How Does Your Body Detox?

The AP Team on January 23, 2017

Detox. It’s one of those buzzwords you hear all the time.

There is no shortage of costly programs, pills and supplements all intended to remove toxins from your body.

This makes it seem like your body is defenseless against toxins; that they’re just piling up inside you. That simply isn’t true.

Your body has a natural — and very effective — detox system built right in.

Celebrate your skin

Your skin is your largest organ and also the largest organ in your body’s detox system. Because your skin is in direct contact with your environment, its first function is to protect you from the elements and from toxins in the environment.

It’s waterproof and elastic and keeps many toxins and pathogens from getting in in the first place. Simply washing your skin (especially your hands and face) can clear away toxins that wind up on its surface.

Contrary to popular belief, you do not need antibacterial soaps to do this. In fact, friendly bacteria on your skin help to keep harmful bacteria to a minimum and have other benefits for your skin as well. Killing them off with antibacterials is much more harmful than beneficial. Regular old-fashioned soap and water are really all you need.

Sweat carries toxins out of your body through your skin as well. Keeping your pores clean and free of creams, lotions and make-up is important for allowing that transfer to happen.

Sometimes dead skin cells can build up on your skin, which can make it look dull and cause your pores to clog (trapping sweat inside).

Using a gentle exfoliant in the shower can help or you can use a dry brush to stimulate circulation and remove dead skin cells before you hop in the shower. Many people find that they like the dry brush for their bodies but something gentler for their face.

It’s easy to make your own face scrub by mixing 3 parts coarse sea salt with a moisturizing, nourishing oil like black cumin.

Avoid putting toxins directly on your skin — chemicals in cosmetics and other personal care products can have long-term effects on your body. While your skin does a lot to protect you, if you’re constantly piling toxic stuff on top of it, some of it will wind up in your bloodstream.

Care for your cardiovascular system…

When you think cardiovascular, you probably think of your heart. That is only one part of the system, though.

Your cardiovascular system is made up of your heart, blood and blood vessels (veins, arteries and capillaries). This complex interaction of parts ensures that the cells throughout your body are properly supplied with oxygen and that toxins and waste products are removed from them.

Your arteries move oxygen-rich blood from your heart through your body to your cells. Your veins take the de-oxygenated blood back to your heart, carrying carbon dioxide, toxins and waste products out of your tissues.

When your diet is poor, and you don’t get enough physical activity, too much LDL cholesterol can build up in your arteries, leading to plaque deposits and clogs. These clogs prevent your blood from circulating properly and can slow down your reoxygenation and detox processes.

Eating heart-healthy foods and getting some exercise can help to keep your cardiovascular system in good shape.

Reward your respiratory system

When your blood carries carbon dioxide and other waste products from your tissues back to your heart, your heart then ferries that blood over to your lungs where the carbon dioxide is pulled out of the blood and leaves your body when you exhale.

Other pollutants that come in when you inhale are also filtered by your lungs and leave your body with your breath (and when you cough) along with the CO₂.

Your lungs are spared some of those invaders because your mouth and nose are also set up to filter out pollutants, dust and germs. Like your skin, your mouth and nose are a first-line of defense that keep your detoxification system from being overwhelmed by every single toxin your body comes into contact with.

The particles that get past your mouth and nose are either dealt with by your digestive system (if swallowed) or your lungs (if inhaled).

Love your liver

This particular digestive organ is a powerhouse, with a lot of responsibility.

Most people know that their liver helps to process and flush out alcohol, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to your liver’s power.

Your liver performs over 500 vital tasks, such as filtering toxins out of your blood and holding back nutrients to create biochemicals that your body requires to function. It also helps to regulate your hormones and balance your blood sugar levels.

When it comes to detoxing there is a two-step process in place. First, your liver uses enzymes to break down fats and toxins, making them more water soluble and easier for your body to excrete. In the second step, your liver combines the partially broken down toxins with sulfur or amino acids so they can be eliminated via your bile or urine.

Heathfree.com provides a tidy explanation of how your liver detoxifies your body:

“Out of the hundreds of functions your liver performs, ensuring toxins are safely removed from your blood is one of its most critical jobs. Toxins enter your body when you are exposed to harmful substances like pesticides, but they also result from normal digestion. For example, when your body digests protein, ammonia is released and your liver converts it into the less toxic substance called urea that is eliminated through your urine. Any wastes your liver cannot use are converted and either carried out by bile into your small intestine or carried by the blood to your kidneys.”

In order for your liver to do its job, there must be a balance. If the first step is completed but the second process isn’t keeping up the pace, partially broken down toxins can build up and cause problems, like oxidative stress.

