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Dear Nutritionist,
My friend has been seeing a nutritionist and is doing a detox. Basically, she is drinking a lot of fresh juice and eating a lot of salads and raw fruit and green powder. She says it doesn’t taste that bad, but she’s starving all the time and having headaches, and the nutritionist says she’s having a detox flu reaction. It has been three weeks now and a kid passed her eating a cookie yesterday and she almost grabbed it! I understand she’s doing this because she takes her health seriously, but are detoxes healthy? I also ask because I have problems with my skin and with seasonal allergies, and I wonder if a detox would help me. What is your protocol for detoxification and would it help me?
Debbie
Dear Debbie,
This is a great question I come across a lot. And I will let you in on a little secret: I do not advocate ‘detoxification diets’ because I don’t see benefit from them. I actually think they are unsustainable at best, and dangerous at worst. And I question three weeks on this type of diet. Let me explain why I take this stance.
Generally, when people think of detoxification, they think in terms of what they will omit from their diet. You may have heard of juice fasts, sugar-free diets, fruitarianism, and raw foodism, which are examples of this. The idea behind this type of practice is that common foodstuffs are toxic to the body and if they are removed and substituted with healthier foods the body can function optimally.
In theory that makes good sense. However, in theory, "the world is flat" made good sense, too. Saying the world was round seemed idiotic and went contrary to all that was known at the time. So it is with the foods that are targeted as toxic. They are often those with nutrients the body needs to support its natural detoxification processes. We are living in a time when people no longer think they need to follow the evolutionary habits of humankind for proper health; they think the science knows better than evolution. I question this "wisdom."
I also think a diet that is too restrictive is not sustainable when everyone around you is eating the things you can’t. My suggestion if someone wants to do this is to go to a retreat that specializes in providing balanced detoxification meals in a supportive and low-stress environment. This way the detox is supervised by professionals and is limited to a certain period of time.
But today I want to propose to you a different type of detoxification model for health “reboots” and overall wellness. This model is for regular people who want to achieve greater health without going to extremes or a health retreat! Rather than focusing on strict elimination protocols, it focuses on what the body needs for its innate detoxification systems to work optimally.
The most essential and overlooked detox protocol is one that supports the organ of detoxification — the liver. You see, detoxification isn’t something you do, it’s something your liver does for you 24 hours a day!
The liver is so important to your survival that it is the only visceral organ that regenerates itself.
If it’s surgically cut or chemically harmed, as long as 25 per cent remains and is healthy, it can repair and regrow itself fully! In addition, it breaks down almost all the chemicals and toxins we are exposed to. As such, it’s important to understand how to foster good liver health. It requires a number of nutrients to function optimally. These include:
- Amino acids (from proteins)
- B vitamins (especially B12 and folate) (from meat)
- Antioxidants vitamin E, vitamin A, and vitamin C, as well as bioflavonoids (found together in natural fruit and veg)
- Minerals and trace minerals (found in bones, bone broth, veggies and green powders)
- Sulphur compounds
In addition, milk thistle is known to help the liver regenerate itself, as is N-acetyl cysteine. And new data shows that medium chain triglycerides, like those found in coconut flesh, coconut oil, and high-fat coconut milk, are also liver protective, as are probiotics, like those found in home-fermented foods. Dandelion root is also a liver tonic and can be taken as a tea.
Foods that particularly help build liver health include bone broth soups, made with naturally grazed/fed animals, rich in soluble minerals, and complete proteins for those amino acids, and fresh fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins and antioxidants.
Choline in egg yolks is known to be liver protective. Garlic, onions, broccoli and cabbage all contain sulphur compounds your liver needs, and you can get B vitamins from grass-fed animals, eggs, salmon, spinach, and nuts and seeds. Nutritional yeast is a great way to add some B vitamins to your diet. Add it to organic popcorn or kale chips for an easy and tasty nutritious treat!
Long term, it’s essential to create a dietary pattern where foods that harm the liver — sugary, high glycemic and inflammatory foods, like grains and all sweets, as well as drugs and alcohol — are kept to a minimum. These cause fatty liver disease and over time create a strain on the liver that deteriorates health profoundly.
Creating eating habits that supply the liver with the nutrients it needs to operate optimally is, in my opinion, the best way to detoxify the body ongoing. I also advocate near-infrared saunas and herbal decoctions and tinctures for detoxification of specific toxins or heavy metals, once they have been properly identified.
Thus, I do not think a detox is what you need to address your skin troubles and seasonal allergies. I suspect you are intolerant to certain foods or have compromised digestion and need to enhance your digestive and liver function to address these issues. To start with, I encourage you to remove sugar, processed foods, grains, and dairy from your diet for a period of two weeks and add them back one at a time to see if any of these impact your skin and allergies. I think you will be surprised.
Signs the liver is under stress include fatigue, weakness, confusion and brain fog, digestive woes, bloating or gas, constipation, dark urine, yellowing of the skin and eyes, and nausea.
Consulting a licensed functional medicine professional will help you identify imbalances and toxin buildup in the body, and create a customized plan to meet your goals in a way that is safe and suited to your particular lifestyle.
When a diet is done right, you should feel satisfied and content, not starved or constantly craving foods you’re trying to avoid! As we grow healthier, our cravings and desires grow healthier, and what once seemed tempting seems far less satisfying.
Keep the questions coming.
Namaste!
Nonie Nutritionista
Nonie De Long is a registered orthomolecular nutritionist with a clinic in Bradford West Gwillimbury, where she offers holistic, integrative health care for physical and mental-health issues.
