Metabolic detoxification is a treatment process designed to improve organ function (liver, bowel, kidneys) that has been compromised by poor diet, environmental toxins, parasites, and stress. The foundation of this process includes individualized nutritional support through food and isolated nutrients that promote balanced detoxification and decreased inflammation, elimination and identification of potential food allergens/sensitivities, and establishing a healthy intestinal environment to ensure proper digestion, absorption, and elimination.
In today’s modern world, we are exposed to a myriad of foreign chemicals, both commercially synthesized and naturally occurring in our environment. In 1989, the EPA estimated a grand total of 5,705,670,380 pounds of chemical pollutants were released into the environment that year. This would fill enough semi-truck trailers with cargo capacity of 45,000 pounds a piece, parked bumper-to-bumper, to form a line stretching from downtown Los Angeles to Des Moines, Iowa. And that’s just in one year alone! At least 1,000 new synthesized compounds are introduced each year.
These figures are overwhelming especially since these toxic chemicals easily find their way into our body through the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink. Although our body is designed to eliminate toxins, it cannot always handle the overload present in today’s environment. As a result, people can begin experiencing symptoms such as headache, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, irritability, depression, mental confusion, gastrointestinal irregularities, cardiovascular irregularities, flu-like symptoms, and allergic reactions including hives, stuffy or runny nose, sneezing, and coughing. In addition to these symptoms, toxic overload can contribute to more serious conditions such as asthma, autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Toxins can also be produced from within the body itself (endogenously). For example, intestinal bacteria may release specific metabolic byproducts that have toxic effects when absorbed. Further, nutritional imbalances and insufficiencies can compromise detoxification pathways allowing the progressive build-up of toxins (both endogenous and exogenous) until the body is overwhelmed and symptoms/disease manifest.
If you have been suffering from chronic disease or are experiencing symptoms that may be associated with toxicity in your body, please contact Dr. Miller at (415) 785-3347 to schedule an appointment. She is a medically trained and licensed naturopathic doctor who has been successfully guiding patients through the metabolic detoxification process since 1998.
