue with what you did during week one for another week. If you are ready to go deeper, you can eliminate grains and legumes and add bowel and liver scrubbers. You can up the dose of medical food to 3-6 servings a day and continue the antioxidants, probiotics, magnesium citrate and laxative herbs.

During this week it is especially important to keep all your eliminative channels open, exercise moderately, and keep your stress levels to a minimum. It is common to have short bouts of irritability, headaches, fatigue or spaciness as the toxins are eliminated faster, but this should not be too intense or last more than a few hours. Often an enema or a colonic will get the toxins moving out and take away the symptoms. A mildly cleansing daily tea (like the Detox blend from Yogi Tea) can help as well.

Week Three

During this week you slowly begin introducing the foods you have eliminated, one new food group every other day. This is a great opportunity to discover any food allergies you might have but not know about. Your transition from the detoxification program back to normal is the most important stage of the overall process. Think “I am landing the plane.” No, a big turkey sandwich with chips is not an acceptable transition food, although that might come later. Your top priority here is to maximize your gains and leverage them into lasting health value. “Normal” is long gone by now. You've literally renewed yourself! So, a gentle transition is called for, adding foods back carefully and noting your reactions. Remember, this is the best possible way to determine your allergies, by noting what happens in your body as you include each single food.

A sensible detoxification program can help everyone. All of us have hundreds of chemicals in our bodies and this burden is simply not relieved through a healthful lifestyle alone. If we are smart enough to practice preventative medicine on ourselves, we won't wait until those mildly irritating symptoms “suddenly” show up as a serious illness—we will get proactive and help our organs by giving them a rest and cleaning out the sludge, even if we are already feeling healthy.

If you have been diagnosed with a disease and have started taking a pharmaceutical drug this cleanse can certainly help you but you should continue taking your medications and have your physician monitor your responses. A healthier liver may process medications more efficiently and decrease their effectiveness. Improved liver function may also decrease the need for some medications such as those which lower blood sugar, decrease blood pressure and cholesterol.

While we may have little control over the toxins that proliferate throughout our environment we do have some control over what we personally expose ourselves to. We also have the power to choose what we do, day by day, to increase, decrease and release our toxic load. By avoiding toxic exposures, keeping our eliminative organs healthy, and completing a seasonal detox in the spring and the fall, we can relieve our bodies of whatever has accumulated, despite our best every day efforts.

By ensuring that our emunctories, those five vital eliminative organs, are working efficiently, we can keep ourselves free of chronic conditions, and live long and happy lives. What an investment in ourselves, our children and our community! Such a simple process, yet the detox provides us with such huge and lasting gains. We commend you for your interest and welcome your phone calls or emails for support on your healing journey.

Dr. Bonnie Nedrow (drbonnie@bonniend.com, 541-488-2233) is a naturopathic physician with a private practice in Ashland, Oregon specializing in pediatrics and women's health. Dr. Rod Newton (rod@mind.net, 541-488-8858) is a chiropractor who co-founded Hidden Springs Wellness in Ashland. Together they created the Metabolic Detoxification and Fitness Center at Hidden Springs where they offer lifestyle revitalization programs including classes in supervised detoxification along with detoxification facilities that include colonic hydrotherapy, salt scrubs, peat baths, herbal steams, and ayurvedic massage.

Dr. Bonnie's goal as a physician is to work with her clients to set health goals and to teach people to become self care experts for themselves and their families. At the core of this education is an understanding of the ability of the body to heal, especially when provided a healthy diet and lifestyle. Whether for prevention or for treating acute and chronic illnesses, clients will be exposed to counseling in nutrition including food and supplements, lifestyle including rest and relaxation, herbal and homeopathic medicines and physical medicine ranging from home hydrotherapy treatments to cranio-sacral treatments in the office. Through listening to the story, gathering information about important health makers and milestones, physical exam and indicated lab analysis, a picture of health and opportunities for improved wellness can be identified. Dr. Bonnie will then spend the time needed for you to understand the physiologic process of your body's response to its environment and will develop with you a treatment plan to remove obstacles to cure.

Finding balance in life is an ongoing personal goal of Dr. Bonnie. She has recently moved to Ashland with her two daughters, Colette and Ianthe, and her husband Leo from Seattle WA. They are all enjoying a slower pace with time to engage in life including soccer games, camping, gardening, eating yummy food and reading a good book.

This article originally ran in the Aug/Sept '08 issue of Sentient Times Magazine