There is little doubt that detoxification is one of the more popular topics of discussion in natural medicine. But, what is detoxification and how can you decide as a consumer if it would be good for you to try?

Detoxification refers to the system in your body that provides a pathway for you to get rid of toxic substances. These toxic substances come from many sources including from your body. As your “bag of chemistry” performs its many reactions every day, numerous toxins are released that have to be detoxified. In addition, you are exposed to many environmental toxins. Read “Living With Toxins” for more detailed information.

The lion’s share of detoxification occurs within your liver. Other tissues also provide for minor amounts of detoxification including your skin, kidneys, lungs and intestines. The detox system is multi-faceted and complex. It depends upon the activity of advanced enzyme systems, chemical reactions, specific nutrients, proper excretion, adequate energy supplies, and cell protection to name just a few. All of these processes work in concert to allow your body to change toxic molecules into ones that can be taken out of your body. The best way to gain a better understanding of detoxification is to follow a toxin through the process.

A toxin gets into your body and is brought to the liver. The liver has a family of vitamin and mineral dependent enzymes called Cytochrome P450’s that act upon the toxin to change its chemical structure. This begins the process of detoxifying the toxin. The toxin then moves to another area of the liver where it undergoes specific chemical processing depending on the type of toxin. Some of the names for these reactions are sulfation, methylation, glucuronidation, glycation, and glutathione conjugation. These reactions rely heavily on vitamins, minerals, and other substances we get from our diet. As you can imagine, all of these reactions require good amounts of energy and they produce by-products that could damage a cell. Thus, the body supplies much energy to the process of detoxification and makes sure that the tissues performing these tasks are bathed with antioxidant protection. After being chemically changed, the toxin is now ready for transport out of your system. The two major pathways for this are through the kidneys and colon. Minor pathways include the skin and lungs.

Again, this is a multi-faceted and complex process so a proper detoxification protocol has to address and support all of these workings. Here within lies the major problem with detoxification protocols including saunas, colonics, baths, crazy diets, and most supplements. They are either one dimensional in their approach or they do not provide for the proper amounts of the nutrients needed to support this complex system. Do not get me wrong. I am not saying that there are no benefits to saunas and colonics. I believe that there might be. However, these cannot, by themselves, be classified as thorough detoxification protocols because they are one dimensional in their approach.

The worst options, in my opinion, are the crazy olive oil, lemon, salt flush, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and fasting diet types of detox protocols. Whether it be the so-called Master Cleanse (Lemonaide Cleanse) or whatever, there is anemic support for these fasting diets other than for worthless testimonials. The biggest problem I have with fasting diets is that detoxification relies heavily on two things: energy and nutrients. Long-term fasting depletes energy stores and provides for none of the nutrients needed for the reactions listed above. Plus, these fasts can be dangerous. The bottom line is that these fasting diets are highly questionable in their effectiveness and are potentially dangerous.

As mentioned, detox supplements can be found all over the internet. After careful evaluation of dozens of these, I came to realize that they all shared two traits. First, they all contained good amounts of laxatives. Second, they all contained way too low a dose of the nutrients studied for liver detoxification. Thus, you get a “poo-poo” pill and little else. A good B.M. cannot be classified as a good detox.

A good detox protocol has to supply nutrients at clinically relevant levels and must address the many aspects of detox. The detox protocols you find on www.ZimmerNutrition.com do just that and you can read more by going to the Body Detox section of this site.

I will tell you that I have seen incredible changes in people’s lives thanks to these detox protocols. I have seen these changes with my own eyes which was enough that I do this detox protocol two times a year. My warning to you is not to throw the baby out with the bath water. Keep two things in mind: 1. We are all exposed to significant amounts of toxins. 2. Proper detox protocols most certainly can better equip your body to deal with this exposure.

If you have any questions, please email me.