Lifestyle Support for Detoxification

As we are in the thick of the holiday season, a time of celebration and increased decadence, I would like to take a moment to reflect a little more on detoxification and give you part two of my last post.  This article will focus on decreasing our chemical burden through actionable methods.  And while you may want to imbibe, consider implementing some of these ideas before, during, and after your indulgences.

Does the body really need help to do its job?

The word toxin is thrown around so much that many of us roll our eyes and brush off the notion as quasi-science.   The process of detoxification is often misunderstood: that it is something WE do by taking a particular herb or sitting in a sauna.  I myself, for many years, questioned the need to “detox,” knowing that the body has an exquisite system of waste removal.  While this is true, as I discussed in depth in my previous article, the increasing amount of pollution across the globe makes it necessary to add detox support to our self-care routines.

How do our bodies detoxify?

As with all aspects of the body, the waste removal system is nothing short of elegant and incredibly efficient.  Almost all of your organs are involved in this complex job.

The first phase of detoxification happens in the liver.  This is the activation of what is called the Cytochrome P450 System.  This system, which is comprised of a group of key enzymes, uses oxygen to modify toxic substances, endogenous compounds like hormones, and drugs.  Lipophilic, fat-loving toxins, are converted to hydrophilic, water-loving compounds.  These compounds can then advance into phase two, where they are excreted from the body by urine, feces, and sweat.

Phase two of detoxification also happens in the liver. The newly created hydrophilic substances are conjugated with substances including sulfates, glucuronic acid, selenium, and glutathione so that they can be excreted through blood and bile to the kidneys, intestines, and skin to be excreted from the body.  Here potentially harmful metabolites are excreted from the cells by ATP-dependent transport pumps.  What this means is that your body cannot complete both phases of detox without energy.  It’s like running an unplugged washing machine.  This is where good nutrition and exercise come in.  I’ll get into that in a later section.

What does the body need to complete these steps?

Both phases of detox, along with the intermediate phases, require specific cofactors to be carried out.  This is why, in the face of the standard American diet (SAD), a significant and increasing portion of the population carries an increased toxic burden.  One may eat plenty on the SAD diet but still have a body starving for the required nutrient cofactors.  So you could say that a large part of efficient detoxification is thanks to a balanced lifestyle and good nutrition: a plant-based diet plus good quality protein.

What can you do to support your body?

The simplest approach to keeping the toxic burden low is through the four pillars of health.

Sleep 

Did you know that the brain has its own self-cleaning mode called the glymphatic system?  This system, active in the third and fourth phases of sleep, acts as a sort of drainage channel for products like beta-amyloid, a protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease.  During this process, the body flushes cerebral-spinal fluid along channels surrounding blood vessels, carrying waste away.  During the hours while you are awake throughout the day, there is an accumulation of waste.  This is why we don’t feel well in our minds and bodies and can be achy, moody, or even depressed after a bad night's sleep.  Deep sleep is also when your body goes into repair mode through the release of growth hormone.  This is key for cellular repair and can influence the strength of your immune system.  Poor sleep puts one at a higher risk of getting sick.

Not only is it important to get enough sleep but consider good hygiene by:

• minimizing blue and white lights several hours before bed (see my article about light exposure here)

• Maintain a dark and cool bedroom(65-70 degrees F)

• Keep electronics out of the bedroom

• Take a hot bath before bed

Exercise

Regular movement is key for many aspects of detoxification.  Increased oxygen levels through blood flow, accelerate phases one and two in the liver, and can’t move forward without it.  Exercise also stimulates the movement of lymph.  Lymph is a clear, watery fluid comprised of white blood cells and nutrients.  This is transported via the lymphatic system: a complex network of vessels, nodes, ducts, and organs. This network transports lymphatic fluid which helps the body remove waste, fight infection, and absorb fat. 

The diaphragmatic movement during breathing stimulates the intestines and promotes peristalsis, the wave-like movement of the intestine required for regular bowel movements. Not only is good bowel motility a key part of waste removal but poor motility is a key factor in small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), which is increasingly present in areas that consume diets heavy in processed foods.

As I mentioned earlier, potentially harmful metabolites are excreted from the cells by ATP dependent transport pumps.  ATP is a molecule generated by the mitochondria of the cells and is needed to provide energy to the body.  Muscle is the primary tissue responsible for this process of converting chemical energy from food into usable energy in the form of ATP.  Another fun fact is that skeletal muscle contains the highest concentration of insulin receptors making it the primary site for glucose uptake.  This means that the more muscle the greater your insulin sensitivity and lower risk of insulin resistance and diabetes!

Lastly, when we sweat during exercise, we are also eliminating waste!  So try to sweat daily.

