Latest / hol+ with Dr. Taz MD | The Future of Medicine is Holistic / Your Body Detoxes Itself. That’s Only Half the Truth: Liver Detox, Juice Cleanses and Natural Detoxification
Transcript
- [00:00:00] There's a lot of noise in the health and wellness space, and one of the terms that gets thrown [00:00:05] around very loosely is the word detox or detoxification. [00:00:10] Just take a look around and someone's on a juice cleanse or a liver cleanse or doing a [00:00:15] detox tea or doing a foot bath, you name it. Everyone seems to be [00:00:20] trying to find a way to detox. But on the other hand, you have the medical community doubling [00:00:25] down and saying that there's really no such thing. There's no reason to detox. The [00:00:30] liver handles everything you need it to handle, and anything really formulated, [00:00:35] commercialized for detoxification is just that, a scam. [00:00:40] Where's the truth, and what do we really need to be thinking about as consumers and patients [00:00:45] when it comes to the idea of detoxification? I wanna spend some time today with you on the [00:00:50] podcast talking about this idea around detoxification, where it really needs to [00:00:55] sit in the medical model, and what you need to be thinking about as you're wandering the grocery [00:01:00] store aisles or any aisle of your favorite health food or online store. [00:01:05] This episode is sponsored by HolPlus, a holistic health platform [00:01:10] built around education, personalization, and integrative care. HolPlus [00:01:15] blends holistic, integrative, and functional medicine clinics with learning resources [00:01:20] like blogs, YouTube videos, and of course, this podcast, so you're not just treated, [00:01:25] you're informed. The platform also includes holistic health quizzes and a curated wellness shop, [00:01:30] helping you make choices that support your body at the root level. [00:01:35] HolPlus is holistic healthcare designed for real life. Visit us at [00:01:40] HolPlus.co to learn more about the platform. Again, that's [00:01:45] H-O-L-P-L-U-S dot C-O. Now, the word detox is not something new. It has been [00:01:50] around since thousands of years, back to Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine. [00:01:55] In Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic medicine and so many other traditions of medicine, [00:02:00] there were planned, quote-unquote, detoxes. These were opportunities to [00:02:05] reset your gut, to reset your health, to take a break from things, and they translated over [00:02:10] time into the concept of fasting. Fasting where you would abstain [00:02:15] from food for X amount of time as an opportunity to rest the gut, but to [00:02:20] also rest the mind. Now, in that timeframe, people didn't know about the [00:02:25] gut-brain connection. They didn't know about the gut-liver connection. They didn't know about the gut-hormone [00:02:30] connection. They simply knew that the body needed periodic rest, just [00:02:35] as we need rest, we need sleep, we need an opportunity to check out at times. [00:02:40] So the concept of detoxing and cleansing were linked [00:02:45] hand-in-hand and often used interchangeably. In Chinese medicine, [00:02:50] there were cleanses and detoxes that involved simply drinking [00:02:55] broth-based soups and liquids for X amount of time. Ayurveda, if many of you [00:03:00] follow that particular system of medicine, would talk about something called panchakarma, where you would [00:03:05] go into an organized program of fasting and cleansing, which [00:03:10] very much involved cleansing the gut as well. So again, not to belabor the point, [00:03:15] but this is a term that's been around for a very long period of time. Now, as [00:03:20] medicine became industrialized, right, and we entered into the 1900s, [00:03:25] and we sort of divorced ourselves or moved far away from, you know, the [00:03:30] more traditional or older ways of thinking, the term detox got lost [00:03:35] and the term cleansing got lost again And instead, the body was [00:03:40] reduced down to organs and tissues and systems without really thinking [00:03:45] about how they're connected or how they maybe influence one another. So [00:03:50] we lost the gut hormone connection. We lost the gut brain connection. We lost the [00:03:55] connection between what how we eat and what we are exposed to is [00:04:00] influencing many different aspects of our health. Instead, [00:04:05] detoxification became a word in a textbook, a medical textbook, where we took a look [00:04:10] at how the body processes what's coming into it And we all [00:04:15] agreed through research and science over the years that there were ways that the body [00:04:20] naturally detoxes. So the medical camp today is not necessarily wrong. [00:04:25] We understand that we have four main detox pathways in the body, sometimes [00:04:30] even we might say five. We know that the gut is