Out With The Old

Detox & Cleanses

 

Internal cleansing and detoxifying supplements can greatly assist everyone to achieve optimal wellness and better health.

Imagine living every moment in your life—the special and the mundane—carrying around a full, festering trashbag. Gross, right? Except this is exactly what millions of Americans are indeed doing: carrying around chemical debris that piles up and festers inside. This internal offal isn’t deadly, but it is a catalyst to a host of symptoms and an exacerbator of numerous health conditions.

Just about everyone may benefit by incorporating natural detox and cleansing products and routines into their lifestyles. However, if you were to poll the average health-conscious consumer, he or she may shy away from the concept, erroneously believing that performing such a ritual requires being chained to the “throne” or enduring intense effects, such as the appearance of a crop of zits.

Not exactly so, according to Jared Paulson, MTCM, sales and education manager for Washington-based Ayush Herbs. Although many of the detox kits widely available do have high levels of laxatives that can cause cramping and diarrhea, “the biggest misconception regarding detox and cleansing is that it needs to be uncomfortable,” he said. “While you want to avoid constipation, this is not a necessary part of the detoxification process.”

Another common misconception Paulson noted is that the most effective cleansing involves fasting, a move that is actually counterproductive. During the cleansing and detoxification process, the body requires the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber provided by a healthy, organic diet that emphasizes consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Today, the need to detox and cleanse is more a necessity than ever—and is likely relevant for any and all of your clients/patients.

Michael C. Fessler, vice president and director of research at Herbalix Restoratives, Washington, observed that practitioners and the general public are becoming more aware of the increasing contaminants found in air, food, water and everyday products. Some of these contaminants are heavy metals, such as aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury and nickel, and these can exceed the WHO (World Health Organization) standard for daily accumulation. “There is growing awareness of the increasing accumulation leading the way for the need of heavy metal detoxification,” he said.

Brendan Gaughran, CEO, Connecticut-based Liver Medic, noted that in the past few decades, there has been an exponential increase in the production of endocrine-disrupting toxins, pesticides/herbicides, and in water contaminated by prescription drugs and industrial run-off. Add to this the typically daily use of personal care products heavy in man-made chemicals; the U.S. produces 42 billion pounds of chemicals each day, he cited.

“This daily bombardment disrupts every system in the body and can only be mediated by actively detoxifying on a regular basis,” he asserted. “Those who aren’t critically inspecting what they eat, understanding and filtering all ingredients consumed, while also enthusiastically incorporating detoxifying foods, must supplement to keep the body from falling into disrepair. This is no longer a choice for us and the evidence can be seen in society’s increase in cancers and disease.”

Clients or patients may present with certain symptoms that may indicate a need for a cleansing and detox protocol. According to Paulson, the symptoms can include chronic headaches, head fatigue, rashes and other skin issues and digestive issues. If your client or patient recently stopped smoking, is taking long-term pharmaceuticals, is eating a poor diet and is about to change to a healthier diet, detoxification and cleansing will be most appropriate.

“Detoxification is becoming increasingly important due to the continued spread of synthetic chemicals in our daily lives,” said Paulson. “Whether we are talking about the air we breathe, the things we put on our bodies and in our homes, or the food we eat, these chemicals are everywhere. Many of these compounds mimic hormones and other molecules in our body and are readily absorbed. Even those clients who eat an organic diet and use natural products are absorbing toxins in their bodies. The process of boosting the body’s natural detoxification system allows us to catch up periodically by increasing the removal of these chemicals.”

Consider some recent unnerving news. According to a report from the Environmental Working Group (released on September 21, 2016), approximately 218 million Americans are consuming dangerous levels of chromium-6 that contaminate tap water. The report noted that chromium-6 levels lie at or above 0.03 parts per billion in approximately 75 percent; the researchers arrived at this percentage from samples tested by water utilities from 2013 to 2015.

The report’s co-author, Bill Walker, who serves as managing editor of the Environmental Working Group, told CNN.com that typical Americans are exposed to countless carcinogenic chemicals every day not only in water, but in foods and other consumer products. He added that research has shown that the combination of chemicals is more dangerous than any single carcinogenic chemical.

Solutions to Consider

Detoxification does not need to be a complex process, Paulson emphasized. Each respondent pointed to different areas where their detox/cleansing products work. Depending upon the condition of a client or patient, natural practitioners may want to recommend all three avenues in a longer-term or more intensified restorative protocol, if warranted.

Paulson noted that his clinic has had success using a simple combination of liver and digestive support. The clinic uses Ayush Herbs’ Livit-2 formula which is based on a traditional ayurvedic formula, and supports both phase 1 and 2 detoxification in the liver, he said, as well as elimination of toxins through the digestive system and urinary tract. “We combine this with our Trifal, a certified organic triphala formulation, which supports normal intestinal motility and the detoxification of the intestines. Lastly, we suggest a high fiber diet of fruits and vegetables to absorb the toxins that are passed into the digestive tract.”

