Most people who hear the word ‘detox’ think that it is some sort of hippie, restrictive diet where you starve or deprive yourself from the pleasures of eating and living. This is because they do not understand the way the body functions. By the time they realise this, many have symptoms of underlying inflammation, a chronic illness or something called NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.)
Our modern lifestyle which was supposed to make things easier for us each day, tends to leave us feeling wired, tired, stressed and having less time for ourselves. We function on auto-pilot, not aware of what toxins we expose ourselves to each day, leaving the laborious task of detoxifying to our liver. That is ultimately the function of the liver- the brilliant way in which our body was created.
However, these days we are exposed to far more toxins than our ancestors were. In the 1930’s there were 150 chemicals present in the environment. With flourishing industry these days, there’s an excess of 70 000 chemicals that we are exposed to whether we like it or not.
Scientists have found toxic compounds planet-wide, from polar bears in the Arctic to killer whales in the Pacific. In a study of newborns, released by the Environmental Working Group, an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants were found in umbilical cord blood of babies. How scary! Babies start off their lives with a toxic load.