Participants:
Series Code: MH
Program Code: MH240006S
|
00:01 Sauna treatment has been around for hundreds of years
00:02 in Japan, Turkey, India, Finland Ancient Greeks enjoy 00:06 their steam baths, Native Americans have their 00:09 sweating huts. The Fins call it the poor man's pharmacy 00:12 and for good reason. 00:13 In one Finnish study death from cardiovascular disease 00:16 was 50% lower for men who were in the Sauna four to seven 00:20 times a week. 00:22 It's been found to improve depression, reduce the risk 00:24 of dementia, kill viruses, but the reason why 00:28 I'm bringing it to your attention today 00:29 is because it's a powerful tool to support detox 00:32 at least for those who are willing to undergo the torture, 00:35 I mean the relaxation of Sauna's. 00:57 In the last episode, we became more aware of how exposed 01:01 we are to environmental toxicants. 01:03 We also looked at how we aren't the only ones, 01:06 animal life is groaning under exposure as well. 01:09 I've even read about how scientists have found 01:12 what they call forever chemicals in polar bears, 01:15 chemicals many of us have come in contact with 01:17 on a daily basis and that is disrupting their biological 01:22 functions like damage to their immune, digestive and 01:25 reproductive systems, polar bears are even becoming hypothyroid, 01:30 can you imagine? 01:32 The chemicals we release into the environment find their way 01:34 into the water, the seas, the oceans and in fish. 01:38 Sadly the contaminants concentrate up the food chain 01:42 we are definitely not the only ones being affected. 01:45 One of the things I would like to clarify is the distinction 01:48 between toxin and toxicant. Technically a toxin is like 01:54 snake venom a natural substance produced from living organism 01:58 whereas a toxicant is an environment chemical that 02:01 potentially is harmful to us. 02:03 Many people simply refer to environmental chemicals as 02:06 toxins, so we'll try to stick to that term to make it easy 02:10 but just so you know the difference and what's 02:12 being referred to by the term. 02:14 When I first heard people talking about detoxing 02:17 it was in reference to nicotine or alcohol, drugs. 02:20 You hear about people going on cleanses and juicing's 02:23 and while I think all of that can be very helpful, 02:26 detox is something your body is designed to do on the daily 02:30 clean-as-you-go type of thing. 02:33 That's not to say that focusing on supporting on detox 02:35 as an event, isn't needed at times, intentional focus 02:39 detox protocol is actually a good idea even preventively. 02:43 I want to do that for myself actually, but the main point 02:46 is that the body is designed to clean house on the daily. 02:50 So, what are we referring to when we use the word 02:53 detox? A simple definition of detoxification is the removal 02:57 of contaminants, toxins from the body. 03:00 We've been exposed, they've entered and the body 03:04 kicks them out because they don't belong inside of us. 03:06 Sounds simple enough, but in reality detoxification 03:10 is complex to perform. It's complicated and it requires 03:14 multiple players, multiple enzymes, nutrients, 03:18 different steps, it's a process that goes on inside of us 03:21 all day, every day and it is essentially a transformation 03:25 process in which any substance that would be harmful 03:29 especially if it's allowed to accumulate is changed by 03:33 the liver and other cells into a less harmful water-soluble 03:36 form so it then can be incorporated into your urine, 03:40 stool, sweat, and excreted safely from the body. 03:44 We think of the liver as the detoxification headquarters 03:47 and for good reason, but really, detox is something that 03:51 every cell needs to be able to perform well. 03:55 Detoxification is a multi-step process that takes toxins 04:00 that have sometimes been sequestered in the body 04:03 to protect it like skeletons in the closet. 04:05 It brings them out and converts them into water-soluble 04:09 molecule that can be eliminated from the body in your breath, 04:13 sweat, stool, and urine. 04:16 I call it an expensive procedure just because it requires 04:20 a lot of different nutrients to support and enable it to be 04:23 done effectively in a healthy way. 04:26 Some of our efforts at detox can potentially be doing 04:28 more harm than good if we don't cover our bases. 04:32 Now in our last episode we touched on the fact that we are 04:35 exposed. Some of the ways in which we are exposed 04:37 and how that exposure is affecting our health. 