Detox (About), including several detox methods

By Cat, Feb 2019

Detox (detoxification) is “the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver.” (11) The main detox agent in our bodies is glutathione, but there are several chelating agents that are used to detox heavy metals, and supplements/devices to detox from other toxic substances. Included here:

1. Four signs you need to detox
2. Mercola’s three pillars of detox
3. General Detox
4. Detox with:
   1. 3 – 7 day whole body detox with raw veggie juices
   2. Bentonite clay
   3. Detox mitochondria (the batteries in your cells)
5. Detox from
   1. Sugar
   2. Glyphosate (Roundup) with Glycine
6. Detox Toxic Heavy Metals has been moved to separate article, Detox from Toxic Heavy Metals

See also: 1. Natural Healing Remedies Menu; 2. Notes on Natural Health Topics Menu

Four Signs You Need to Detox

(from Ty Bollinger of TTAC):

1. Brain Fog or Cognitive Impairment: This includes forgetfulness, persistent lack of motivation, anxiety or depression.
2. Fatigue: This includes fatigue, muscle aches joint pain. This is often triggered by mycotoxins (water-based mold).
3. Body odor: This includes body odor (not just arm-pits), increased fecal odor, and bad breath that often point to buildup of toxins in the liver. Another indicator of liver trouble is a fuzzy coating on the tongue. Note that eating too much red meat can also cause these symptoms.
4. Chemical sensitivities, especially Multi-Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) as declared by the National Institute of Health (NIH). Common chemicals that can cause these sensitivities are auto exhaust, pesticides, tobacco smoke, synthetic perfumes and other artificially-scented products. Laundry and dish detergents and commercial hand “soaps” are another source, and they are not required by law to divulge many problematic ingredients.

Three Pillars of Detox

This is from Mercola’s article: Three Pillars of Heavy Metal Detoxification (8e):

General Detox

Diet: 6 foods that enhance & support detoxification

See also Green Med Info: 9 Foods for a Spring Detox; eat more of the following foods: Broccoli sprouts, whey [as from making yogurt — not whey protein powder], chlorella, apple pectin, coffee, garlic, turmeric, ginger, and green tea [NOTE: broccoli sprouts, green tea, ginger, turmeric are also included in list below.]

The first 5 in this list are from an email from Dr. Brian Mowll. The 6th one is from GMOs Revealed email, which refers the reader to a sales-pitch article (30). These foods help support your liver’s ability to clean and detoxify your body:

1. Broccoli – Most cruciferous veggies, including broccoli are high in sulfer and stimulate glutathione which enhances detox. Broccoli also contains high amounts on fiber, antioxidants, and vitamin C.
   • Broccoli sprouts are especially effective at detoxing pollutants, per Green Med Info article (20c), citing a Chinese study published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, that studied its effects on air pollution. How does it work: Broccoli (and other cruciferous veggies) contain a compound called glucoraphanin; when chewed, it produces a cancer-protective compound called sulphoraphane, which in turn activates enzymes that take up the pollutants and flush them out in the urine. 
   • Why are the sprouts more effective than mature broccoli? “At 5 to 6 days old, the sprouts contain over one hundred times more sulphoraphane per gram than the mature plant.” (20c)
2. Eggs – This may be surprising, but eggs are a great source of bioavailable amino acids, and egg yolks are high in sulfer, cysteine, and B vitamins which support detox.
3. Lemon – Raw lemon contains enzymes, vitamin C, and is highly alkalyzing, plus citrus, including lemon has been shown to upregulate phase 1 liver detoxificaiton.
4. Green tea – The catechins in green tea and powerful antioxidants that have shown to stimulate phase 2 liver detoxification and prevent oxidative stress.
5. Fiber – One you encourage your body to dump toxins into your bowels for elimination, it’s important to use binders to prevent reabsorption. Fiber, such as inulin and glucomannan are excellent binders.
6. Golden Milk/Golden Tea – An ancient Ayurvedic medicine, its combination of turmeric and ginger, is the key to its amazing healing abilities. “This powerful, natural “golden detox” improves your liver’s ability to pull toxins out of your bloodstream from throughout your body.” (30)  It will help improve your sleep, minimizes joint pain, improve your brain function, plus many other benefits (31). But I prefer to make my own from turmeric and ginger root; see my Collection of Golden Milk/Tea Recipes, which includes a simple 1-serving version, to test if you and your body like it. 

3 – 7 day whole body detox with raw veggie juices

I learned to do this detox at the Wellness Education Center in Kalispell (1), and I try to do one twice a year, in spring and fall. After my first 7-day fast (2009), I was truly amazed by how good I felt throughout the fast, with no cravings or hunger pangs, and no significant blood sugar problems. 

There are three segments to the fast that take about 4-weeks to complete: Pre-fast (1-2 weeks); Juice fast (2 – 7 days); and Breaking the fast (1-2 weeks).

