How does the Body Detoxify?

Letting your body detoxify and giving it what it needs to do is critical. Your body has four main ways that it is able to purge waste from its system. The body detoxes through:

  • Exhaling
  • Urinating
  • Defecating, and
  • Perspiring

If these channels of flushing waste out of your body are not able to work effectively, you will build up toxins and become sick over a while.

These toxins are by nature acidic and cause harm if permitted to remain within the body. Keeping these four primary channels as clear as possible is what allows your body to stay healthy through purging metabolic waste.

So, given that this article is all about detoxification, let’s dig a little deeper.

It’s important to understand how the body detox process works. We can actively do things to assist in the detox process. Some as simple as timings on when food is eaten during the day, others include giving your body what it needs to help flush out waste.

Things like plenty of water and a colon cleanse mix will help to move waste out of your digestive system quickly and safely.

What is the Background for the Body Detox?

Basically, letting your body detoxify is the key to the cleansing of the blood at the absolute foundational level.

The body uses the organs to detoxify; the skin, lungs, lymphatic system, colon, intestines, kidney, and liver all help to flush toxic wastes from the body in various ways.

One of the main problems that people can have is that their gut health is in a poor state. This is typically from years of bad diet, and other lifestyle-related factors.

The best way to address this to improve the detoxifying process the body naturally moves through can be done through a colon cleanse.

This is also one of the quickest. Anyone who has felt unwell and had an enema will tell you that not long after their bowels have been flushed they feel much better.

This is because the flow of toxins in the body can stop in the intestines and bowels, resulting in sickness through what is really self-poisoning, through toxic accumulation.

How Does the Body Detox Through the Lungs?

Did you now that the human body removes the most amounts of toxins through the lungs? So, take deeper breaths and make sure the air you are breathing in is as clean as possible.

Breathing is an important component of detoxification. Toxins build-up due to shallow breathing and inactivity. Engaging in activities such as deep breathing exercises is very important for removing toxins build up in our body.

This also delivers more oxygen through our bloodstream to various parts of our body to enable them to function better.

The lungs are the primary way that our body controls blood pH levels. Maintaining an alkaline pH is essential; it assists in the absorption of nutrients and improves the immune system.

People today are more aware of the benefits of alkaline food and alkaline water. The primary way that we have a healthy blood pH is through deep breathing into the lungs.

Shallow breathing causes parts of the body to become almost stagnant, and it reduces the ability for the blood to get pumped to the brain and vital organs. So it’s really important to engage in some kind of physical activity which forces us to take deeper breaths.

It doesn’t matter whether you choose to do yoga, meditation, walking, or more active cardiovascular exercises. Just do something!

Anything that makes you take a deep breath is going to improve your blood pH. Taking deep breaths helps to relieve stress and generally helps you feel better.

How Does the Body Detoxify Through the Skin?

The skin is our largest organ and the skin is always excreting toxins, whether we’re aware of it or not. Sometimes it’s a bit more obvious like when it’s hot you might sweat a bit or when you have a little bit of oily skin, which is a good thing.

When we talk about toxins, there are only two main types;

  • Fat-soluble toxins and
  • Water-soluble toxins

Water-soluble toxins are easy to pass through our system by consuming large volumes of water. The more frequently you go to the toilet, the more you flush out the water-soluble toxins.

The fat-soluble toxins are more difficult to get rid of because they accumulate in our fat cells.

These are the ones that were more concerned with because they’re things like pesticides, dioxins, PCV’s, and mercury. Underneath the skin is a layer of fat, which is where the toxins can easily accumulate. When we perspire we’re able to remove some of those toxins that have deposited into those fat cells.

It’s really important to exercise regularly to help your body to perspire and release toxins via the skin. When exercising, you are going to take deeper breaths, increase the heart rate as well which pumps more oxygen through the body.

We live in a society that clearly doesn’t like sweat. The socially unacceptable ideology of perspiration is proven in the multi-billion dollar antiperspirant and deodorant industry.

Stopping your body from sweating is unhealthy. Smelling bad is unpleasant. But there is a way to make sure that you can sweat and not stink.

It has a lot to do with your diet and the toxins within you. If you smell really bad that’s because you’re full of metabolic and toxic waste that you need to clean out of your system. It’s trying to get out anyway it can, and sweating is one of the ways.

This is not a good thing to use antiperspirants because the body needs to release toxins through the skin daily. This also helps to reduce the workload on the liver and kidneys.

Did you know that the bigger lymph glands are located near your armpits? And this is where antiperspirant is intended to be used. Antiperspirants work by blocking the skin with aluminium. This also stops your lymph glands from functioning properly.

Try using aluminium-free products if you do feel you need to use any. These are much safe for you. Personally, I use a block of Himalayan salt and essential oils. I choose the oils on any given day based on what I have at home.

So back to the topic of keeping things moving through your body. If you’re not encouraging blood circulation through exercise and you’re not perspiring, then the toxins are going to accumulate in your body, and your biggest organ, the skin.

When things get really bad the immune system gets involved. This is because the accumulation of toxins has reached high levels, and your body can’t purge them on its own.

Enter the development of growths like cysts, abscesses, and tumors. These are all filled with junk your body can’t seem to flush out in a normal healthy way. So it packs them up in tight protein-lined containers (for want of a better way to put it) to protect your body from toxic overload.

At the very least, people can start to get rashes and skin conditions because the skin is reacting to the toxins that have built up over time. Think of these signs as an early warning system; your body is telling you that it is struggling to handle the workload it has, and it needs your help.

We need to support detoxification through the various organs. Hopefully, you are doing deep breathing and exercising regularly.

How Does the Body Detoxify Through the Other Organs?

All fluids go through the kidneys and all solids go through the colon. We can encourage the kidneys and colon to function more effectively by eating more plant-based foods and drinking plenty of (filtered alkaline) water throughout the day.

The more frequently you use the restroom, the more toxins are naturally being excreted.

The liver is one of the most important organs when it comes to detoxification. The liver is responsible for processing and eliminating the impurities. The liver’s job is to filter out and neutralize chemical toxins that are circulating in the blood. 1

As a natural part of how your body processes food or the caloric energy you give it, there is an acidic excretion at a cellular level that needs to be flushed out of the system.

This is where your body moves through a few different stages with this particular biological process being a part of the purging stage. For your body to effectively purge toxins and waste it needs time to complete the process.

This can be interrupted by resetting the body into an accumulation stage through eating or drinking things that require digestion too early in the day. Intermittent fasting is used by many as a means to allow the body to finish the flushing-out stage before more food goes in.

I have been practising this for quite some time now, and the only thing I have before noon, other than water and herbal tea, is a colon cleanse mix. This is made of a specific blend of bentonite clay, psyllium husk, chia seeds, crushed buckwheat, and mineral salts.

It is designed to help draw out lingering toxins and waste and flush it out the back door. Drinking plenty of water in the morning is an important part of this process too.

When we consider the question, “How does the body detoxify?” it’s important to support all of the organs for the detoxification process and not just focus on one organ because our bodies use all of the organs for the detoxification process.

Reference

  1. “Anatomy and Function of the Liver” – Standford Medicine Staff, Last checked 7 March 2024 [Standford Medicine] [Archive] ↩︎

Last Updated on 3 weeks by D&C Editorial Team

About the Author

Christine has long been on the path to optimal health. With a history of weight loss coaching she is driven by a passion for nutrition, health and wellness. Having grown up in Africa before migrating to New Zealand, and then Australia, she has seen very strong contrasts in quality of life and is driven to help others understand the importance of taking a holistic approach to life.

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