As an introduction to our purpose in discussing detox therapy as a lifestyle, we start with two sobering quotes that help us understand the importance of detoxification.
First, “For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of conception until death.” -Rachel Carson “Silent Spring” published 1962
The second, “When the earth is sick and polluted, human health is impossible…To heal ourselves we must heal our planet, and to heal our planet we must heal ourselves.” -Bobby McLeod
Whether you do or do not believe that we and our planet have been and continue to be polluted, true health for all will require more individuals adopting a lifestyle that favors the avoidance of toxins in our food, air, water, and manufacturing. Economics will more likely influence the necessary changes before our governments overcome the influence of self-interest groups. Due to this delay we can and must make choices now to change what we are exposed to. In addition, we have the choice to be now and forever proactive about supporting our body’s natural and inherent pathways of detoxification.
According to the Environmental Working Group, over 200 chemicals are found in the cord blood of newborns, the average woman uses 12 different personal products daily exposing them to 168 chemicals per day, and the average man uses 6 different personal products daily exposing them to 85 chemicals per day. The US ranks 46th in the world for infant mortality due to environmental toxicants.
Toxicants are known to cause cancer, mutate DNA, harm unborn babies, attack the nervous system, inflate immune response, and disrupt hormone responses.
The most common and obvious toxicants include Mercury, Aluminum, Lead, Arsenic, Cadmium, Glyphosate, Dioxins, Polychlorinated biphenyls, BPA/BPS, Phthalates, Perchlorates, Perfluorinated chemicals (PFC/PFAs), Fluoride, and Electrosmog. New additions to this list include breast and mesh implants.
Historically detoxification focused around treatments utilizing juicing, fasting, enemas or colonic therapy, antifungals, anti-parasitics, and chelation therapy. These few areas of detoxification have produced some of the best results with the least amount of side effects. With the knowledge and applications of past decades leading the way, a new shift or paradigm in detoxification is taking hold.
A new paradigm emerging from years of research states that the majority of diseases start in the extracellular matrix(ECM) and it’s adjacent “drain” the lymphatic system. Detoxification now will imply the intention to clean up or purify and reduce toxic loads in the ECM, which is the location we propose most pathology begins.
Alfred Pischinger wrote, “The concept of a cell is strictly speaking only a morphological abstraction. Seen from a biological point of view, a cell cannot be considered by itself without taking its environment(ECM) into account.” A cell is a cell in relation to the other cells with which it resides with equal consideration to the fluid in which they all are bathed. This fluid and surrounding structures of the ECM are how cells maintain a social connection to the whole body. If this fluid space known as the ECM is flooded with toxicants, which muddy the waters and block receptor sites, communication between cells and their relation to the whole body begins to break down, which is the beginning of pathology and the onset of disease.
The ECM has a few names in history which help increase our understanding. Louis Pasteur, the father of modern medicine and the germ theory(which predominates today), described the ECM as the terrain or internal environment in which all cells live and communicate. Although his life focused much on the bug as the cause of disease, later in life he retracted his position by stating “The terrain is everything”. Another way of describing what he meant is the bug may be secondary to the toxic environment within the extracellular matrix. To treat the bug without treating or reducing the toxic burden in the ECM may hamper or block complete eradication of the bug.
Another viewpoint of the ECM has been described as our individual internal ocean. The structure or material that gives this space boundaries, is called connective tissue. All communication between the body and between neighboring cells occurs within the ECM. Both waste products from cellular metabolism reside in the ECM as well as all the hormones, cytokines, peptides, and nutrients. The waste products are to be eliminated through the lymphatic system and return venous flow to the heart for distribution to the organs of detoxification including lungs, liver, kidney, and skin. The hormones, nutrients, and signaling proteins are actively transported into the cell or inserted into a receptor specific to their design to initiate metabolic pathways essential to life.
If our personal ocean is full of toxins, key receptors may be blocked with toxins that produce no action or worse yet a negative reaction inconsistent with life. In addition, if the waters are muddy and full of debris, the result is a reduction in the transport and delivery of vital nutrients. We find a significant decline in signaling, communication, and increased concern for improper communication about invading pathogens.
The fluid portion of the extracellular matrix is derived from the normal transport of blood exiting arteries flowing into capillary beds then back to the venous beds and so on to larger veins. With some fluid not being taken up fully by the veins, a portion of the fluid remains behind to be transported back to the heart through the lymphatic system. This fluid becomes a part of the extracellular matrix, in which many cell types take up space including macrophages, proteoglycans, hyaluronic acid, fibroblasts, and immune cells such as mast cells.
The fluid of the ECM is constantly renewed as it is returned to the heart via the lymphatic system. A secondary role of the lymphatic system is to expose pathogens and toxic invaders to our immune system to incite an immune response. In the presence of significant pathogenic response or load due to toxic abundance, the lymphatic system can become congested leading to further toxic burden and the symptoms that go along with it. Congestion or enlargement of the cervical lymph nodes is a sign of general lymphatic congestion. The lymphatic system has no pump and relies on gravity and mechanical movement to move lymph fluid to the heart, which may be difficult for the chronically ill. We propose the following steps to enhance the movement of toxins from the ECM toward the skin, lungs, kidneys, liver, and intestines for further elimination and purification of the body.
STAGES OF EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX(ECM) DETOXIFICATION
- Remove toxic obstacles from the environment and body
- Support the organs of elimination including the liver, kidneys, intestines, skin, and lymphatics
- Add safe and effective toxin binders and toxic metal chelators
- Replenish researched nutrients which support toxin elimination and mitochondrial repair
- Repair cellular damage with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and Frequency Specific Microcurrent therapy
- Heal the brain with Frequency Specific Microcurrent and Neurofeedback therapy
Application of detox strategies for individual toxins and within specific organs leads to a cleaner environment in the organs and eventually down to the fluid that bathes our cells as found in the extracellular matrix. This is our ultimate goal to have a clean, toxin-free extracellular matrix.