Why would that happen? Well, sometimes your body is overloaded with toxins, and your liver is overwhelmed. If you’re exposed over a long period of time to environmental or food-based toxins, the nutrients you need for the second stage of liver detox can become depleted, stopping your liver from functioning efficiently.

For most people, eating a reasonably healthy diet, not drinking too much and otherwise maintaining a healthy lifestyle is plenty. If you drink frequently, work in an industry where you are exposed to high quantities of harmful toxins, eat a lot of sugar or have a liver condition, you may want to do a little extra to help your liver along.

There are liver cleanses you can do to help give your liver a break. The healthiest cleanses are the ones that encourage clean eating (including lots of liver-friendly foods), staying hydrated, exercise and getting the proper amount of rest. It doesn’t take an extreme cleanse to help get your liver back on track. We’ve got a simple liver cleanse that doesn’t involve any expensive kits or hard-to-follow programs — check it out here.

If you don’t want to go so far as adjusting your diet but you do want to give your liver a little extra TLC, you can support your liver with milk thistle oil. It supports healthy liver function, but it can help to restore your liver after it has sustained damage too.

Just adding half a teaspoon of milk thistle oil to your regular routine can help to protect your liver and keep it functioning at its best. No detox plan required.

Be kind to your kidneys

Yep, there are two of them. They are each about the size of your fist and are shaped like a bean.

Your kidneys are responsible for a lot of different functions too, such as removing waste, excess fluid and drugs from your system. They also release certain hormones, like the ones that balance your blood pressure levels, help create red blood cells and allow your body to absorb calcium. Plus, they maintain the balance of the nutrients that your body requires to function, such as magnesium and potassium.

By far the most important task that your kidneys handle is flushing out toxins and waste.

In a 24-hour period, your kidneys will filter and recirculate 200 quarts of fluid. Of those 200 quarts, only about two are excreted in the form of urine, taking with them the filtered toxins. The other 198 quarts are returned to your bloodstream.

Like to your liver, your kidneys can become overwhelmed and stop working efficiently. Cardiosmart.org explains: “<Each of your kidneys has about a million tiny filters, called nephrons. When some of the nephrons are damaged and stop working, the healthy ones take over their work. If the damage continues, more and more nephrons shut down. After a certain point, the kidneys become unable to do their job.”

Nephrons can be damaged by excessive exposure to toxins or drugs. You might have heard that there are some medications that can have kidney damaging effects? This is the kind of damage they cause. It’s very important to weigh benefits against risk when it comes to using drugs, both over-the-counter and prescription.

There are plenty of kidney-friendly foods you can include in your diet to help support your kidneys, and maintaining a healthy balance overall is definitely a smart move. Milk thistle oil, which is mostly known for its liver strengthening properties, is also known to help your kidneys. Just half a teaspoon a day will nourish your in-house detoxifiers.

Support your spleen

The spleen is an important part of your immune system. It doesn’t so much filter toxins — like pollutants or drugs — but rather protects the body against bacteria and pathogens that can cause infection.

If bacteria, viruses or other microorganisms are detected in your blood, your spleen produces special white blood cells to kill them off before they can harm you.

Your spleen also breaks down your old red blood cells, taking the still useful components (like iron, for example) and recycling them into new red blood cells.

Your spleen and your liver are on close personal terms, so if your liver is diseased or damaged, this can cause your spleen to become enlarged. Keep your liver healthy and your spleen too with pure, pristine milk thistle oil.

Have some courtesy for your colon

Your colon is also known as your large bowel or your large intestine. This is the final stop on the digestive railroad.

At the point when your digested food and other things that have entered your body reach the colon, there is really nothing left except for water, some minerals and the solid waste that your other digestive organs have been handing down one after another.

Your colon absorbs the water and the minerals and then pushes the waste out as poop. Bye-bye toxins.

Your body is an amazing machine that includes many specialized filters.

You really don’t need to detox or clean those filters (i.e. your organs).

That being said, when they are overwhelmed, you can do damage to your body that can be serious in the long-term.

Giving your natural detoxification system a bit of a break now and then by focusing on clean eating, hydration, exercise and rest may help you feel better if you’ve really been giving these organs a work-out.

You can support normal, healthy detox with diet and natural supplements, like Perfect Press® Milk Thistle Oil, your liver’s new best friend. It’s Perfectly Pressed and guaranteed to be fresh and potent. Milk thistle also has benefits for your cardiovascular system, your skin, your kidneys and your intestines.

Protect the hard-working organs that are working hard to protect you, with just half a teaspoon per day.

Click here to learn more.

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