In the third of a series of articles on integrative medicine, Nutritionist Belinda Rennie takes a complementary approach to detoxification.

Integrative medicine aims to blend western medicine with complementary health to maximize the body’s innate potential for self-healing.  Most western doctors view detoxification as something “faddish” done at a health farm. Yet the process by which the body neutralizes and rids itself of drugs, food additives, chemicals from the environment, hormones and toxins from the gut is the mainstay of health and basis of anti-aging medicine. The liver, kidneys, lungs, bowel and skin are the major organs that remove toxins with the liver being the most important.

“Doing a detox” is a trendy misnomer - we are detoxifying every minute of every day as our bodies try to deal with the chemical burden that is our modern lifestyle. Polluted air, water and food stress our liver and if the detoxification pathways are not working well, unstable substances can build up doing serious damage to our cells and tissues. This is the basis of many chronic neurological degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

How do you know if your liver is working well? Doctors do liver function tests which measure liver enzymes signifying cellular damage. Other more sensitive tests can assess the functional capacity of the liver’s different detoxification pathways. Clearance tests use known amounts of caffeine, aspirin and paracetamol and measure blood levels after a time interval. For heavy metals, hair mineral analysis is the most reliable test if performed by experienced personnel in a qualified laboratory.

While these diagnostic tests are helpful, there are many simple signs and symptoms that the liver’s detoxification systems are overloaded. Do small amounts of caffeine keep you awake at night or do perfumes and other environmental chemicals make you sick? In general, anytime you have a bad reaction to a drug or environmental chemical (eg chlorine) you can be pretty sure you have a liver detoxification problem.

Other indicators of liver dysfunction include high cholesterol, excess weight gain with abdominal obesity, indigestion, sugar cravings, recurrent headaches, fatigue, irritability and the list of complaints goes on. Luckily the detoxification ability of the liver can be improved with complementary approaches including improved diet, nutrition, herbs acupuncture, reflexology, bio-resonance treatment and homeopathy.

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Liver detoxification should be gentle on the body. Fruit and vegetable fasts and other more extreme measure can cause powerful detoxifying symptoms such as headaches, skin rashes, nausea and extreme fatigue. A good start is to cut out coffee, tea and alcohol and drink 2 and ½ litres of water. Three other things you also definitely want to stay away from are saturated/damaged fats, refined sugar and processed foods. A wholefood diet rich in factors that protect the liver from damage and improve liver function focuses on: 

      Low allergy (avoid food sensitivities)

      High protein (plenty of fish)

      High vegetable fibre – especially artichokes, beetroot, carrots, green leafy vegetables (eg dandelion), herbs and spices like turmeric.

      High sulphur content foods – garlic, onion, legumes (peas and beans)

      High water soluble fibre – oats, apples, pears, wholegrains

      Cabbage family vegetables – broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts

      Avoiding artificial colours and preservatives and eat organic food where possible

Special nutrients for the liver can help eliminate heavy metals and toxic chemicals from the body. These include:

      Antioxidant vitamins – Vitamin C, E and betacarotene,

      B complex - especially B3, B6, B12 and folic acid

      Minerals – especially calcium, magnesium, zinc, copper, selenium

      Glutathione – one of the most important antioxidant nutrients made from amino acids

      Lipotropic factors – promote the flow of fat and bile to and from the liver – choline, betaine, methionine

      Herbs – such as milk thistle (silymarin), dandelion

Genetic variability, exposure to chemical toxins and nutritional status determine how effective your liver detoxification systems are working. Ninety per cent of all cancers are thought to be due to the effects of environmental carcinogens such as those in cigarette smoke, food, water and air combined with nutritional deficiencies effecting the detoxification and immune systems. Ultimately your best protection from cancer and other chronic degenerative diseases is to make sure your detoxification systems are in good working order.

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