Clinical Synergy Professional Formulas of California offers two products specifically for detoxification, and for optimal benefit, they are designed to be used together, according to Isaac Eliaz, MD, MS, Lac, formulator.

PectaSol Metal Detox is a blend of PectaSol-C Professional Modified Citrus Pectin, which has been clinically proven in multiple published studies to safely remove heavy metals from the body, he said, without affecting essential minerals. PectaSol Metal Detox also contains sodium alginates, which help remove heavy metals and environmental toxins from the GI (gastrointestinal) tract, thus preventing reabsorption into the circulation. Detox Complete contains a number of botanical extracts and nutrients that help remove toxins by stimulating the body’s natural detox systems and supporting organs of elimination including the liver, kidneys and skin. It also helps to support healthy methylation activity, promotes free radical scavenging, and helps maintain the body’s vital energy levels during detox.

“These gentle yet highly effective products can be used for a period of three weeks to three months or longer, depending on the patient’s health goals and toxic body burden,” Dr. Eliaz said.

Herbalix Restorative’s products work by detoxing through the skin. According to Fessler, the skin is known to accumulate and store sodium, heavy metals and other impurities from environmental factors, gene types and age. The imbalance of sodium storage in the skin’s integumentary pathways may impede the ability of internal organs to excrete cellular waste and reduce organ function, which can lead to metabolic syndrome.

Although many people turn to methods of accelerating skin excretion such as infrared, saunas, or baths, these are time limited and not always convenient. Further, he explained, cold climates or lack of healthy sun exposure (eg, a brisk walk outdoors) can impede excretion of heavy metals, which can lead to accumulation in the adipose tissue.

“Herbalix Restorative lymphatic skin purging products topically target organs, such as liver, thyroid, breasts, testes, brain and lymph nodes and are proven clinically to disassociate metals via the skin’s sodium channels,” Fessler described. “Verification and traceability can be measured by utilizing mass spectrometry, thermography, optical spectrophotometry and palpation.”

He added that through the actions of cleansing the lymphatic system, Herbalix topical skin purging products may also help reduce stiffness (congestion) in liver and edema, increase lymph flow in breasts and blood flow in visceral fat, and help demineralize the thyroid of aluminum.

As its name implies, LiverMedic believes in supporting healthy function of the liver through detoxification is central to overall health. Gaughran explained, “The main access for toxins entering the body is through a compromised intestinal wall referred to as ‘leaky gut.’ This toxin-increase overloads the normal cleansing metabolic pathways of the liver. Our products combine the leading gut repairing and liver detoxifying ingredients in ways that enhance their natural synergies to more effectively remove harmful organisms, while reducing future toxin transmission. We do this through a ‘clean’ holistic approach without the use of questionable chemicals or excipients. Additionally, we are GMO (genetically modified organism) and gluten free.”

For instance, Hepatiben, the company’s main liver cleanse, has four ingredients for gut repair and four dedicated to detoxifying the liver. Silybin, MSM, SAMe and NAC, said Gaughran, all work to enhance the phase II detoxification cycle in the liver. Ingredients such as phosphatidylcholine, which helps repair the gut wall, have also been shown to increase silybin’s effectiveness by two to three times. Hepatiben’s gut repair blend also includes berberine, glutathione and alpha lipoic acid all of which aid in reducing soft tissue inflammation and also provide the building blocks for rebuilding of epithelial cells lining the gut.

When clients or patients may present with symptoms of yeasts, such as candida, or parasites, Hepatiben combined with LiverMedic’s Candida Complex may reduce these organisms that often compromise gut health. A third product may also be considered to remove biofilm. “Removing biofilm with our Serrapeptase further exposes the few hiding places these invaders utilize that the body can’t access by enzymatically breaking double bonds and exposing them for removal,” Gaughran explained. Health practitioners, he added, may employ this three-part system most often when approaching gut dysbiosis, IBS, candida overgrowth or just providing a comprehensive gut and liver cleanse.

A word of caution, he added, the use of Serrapeptase may expose the body to dormant organisms like Lyme borrelia, so ensure there is no previous history of Lyme’s before recommending this in the detox program.

Chemicals and the results of poor lifestyles are not going to go the way of the dinosaur any time soon. And, even the healthiest of health-oriented people are still vulnerable to toxin accumulation that can dampen well-being. Recommending some form of detox and cleansing should always be part of any health-promoting protocol.

For More Information:
Ayush Herbs, www.ayush.com
Clinical Synergy Professional Formulas, www.clinicalsynergyformulas.com
Herbalix Restoratives, www.herbalix.com
Liver Medic, www.livermedic.com