ground zero and responsible for taking [00:04:35] in what we eat, digesting it, breaking it down, and then moving it to [00:04:40] wherever it needs to go. But sitting with the gut is the liver, which in traditional [00:04:45] Western medicine is considered the main detoxification organ. Now, I'm [00:04:50] about to get super science-y or nerdy, so please don't roll your eyes. But we know down [00:04:55] to cellular chemistry that within the liver there are two really important things that [00:05:00] happen, phase one and phase two detoxification. Now, I've [00:05:05] studied these pathways ad nauseam through biochemistry class, organic chemistry class, [00:05:10] again in medical school, again for our boards, and again over and over and [00:05:15] over as we get tested I don't know how many times over the course of my medical career. [00:05:20] You can stare at these pathways, but here's what's really fascinating about them. There are arrows [00:05:25] and numbers and circles everywhere, but around all of those loops and [00:05:30] pathways sit the things that are needed for healthy detoxification. [00:05:35] Some of those pathways involve nutrients and minerals. Others involve things like [00:05:40] co-factors. Others involved hydration. But ultimately, it does, [00:05:45] whether the medical community wants to admit it or not, involve our nutrient status, our gut [00:05:50] function, and how we are taking in things from the world around us.[00:05:55] So we know the gut's important. We know the liver's important. We have phase one and phase two detox. [00:06:00] We also know that we detox through the skin, the largest organ of the body, through our [00:06:05] lymphatic system, and through our kidneys. The lymphatic system recently got added because [00:06:10] it's probably the most unknown maybe detox pathway of the body.[00:06:15] Not a lot of research on lymphatics, not a lot of discussion on lymphatics. [00:06:20] But the lymphatic sits with the rest of the circulatory system, taking in things that the [00:06:25] body needs to eliminate, regulating fluid balance, playing with the liver and the gut [00:06:30] in terms of how we metabolize and process all things, including [00:06:35] nutrients, hormones, even the supplements we take, and environmental toxins.[00:06:40] If you're listening to this and thinking, "I know something is off in my [00:06:45] body, but I don't know where to start," this is for you. That's [00:06:50] why I created the Circle. The Circle is my private community where I and my team focus [00:06:55] on understanding your body from hormones and stress to metabolic health and [00:07:00] longevity with real-life guidance that you can actually use. This is about [00:07:05] clarity and consistency and support beyond the exam room and maybe [00:07:10] outside of all the different appointments and experts that you've been running around to. You can [00:07:15] try the Circle with a one-month trial using the promo code podcast [00:07:20] at HolPlus.co/circle. Again, [00:07:25] that's HolPlus, HolPlus.co/circle. All right, let's jump back into the [00:07:30] episode. So this delicate, intricately intertwined detox system [00:07:35] that sits within us, five main pathways, all communicating, all [00:07:40] interconnected, is detoxification. So detoxification is real, [00:07:45] and we know it from chemistry, we know it from an organ model, we know it [00:07:50] from a tissue model. And I think that's where we all agree. We [00:07:55] understand it's real. The split in the road comes with do we need to really [00:08:00] do anything to improve the body's capacity to detoxify? [00:08:05] And if we do, what's the payoff or what's the advantage for this? [00:08:10] Here's where the debate begins. One of the things the medical community will plant on is [00:08:15] that there really is nothing you can do to influence your pathways of [00:08:20] detoxification. A hormone is a hormone, a toxin is a toxin, a nutrient [00:08:25] is a nutrient. We know today that's simply not true, and the research that's [00:08:30] evolving and emerging is showing directly how any toxin, any nutrient, [00:08:35] any molecule honestly, is influencing the very [00:08:40] physiologic processes of our body that dictate who we are, how we think, how we feel, [00:08:45] how we love, how we live, and so much more So this is an [00:08:50] idea that we can't ignore, and our elders were actually right, and it's something [00:08:55] that we have to pay attention to. We can't say your liver handles it, so don't think [00:09:00] about it. The truth is in the middle and is something that we have to understand. [00:09:05] I see patients day in and day out at HolPlus. I have for over 17, [00:09:10] 18 years now. And we have the opportunity to hear their stories, but to [00:09:15] also look at their labs and compare the two and find where the two converge.