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Detoxification Why Is It So Important?
Life in the 21st century has challenged our ability to detoxify. Daily, our toxic load has greatly increased compared to what the previous generation was exposed to. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 100,000 million pounds of pollutants have been released into our environment by human contamination of industrial chemicals such as mercury, PCBs, phthalates (from plastics) and many more.
There are lists of habits that have increased our toxic load and are saboteurs of health tap water, artificial sweeteners, sodas, alcohol, excess coffee, smoking, medications, meats, fumes, cleaners, unnatural cosmetics, soaps, hair dyes, unhealthy relationships, drugs, pesticides, industrial chemicals, food adulteration, food additives, environmental pollutants, and mineral depletion of the soil. Toxicity can happen at the cellular level and at the organ level.
Detoxification is championed by naturopathic and integrative doctors. The standard of medical care should include not only prevention and treatment of diseases, but also the expansion of the functional life span of the patient. Detoxification should be an integral part of good medicine. We place so much emphasis in medical training on the cardiovascular system, the digestive system, the nervous system, and the respiratory system, but very little attention is given to nutrition and the detoxification system. But, if these two areas are neglected, the entire body falls apart.
Detoxification is the removal of toxins from the body; “tocikon” in Greek means poison. Detoxification is the removal of poison which creates damage to the body. A variety of techniques can be used to detoxify the body, such as drinking purified, energized and alkaline water, eating nutrition-dense healthy foods, exposure to the sun, fresh air, exercise, fasting, promoting sweating, utilizing different herbs to promote elimination and purification of the blood, essential oils, homeopathy, colon cleansing, dry skin brushing, far infrared sauna, and steam bath. In some cases colon hydrotherapy removes intestinal toxins, parasites, and candida and retrains the colon to perform more efficiently. Far infra red sauna has been found to help in removing heavy metals from fat tissues and help in weight loss. Obesity is epidemic in the USA; could it be that we are holding on to fat to protect the body from autointoxication?
We must return to a more simple and pure way of eating and living in order to survive. The detoxification process must be on going, as we are bombarded daily with toxins that affect our endocrine, immune, digestive, neural, psychological and emotional profiles. The key to optimal health and healing is the detoxification at the cellular level to restore balance, happiness, and harmony.