04:40 Today, we're going to continue that focus and gain some 04:44 insights on how to support daily detox. 04:48 So, we have introduced toxins' everywhere, 04:52 they actually found Prozac, measurable quantities of 04:57 medications that we use as humans in fish. 05:00 and fish. So we've introduced chemicals into the world 05:04 around us from arsenic in some rice to chicken, 05:08 to foods, and fish that have these toxins and much that 05:13 we don't even know about because we don't measure 05:16 we don't go around regularly measuring toxins and a 05:20 broad range of toxins. 05:21 Now, I'm not trying to scare people, 05:22 it's okay we can do a lot of healthy things to counter that 05:26 but it's important for us to have conversation 05:28 about these things and start having systems in place 05:32 where we can actually measure things we know and look 05:35 for the things that we don't know. 05:37 Because otherwise, it's like running around blind 05:40 with the obvious factor that we have toxins in our system. 05:44 and in our food system and in our environmental system, 05:47 and our agricultural system and just ignore it, 05:51 that's not wise. 05:53 Can you imagine Prozac in fish? 05:56 They even found glyphosate in rainwater, 05:59 they found hundreds of chemicals in the umbilical cord 06:02 blood. We're being exposed in the womb, yeah, 06:06 chemicals from stain and oil repellents, 06:08 from fast food packaging and microwave popcorn 06:12 clothes, textiles, forever chemicals from Teflon, 06:16 brominated flame retardants, and pesticides. 06:19 Individually these chemicals are toxic to the brain 06:23 or nervous system and we don't even know the dangers 06:26 and the damage when we combine them. 06:28 We're not just exposed to them individually, it's not helping 06:32 us to ignore what's going on, but awareness is only good 06:37 that's helpful. Otherwise it just becomes one more thing 06:40 outside of my control to worry about. 06:43 What can we do? 06:44 Well, the first step is to reduce exposure and then support 06:48 the body's detox efforts. 06:49 Reducing exposure includes what we put on our skin, 06:53 what we breathe in, what we put into our mouths. 06:55 So my husband and I what we slowly done is we've learned 06:59 about all these different toxins because our 07:01 desire is to live as healthy as possible and to minimize 07:04 the impact of our body being influenced by these toxins. 07:09 I'm glad she said slowly because it can be completely 07:13 overwhelming when you look around your house and realize 07:16 that they are in a lot of products that we have in our 07:18 cupboards and our shelves, walking down the aisles of 07:21 stores when you typically purchase items you use 07:24 and you realize it's everywhere. 07:26 And so we've transitioned to glass or stainless steel 07:30 for all of our storage containers, 07:33 we've transitioned away from certain cooking materials, 07:37 to just ceramic that is inert, and so there's a lot of 07:41 transitions we've transitioned away from toxins in our 07:44 shampoo's and our conditioners, and our lotions and our 07:47 laundry detergents, and our cleaning supplies, 07:49 and our house, and all of those kinds of things that we 07:51 slowly worked on for the last number of years. 07:53 For that very reason one of the resources I give to my 07:58 patients is environmental workgroup and they have an app 08:01 and on that app and that website you can actually look 08:04 up...And they have the Dirty Dozen which are the 12 foods 08:08 that have the heaviest pesticide laden spraying that can be 08:14 problematic. And so I always tell my patients like okay 08:16 these are The Dirty Dozen, these are The Clean Fifteen 08:19 that I go come out from EWG and if you are going to buy 08:22 organic, buy the Dirty Dozen organic so those are things like 08:26 your apples, and your peaches, and your berries and your 08:28 green leafy' s and a few other things and so those are the 08:32 ones those are the ones that will be the best for you 08:34 to buy organic if you can't buy everything organic. 08:36 Reducing exposure and gradually changing the products 08:41 and the cookware we use is good. 08:43 Another thing we can do reduce exposure is have a 08:46 healthy gut border, we tackled leaky gut in the last episode 08:50 but it's worthwhile bringing it up again in the context 08:53 of this topic. 