Are You Overloaded with Toxins?

How do you know if you are overloaded with toxins? First, ask yourself these questions:

1. Do you have chronic brain fog, difficulty focusing, chronic headaches or migraines?
2. Do you have ongoing low energy, muscle aches or pains, general lack of motivation or feelings of low mood/sadness that just won’t go away?
3. Have you noticed an increase in body odor, foul fecal odor or bad breath?
4. Are you experiencing skin issues like acne in ways you haven’t before?
5. Have you recently become newly sensitive to chemicals, fragrances, or scents?
6. Have you developed new allergies of any kind?

These are just some of the common changes you might notice and they’re some of the ways your body is trying to tell you you need to change something in your daily routine. So what does it mean to detox and why is it important for optimizing health? Well let’s first disucss the body’s systems to understand how everything works.

First, the body is made up of a complex array of systems which each play a specific and critical role in daily bodily function. These systems are the:

• circulatory,
• digestive,
• endocrine (hormone),
• immune,
• integumentary (hair, skin, nails),
• lymphatic,
• muscular,
• nervous (brain),
• reproductive,
• respiratory (lungs),
• skeletal (bones),
• urinary systems

In particular, when someone asks how we’re feeling, we usually point to an area of our body if it is bothering us, or we tell them a symptom that’s affecting one or more of these systems. For example someone might say “I’m feeling really bloated my stomach and belly don’t feel well after I ate that meal.” (While holding our hands over our abdomenal area).

What’s Happening When We’re Not Feeling Well?

When we’re unwell, understanding systemic symptoms can help us to determine where to look for the underlying issues. Sometimes we talk about our skin breakouts, hair thinning or falling out, or nail splitting showing signs of ill health. Or, we might complain of feeling sluggish, heavy, bloated, uncomfortable, or constipated. Signs like these show us there’s something deeper going on in the body.

It becomes important to then explore these symptoms more deeply.

When we look at toxin load specifically and how it affects the body, we look at specific detoxification organs. Specifically, the organs that neutralize, detoxify, conjugate/methylate, inactivate and eliminate toxins and irritants. The organs that help most with these functions are the:

• lungs,
• lymphatic system,
• skin,
• digestive tract,
• liver,
• kidneys

How Does the Body Cope When Faced with Toxins and Irritants?

The simple answer? Detoxification. The body is designed to eliminate and remove harmful toxins and chemicals that can compromise our health.

Toxins don’t come from only one source. In fact, the definition of a “toxin” is surprisingly simple, “anything that the body doesn’t find useful or that harms its integrity is toxic to the body.” The fact is, we’re surrounded by toxins all the time both from our internal body as breakdown products of hormones and food, as well as externally from our environment.

The most common types of toxins we all encounter regularly come from things such as:

• poor eating habits,
• poor digestion/undigested food that will ferment in the digestive tract and creates an acidic environment in the body,
• medications/drugs,
• (excess) alcohol,
• household cleaning products and chemicals,
• tobacco,
• environmental toxins like air and water pollution,
• makeup/body products that contains chemicals like parabens,
• smoke,
• pesticides,
• animal and insect bites,
• electromagnetic frequency and radiation like from microwaves, cell phones, computers, wireless internet, and TVs
• negative thoughts and emotions

This toxic burden is an inescapable part of modern life, and I know it can seem pretty overwhelming!

When subjected to all of these forms of toxins at once – as most of us are – it’s easy to see how our bodies can become inundated with chemicals from which we need to protect ourselves. It’s also easy to understand why, even though we might be doing everything we can to sustain a healthy lifestyle and keep our toxin-fighting organs in prime condition, our bodies sometimes need help in the battle.

How Do I Know if I’m in Toxic Overload?

It’s important to rememer that the body is constantly detoxifying. Day in, day out, all day (and night) long. Our organs are designed to do just that to keep us healthy. But, we all experience toxic overload at one time or another. Who hasn’t indulged a little bit more then usual on some beer or wine at a party?

An occasional indulgence is not a concern, it is only when it is ongoing situations like this can lead to chronic toxin overexposure. Learning to identify and properly respond to toxin overload can make a huge difference in our ability to heal from it. Lifestyle and dietary changes are very important and something I always discuss with my patients.

If you’re experiencing symptoms like the ones listed at the beginning of this article, it’s the right time to visit your Naturopathic Doctor. I want to help you reactivate your body’s natural defence mechanisms so that you can experience optimal health every day. Sometimes, our organs need extra help in their work combating toxins. We have lots of ways to help you ensure that toxins are kept at bay and that your organs are happy, healthy, and strong. Book an initial free 15-minute consultation with me online. I’ll be happy to discuss treatment options for you to optimize your health. I look forward to working with you and meeting you.

Best in Health,

Dr. Amy Tung, ND

Naturopathic Doctor