The concept of “doing a detox” has evolved along with our growing awareness of the toxic substances to which we are exposed to every day. In this article, we'll take a deep dive into detoxification.

You'll learn about how we absorb toxins from various sources, the impact they have on our bodies and bones, and simple steps you can take to strengthen your body's natural and continuous detoxification processes.

Modern Life Can Be Toxic

Detoxification may sound like an extreme measure, or you might associate it with clinics that help people recover from drug addictions. Recreational drugs are certainly toxins, and removing them from the body is a form of detoxification.

However, toxins are unavoidably present in our modern lives, and we consume and absorb these chemicals from a variety of sources.¹

• Plastics, including food containers, latex gloves used for food handling, and microplastics in food, water, and even the soil. This includes bisphenols like BPA, and phthalates.
• Pollution from cars, jet engines, industry, power plants, pipe leaks, and more
• Industrial agriculture introduces toxins into our food and environment through pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and an industrial food processing system that puts food in contact with plastics and processes foods using artificial ingredients and preservatives
• Personal care products usually contain chemicals that our body absorbs through our skin. These toxins often include phthalates and other toxins. Even our clothes can transfer toxins to our skin
• Pharmaceutical drugs are chemicals, and they must be filtered from the body just like toxins. They strain the body's filtration system in the same way as other chemicals, and cause bone-damaging acidification of serum pH-levels.

All of these sources add up fast, and they're features of modern life that our ancient forebears didn't contend with. This means that our bodies didn't evolve under the pressure of filtering this magnitude of unwanted compounds.

However, our bodies did develop a means of removing unwanted compounds, natural or otherwise. Our liver and kidneys are specially designed with the ability to metabolize and dispose of toxins and other waste.

This biological fact implies that detoxification is not a major event requiring special preparation, a stringent diet, or any other intervention. The body is continually working to remove toxins.

The liver metabolizes toxic compounds like alcohol and other drugs and the kidneys filter toxins and the byproducts of toxin metabolism from the blood before excreting them in urine.

These are remarkable systems that work to keep our serum pH-balanced and our body free of toxins. However, because toxins are more prevalent than ever before in human history, our systems can become overtaxed and overwhelmed.

Synopsis

Toxins are all around us in the modern world, from our food, to our personal products, to the air we breathe. Fortunately, our body has organs– the liver and the kidneys– that metabolize toxins, filter them from our blood, and excrete them. However, they can become overtaxed and overwhelmed.

How Toxins Tax Our Bodies And Bones

Toxification can be a contributing factor in the development of serious health conditions, including cancer, Parkinson’s disease, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and immune dysfunction.

The strain toxins put on the body's detoxifying organs– the liver and the kidneys– can ultimately harm them. Liver disease is a potential outcome of an overburdened liver. Even before reaching the point of liver disease, a high toxic load reduces the liver's capacity to perform its regular functions.

The kidneys filter toxins and other unwanted compounds from the blood. When the toxic load is high, the kidneys struggle to keep up. This reduction in function has a negative impact on bone health.

As soon as they enter your system, toxins are acidifying. The liver is charged with metabolizing many acidifying toxins, and the kidney with filtering them from the blood. The kidneys in particular work to maintain the body's serum pH-balance.

When the kidneys are overwhelmed, the body must avoid acidification by pulling alkalizing minerals from bone. This makes toxification a driver of bone loss.

Supporting detoxification processes can reduce the burden on the liver and the whole body, allowing these organs to function properly to maintain a balanced pH and rid the body of harmful substances.

Synopsis

High toxic load can contribute to the development of many health conditions and can overburden the liver and kidneys. Overtaxing the liver and kidneys reduces their functional capacity, which has a negative impact on bone health.

Natural Ways To Detox

You may have heard about intense detox regimes that claim special juices or restrictive diets are the best or only way to detoxify your body. However, trendy detox-diets have been studied, and were found to have little to no impact.²

Instead, take simple steps to relieve the strain on your body's natural detoxification process and let your body detoxify itself.

These strategies and behaviors can all contribute to more effective natural detoxification.

• Get plenty of high-quality sleep – The body's detoxification processes are active while we sleep. If you don't prioritize sound sleep, you rob your body of it's best opportunity to filter out harmful toxins.
• Sip water throughout the day – Hydration is essential for your body's filtration systems to function effectively. Water is the medium through which toxins leaves the body in breath, sweat, and urine.
• Reduce alcohol consumption – The liver metabolizes about 90% of the alcohol we consume. Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to fat build-up, inflammation, and scarring of the liver.
• Consume less sugar – Excess sugar consumption can lead to serious health problems like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes– which in turn reduce the body's toxin filtration capability.
• Avoid processed foods – Processed foods are likely to contain acidifying toxins, whether leached from packaging, picked up in the industrial production process, or included intentionally as artificial or natural flavors.
• Eat antioxidant-rich foods – Oxidative stress can be increased by toxins, such as alcohol and pollutants. Antioxidants disarm the free radicals that cause oxidative stress, thereby protecting your body and bones.
• Get regular exercise – Staying physically active reduces your risk of many chronic conditions which negatively impact your body's detoxification system. The reduction in inflammation linked to exercise also protects the organs that work to detox your system.
• Increase your fiber intake – Fiber is the bouncer of the digestive system. it grabs ahold of unwanted material and carries it out of the body– that includes toxins and other unneeded compounds in the digestive system.

Synopsis

Trendy “detox diets” have been studied and there's no evidence that they work. Instead, support your body's natural ability to detoxify itself using the strategies listed above.

What This Means To You

Support your body's natural detoxification system on an ongoing basis. You'll reduce your risk of developing chronic conditions and prevent bone loss from acidification.

If you're not sure where to start, check out the Save Institute's Osteoporosis Fresh Start Cleanse. This isn't a fad diet. It's a simple seven-day plan that incorporates the strategies reviewed above. You'll learn about the type of water you should drink, two must-have supplements, foods to avoid during the cleanse, and recipes that make it easy and delicious to reduce your intake of toxins.

You might be wondering about the purpose of a cleanse since you just learned about the body's natural toxin filtration. The Osteoporosis Fresh Start Cleanse gives your body's natural processes a chance to work more efficiently by reducing your intake of toxins and supporting the body's filtration systems. Doing this cleanse once a year gives your body a chance to catch up on filtering out the toxins that accumulate in the course of modern life.

Take immediate action to care for your body and your bones. You'll be amazed at how well your body responds to getting what it needs to thrive.

References

¹ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8352419/

² ​​https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29124370