The Importance of Cleansing

Are we humans toxic?  Sounds like an outrageous question, but consider what the body has to accomplish with all the substances we pour into it.  Any substance which is not useful for energy or building tissues is dumped by detoxification before it can harm the body.  Polluted air, modern diets, and drinking water all carry potential carcinogens.  Although we bathe and cleanse the outside of our bodies daily, all of us can be still be toxic if we never cleanse on the inside. 

“A toxin is defined as any compound that has a detrimental effect on cell function or structure.  There are some toxins that cause minimal negative effects while others can even cause death.” 

Today's world of technology, expedience, multi-tasking, stress, fast foods, and toxic environments can have an affect on every tissue in our bodies.  The amount of pesticides, herbicides, fossil fuel emissions, hydrocarbons, and heavy metals that we are exposed to on a daily basis has reached record proportions.

Detoxification is a process in which potentially harmful compounds are excreted.  The lungs, skin, kidneys, and gastrointestinal tract, are all responsible for this detox process, while the liver is considered to be the major organ of detoxification.  Within the liver cells there are a number of intricate mechanisms involved in the breakdown of toxic substances. Every chemical that enters our bodies, including drugs, pesticides, herbicides, and hormones are broken down by liver cells. 

The detoxifying organs work vigorously on a daily basis to rid the body of toxicities and maintain the health of trillions of cells.  Unfortunately, the excessive amount of toxins in the environment has placed such a burden on these systems that they can no longer function optimally. Therefore, we can all benefit from cleansing the inside of our bodies for improved health.

When to Cleanse

We practice daily hygiene such as, washing our hands, hair, faces, bodies, and brushing our teeth, but what about cleaning the inside of our bodies?  Imagine what the inside of a house would look like if you never cleaned it.  Dirt, toxins, and pathogens can begin to build up and create an unhealthy environment.  A similar scenario can occur inside of us when the liver and other bodily systems responsible for the detoxification process become over-burdened with toxicity and are unable to handle it all.  When this happens, we can begin having problems with digestion, elimination, skin, weight gain, and so on.  

If you experience one or more of the following symptoms, then you may want to detoxify your body:

• Fatigue and low energy
• Aching joints
• Headaches
• Chronic constipation
• Bad breath
• Foul smelling stools
• Parasites in stool
• Frequent gas and bloating
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Digestive problems
• Weight gain
• Yeast (candida) overgrowth
• Skin problems

Products to Help with Cleansing

The Complete Body Cleanse Kit is a Triple Action Detoxification System created by Life-flo.  It is designed to help support, detoxify, and rejuvenate us. This fourteen day program is designed to improve your health by dealing with the overabundance of toxins residing in our bodies.  The triple action system gently enhances our internal detoxification system while at the same time ridding it of heavy metals.  It is a complete cleansing system because it addresses the areas that are of greatest concern.

The Complete Body Cleanse Kit not only supports the body's own detoxification mechanisms, but at the same time enhances them. This triple action system works on the gastrointestinal tract, liver, and the circulatory system where a lot of heavy metals and other toxins can reside.  These compounds are either generated by the body as by-products of cellular metabolic processes, or acquired through exposure to the environment. 
Benefits of use:

• Helps cleanse the liver and colon
• Helps remove toxic heavy metals
• Helps improve weight loss results
• Helps increase energy levels
• Helps promote overall well being

Green Foods to Assist Detoxification

Chlorophyll is the green pigment found in plants and algae that is responsible for their color.  Historically, chlorophyll has been used to help improve many different conditions and symptoms.  For example, bad breath, constipation, and detoxifying, just to name a few.  Chlorophyll also has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and wound-healing properties. 1,2

Some evidence suggests that chlorophyll helps detoxify cancer-promoting substances, suggesting that chlorophyll may reduce the risk of cancer. 3,4

According to the PDR for Nutritional Supplements, “some experimental data suggests that chlorophyll may have some antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic potential, may help protect against some toxins, and may ameliorate some drug side effects.” 5

You can find good dietary sources of chlorophyll in dark green leafy vegetables, spirulina, chlorella, algae, wheat grass, and barley grass.  Those who do not consume a variety of green foods in plentiful quantities may lack chlorophyll in their diets.  Therefore, including a good “green foods” supplement, such as LifeSource SuperSprouts that contains sources of chlorophyll that can help you get this important nutrient into your diet or cleansing program.

Benefits of use:

• Detoxification
• Constipation
• Eliminate Bad Breath
• Wound Healing
• Antioxidant

Calcium D-Glucarate to help remove toxins from the intestinal tract

D-Glucarate is a phytochemical that can be found in fruits and vegetables, such as apples, oranges, broccoli, cabbage, bean sprouts, and Brussels sprouts.  It is also made in small amounts by the body. Many believe that this nutrient aids the body in the elimination of many harmful toxins and lowers abnormally high levels of used steroid hormones including estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone. 

D-Glucarate also inhibits an enzyme known as beta-glucuronidase, which suppresses the body’s ability to detoxify many toxins using the glucuronidation pathway. When levels of this enzyme become elevated, it reverses the glucuronidation process and releases the toxins back into the bloodstream. 6   When detoxification involves Calcium D-Glucarate, it is called glucuronidation, which is the process that occurs when toxins or carcinogens are combined with water soluble substances and allows such toxins to be more easily removed from the body.  Research supports a role for glucuronidation in protecting cells (especially those of hormone-sensitive tissues such as the breast and prostate) from dangerous environmental chemicals.7

Consider supplementing with Calcium D-Glucarate to keep the detoxification pathway moving forward.  This will preserve the amount of glucuronic acid available to detoxify toxins, and limit the amount of free estrogen being reabsorbed.

Benefits of use:

• Helps eliminate toxins and carcinogens
• Helps eliminate used hormones
• Helps reduce the risk of certain diseases
• Has been shown to reduce estrogen receptors

References

1. Rudolph C. The therapeutic value of chlorophyll. Clin Med Surg 1930:37;119-21.
2. Chernomorsky SA, Segelman AB. Biological activities of chlorophyll derivatives. N J Med 1988:85;669-73.
3. Gruskin B. Chlorophyll-its therapeutic place in acute and suppurative disease. Am J Surg 1940:49;49-56.
4. Hayatsu H, Negishi T, Arimoto S, et al. Porphyrins as potential inhibitors against exposure to carcinogens and mutagens. Mutat Res 1993:290;79-85.
5. Thomson, PDR for Nutritional Supplements. New Jersey: Thomson PDR 2002;89
6.  Dwivedi C, Heck WJ, Downie AA, et al. Effect of calcium glucarate on beta-glucuronidase activity and glucarate content of certain vegetables and fruits. Biochem Med Metab Biol. 1990; 43:83-92.
7. Walaszek Z, Hanausek-Walaszek M, Minton J, Webb TE. Dietary Glucarate as anti-promoter of 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-induced mammary tumorigenesis. Carcinogenesis 1986;7:1463-1466

By Marie Holt, BSc
Nutritional Consultant
Energetic Nutrition, Inc.

Copyright 2007