Pre-Fast: Before actually beginning the fast, you need to prepare your body by slowly eliminating certain foods, such as alcohol, caffeine and animal foods; and slowly adding more vegetables and fruits, especially raw, so that by the day before the fast begins, you’re only eating raw. According to the WEC, you should begin the prefast diet 2 weeks before the start of the fast, but because Christmas falls within those 2 weeks, I wait until after Christmas, to begin. 

Fast: This is not a true fast, because the juices and broths provide nutrition. But it does not include any fiber foods, giving your digestive system a rest so you body can focus on detox and healing. This ‘fast’ is very alkalizing, and helps to remove toxins and parasites. During the fast, you do at least one enema daily, to help the body get rid of toxins, parasites and other debris.

The fast can last 3 – 7 days. 7 days is recommended for at least the first two fasts. You can also do a 3-day fast, which includes the kidney-bladder flush but not the liver-gall bladder flush. 

Break the Fast: After the 3 – 7 days of fasting, you slowly re-introduce solid foods. First is fruit, followed by raw and then lightly cooked veggies. Then grains (sprouted grains are considered veggies and are introduced earlier). And last, animal foods.

Detox with bentonite clay

My friend Shelli gave me a small jar of “Living Clay, an all natural calcium bentonite clay” from the Living Clay Co. (21). According to their literature, their clay is a “unique and rare, green swelling calcium Bentonite clay with Montmorillonite properties from the Smectite family of clays.  Its astoundingly strong drawing action cleanses by pulling out impurities while its dynamic binding power captures and eliminates toxins.  In addition, the clay’s vibrant electromagnetic charge stimulates cellular revitalization.” (1) 

Its source is volcanic ash, rich in trace minerals. It is commonly used topically as a facial mask or full body wrap, but can also be used internally for detox, and is a common ingredient in detox formulas.

When I start itching a lot, all over my body and especially on my scalp, I use a liquid formula from Yerba Prima (23). I mix 1 Tbsp with 6 – 8 oz water, stir it well, then drink it down. The itching stops within a few minutes. Using a liquid formula is a lot more convenient for me.

For more about bentonite clay: see Living Clay Articles (21b) and About Clay (22) for links to articles and videos on uses of bentonite clay.

Mixing a Clay Solution (from powder)

See Mixing Instructions for Living Clay (21a) for detailed instructions and videos. Here’s a summary.

Induced sweating detoxes heavy metals, BPA and phthalates

An article in Green Med Info (20b) about a 2011 study published in the Archives of Environmental and Contamination Toxicology, concludes “Induced sweating appears to be a potential method for elimination of many toxic elements from the human body.” This includes heavy metals, petrochemicals BPA and phthalates.

Other Detoxes

Detox BPA and Phthalates with Induced Sweating

This method can also help with detoxing heavy metals.

An article in Green Med Info (20b) about a 2011 study published in the Archives of Environmental and Contamination Toxicology, concludes “Induced sweating appears to be a potential method for elimination of many toxic elements from the human body.” This includes heavy metals, petrochemicals BPA and phthalates.

Detox mitochondria

from Wendy Myers (4b). She uses three supplements for her program: Mitotox, Activated Silica, and CitriCleanse. See reference (4b) for more, and to purchase the 3 products in a package. See also Heavy Metals Summit with Wendy Myers (I’ve not viewed the episodes but I did purchase the mp4 files – not yet downloaded).

Detox from sugar

From a series of articles from Wendy Myers (4c): Sugar 101 and 10 min Video; She’s down on fruits, even as whole fruit because our fruits today are heavily hybridized to have more sugar (they’re not what cave man ate). She does allow some berries and green-tipped bananas. She references a Mercola article (8a) that has a great chart on fructose in fruits.

6.Detox (Eliminate) Glyphosate From the Body with Glycine (Amino Acid Supplement)

Cat’s article: How to Detox Glyphosate ( Roundup) from your Body (inspired by Mercola article (8b)): Glyphosate is an analog of glycine (amino acid); it blocks glycine receptors in the body (9) and replaces glycine in peptides and proteins. Glycine is important for any detox (it is part of glutathione molecule, along with glutamate & cysteine). 

Recommended dose of glycine for detox: 1 tsp (4 gr) glycine powder 2x daily for a few weeks, then reduce to ¼ tsp (1 gr) 2x daily (from Dr. Klinghardt, quoted in Mercola article (1)). This forces glyphosate out of your system, so it can be eliminated through your urine. 

The article also includes info on testing for glyphosate levels in your body or your water. 

Toxic heavy metal detox

Some heavy metals are good for you (up to a point), such as copper, iron, selenium, zinc, and more. For these, it is best to take them in chelated form, such as bound to a protein, peptide or amino acid). Taking them in their ionized (salt) form, can be harmful. Others are quite toxic (no matter how you are exposed to them), such as aluminum, lead and mercury. 

