The Toxic Burden We All Face

“Why do I feel so run down, tired and achy all of the time?” “My other doctor doesn’t know what is triggering my migraines.” “I used to be able to lose weight, but now it won’t come off no matter what I do.”

Every day, I hear patients making comments just like these. They can feel their health on the decline, and they don’t know what to do about it. They know that the medications they’ve been taking aren’t solving their problems, but they don’t know what else to do. Maybe you can relate.

As a functional medicine specialist, I get to put on my “medical detective” hat and uncover the underlying causes of these and hundreds of other symptoms people come in with. Instead of just trying to find a drug to quiet a symptom, I try to help my patients balance their bodies and return back to a state of health.

What I’ve learned over the years is that one critical area each patient must focus on for optimal health is the function of their detoxification system. This system, primarily made up of our liver, gallbladder, and kidneys (with additional support from our skin, lungs, lymph, and GI), constantly filters our blood and tries to remove chemicals that are dangerous to our body. The more I study the complexity of these systems, the more in awe I am of the human body's majesty.

Unfortunately, our modern world is pushing this system to its limits. The chemical revolution over the past 75 years has polluted nearly every aspect of our lives. Most people assume that the 75,000 chemicals registered with the EPA have been tested and are safe. However, only a fraction of them have been tested, and never in combination with other chemicals.

According to studies by the Environmental Working Group, the average baby born today has over 287 different man-made chemicals in their umbilical cord blood. These chemicals are clearly making their way into our systems. Scientific research shows that every one of us carries synthetic chemicals in our bodies, and the average individual is estimated to be exposed to 200 chemical toxins a day.

All the synthetic compounds in our environment can potentially harm our health.

Researchers suspect exposure to tiny amounts of some environmental chemicals in the womb or early childhood may permanently alter a child's intelligence, motor skills, memory, behavior, fertility, and immune response. According to recent estimates from the National Academy of Sciences, it is concluded that 360,000 children, 1 in every 200, suffer from developmental or neurological disabilities caused by a range of toxic exposures.

Since we can't escape the chemical attack we're all experiencing, we need to focus even more on supporting our detoxification systems with the key nutrients and natural compounds that do.

If you are dealing with fatigue, digestive issues, brain/nerve challenges, hormone problems, or even chronic pain, an important piece of your healing puzzle will be to improve your body’s ability to detoxify and clear these cellular poisons effectively.

The Drainage Funnel

We know scientifically that we are being exposed to more and more chemicals that can negatively impact our health. So how do we know how our bodies handle that chemical burden?

The scientists at Cellcore Biosciences, a leading supplement manufacturer in the US, created a super-simple visual that helps us understand how our body systems work together to drain toxins.

At the top of the funnel is each individual cell. Even basic cellular processes create toxins and waste products that need to be shuttled away to keep the cellular environment healthy. Groups of cells are of course organized into tissues and organs with specific roles. Some of these organs are directly involved in toxin removal as we'll see in a moment, but all of these cells and organ systems are surrounded by the vessels of the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system moves toxins out of cells and into the bloodstream. Eventually, these fluids are moved through the liver, where the major act of chemical detoxification takes place. Toxic byproducts are then carried by bile into the gallbladder, eventually emptied into the small intestine, and then through the colon to our toilet bowl.

We also have other "support" organs that help clear toxins from our bodies. With each breath, our lungs are clearing carbon dioxide from our blood. Our kidneys also perform a huge job in clearing toxins from our blood through urination. Even our skin helps to remove toxins through our sweat.

When this funnel works well, we have our best chance of staying healthy. When this funnel isn't working well, toxins can back up quickly and lead to all sorts of issues.

At each step along the funnel, toxins become increasingly concentrated, and it is critical to understand that. That means when the bowels aren't moving regularly, the whole funnel gets "backed up." So step 1 is to make sure the colon is healthy and that we have 1-2 bowel movements per day.

Once that is happening, we need to turn some attention to the liver and the gallbladder. So many people have poor-functioning liver/gallbladder systems. In fact, doctors perform over 1 million gallbladder surgeries every year, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease now affects a full 1/3 of the world's population. This critical organ is simply being overwhelmed by the challenges of modern lifestyles.

When the liver, gallbladder, and colon aren't working optimally, the body relies more heavily on the kidneys, lungs, and skin to clear toxins. Asthma, allergies, and other breathing disorders increase, and the kidneys' sensitive filters become damaged.

We could take this line of reasoning further up the chain to the level of cellular function, but I'm sure you get the idea by now.

Looking at this Drainage Funnel as a step-by-step process can often make all of the difference for patients, especially those with chronic problems that aren't responding to more direct treatments.

1. Start with the basics of gut function and get the bowels moving better.

2. Move to the liver and gallbladder system.

3. Improve lymphatic drainage.

4. Shift attention to any system or organ showing signs of dysfunction, then address overall cellular health.

I hope that this simple concept makes sense to you. If you are concerned about the direction your health is moving and you'd like to sit down with our team and evaluate your drainage funnel, give the office a call today!