We are swimming in toxic soup! Environmental irritants from city traffic, weather conditions, pesticides on our food, chemicals in our drinking water, alcohol use, and endocrine disruptors in food packaging and hygiene products all contribute to our total toxin load. It can seem hopeless to avoid subjecting your health to the daily onslaught of modern …
We are swimming in toxic soup! Environmental irritants from city traffic, weather conditions, pesticides on our food, chemicals in our drinking water, alcohol use, and endocrine disruptors in food packaging and hygiene products all contribute to our total toxin load. It can seem hopeless to avoid subjecting your health to the daily onslaught of modern life. These chronic stressors contribute to a cumulative burden on the body’s ability to fight inflammation and disease. How do some people seem to be able to handle daily stress better than others?
Enter the LIVER! The liver is a superhero organ that fights to process the constant influx of environmental toxins. The body cannot function when toxins are disrupting the normal bodily processes, and the liver works hard to eliminate those toxins from the body before illness can occur. When it has the resources needed, the liver can eliminate many toxins directly through the stool, bile, or urine. When the liver is overburdened, toxins build up and the liver gets congested. Some toxins are unable to be processed for elimination and end up getting tucked “safely” away in body fat. But it takes specific enzymes and several key nutrients for the liver to conjugate those toxins to be released from the body.
In Phase One detoxification, the liver uses a group of special enzymes (Cytochrome P450) and nutrients such as B Vitamins, flavonoids, and glutathione to metabolize fat soluble toxins into intermediary waste. These intermediary toxins need to be further processed by the liver via Phase Two detoxification into water-soluble waste before they can be eliminated in the urine, bile, and stool. This second step requires additional nutrients such as Vitamins B5, folic acid, and B12, Vitamin C, magnesium, amino acids such as methionine, cysteine, glutamine, choline, taurine, and glycine. Glutathione plays another important role in the conjugation of toxins in Phase Two detoxification.
One way to protect your liver from becoming congested is to avoid toxins as much as possible. Avoiding tobacco use, excessive alcohol, highly processed foods, and beauty products that contain high amounts of endocrine disruptive chemicals can help reduce the overall load on the liver. Other ways to reduce toxic burden include drinking water from a clean source (like reverse osmosis water), eating organic foods, avoiding processed foods and artificial preservatives, and limiting exposure to pollution.
Another way to protect the liver is to ensure that the liver has the nutrients it needs to process the toxins that enter the body. By supporting Phase One and Phase Two detoxification pathways, the liver can quickly metabolize toxins and prepare them for elimination through urine, bile, and stool.
What is glutathione?
Glutathione is an antioxidant peptide that is naturally formed by the liver to support detoxification which is formed from three amino acids: glutamine, cysteine, and glycine. As discussed, this antioxidant is used in both Phase One and Phase Two detoxification pathways as an incredibly versatile toxin binder. As an antioxidant, glutathione protects cells from free radical damage and helps improve cellular function at the immune, hormonal, and mitochondrial levels. Unfortunately, glutathione production decreases with aging and chronic illness. Infections, poor diet, and persistent stress can also consume valuable glutathione resources.
What are symptoms of decreased glutathione?
Symptoms of decreased glutathione can include:
- Chronic fatigue with weakness
- Dizziness
- Headaches
- Difficulty sleeping
- Irritability and depression
- Decreased ability to concentrate
- Frequent illness
How to increase glutathione:
Food or herbal forms of glutathione include milk thistle, turmeric extract, foods rich in Vitamin C such as strawberries and citrus, and selenium-rich foods such as beef, chicken or Brazil nuts. Glutathione production can be supported with the use of oral N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC), a precursor for glutathione. Oral supplementation of glutathione can be subjected to the “first-pass” effect of the liver where some of the nutrient may be eliminated in the digestive process.
Intravenous (IV) glutathione can be administered directly into the vein and bypass the first-pass effect leaving more of the nutrient available for use in the detoxification process.
At The Peak Wellness Spa, we offer several nutrient IV combinations that include glutathione to help support your liver and the body’s detoxification process. Our combinations include some of the other nutrients needed by the liver for conjugation and elimination of toxins including B Vitamins, Vitamin C, and magnesium.
By: Rebecca Johns, FNP-C
