The first two articles discussed what environmental toxicity was all about, what type of symptoms are indicating a toxic overload and some of the simple solutions to removing them from your body. This article will discuss supplements and herbs that would be helpful.
Herbs that would be helpful:
– Milk thisle (Silymarin)- This is an herb that helps the liver break down the substance into an intermediate form, so, it can be detoxified more easily, so, the liver can tolerate chemicals more readily.
– Burdock (Arctium)- This is a bitter herb that helps the body digest substances, is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal and relaxes the system.
– Yellow Dock (Rumex)- This is also a bitter as well as being a stimulant for the digestive system, so, will help to move things through more effectively
– Dandelion (Taraxacum)- This helps balance blood sugar to minimize cortisol release which maximizes the immune function’s ability to handle toxins. It stimulates the liver to digest effectively and tolerate chemicals.
– Chelidonium (Chelandine)- This helps the gall bladder to break down fats more efficiently, which is where most of the toxins are, since they are fat soluable.
– Cayenne (Cayenne)- This helps stimulate the digestive system to break down toxins and decrease fats more quickly.
– Artichoke (Cynara)- This helps increase the bile flow to the liver to enhance the breakdown of fats and helps to regenerate liver tissue.
– Nettles (Urtica)- This helps to stabilize the immune system and to keep it more alkaline, so, it doesn’t over-react to toxins
– Ashwaganda (Withania)- This helps stabilize the adrenal glands, so, they don’t release too much cortisol, which decreases the immune system’s ability to handle toxins.
– Siberian ginseng (Eleuthrococcus)- This also stabilizes the adrenals to increase the amount of DHEA, which helps the body handle stressors.
Supplements that would be helpful:
– Greens Formula- I try to have chlorella as the blue-green algae, because it will latch onto toxins & remove them from the body. Spirulina and others do not have that property, but, will help to keep the body alkaline, which therefore allows the body to detoxify.
– Detox support- This is usually a combination of herbs, such as milk thisle, nettles, or rosemary that helps the liver, as well as other specific nutrients that help the detoxification process in the liver, such as broccoli seed extract (which is very high in sulfur) turmeric or fenugreek (which are very high in anti-oxidants and bioflavinoids).
– Health Fat Metabolism- This is usually a combination of herbs and nutrients that help the body break down fats more effectively. Most toxins are fat soluable, so, by metabolizing the fat more effectively, the toxins will be broken down more effectively as well. I often combine green tea catechins (NOT green tea-it is too acidifying) with horse chestnut. For weight loss, combine it with Wild yam and Rhodiola to maximize the body’s ability to break down female hormones.
– A-Lipoic acid- This is a nutrient that is a strong anti-oxidant and bioflavinoid. This helps the immune system work more effectively in removing toxins from the body.
– Solvent remover- This is much more of a specific nutrient combination to rid the body of solvents. This is useful for those that use a lot of petroleum products in their work, a lot of perfumes, gels, hairsprays, nail polish and other such cosmetics, or have been exposed to solvents.
Dr. Brenda Gill is a naturopath in Rossland For a more comprehensive evaluation, call 250-362-5035 or 250-352-3150