The methods for heavy metal detox are still being formulated, and I have tried several of them to detox mercury. Unfortunately, I’ve developed food sensitivities to the detox agent in each case.

See also Mercola interviews of Dr Shade on Mercury Exposure (8f), and Three Pillars of Detox (8e).

See Detox from Toxic Heavy Metals for details regarding several detox methods (was originally part of this article).

References:

1. Wellness Education Center (WEC), Kalispell MT
2. A Breakthrough in Cell Detoxification, from Dr. Dan Pompa (drpompa.com/additional-resources/health-tips/cell-detoxification-cytodetox-zeolite)
3. Jonathan Landsman article: naturalhealth365store.com/Ultra-Binder-Universal-Toxin-Binder-120g_p_66.html
4. Wendy Myers:
   1. On NanoVi detox device:
      • article: eng3corp.com/wendymyers.  
      • 48-min video: myersdetox.com/why-nanovi-rocks-for-detox-and-healthy-aging-with-hans-eng-and-rowena-gates/  and
      • transcript: myersdetox.com/transcript-242-why-nanovi-rocks-for-detox-and-healthy-aging-with-hans-eng-and-rowena-gates/
   2. on mitochondria detox: store.myersdetox.com/collections/heavy-metals-summit-collection/products/mitochondria-detox
   3. on sugar detox:  Sugar 101 and 10 min Video
      1.  
5. Catherine Haug article: How to Detox Glyphosate ( Roundup) from your Body 
6. The Klinghardt Neurotoxin Elimination Protocol (customers.hbci.com/~wenonah/new/9steps.htm)
7. About Zeta-aid: customers.hbci.com/~wenonah/new/mcdaniel.htm 
8. Mercola articles:
   1. Richard johnson interview:(articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/03/13/richard-johnson-interview.aspx)
   2. What is NADPH and NOX (articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/02/04/what-is-nadph-and-nox.aspx)
   3. Detox protocol: mercola.com/article/mercury/detox_protocol.htm
   4. Interview with Dr. Klinghardt on mercury elimination:  mercola.com/article/mercury/mercury_elimination.htm
   5. Mercola on “Three Pillars of Heavy Metal Detoxification (8e) (articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/03/20/heavy-metal-detoxification.aspx
   6. Mercola and Dr. Shade on articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/01/06/dr-shade-on-mercury-exposure.aspx
9. )Journal of Biological Physics and Chemistry
10. How to Detox Glyphosate ( Roundup) from your Body (by Cat)
11. Meaning of detox from Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification)
12. Dr Axe on chelating agents (draxe.com/chelation-therapy/)
13. Gaiam blog: blog.gaiam.com/blog/mercury-detox-a-3-step-plan-to-recover-your-health/
14. Wellness Mama: hwellnessmama.com/302581/detox-heavy-metals/
15. TTAC: thetruthaboutcancer.com/signs-you-need-to-detox/
16. Wikipedia: wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylenediaminetetraacetic_acid
17. Natural Society: naturalsociety.com/proper-heavy-metal-chelation-cilantro-chlorella/
18. National Integrated Health Associates: nihadc.com/library/detox-for-life-class-2-addit-resources/54-4-dosing-with-chlorella/file.html (site requires signing a disclaimer before allowing access
19. Travis Wade Fitness: traviswadefitness.com/blog-1/2016/4/11/heavy-metal-detoxification
20. Green Med Info:
    1. greenmedinfo.com/blog/garlic-beats-drug-detoxifying-lead-safely-body-1
    2. greenmedinfo.com/blog/research-confirms-sweating-detoxifies-dangerous-metals-petrochemicals
    3. greenmedinfo.health/blog/mighty-broccoli-sprouts-rapidly-detox-pollutants
21. livingclayco.com
    1. Mixing Instructions for Living Clay (livingclayco.com/mixing-instructions)
    2. Articles about Living Clay: livingclayco.com/living-clay-articles   
22. aboutclay.com/clay_info.htm
23. Yerba Prima’s Great Plains Bentonite Detox, Liquid formula (yerba.com/product/bentonite-herbal-detox) See also iHerb code YBP-00519
24. Healing Daily (healingdaily.com/oral-chelation/chlorella-dosage.htm)
25. Paleo Leap (paleoleap.com/butyrate-anti-inflammatory-fat) 
26. Center for Wellness (cfwellness.com/butyrate) 
27. Curezone: Cilantro/Chlorella/Vitamin C Chelate Mercury (curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=969381)
28. Kitchen Doctor (kitchendoctor.com/herbs/cilantro.php)
29. About Nrf2: nrf2.com
30. GMOsRevealed email text (3/20/19)
31. Organifi Gold powder for Golden Milk/Tea organifi.com/1-gold-text-cb/