08:54 Well, we definitely need to be mindful about where these 08:59 toxins come from...One of the things to do to prevent 09:05 the accumulation of all these toxins is to really be aware 09:10 of all the toxic substances in our environment. 09:14 But as some of them enter into our without us being aware of it 09:20 we should instead of focusing on specific toxins, 09:25 we should try to create a healthy body. 09:29 You know and then also in a lot of the products that we 09:32 put on your skin, we can be exposed to toxins that way. 09:39 The reason you are able to smell things is because 09:41 particles at a microscopic level are going through the nose 09:45 hitting those nerves, those olfactory nerves okay, 09:50 to give you the smell and subsequently the taste 09:53 if it's going through the mouth it's going into the body, 09:56 the body has to get rid of that stuff. 09:58 That thought is a little eerie we smell because particles 10:02 are entering our nose. It doesn't sound bad when 10:05 it comes to smells that I love, good smells, 10:07 but we are also exposed to bad smells. 10:09 Walk down the street of some European cities and 10:11 instead of the smell of baked bread in some local Boulangerie 10:14 all you smell is cigarette smoke and you are just 10:17 taking that in. Walk into some homes and it smells perfect 10:20 like you just stepped into a field of wildflowers 10:22 which seems great except that odor comes from a plastic gadget 10:27 that plugged into the wall releasing small amounts 10:30 endocrine disruptors into the air. Their smell-good chemicals 10:35 but they are chemicals none-the-less. 10:36 On top of that, there's the topic of off-gassing. 10:40 This is the airborne release of chemicals, 10:43 a chemical in vapor form from stuff we have in our homes, 10:47 the flooring, the furnishings, it can come from new cars, 10:50 newer furniture and products. We breathe them in unknowingly 10:54 and they get dumped in our body's toxic burden bucket. 10:57 We all have a bucket that is supposed to be empty 11:00 when we are born but as we touched on, modern babies 11:04 can be born already exposed to hundreds of environmental 11:08 chemicals while in the womb. 11:09 And then, they are sucking on plastic toys and drinking milk 11:13 from plastic bottles, getting chemicals slathered 11:15 on their skin, flame retardants in their clothes and as life 11:19 goes on the bucket is potentially getting filled up. 11:23 We're supposed to be detoxing from stuff as we go but 11:26 sometimes it's just too much, the bucket starts overflowing 11:30 and we develop different kinds of health conditions. 11:34 God made the body so that we could get in to some toxins, 11:38 we have Glutathione that is supposed to clean these toxins 11:41 out, Glutathione is made by protein so we have protein 11:45 in our foods okay. But when we get this mass of problems 11:52 either due to cigarette smoke, alcohol, chemical that 11:57 we're using to clean the house, even paint fumes, car exhaust, 12:02 diesel, all that kind of stuff. 12:05 We can't get rid of a lot of that stuff unless we do 12:10 something else in addition. 12:12 Okay, good, now we're going to get in to how to support 12:16 the body's house cleaning or detox. 12:18 So, the first thing we learned was to minimize exposure 12:21 you don't want to keep adding to our bucket. 12:23 Do you know that scientists have found micro plastics 12:26 in our bloodstream, brain, lungs, even men's testicles 12:30 and semen? I'm sorry to say micro plastics in the most 12:33 intimate recesses of male reproductive anatomy 12:36 and researchers have hypothesized that this heavy 12:40 concentration of micro plastics in the testicles may be 12:43 a factor of the global decline and sperm count in 12:46 male infertility. 12:47 We can also have a bio- accumulation of toxic metals 12:51 in our bodies which has been found to disrupt Vitamin D 12:54 functioning and hinder calcium uptake. 12:56 I'm really hoping that this information will motivate you 13:00 to take this topic seriously and work on minimizing 13:03 your exposure, but what about the exposure we've already had? 13:07 How can we support our body being able to get rid of these 13:11 compounds? 13:12 You can use nutrition, nutrition and natural therapy so 13:16 even things like your cruciferous vegetable family 13:21 are significant detoxifiers, so this is your Brussel Sprouts, 13:26 your Broccoli, your Cauliflower, or your Cabbage, Kale, 13:31 so those foods, if you could make sure you get a serving 13:34 or two of those every day you're going a long ways 13:37 in helping support your body detoxification. 