Detoxification

Basically, detoxification is the removal of toxic substances from the body. It is one of the major functions of the liver, lower gastrointestinal tract and kidneys, but can also be achieved artificially by several techniques.

Detoxification can be a form of:

• Drug rehabilitation: used to treat alcoholism or other drug addiction.
• Diet: the body accumulates toxins that must be purged, especially after unhealthy periods such as over-eating during festivals.Toxins, in this case, refer to toxic substances - often of undefined nature - from foods, the environment and the body's own wastes.
• Complementary medicine
• Process: by which a substance is made less toxic. In metabolism this usually involved the oxidation, conjugation and then efflux of molecules from cells or tissues.

Detoxification comes in many forms and refers to many different programs that cleanse the body of toxins. Today, our environment is toxic and the foods we eat, even the air we breathe and the water we drink is laden with chemicals foreign to our system. Therefore, everyone is undergoing some type of detoxification to maintain life and health. Although basic detoxification begins with diet, detox programs may include nutritional fortification for the liver, lungs, kidneys, bowels and blood.

Detoxification for the body may refer to the cleansing of the bowels, kidneys, lungs, the liver or the blood, since these are the organs involved in detoxification of chemicals and toxins from the body. The liver acts as an "in-line" filter for the removal of foreign substances and wastes from the blood. The kidneys filter wastes from the blood into the urine, while the lungs remove volatile gases as we breathe.

Our body is designed to utilize natural substances, which includes foods, herbs and phytochemicals. Any foreign substance will serve as a stimulus to our immune system, which has the function of removing these substances. Although the toxicity of a chemical may vary, it is the job of the liver to reduce toxins into compounds that the body can safely handle and eliminate through the kidneys (as urine), skin (as sweat), lungs (as expelled air) and bowels (as feces). Maintaining these eliminative organs in good working order is essential for one's good health to continue.
When the body can eliminate toxins, then health is restored and energy and vigor are revitalized. Many different approaches to detoxification and wellness will work, even though they attack the problem at different levels. Any program that augments detoxification will improve health. Other factors must be considered in detoxification, like nutrition, water, and exercise, rest, sunshine, and fresh air.

DETOXIFICATION

Detoxification Diets	Vegetarian diets: they include the fiber (needed for stimulating good bowel eliminate), the proper amount of vitamins (that feed and nourish bowel,liver, and other eliminative organs), and enzymes Eliminate trigger foods: they may cause many problems with digestion and elimination such as wheat and dairy (often cause of allergies), sugar, meats (may contain hormones, antibiotics, and difficult to digest),caffeine, junk foods
Herbal Detoxification	herbs may be combined together to fortify those herbs that aid specific organs should be used with a good diet also used as teas, powders or extracts with detoxifying properties: abuta, artichoke, carqueja, espinheira santa, erva tostão, fedegoso, guacatonga, manacá, samambaia, sarsaparilla, tayuya, vassourinha
Skin Cleansing	Our skin it one of our best eliminative organs: heavy metals are actually released through the skin's pores when we sweat. Our skin's sweat glands when combined can perform as much detoxification as one (or both) kidneys. Skin cleasing can achieved through: sauna baths and steam rooms (remove toxins from the skin and regenerating one's health and energy) avoid chemicalizaed skin care products (these chemicals may be absorbed into our circulation and provide more "toxins" for our liver to deal with) bathe daily using natural soaps do not wearing synthetic fibers (they don't absorb sweat, while natural fibers, like cotton, will absorb toxins) dry skin brushing (helps in removing the outer dead skin layers and keeps the pores open) good nutrition
Juices	Juices, minus their pulp (fiber), contain an excellent source of vitamins, minerals and enzymes.
Flora	normal flora actually defend our body from the pathogenic species of bacteria and perform many vital functions, such as detoxification of toxic chemicals and making valuable vitamins (mainly the B vitamins) antibiotics kill off the good bacteria as well as the bad and allow the bad to repopulate and develop antibiotic resistance. taking probiotics containing Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidus can help us in our detox program and also in repopulating the gut after a cleanse.
Antioxidants	such as vitamins A, E, and C antioxidants are involved with helping cells to neutralize free radicals that can cause mutations and cellular damage vitamin A and E are fat soluble and will be found in our fat tissues/stores vitamin C is water soluble and will be found mainly in our skin; and it is also involved with many other important bodily functions, like collagen formation, wound healing, energy production and fighting off colds (viruses). vitamin C should be taken with bioflavinoids to ensure that all the components of the vitamin C complex are taken together, since they work together
Enzymes	enzymes are best obtained from fresh raw fruits and vegetables, but may be taken daily with meals as nutritional supplements of multi-digestive enzymes enzymes also help the bowels in cleansing, because they liquefy the bowel content, which makes transit much easier. the role of enzymes in digestion is to break down foods for digestion and absorption
Bowel Cleansing	keeping the bowels clean and moving is a major step in regaining our health since the bowels are crucial in the elimination of toxins, especially those processed by the liver by using a high fiber diet consisting of fresh fruits and vegetables with herbal remedies that act as bowel stimulants or laxatives
Herxheimer Reaction	Occurs when the body is detoxifying too rapidly and toxins are being released faster than the body can eliminate them. When this occurs, one will suffer from headaches, nausea, vomiting, and malaise. To minimize the Herxheimer Reaction: drinks lots of pure water get minimal exercise daily lots of sunshine don't increase the dose of herbals keep the organs of elimination (bowels, lungs, skin, kidneys) open take detox baths use aromatherapy oils for aches -like peppermint, birch, and wintergreen sweat by using exercise, saunas, baths, and herbs avoid foreign chemicals and refined processed foods cut back on your health detoxification program.

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