by Jackie Paunil, MFA, CHC., owner of Terra Madela: Personal Health Coaching
Personally, I find myself awestruck time and time again at the incredibly well-designed bodies we inhabit. The details of the systems and processes have wonderful resilience, and if given half a chance, will protect, rebalance and restore. The accumulation of toxic substances within the body can lead to the manifestation of many symptoms. These symptoms are the body’s way of communicating imbalances and damage that may be occurring within. These vary for each individual and can include, but are not limited to, headaches, skin rashes, digestive issues, congestion, joint and muscle pain, diarrhea, constipation and brain fog, as well as eventual disease diagnoses.
First Line of Defense – The skin is one of our greatest protectors. Skin eruptions indicate when something is amiss. For those substances that have arrived via the nasal passages and make their way within the lungs, we have simple exhalation to expel such elements. If you suffer from airborne allergies, you may be aware of some of your body’s very effective methods to clear these substances – sneezing, watering eyes, coughing and mucous production. When ingesting bacterial toxins, stomach acid is the first line of defense in eradication. When necessary, plan B is to vomit out substances that the body recognizes as deleterious.
Detoxification – For those toxins that eventually make their way past the stomach and enter our body, we have a sequence of events that occur with the end result of expelling and excreting these substances from within our bodies. In an ideal world, the toxins or waste products within our body would be limited to those that are the result of bodily processes, such as metabolism. These would be in the form of expired hormones or dead cells that understandably must be cleared from the body. But as we are aware, the environment that we live in has a long list of toxins with which our bodies are now challenged to process. This includes less supportive ingredients found in our foods as well. Once a toxin is in the body, the liver has the job of screening, filtering and determining what is useful or not, so that eventually substances will either be sent to the organs that require them or toxins will be repackaged so that our body can dispose of them through various outlets. There are two phases to detoxification that require specific nutrients in order to be completed effectively and efficiently. It is important to realize that the body must be in a state of rest for this to occur. For many with high stress, poor sleep quality or nutrient-poor diets, detoxification is low on the body’s list of priorities. During these phases, the liver begins the process of converting fat soluble toxins into a water soluble state for removal from the body. At this time the body has several options for removal. By understanding the pathways out of the body, an individual can assist in the process by providing very simple, supportive measures for the excretion and cleansing of the body.
Pathways Out of Your Body – Exhalation is one pathway out of the body. The lungs exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide, but also many other toxic fumes or aerosols exit through this process. Spending time in fresh, clean air, while taking nice deep breaths, provides the best saturation of usable air. Via the pores of our skin, toxic substances can be excreted though perspiration. Once toxins are in a water soluble form (thanks to the liver), they are carried out within the sweat we excrete. By incorporating movement activities to generate perspiration, we can assist in detoxification’s final elimination. Other substances will be filtered through the kidneys to the eventual elimination through urination. By staying hydrated, we provide the transportation route for the toxins to be flushed from the body. And finally, as the children’s book famously declares, “Everyone Poops.”
After our digestive tract has extracted the nutritional content from the foods we consume, the remaining waste continues to travel through the intestinal tract, eventually to the colon. The constrictive action of the bowels removes the fluids and we are left with the toxins trapped within the feces for final disposal. By eating whole foods with a generous plant-based proportion we provide not only the nutrients, but we also provide components that bind with toxins to usher them out of the body. Avoiding all processed foods to clear the system to reset and regain momentum in the detoxification process is essential. By providing your body with fresh air, clean water, nutrient-rich foods, quality sleep, and physical movement, you assist the body with processing and removing the waste that can become toxic when accumulated. These are all lifestyle choices that optimize the excretion of waste and toxins from the body.
Contact Jackie for a complimentary health coaching session to learn about how health coaching can benefit you in developing and achieving your health goals.
Jackie Paunil,
Certified Personal Health Coach
terramedela.com • 520-444-5434