13:40 Wow, Dr. Ray just touched on a number of practical necessary 13:45 detox ingredients, Cruciferous vegetables, drinking plenty of 13:49 good pure water, and deep breathing, High fiber plant- 13:52 based diet, healthy bowel movements, earlier Dr. Sheer 13:56 mentioned Glutathione which is one of the body's most 13:59 powerful and valuable antioxidants found in nearly 14:02 every cell in your body, Glutathione is absolutely 14:05 necessary for good detox. 14:07 There are various things we can do to support our body's 14:10 production of Glutathione's certain vegetables we can eat 14:12 can support healthy levels and there's a very popular 14:15 supplement NAC that helps support healthy Glutathione 14:18 as well. Also, we need to be aware that our Glutathione 14:21 levels can become depleted because we just got too much 14:25 to detox from an unhealthy lifestyle or consistent 14:28 intake of alcohol or work related exposure. 14:31 Maybe we have a lot of inflammation or have had 14:34 significant mold exposure, the body needs Glutathione 14:37 to address all of this, so it's important, but it's just one cog 14:41 in the wheel of the much bigger picture. 14:43 There is a massive epidemic of non-alcoholic fatty liver 14:49 disease going on in the United States, young individuals 14:54 in their 20's and 30's with cirrhosis that is not related 14:58 to alcohol, why? Because of the horrible food products 15:02 that we're exposed to and obviously when your main 15:07 filter system is not working properly you're going to 15:10 start accumulating other toxic substances so its just again the 15:15 concept this negative spiral, when one thing falls apart, 15:18 everything else falls apart as well. 15:19 So eating healthy is one of the best ways to get rid of 15:23 toxic substances from your body. 15:25 Yeah, if you're drinking a lot of alcohol and you 15:27 start getting that fatty liver disease, the liver is really 15:31 churning out trying to get all the stuff cleaned out. 15:35 And that's why people start getting all kinds of other 15:38 subsequent problems with edema and everything else 15:40 because the liver is not working like it should so it's 15:43 compromised for sure. 15:45 Just like so many other organs are getting compromised 15:48 from that also. 15:49 That makes sense, our liver is an important part of detox 15:53 in terms of throwing a bunch of alcohol at it won't allow it 15:55 to perform up to its potential. 15:56 You also have the elimination process, urine, feces, 16:02 but you also go through the liver and the liver 16:07 is one of the key organs that it is supposed to detoxify 16:10 for you, unfortunately depending on your diet, you may be getting 16:14 stuff that is preventing the liver from doing what it's 16:16 supposed to do. 16:18 I'm thinking of a person who is drinking a lot of alcohol 16:20 well, they're going to get fatty liver disease 16:22 okay, where the liver isn't working like it should 16:25 because the alcohol has ruined it. 16:27 It's not just alcohol, there's something called 16:30 Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and factors other than 16:34 alcohol are contributing. Factors like dietary sugar, blood sugar 16:38 and byproducts of our gut microbiome and it's not just 16:42 the liver that slowly detoxes it, we have detox function 16:45 in every cell. 16:47 We have inbuilt systems for example our liver, 16:50 our lungs, our kidneys, their incredible, powerful 16:54 detoxification systems and if we have a healthy liver, 16:59 a healthy kidney, or renal system and lungs that starts 17:03 kicking in the process of getting rid of these toxicants. 17:07 I always like to focus on the bigger general health 17:12 threat than specific toxicants because in my experience 17:17 there's been a lot of erroneous messaging out there 17:20 and benefitting from the concept of detoxification with 17:24 certain vitamins and concoctions that have no scientific evidence 17:28 for them. But I like one of them though... Which one? 17:30 That black strip that they put on the bottom of the feet 17:33 and in the morning it's a white strip and in the morning it's 17:36 black and they...Laughter! It leaches lead from your toes. 17:41 Oh goodness. It's so funny. Right. It doesn't work like that. 17:45 The part of the sleep that actually detoxifies you is 17:49 not that strip, sleep detoxifies you. Right. 