Diet

I can’t say enough about the role of proper nutrition in detox.  The body needs a wide array of fresh fruits and vegetables and high-quality protein such as legumes, chicken, fish, and free-range, grass-fed beef to complete phase 1 and phase 2 liver detoxification.

Eating plenty of cruciferous vegetables such as kale, radish, and broccoli is an easy way to support both phases of detoxification.  These members of the Brassicaceae family contain indole-3-carbinol and precursors to sulforaphane, compounds that help the liver produce phase one enzymes.  Sulforaphane also helps create glutathione, a powerful and prevalent antioxidant in the body, which binds to toxins in phase two making them water-soluble.  For the highest concentrations of these compounds, and an economical addition to your detox regimen, consider sprouting broccoli seeds in a mason jar.  I buy mine here.

Bitter plants such as dandelion greens, artichoke, turmeric, and yellow dock root are detox powerhouses, supporting the flow of bile and reducing liver congestion.

If gut function is impaired, the body can not perform the final phase of elimination.  To support gut function, eat several servings of unsweetened fermented foods daily.  These contain probiotics, which will increase the biodiversity of microbes in your gut ecosystem.  These microbes rely on soluble fiber and resistant starches for food, in turn producing short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), which feed the epithelial cells lining your gut, so remember to eat a high-fiber diet! For an excellent all-in-one soluble fiber supplement go here and for a resistant starch supplement here.

Foods, compounds, and mobilizing substances necessary for phase one include:

• Cilantro

• Parsley

• Garlic

• Fish Oil

• B Vitamins

• Branched Chain Amino Acids 

• Phospholipids

• Flavanoids

• Glutathione (arguably the most prevalent and powerful antioxidant in the body)

Nutrients, botanicals and sulfur-containing amino acids and compounds necessary for phase two include:

• N-Acetyl Cysteine

• Glycine

• Arginine

• Taurine

• Glutamine

• Ornithine

• Methionine

• Cysteine

• Alpha Lipoic Acid

• Milk Thistle Seed

**A special note on the use of Adsorbing substances

There are many “detox” supplements being advertised that lack what is needed for both phases of liver detox.  This is important to note because, after phase one, there is a build-up of reactive oxygen intermediary metabolites or free radicals.  If you support the body in only completing phase one by, say, taking cilantro extract but not taking what is needed for phase two, like sulfur-containing compounds and activated charcoal, then these free radicals will be mobilized in the body and reabsorbed in the intestine causing secondary tissue damage and harm to DNA.  Including both sulfur-containing compounds from the above list as well as an adsorbing substance is necessary for shuttling the waste from the body, as mentioned before, via feces, urine, and sweat.

Adsorbing Products Include:

• Liquid Bentonite Clay: Take with Psyllium husk to avoid constipation

• Diatomaceous Earth

• Activated Charcoal

• Chlorella

• Zeolites

Antioxidants required to minimize damage due to free radicals after phase one include:

• Vitamins A, C, E

• Selenium

• Copper 

• Co-enzyme Q10

• Bioflavanoids

• Curcumin

• Resveratrol

• Foods such as sulfur-containing vegetables (cruciferous vegetables and particularly broccoli sprouts), garlic, and onions are especially supportive.

Stress Reduction

Chronic stress undermines our best efforts at a healthy lifestyle.  As I wrote about in my first article, the stress hormone Cortisol is anabolic, breaking down healthy tissue and causing dire health consequences such as a weakened immune system, hormonal imbalance, mood disorders, fatigue, poor muscle mass and strength, the full gambit of digestive issues and decreased detox capacity to name a few.

It’s important to find time to wind down and relax, incorporating practices such as yoga, qi gong, breathwork, sauna, hot tub and cold plunge/ice baths and massage whenever possible.

Extra Practices

Breathwork

Breathwork practices have been used for millennia in Ayurvedic and Chinese Medical therapies.  I recommend the extensive techniques outlined in the Ayurvedic system of Pranayama.  Prana translates to “vital energy” or “life force”, and ayama means “expansion” or “extension.” The word is generally defined as “breath control,” though the practice itself allows one to go beyond one’s normal boundaries or limitations and attain better health overall.

For a deep dive into the topic of breathwork, check out medical journalist James Nestor’s book Breath.

Fasting

While fasting is not appropriate for every unique body nor at every age, for many, it is a quick and powerful way to move the needle on gut and liver health.  A monthly 24-hour fast is a wonderful way to reboot the gut microbiome, starving out opportunistic bacteria and strengthening keystone species essential for optimal health.  The body also goes into cleanup mode where specialized immune cells called macrophages gobble up defective and potentially cancerous cells in a process called phagocytosis.  Book a consultation to discuss if fasting is a fit for you and to curate a detox regimen.

Supplements and Botanicals

To simplify your personal detox routine, please check out my curated comprehensive detox protocol here and a simplified protocol here.