Dear Subscribers,

There is an article on one of my less well known sites about the difference between Detoxification and Tonification:

http://www.cancerchecklist.com/herbal_remedies/herb_primer.html

To some extent, we have tended to look at surfeit due to the affluence in the developed world as a need for detoxification and at malnutrition as a plea for tonification but it is not this simple so do read that article because it will clarify a great deal for you.

The need for detoxification is basically determined by the nature and magnitude of insults to the body.  For the most part, the body is incredibly merciful and forgiving so it puts the main burden of toxicity in less vital organs, i.e. joints as opposed to the heart, but when the original storage depots overflow, new ones are created and this can become a very serious burden on the patient (and we are all patients to some degree or other since there are probably only a handful of truly healthy people on the whole Planet.) 

This last week, I had countless emails dealing with different side effects of detoxification.  So, let's see how good your powers of visualization are.  If you are consuming commercially produced food, drinking municipal water, etc., etc., the odds are that in the course of a year you are ingesting several hundred different chemical toxins, not to mention the 12 pounds of salt and 150 pounds of sugar used as preservatives and flavorings.  These are hiding somewhere and they are called "ama" in Ayurvedic medicine, a generic term for metabolic residuals except that in organic cultures, as in historic times, that ama would have consisted primarily of mucoidal substances from an excess of sweet tasting food over the ones that stimulate metabolism like spices.

Try to imagine it this way:  each person produces a certain amount of gastric secretions and the amount depends in part on constitutional type and somewhat on stimulation.  Those with more earthy or watery constitutions do not produce as much digestive juice whereas fiery types tend to be able to produce more acids, insulin, bile, and other substances needed to metabolize food.  Air types are always this way and that, well, "fluctuating" is the technical term used in Ayurveda so they can be ravenous one moment and stuffed the next, the presence or absence of appetite being the main clue to digestive ability.  So, let's say there is a buffet or banquet and one eats more than can be digested.  Obviously, there will be discomfort afterwards and we ought to be learning something from that, but some food will not be processed well.  Sugars and fats might be saved for future use but they could also display around the middle and elsewhere.   Some food will simply not be digested so it will break down through fermentation and though perhaps offensive or gross, you can more or less assume that anything that takes more than 24 hours to transit is going to ferment, meaning yeast overgrowth and so on and so forth.  Therefore, detoxification now includes the chemicals and preservatives, sugars and fats, and yeast . . . and this is still not the full list.

If someone takes a supplement to promote detoxification but does not think this through properly, the inventory in the storage depots will be dumped into circulation but not eliminated.  Simply stated, as you try to transfer "ama" to the sewer system, you need to have your organs of elimination working efficiently.  This is why Triphala is very often the place to start with detoxification.  It is probably the most popular formula on the Planet . . . because there are parts of the world that are not living on Prozac and Zantac but rather natural medicine.  Triphala is made with three tropical fruits and that's it, nothing more complicated than that.  It is not a laxative but rather a roto rooter that cleans arteries as well as intestines and any other tubular parts of the body where impaction occurs because white flour and white sugar make a very nice glue, sometimes pounds and pounds and pounds of it over the course of a few Earth years.

Most people do not eliminate well enough because they are not eating foods that promote good peristalsis -- fiber, spices, and bitter leafy green vegetables and herbs -- and because they do not have enough friendly bacteria due to use of chlorinated or fluoridated water, antibiotics, and toxins from pharmaceuticals and dental restorations, to name a few.  So, step one is to open up the pathways to elimination and you know whether or not this is necessary if your skin is itchy or blotchy.  This means the normal channels are overworked and the excess is using the skin as an eliminatory organ.  The solution is very simple: slow down on the detoxification until the potential for removing the toxins safely is more developed.

Priorities

Most blood cleansing products rely on bitter herbs.  There are several reasons.  Toxins are acidic and the bitter taste comes from alkaloids so they are neutralizing to each other.  Bitters also stimulate the liver and gall bladder so they dump more toxins (and reserves) as well as produce more bile which is surely the nastiest substance in the body.  Turmeric is an interesting example of an herb that is partly pungent, partly bitter, and partly astringent.  It is therefore an emulsifier of fat, but it also helps to reduce sugar.  However, it is not nearly as detoxifying as something like gentian or even dandelion because it is a bit hotter than these more bitter herbs.

This is why knowing the constitutional type and causes of problems is so important.  People often write me very simple questions that cannot be answered.  For instance, "What should I take to detoxify?"  All I know from a question such as this is that someone has an idea and perhaps an intention to try to improve his or her health but there is not enough information to give a meaningful response. 

A meaningful response would require at least some background about the supposed toxicity?  Is it due to years of reckless eating, reliance on pharmaceutical medicines, exposure to specific toxins such as dental amalgams or food preservatives, or is the problem more organic?  By this I mean, we have all had exposure to toxins that are non-viable but what about the microorganisms that are not simply viable but capable of reproduction?  Technically speaking, the latter are infections not toxins and the strategies used for detoxifying are usually not specific enough for infections.