17:54 that's so funny, I love the Schozias chemistry and how they 17:58 bounce off of each other, they are a beautiful couple for sure. 18:01 I'm not sure what the white strip that turns black is 18:04 but I think it's valuable to increase our knowledge 18:07 of how detoxification works. 18:09 Detox is actually a complicated process and to fully address it 18:14 is beyond the scope of this program suffice it to say 18:17 and it takes a lot more than eliminate fast or foot strip 18:21 to do it right. 18:22 And again depending on what your disease state is 18:25 if you have some sort of advanced disease, 18:27 I will tell my patient, hey look you might get a strong bang 18:31 for your buck really diving deep into this. 18:34 Taking a deep dive might include getting tested, some symptoms 18:38 might hint it like a mold exposure, you can get tested 18:41 for that. There are tests to assess Glyphosate load, 18:44 heavy metals and so forth. 18:46 After you access what your toxic load is, then with the help 18:49 of a practitioner, you can do a focused detox protocol 18:52 that could include dietary intervention, supplements, 18:55 herbs, sweating, sleep, insuring good gut function, etc. 19:00 but don't forget the main topic, daily detox, and living 19:05 a healthy life on the daily is the best way to support it. 19:08 Most people wait until they are failing and then they do 19:12 this big event it would be a lot cheaper and simpler 19:16 and better for you if you make it a daily occurrence. 19:19 And that's why you eat a certain diet, the more red meats 19:23 you're eating, the more toxicityyou are getting. 19:26 Animals are toxic, okay, just like people are getting toxic, 19:30 animals are really toxic and that's one of the reasons 19:33 you want to stay away from animal products 19:35 because of that toxicity. 19:36 And the reason why we recommend a whole food plant-based diet 19:40 is as you go up on the food chain animals are 19:43 bio-concentrators so whatever environmental toxins exist 19:48 they get concentrated in the flesh of these animals and 19:51 so eating plants reduces that risk as well. 19:54 So all the healthy lifestyles help the high fiber diet 19:59 with all the right nutrients help neutralize toxins 20:03 and how the fiber helps extract the toxins from the body. 20:07 as the liver basically gets the toxins into the bile, 20:11 which then is bound by fiber and another key factors 20:17 in the digestion tract. So there's many things that 20:21 we can do to minimize our risk. 20:23 And even some of the toxins that get eliminated 20:27 through the gut, you know eating a whole food plant-based 20:29 diet with the fiber, the fiber grabs on to some of those 20:31 toxins and helps eliminate them so there's a lot of different 20:34 ways, nutrition, and water are probably the biggest factors. 20:38 Good water that doesn't have toxins in it is really 20:43 great, keeping yourself well hydrated a lot of the toxins 20:46 are eliminated through the kidney's through your 20:49 urinary system so you have several detoxification systems. 20:52 So, you have your sweating through your skin, 20:54 through your gut you have through your kidneys, 20:57 and so there are different ways, even your breathing can 21:01 breathe out the toxins through your lungs and so thinking about 21:04 what you can do through these different systems 21:06 to support them I think is important. 21:08 On top of that, sleep is very important when we think about 21:13 repairing and restoring and removing toxins too. 21:17 So, one of my colleagues uses this analogy 21:21 and I really like it, he calls it the Disney Land Analogy. 21:24 And so basically he talks about how Disney Land is a 21:29 very active place during the day, right? 21:31 Well, at night Disney Land is actually just as active 21:36 as it is during the day but there is just different things 21:39 going on. And it's similar to with our body so 21:42 during the day we're active doing things but at night 21:48 there's also a lot of activity going on so at Disney Land 21:51 of course, they are cleaning things, they're 21:54 repairing rides, etc. 21:56 While in our body is also that repair, that restoration, 22:01 and that cleaning is taking place and so if we're 22:04 sleeping properly, this will actually, help to reduce 22:07 inflammation and it will also help us to remove the toxins. 