Seven steps to healthy living – Part 3

Step No. 3 Detoxification
Detoxification is the physiological elimination of toxins (acidic wastes) from the human body. The organs involved in this physiological (normal0 process are the liver, kidneys, lungs, colon, skin and the lymphatic drainage system.

Sources of Toxins
All metabolic and physiological processes in the body produce toxic, acidic wastes and free radicals that should be eliminated as fast as they are produced. If the process of elimination fails, the wastes accumulate in and around the cells. The commonest cause of failure and accumulation is dehydration. Not only that, the water that we drink today, as I have always said, is very acidic and dangerous for human consumption. Such acidic water will reduce the pH of the body tissues making them acidic. The air that we breathe in most of the cities of the world including Lagos is polluted. The air is laden with gases like carbon monoxide from the exhaust fumes of cars and factories. The bigger the city, the more the cars and by inference the more the contamination of the air and this is usually shown by the amount of black soot that falls on the roof tops and plants in the mornings.

Concerning food that we eat today, contamination comes from fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals used in agriculture. These chemicals find their way into animals from where our protein is sourced. It is because the soil is no longer as rich in nutrients as they were some years ago that a lot of chemicals are now used to enrich them for agricultural purposes. These days’ plants are no longer organically grown and in a lot of instances the land has been over cultivated. I have already written about the problems of cooking and processing our food.

What is the effect of these toxins in the body? Accumulated toxins will eventually overwhelm the liver, which is the first organ involved in detoxification, as a result, the toxins get stored in the fatty tissues of the body. Depending on the quantity of toxins, fatty tissues are produced for sufficient storage. This is one way by which individuals become obese. Toxins also get deposited in other fatty tissues like the brain, breasts, heart and the prostate gland where they cause diseases like heart disease, Alzheimer’s Dementia, asthma, arthritis and chronic fatigue syndrome. Others are acne, bronchitis, sinusitis, anxiety, headaches, emotional disorders, premature aging, infertility and cancer.

Methods of Detoxification
Before you begin to detoxify, consider the following: Reduce the direct pathways of contamination, do not load your body with contaminated and acidic water and avoid unhealthy and dead food that increases the toxicity of the body.

To detoxify:
1. Drink clean, filtered alkaline water always. Alkaline water detoxifies by neutralizing acidity and makes the tissues of the body alkaline. Water eliminates the toxins from the cells and their surroundings by increasing the rate of blood circulation. These wastes are carried faster to the organs [kidneys, lungs and skin] where they are eliminated from the body.
2. Eat natural, fresh, raw and organic vegetables and fruits. These natural foods contain a lot of fiber that cleanses the colon and bind the heavy metals and chemicals in the body making them readily available for elimination. Fiber increases the motility of the colon so that no fecal matter is delayed in its transit through the colon.
3. Take supplements that cleanse, protect and help the liver to function.
4. Visit the sauna regularly for hydrotherapy and sweating to open up the sweat pores of the skin.
5. Exercises help in detoxification by increasing circulation and fast evacuation of the toxins from the tissues and the body.