Did you know that sweating eliminates toxins and pollutants from your body? It is one of the most effective ways to reduce your body’s level of chemicals. Your skin is your largest organ and it plays an important role in elimination. Sweating isn’t just useful for cooling your body down; it can significantly improve your heath.

You’ve probably met people who sweat excessively, or who have particularly offensive smelling perspiration; their body is desperately trying to eliminate wastes. The use of saunas is a brilliant remedy that has cleansing and purifying actions. Research published in the journal Archives of Environmental and Contamination Toxicology has found the following: "Toxic elements were found to differing degrees in each of blood, urine, and sweat. Serum levels for most metals and metalloids were comparable with those found in other studies in the scientific literature. Many toxic elements appeared to be preferentially excreted through sweat. Presumably stored in tissues, some toxic elements readily identified in the perspiration of some participants were not found in their serum. Induced sweating appears to be a potential method for elimination of many toxic elements from the human body."

A sauna is just one method. Any type of movement that gets you sweating will offer you benefits; this may be going for a jog, mowing the lawn, going out dancing or helping a friend move house. Please remember it is also important to look after the health of your liver and gut, because if they are working well, you will not need to excrete as many toxins through your skin and you probably won’t sweat as much. Every toxin that enters your body must be first broken down by your liver, into a form that is excretable via sweat. Your liver is the master detoxifier; the skin is just the excretion route.

Our bodies are continually being burdened by chemicals from the outside world (exogenous), as well as toxic breakdown products of our own metabolism (endogenous). A large percentage of the chemicals we are exposed to in the air we breathe, food we eat or lotions we apply have never been tested for safety. If we are not able to effectively break down these toxic compounds, they can accumulate in our tissues, leading to dysfunction and damage to cells and tissues.

Detoxification

Detoxification occurs primarily in the liver, but also in the intestines, and nearly every cell of the body. It is broken down into two steps, called Phase One and Phase Two detoxification. Phase one is carried out mainly by a group of enzymes called cytochrome P 450s. The function of these enzymes is biotransformation; this means the metabolic conversion of toxins that have entered our body into a more reactive form. These enzymes are greatly affected by dietary, environmental and lifestyle factors. Hence, there is great variation among people in their ability to break down toxins. People who suffer with allergies, autoimmune disease, chronic fatigue syndrome or inflammation have a poor ability to detoxify.

Phase two detoxification is carried out by a number of conjugating enzymes. This is where liver cells add another substance to a molecule, (make it water soluble), to make it less harmful, and more easily excreted. Livatone Plus contains the nutrients your liver requires for efficient phase 1 and 2 detoxification.

Detoxification can become unbalanced

Many chronic poor health conditions are associated with an imbalance between phase one and phase two detoxification. The end products of phase one detoxification are usually more harmful and destructive than the parent molecule. They can act as free radicals in your body. They are capable of causing direct damage to cells and DNA, and irritate the immune system by stimulating the release of inflammatory chemicals.

The problem is that so many of the toxins in our world stimulate, or induce the phase one enzymes. Due to poor health and nutritional deficiencies, the phase two enzymes lag behind. This can produce quite a toxic state in the body. Effective detoxification involves achieving a balance in the rate of the two stages of detoxification, to minimise the accumulation of toxic molecules, and thus minimise free radical damage in the body.

Boost your liver’s detoxification abilities

Your liver is the hardest working organ in your body. If your liver is overworked you are likely to feel drained of energy and lacking motivation. Cleaning up a toxic gut is vitally important. Bowel generated toxins are referred to as endotoxins. A lot of the waste products of metabolism end up in your gut. If you are not having at least one thorough bowel motion each day, waste products will accumulate and then get reabsorbed into your bloodstream. You will also get microbial overgrowth in your gut. The herbs in Bactoclear capsules have antimicrobial properties and help clean up a toxic gut. If your gut lining is inflamed or leaky, you will be absorbing waste products from your gut straight into your bloodstream. Glutamine is excellent for healing and sealing the gut lining. Cleaning up your gut and strengthening the gut lining is critical if you want to reduce your body’s toxic load.

It is also important to keep your body alkaline. Modern diets and lifestyles can tip your pH balance, making your body overly acidic. Your body is designed to function best in a slightly alkaline state: pH (potential hydrogen) of your blood should be between 7.35 and 7.45. Vegetables and fruit are alkaline foods, which means once they are digested, the minerals they contain help to keep your blood in an alkaline state. Sugar, alcohol, wheat and dairy products all increase the acid load in your body. An acidic body can lead to more pain and fluid retention. Making your body more alkaline helps to improve energy levels, metabolic rate and reduces the risk of developing health problems.

My 15 Day Cleanse comprises 3 detoxifying powders that are specifically targeted at cleansing your liver, your gut and making your body alkaline.

Reference:  Stephen J Genuis, Detlef Birkholz, Ilia Rodushkin, Sanjay Beesoon. Blood, urine, and sweat (BUS) study: monitoring and elimination of bioaccumulated toxic elements. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 2011 Aug ;61(2):344-57. Epub 2010 Nov 6.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.