22:15 There's something that's called, the very interesting that 22:18 found in the recent years called the glymphatic system 22:22 and they used to think, oh yeah, there's probably 22:25 not really any lymphatic drainage or lymphatic system 22:30 in the brain but what they've actually found is that 22:32 there's brain cleaning that occurs while we're sleeping 22:36 and so normally there's what we call the blood-brain 22:41 barrier that remains intact so that the bad substances 22:45 can't get into you, the brain. But when we're sleeping 22:50 that barrier actually relaxes because the norepinephrine level 22:57 goes down the adrenalin levels go down and so then there's 23:01 fluid that actually goes throughout the brain 23:05 into the different spaces around the brain cells and it will 23:10 literally, wash our brain so that the toxins actually get 23:16 removed out of the brain and this is one of the really 23:20 important aspects of sleep. 23:21 If we don't have the regular, and especially that deeper sleep 23:25 where our brain can really relax then we're not 23:27 going to get brain-cleaning which will actually remove 23:30 toxins and prevent even chronic inflammatory conditions 23:34 like Alzheimer's and that sort of thing and just get us ready 23:38 for a new day with a clean slate. 23:41 Probably one of the reasons we detox when we sleep is 23:45 because we are fasting and not in digest mode so we can focus 23:49 on the other jobs. 23:50 It's really important that we do an intermittent fast 23:55 for ideally about five hours between meals. 23:59 And that gives the body a chance to actually get into a 24:08 detoxification mode. If we are constantly eating snacks 24:11 for every two to three hours, the body is never able 24:14 to properly detoxify. 24:16 So, yeah, the whole lifestyle makes a huge difference on that 24:20 and it's much better to know about this ahead of time 24:23 and recognize, why am I staying away from sugar and all this 24:26 stuff, well that's why, because the world is toxic 24:29 you want to get through this as healthy as you can. 24:33 I do, another thing that is helpful to experience 24:37 consistently is sweating. 24:38 I know we try to avoid it at all costs daily but 24:41 getting in a good sweat because of exercise or sauna 24:44 is really effective in reducing toxin burden. 24:47 Researchers have measured heavy metals in the sweat 24:50 participants sweating in the saunas. 24:51 We have to help the body appropriately detoxify 24:57 and that starts of course with the lifestyle. 24:59 When we exercise and we sweat that's one of the best forms 25:03 of detoxification. Your skin can actually detoxify 25:09 mercury, it can excrete mercury and heavy metals 25:12 through the sweat if we get a good sauna sweat or exercise 25:16 based sweat. the exercise with the sweating can be very 25:21 helpful in removing toxins. 25:23 Making sure that our diet is rich in the antioxidant 25:27 nutrients, the Vitamin C, the Vitamin E, the Zinc, etc. 25:32 Another critical factor in this process and then some... 25:35 many of my patients and I myself will take a little bit 25:39 of charcoal at bedtime away from any medicine or other 25:44 supplement ideally or food so that the body detoxifies 25:49 best at night and so it's safer to detoxify at night 25:55 and it's also more effective to detoxify at night. 25:59 And so using a little bit of charcoal or other potential 26:03 binders at bedtime can be one of the helpful ways 26:09 to help eliminate these toxins from the body. 26:12 Yes, our body is constantly detoxing, our body, 26:15 the way God created us is constantly trying to heal 26:19 so it always is trying to detox anything that is 26:23 problematic or causing issues in our body, 26:25 it's just are we giving it the tools to be able to do so 26:28 on a regular basis? So that's where I say eat your 26:31 Cruciferous vegetables every day and make sure you're 26:33 drinking enough water every day and that will help to keep 26:37 your body healthy and well and detoxifying 24/7. 26:40 Boy, how do we summarize our topic today? 26:44 There's just a lot to consider and it's great that for 26:47 most of our lives our body performs this amazing job 26:51 of detoxification for us without us even having 26:54 to think about it. It's only because our society has changed 26:57 and we are bombarded today with this burden of 27:01 environmental toxicants and see our bodies caving 27:04 under the strain and we would do well to provide some 27:07 extra support to this amazing redemptive function 27:12 that we call detox. 27:13 We were made not to be a toxic dump, we were made for health. |
Revised 2024-12-23