A cellular detox is a process which identifies the toxins in our body and uncovers our exposure to them. A healthy, organic diet is designed that includes nutrients and vitamins to help purge these toxins from our body.
What is a cellular detox and is it the same thing as a cellular cleansing?
Dr. Greg Olsen: That’s a great question to start with and cellular detox is really where we’re looking at toxicity from a cellular standpoint and how it’s functioning. To compare the terms cellular detox and cellular cleansing, those would be synonymous with each other. So in more detail, what cellular detox is is realizing that we are exposed to environmental toxins that come into the body and they tend to be attracted to higher metabolic areas that are in the body and typically one of the areas is the cell in particular, the mitochondrion. When we are exposed to these toxins it can disrupt our function and disrupt our cellular function.
So cellular detox is going through and looking environmentally where we are getting toxins at and to a certain extent accepting that we are in a toxic environment these days. So really, we’re all toxic. It’s just a matter of whether we recognize it or not. So, the cellular detox is using strategies to address what’s happening in your environment, the things that we can change, addressing the cellular toxicity through specific nutrients or supplements to help your body cleanse and detox at the cellular level.
Then also looking at the internal process. Our bodies produce toxins just from their daily life metabolism. There are ways that our bodies can function that are more toxic and less toxic. If we are functioning in an anaerobic state where your body is burning sugar for fuel, from a function standpoint, it’ll produce less energy, two molecules of ATP, and produce a larger collection of toxic byproducts in that process. It’s less efficient. As compared to if your body is burning fat for fuel producing 38 molecules of ATP and a leaner and cleaner more efficient process, less toxic. So cellular detox has to address the actual toxicity of the cell and then also address what is the functional state of the body and the cell, to begin changing that to be less toxic from the inside.
What are some common potential toxins people should be aware of in their food and environment?
Dr. Greg Olsen: The common toxins people should be aware of…Well, toxins are all around us. Some common ones would be pesticides, commercially grown food. Pesticides, we have a high exposure to them and typically they are endocrine disruptors or they disrupt how our endocrine or hormone system works. They also tend to disrupt the mitochondria or metabolic function in the body.
There’s another one that I commonly talk to people about because we really don’t think about this thing. Sometimes we might think about pesticides, but it has to do with fire retardant chemicals that are built into our products whether it be kid’s pajamas or our couches or a bed. There was a study that was done and it actually found fire retardant chemicals in women’s breast milk. These women are not consuming fire retardant chemicals, they are being exposed to these fire retardant chemicals in their daily life. Whether that be the couches that they’re sitting on while they’re nursing or whether it be the beds that they’re sleeping on, that’s just a good way of recognizing that we can’t tell that we’re being exposed to these chemicals unless it’s something very toxic and it makes your eyes water or makes us sick. It’s another chemical that’s used and designed to not be noticed, but it is building up in our systems quietly and slowly, being passed through the mother and then to the kids but not really any known long-term consequences of what that’s doing as far as disrupting the body, creating metabolic imbalances leading to cancer or other disruptors in the system.
Can you describe some symptoms that people have if they’ve experienced prolonged exposure to toxins?
Dr. Greg Olsen: That’s really important to understand. If people have been exposed for a prolonged period to toxins that can really vary and be wide. I’ve seen people who’ve been exposed to toxins for many years and they’re not dropping on their knees going, “Oh, my gosh. I’m so horrible. I can’t stand it.” But it wouldn’t be uncommon for that person to be experiencing brain fog, lack of clarity, not able to think as clear as they used to. They can certainly be experiencing more pain and inflammation, more achiness in their joints particularly in those areas the brain is commonly involved. But it’s not also unusual to see people have digestive issues, poor digestion, more pain, more inflammation. Those are some of the most common things that are seen with a prolonged exposure.
What is involved in the process of a cellular detox?
Dr. Greg Olsen: In a cellular detox, if somebody is in that place typically we’re going to first just go through a dietary cleansing process. So that is doing the diet history, evaluating what junk is in there, getting the junk out and then next is identifying what foods is that person reacting to and getting those foods out. Then the second step is after that body has got a reduced exposure to these toxins and inflammatory foods is to begin the cellular detox.
Cellular detox is using a combination of different nutrients and herbs and vitamins to get the body to detox by a purge of those toxins. So that is typically going to involve some meal replacements, some shakes, some capsules to take during the process of the day. Ultimately, the process is to identify and help the person going through this to make the association with their food intake, their dietary intake with how their body performs and how that toxicity is so they can make lasting change.
After the first cellular detox, how often should people repeat it to stay healthy?
Dr. Greg Olsen: That’s a very common question. So, a cellular detox, part of that is understanding the environment that we’re in. We are all exposed to a lot of different chemicals but it’s also going to be relative to the individual’s situation. So, if you’re somebody working in a toxic environment, there’s chemicals, there’s dust, that is going to be a more charged environment. If you’re eating mostly traditional foods and not eating organically, you’re going to be exposed to more pesticides so that’s going to require more frequent cellular detox.
It could be as frequently as three months or it could be as seldom as once a year. Typically, with the exposure that we have to toxins, doing it at least once a year with minimal exposure and eating a good diet, an organic diet, once a year is a great idea.
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To speak with Dr. Greg Olsen, visit www.askdrolsen.com or call (949) 859-5192 to schedule an appointment.
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