Safely Detoxify
This program is safe for anyone

Before You Start
  • Stop fast food, sugar, chemicals (additives, coloring, etc) and caffeine. If you are truly caffeine addicted, you may need to wean yourself gradually down to one cup of coffee or tea per day and then switch to green tea.
  • Avoid chemical exposure (dyes, bleaches, solvents, car exhaust, solvents, new carpets, copier fumes, fertilizers, sunscreen, perfume, insect repellant, pesticides, etc).
  • Be sure that your digestion is functioning well so that you do not reabsorb toxins ( refer to the digestive health section)
To Detoxify
  • Center your diet around brown rice, fruits, and vegetables.   Cruciferous vegetables--such as bok choy, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, kale, rutabagas, and turnips--are particularly effective at activating liver enzymes that promote detoxification. 
     
  • You may use olive oil and lemon to flavor food, and a modest amount of salt.
     
  • If you find that you are hungry, add almonds, sesame seeds, walnuts, wild pacific salmon and organic eggs.
     
  • Try to use organic produce
     
  • Avoid dairy and wheat products as well as any food that gives you symptoms
     
  • Drink 12 large glasses of purified water every day
     
  • Exercise for at least an hour a day, working up a sweat if possible (though taking care not to overheat) .
     
  • Clean out your mind:  avoid television, the internet and news reports.
     
  • At least an hour every day, try to practice a relaxation technique, such as yoga, breathing exercises, or meditation
     
  • Give yourself time for at least eight hours of sleep a night.

 

This gentle detoxification program should leave you feeling good.  If you feel weak, dizzy, or unwell, stop and consult your doctor.

I do not recommend fasting.  Fasting puts stress on the body and deprives the body of the nutrients your liver uses in detoxification.  While it may be a good idea in certain circumstances, I believe that fasting should only be done with close medical supervision after thoughtful consideration of the benefits and risks.

Many supplements contain nutrients known to be important for the liver’s detoxification reactions.  Some of these supplements claim to aid the body in detoxification.  Very few of these claims have been evaluated.  However, even if we assume them to be true, I urge caution. Detoxification is a finely tuned process.  In the liver, it occurs in two stages, both of which must be working well to avoid harm.   It is possible to do harm by causing increased detoxification.  The potential harm occurs because initial steps in the detoxification pathway create byproducts, some of which can be more toxic than the original substance.  Increasing the number of these intermediaries means that these new toxins can create damage while awaiting processing in the second phase of the detoxification system.

To address serious toxicity with herbs or other substances that promote the body’s release of toxins from fat stores, you should work with a practitioner.

When you have a known detoxification pathway imbalance, such as in Gilbert’s syndrome or multiple chemical sensitivity, it is best to work closely with a health care provider.

Never continue a program that leaves you feeling weak or ill.

Many of the people who have the greatest problems with toxicity avoid this sort of program  because they do not like vegetables. There is no getting around the truth that you must eat these foods and in abundance to be healthy.  It may help you to get hypnosis or counseling.  You can change your tastes, and should change them so that the foods on this diet are appealing to you.  Turnip greens taste better than heart disease.