Metabolic Residuals, Chemicals, and Microorganisms

In order of importance, I personally believe it is safe to say that all other things equal, mold is the worst hazard.  There are several reasons that this is true, the first being that viable mold not only survives well inside the damp and dark body, but it capable of consuming the body.  You might say we all live precariously on a spectrum between degeneration and regeneration and mold promotes degeneration in several ways.  First, mold produces mycotoxins that can affect practically any part of the body, but they tend to damage the quality of life most if the mycotoxins are in the central nervous system. Secondly, mold generates hyphal structures that act like feeding tubes.  These attach themselves to parts of the body and use acids to predigest the feasts because the mold itself does not have a stomach so its nutrients are digested in the hyphae.  Not everyone is allergic to mold, but it would probably be useful if people were more allergic because then, at least, they would recognize the challenge with which they are faced. 

If one prioritizes the removal of mold because it is dangerous and life-threatening, there is usually an immediate benefit but some of the stops are pulled out that inhibit the proliferation of bacteria.  Bacteria can be beneficial or pathogenic but mold destroys both types as well as both red and white blood cells and organs such as the brain and lungs and liver and so on and so forth. 

Some bacteria try valiantly to fight mold, L. plantarum is one of them and it's found in cultured vegetables so it behooves most people to consider ingesting some cultured vegetables while working on the elimination of mold.

Mold inhibits the proliferation of parasites somewhat.  I have photomicrographs of the hyphae jabbed into parasites, but this hardly suggests that the mold is beneficial and I would argue vehemently against the notion that reduced populations of bacteria and parasites translates as "mold is good medicine."  Rather, I would say that using mold to kill parasites is something like using nuclear energy to cook.  We were perfectly capable of cooking before microwave ovens came into existence and there are ultramodern ways to cook using solar energy.  Thus, if we want to create a continuum from rubbing sticks together to focusing the rays of the sun on our dinner, there are some rather absurd 20th century inventions that we hope not to see any more in the world of the future.  Likewise, the fact that fungi can kill certain pathogens hardly suggests that fungi themselves are benign.  As I said, it's overkill and there are consequences for injudicious use of fungi.

Toxins

Second most dangerous to survival and also severely compromising to the quality of life are various toxins, sometimes also masquerading as medicine:  mercury, fluoride, chlorine, arsenic, aluminum, etc., etc.  These are added to many vaccines and drugs to inhibit the growth of bacteria, but they are dangerous.  The same results can be achieved naturally so we need only ask anyone who has ever preserved some peaches or made an alcoholic beverage from pears or yarrow how the shelf life was extended.  In general, this is achieved through sterilization, pH balance, removal of moisture, addition of alcohol or spices, use of essential oils, or proper storage.  This list may not be complete and is intended merely to illustrate the point that before penicillin, we already had adequate ways to maintain shelf life.  For instance, Chyawanprash, like a vintage wine, is believed to have a shelf life of 100 years.  The black salve used in escharotic treatment of cancer has a similar shelf life despite the fact that the primary ingredient, bloodroot, is very susceptible to fungal infection.  The shelf life is achieved by curing the bloodroot and adding zinc chloride which though caustic is not really toxic.

In short, if you were preparing to cross the continent in a covered wagon and you had no idea what you would experience on the way, there were countless items with nutritional and medicinal value that could be safely preserved without resorting to the use of fungi. 

To give an example of this, I made a Swedish punch, glögg, but with a few innovations since I was serving this to patients in my clinic: lycium and schizandra berries along with the usual cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom.  Around Valentine's Day, we began looking for the crockpot and realized it had somehow been put away without being washed.  We drew straws to see who would lift the lid.  It was absolutely fine, not one hairy strand to be seen and the smell was as tantalizing as it had been at Christmas.  Clearly, the spices are fully capable of inhibiting the growth of unwanted organisms and so, in answer, to another question that has been asked in recent emails, I feed my birds lots of cinnamon, but Fiesta told the animal communicator that the smell is disgusting and Celeste is nuts to like it.  The cockatoos love cardamom and it seems entertaining to them as well.  They get to crack open the pod and gnaw on the inner seeds and this is very natural behavior for them.  My Senegal was particularly fond of cardamom and used to get the hiccups unless I gave it to him several times a day.  Birds have distinct likes and dislikes but mine adore rosemary, lavender, thyme, mint, every kind of basil, milk thistle seeds, and dandelion (including the roots and flowers).  This is a good starting list.

This ought to help several of you to get more of a handle on your healing.  In many cases, you are peeling away layers and you might not even know how many layers there are much less what each layer requires in order to be removed.  Obviously, I am very aware of the challenges but without one-on-one contact, it's hard to answer questions except in a sort of general and educational way.  I have to presume that if your condition is serious, you will seek professional guidance.  However, many of you are practitioners or avid students and you can figure out your next step without personalized input.  I'm here to help, but being the one person "it" there isn't much more I can do than share the pearls of my journey.

Blessings,

Ingrid

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