[00:09:20] And here's what we know for sure. We understand that when people are not [00:09:25] paying attention to gut and liver health, they have things like estrogen dominance. They [00:09:30] have more brain fog. They have Hashimoto's. They have insulin resistance. They have [00:09:35] more weight and so much more. Part of the crisis that we see today is a [00:09:40] failure of the ability of the gut, the liver, the lymphatics, and the skin, and even the [00:09:45] kidneys, to filter out what it's getting exposed to day in and day out.[00:09:50] Now, some people know this, right? They're, they're plugged in. They're a part of the wellness [00:09:55] community. They are dialed in, so they're doing the juice cleanses, and they're doing the [00:10:00] fast. Remember the, the sort of, uh, fad, I would- still gonna call it a fad, [00:10:05] of intermittent fasting or doing a one-day fast, right? We'll talk about that in [00:10:10] just a minute as well. Some people are very dialed into that. But that's also not the answer. [00:10:15] I've had patients do juice cleanses that in turn completely upset their thyroid [00:10:20] function. I've had people do detoxes for 10 days, 28 days, [00:10:25] but come out of it feeling worse on the other side. And I've definitely had people do [00:10:30] intermittent fasting or a 24-hour fast or even a 48-hour fast and tell me [00:10:35] they feel better, but that better is temporary. It's not permanent. [00:10:40] What we wanna do instead is understand detoxification more deeply and make it [00:10:45] something that is daily, a pattern and a habit of your routine and what you [00:10:50] do in and out, day to day, moment to moment, and not necessarily make [00:10:55] it something that is a grand event that you do every now and then because [00:11:00] that at the end of the day will not give you the answers that you're looking for when it comes to your health.[00:11:05] The day-to-day things to think about are how do we improve these five [00:11:10] pathways of detoxification? How can you help the gut, the liver, the [00:11:15] lymphatics, the skin, and even your kidneys? And some of the information is very [00:11:20] straightforward and very simple. But here's where we have to get everybody [00:11:25] dialed into this conversation because we are seeing the impacts of these [00:11:30] failing pathways, and I'm gonna say that again. These pathways are failing. These [00:11:35] detox pathways are failing in the body because of the incredible environmental load [00:11:40] that everyone is experiencing today, and they're failing as early as [00:11:45] our young children. And we see it in their behavior, their weight gain, [00:11:50] their overall demeanor, and even the precocious puberty that so [00:11:55] many kids are dealing with today. So we need to enter this conversation, and we need to really have a [00:12:00] strategic plan of how we're going to systematically think about [00:12:05] and review these different pathways. So let's break it down for just a second, right? I could tell you a [00:12:10] million different stories, but I don't wanna bore you to tears. But when we break it down, a preventive or [00:12:15] a sort of a holistic approach to this is to start with the gut. Understand what the gut is [00:12:20] doing. It's deeply involved in the body's ability to detox. That means you should be going to the [00:12:25] bathroom every day. That means symptoms like bloating or reflux you have to pay attention to, [00:12:30] and make sure you're eating the foods that work for you. You have to look at [00:12:35] what the liver is doing, and Chinese medicine had a great way to look at the liver [00:12:40] far before it showed up on any lab or lab value. You would look at your tongue. If you [00:12:45] had sort of that deep purple look to your tongue, you can stick your tongue out now if you want and [00:12:50] take a look at it, then you had liver stagnation where the liver was not able to do the work it [00:12:55] needed to do. If you had dark circles under the eyes, that was another example as well.[00:13:00] And they would connect that in turn to what your skin was doing and drew all those, [00:13:05] you know, inferences together. In the conventional model and in the functional medicine [00:13:10] model, what we understand is that when we look at things like tongue and get suspicious [00:13:15] about the liver and we go to test it, we need to test more comprehensively.