chironews
What’s all the buzz about Detox??
and stool. Chemicals can be detected using a test for porphyrins. Symptoms of toxicity include most of the major chronic conditions involving fatigue, pain, digestive upset, allergy and auto-immunity. There are a number of foods that naturally enhance detoxification. They include: • Beets • Cabbage, broccoli, Brussels • Radish • Artichoke • Mushrooms
By Dr Dan Gleason
M
any people think of alcohol or drug rehab when they think of detox which is, often associated with in-patient care or hospitalization. This is detoxification in the extreme. Detox is our birthright,; a process that our bodies constantly perform. It is how we rid ourselves of those nasty chemicals that are in our environment. Without it, we would soon succumb to toxic overload. While your liver and kidneys do most of the work, your skin, lungs, and intestines also do their share. How do we accumulate toxins on the first place? Our industry produces thousands of different chemicals, most of which have not been tested for safety. Our air, water, food and skin-care products are filled with of chemicals that are foreign to our bodily systems. Luckily, we are like self-cleaning ovens and are able to excrete most of these poisons as fast as we take them in. I like to divide toxins into two major categories—major and minor.: Major are toxins we consume in quantity, minor are the ones in smaller amounts which still can cause severe problems. Major toxins include refined sugar, refined grains and refined fats. Refined sugar includes: • Soda • Candy • Fruit juice • Dried fruit • High fructose corn sugar Refined grains include: • Commercial bread • Pastries • Cereal • Crackers • Chips
Refined fats include: • Margarine and Crisco • Deep-fried foods • Vegetable oils • Bottled salad dressings • Many prepared foods Avoiding the major toxins will reduce the load on your body. This means making major changes in what you eat. This is complicated and affects us financially. In the short-term, healthy, organic foods are more expensive, but in the long run, they are our best investment. If these are our favorite foods, then there is an emotional price to pay because we crave and are addicted to them. Making the required changes can take weeks, months and years, but it is the only way to enjoy vibrant physical and mental health into our later years. Minor toxins include chemicals like DDT, Dioxins, PCB’s, heavy metals and parabens. Bacteria, yeasts and parasites in our GI tract also produce minor toxins. To be healthy and avoid diseases requires their removal by our detox systems. Reducing our exposure to these insidious compounds requires change in what we eat, use on our skin, what cleaning products we use, and water we drink. Recent stories of lead contamination in Flint and other Michigan cities are just one example. Another recent example is the Scotchguard toxins found in well water in the Rockford area. The ingredients labeled on shampoo or lotion can’t even be pronounced, much less excreted. There are tests to determine how toxic you are and how effective your detoxification system is. Heavy metals can be measured in your blood, urine
Many herbs help detox including: • Clover • Dandelion • Cayenne • Fennel • Milk Thistle Amino acids help the liver with this process including: • N A C • Glycine • Methionine • Glutathione • Calcium-D-Glucarate At our center, we have been teaching detox classes for many years. Participants commit to a three-week diet and supplement program. They learn how to prepare to make a major change in their life, what to eat, how to shop, what skin-care and cleaning products to use and how to periodically detoxify. In our class, we also focus on mechanical means like exercise, massage, and sauna to enhance this cleansing process. Detox is not just for alcoholism and drug addiction. It is something that our bodies are doing at every moment. We can help by avoiding major and minor toxins and consciously enhancing our detox ability. Dr. Dan Gleason is the owner of The Gleason Center located at 19084 North Fruitport Road in Spring Lake. For more info: go to TheGleasonCenter.com or call 616-846-5410. See ad page 47.
natural awakenings
December 2017
13