[00:13:20] We have to look at things like an AST and an ALT in addition to looking at [00:13:25] something like a ferritin level, which give us an understanding of what the liver might be doing [00:13:30] If, for example, you are seeing issues with your liver and seeing a [00:13:35] lot of visceral and abdominal weight gain, we have to think about conditions like fatty liver, which are [00:13:40] showing up unfortunately even in our teenagers. And fatty liver over time leads to [00:13:45] something called liver fibrosis where the liver gets hard, it gets stubborn, and it's [00:13:50] not willing or able to do that phase one, phase two detoxification that [00:13:55] we need it to do to keep us all healthy. And then moving on from the gut and [00:14:00] the liver, if you're breaking out in rashes, if you have acne, if you have eczema, rosacea, [00:14:05] keratosis pilaris, any of the different skin signs or symptoms, [00:14:10] it takes us back to how we detoxify, and that is often the root cause and something [00:14:15] we need to be thinking about. If you're not hydrating consistently and at [00:14:20] least urinating three to four times at a minimum per day, well, you're losing an opportunity [00:14:25] to filter out the load of environmental toxins. And your lymphatics need [00:14:30] movement. For everybody absorbing blue light, I think we're gonna find this in the years to [00:14:35] come, that blue light and sitting in front of a computer. In fact, here's a fun [00:14:40] experiment. Put a, put a, a blanket over your computer and come back and take [00:14:45] it off. It's hot. You're getting a load of inflammatory heat from those computers and [00:14:50] phones that is directly impacting our lymphatics. And the more we sit, [00:14:55] the lymphatics are impacted even more. So now our lymphatics need a [00:15:00] plan more so than ever before, which involves movement and vibration, [00:15:05] maybe things like sauna or red light therapy. But the future of medicine [00:15:10] is going to be rooted in the ability of these five pathways to [00:15:15] handle the internal environment and the external environment that they're exposed to. [00:15:20] And by thinking through each of these pathways and really forming a plan for them [00:15:25] and reassessing over a period of six months, maybe year to year, [00:15:30] that's where we stay ahead of the curve when it comes to disease manifestation, [00:15:35] microinflammation, hormone shifts, all the other things that I talk about over and over [00:15:40] again I started this episode saying, "Is detoxification real? Do [00:15:45] we even need to pay attention to it?" Our elders did, but is it a concept of the past and [00:15:50] not one for the future? I'm gonna end this episode saying there has never [00:15:55] been a time, past or present, when detoxification [00:16:00] has been more important. We can't take the current sort of [00:16:05] adage of we don't need to do anything, the body takes care of itself. That simply doesn't work. [00:16:10] But you also don't necessarily need juice cleanses and, you know, [00:16:15] commercialized detoxes and teas when they're not warranted and personalized to the [00:16:20] detox pathway that's impacting you. You need a strategic approach, [00:16:25] one that looks at your internal chemistry, matches it to your external [00:16:30] environment, puts the two together, and creates a plan that is [00:16:35] sustainable and logical and not a ton of work. That [00:16:40] essentially is the WHOLE+ way, and that's why we believe in the five body framework in trying to help [00:16:45] you identify where to begin. Because detoxification spans all our bodies. [00:16:50] It's needed for our health, whether you're talking hormones, mental health, [00:16:55] brain health, it doesn't matter. So part of this is connecting the dots to [00:17:00] change your story, but more importantly, to understand that this very [00:17:05] contested term is a term that will be the future of medicine [00:17:10] and will be essential in a root cause approach, in a holistic approach, and in a [00:17:15] functional medicine approach. All right, I could go on with all the different studies and [00:17:20] talks around detoxification and the patients and, and all the things that we do at WHOLE+, [00:17:25] but I think I wanna leave you with this episode with really thinking about it, but thinking about [00:17:30] it a little bit more than, hey, this is a cool wellness trend, or flippantly, [00:17:35] like the body is gonna do this on its own, and finding that middle ground.[00:17:40] All right, if you have questions, join me in the Circle. I talk about detoxification, all of [00:17:45] these things, review the research, talk about what we see in clinic. You can join the Circle by going to [00:17:50] HolPlus.co/circle. And I post new podcast episodes every week, [00:17:55] so don't forget to subscribe and share it with your community. We wanna change medicine, we wanna [00:18:00] push it forward, and we want terms like this to be natural terms [00:18:05] that everybody knows and accepts when it comes to a conversation [00:18:10] around their health. I'll see you guys next time. Before you go, take a second to reflect on [00:18:15] what stood out for you today. Then, if you can, leave a quick review wherever [00:18:20] you're listening. It really helps other people discover WHOLE+ and start their own [00:18:25] healing journey. And don't forget to follow me on Instagram @drtazmd. I love [00:18:30] hearing how these episodes are supporting you