The Need for Daily Detoxing

I confess, that since the devastating fires here in Sonoma County, and the noxious smoke that blanketed the entire Bay Area, I’ve been utterly obsessed with detox.

Here in the Bay Area (and beyond), noxious, throat-burning smoke darkened skies for days and weeks.

Few people – if any – could escape it completely.

And not just here – across the entire Western landscape from British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, California, Arizona, Texas, wildfire smoke was pervasive. And the smoke plumes traveled deeply into the Midwest and as far east as Newfoundland.

These plumes carried a witch’s brew of heavy metals, organic pollutants such as dioxins, and other toxic byproducts of burning materials. While the smoke can never be fully analyzed due to the scope and scale of the wildfires, we do know that it carries potent carcinogens and neurotoxins.

And even if you weren’t affected by wildfire smoke, read on, as this is very important for EVERYBODY, every single day.

We all have what’s called “body burden.”

Body burden is the amount of toxins we carry in our tissues and organs. Research shows that even new-born babies have over 250 environmental toxins in their tissues.

While the immediate effects of the smoke have faded – like the burning eyes, scratchy throat and hoarseness – it’s likely that many millions of us have increased levels of toxins now.

You likely don’t even feel an increasing body burden. Toxins build up silently in your tissues, growing heavier with each season.

Even though your body has exquisitely designed systems to protect you and get rid of toxins, those detox systems can get overwhelmed by the levels of modern day toxic onslaughts.

When levels of environmental toxins get too high for your body to keep up, your body accumulates these bad boys in various tissues and organs – particularly fatty tissue (like breasts!)

We all have it.

And you don’t have to be exposed to wildfire smoke to have increased toxic body burden this year. 

Sitting in traffic fumes.

Exposure to flame retardants in furniture and building materials.

Pesticides in food.

Junk in household products.

And daily exposure to the tons of other 100,000 industrial chemicals dumped into our environment, food, homes and buildings every year.

Yes, I’ve been obsessing. It’s one of the most critical issues affecting us all.

I’ve reviewed dozens of detox programs, looking at how to protect ourselves. And support our bodies to work at optimum detox levels and get rid of this stuff.

With the upcoming holidays, it’s no time to start a full-on detox and cleansing program.

But it’s a great time to start incorporating healthy habits into holiday and year-round traditions.

And I have some great tips you can use to get started on replenishing your body’s reserves of its most powerful detoxifying processes and enzymes.

I want to show you how to protect yourself and get rid of stored toxins. To better eliminate the large toxic loads we face from wildfires, traffic jams, and day-to-day living.

Here are my Top 3 Tips for Daily Detox

OK, before the tips, here’s the preamble.

REAL detox is not about juice or smoothie fasts.

In fact those practices can hurt you, as you may be robbing your body of the essential nourishment it needs to make its own most powerful protective detox substances.

Your body – particularly your liver – is constantly detoxing the onslaughts of modern life 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

And the most important substance your body makes for this 24/7 effort is the enzyme glutathione. While your liver makes the majority of glutathione, it’s also made in the lungs, intestines, kidneys, and throughout your body. 

Called “the mother of all antioxidants,” “the master detoxifier” and “maestro of the immune system,“ glutathione is essential to:

• Your ability to eliminate toxins;
• Helping your immune system fight infections;
• Repairing DNA and preventing cancer; and
• Recycling other antioxidants including vitamin C, vitamin E and alpha lipoic acid.

When you are overwhelmed with too much oxidative stress or too many toxins – such as in days and weeks of wildfire exposure – your glutathione becomes depleted. You can no longer protect yourself against free radicals and infections.

When you get a big dump of toxins – like from breathing wildfire smoke for days – your body stores toxins instead of getting rid of them. This leads to sickness and a downward health spiral. Over the long term, high toxicity and low glutathione levels are implicated in cancer, neurological damage and other chronic illnesses.

As you get older, your body makes less and less glutathione. A study showed that glutathione production drops an average of 10% per decade after age twenty in healthy adults.

So the older you are, or if you’re not in peak shape, you likely have a glutathione deficiency. It can easily be depleted. So…

#1 Tip for Daily Detox: Support your body making its own supply of glutathione with food, supplements and exercise.

Here’s how:

While there are glutathione supplements you can take, and foods you can eat that naturally contain glutathione, it’s not very effective to ingest it either way.

Because when you take glutathione orally, it lands in your stomach and is dismembered by your stomach acids.

Instead of taking glutathione, it’s better to feed your body the building blocks it needs to make its own. These building blocks are called precursors.

These foods, supplements and habits will help you improve your glutathione levels, improve your health, and optimize your performance to live a long, healthy life.

 Eat LOTS of Foods that Support Glutathione Production

 Not just a sprinkling, or once or twice a week. I’m talking about 3x PER DAY! If you really want to support detox, and do it right, eat from this list for every meal.

• Sulfur-rich brassica vegetables (arugula, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, chard, collards, kale, watercress, etc.)
• Sulfur-rich alliums (garlic, onions, leeks, shallots, chives, etc.)
• Spices: turmeric (isn’t it good for everything?), ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, black cumin
• Herbs: parsley (fresh, not dried), sage, rosemary, thyme
• Spinach
• Beets
• Whey protein (MUST be bioactive, cold-processed, made from non-denatured proteins – provides precursor amino acids)
• Bone broth (provides precursor amino acids)
• Eggs

 Take Glutathione Supporting Supplements

You might wish you could just take glutathione as a pill… but your body will digest is as a protein – so you won’t get the benefits.

The production and recycling of glutathione in your body requires many different nutrients and you CAN take these. Here are ESSENTIAL supplements you need to take consistently to boost your levels of glutathione:

• A high-quality multivitamin that includes:
  • Vitamins C and E (in the form of mixed tocopherols)
  • Folate (B9) and vitamins B6 and B12. These are some of the most critical to keep your body producing glutathione.
  • This important mineral helps the body recycle and produce more glutathione.
  • TIP: here are two important ways to identify a truly high quality vitamin: B9 will NOT be in the form of folic acid. The highest quality B9 is the active form of 5 methyltetrahydrofolate. The B6 will be the in active form of P5P, and B12 will be in the in the active form of methylcobalamin, NOT cyanocobalamin.
• N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC). This amino acid is a precursor for glutathione
• Alpha lipoic acid. This is a close second to glutathione in importance to your cells. Alpha lipoic acid is involved in energy production, blood sugar control, brain health and detoxification. Your body can make it, but given the stresses we all face, it can’t make enough.
• Milk thistle (silymarin). This has long been used for liver health and helps boost glutathione levels.
• MSM (methylsulfonylmethane). This naturally occurring compound is a donor of organic sulfur. Animal studies show that it promotes the synthesis of glutathione and upregulates glutathione enzymes in the presence of elevated oxidative stress.

Exercise Your Way to More Glutathione

Moderate exercise boosts your glutathione levels, whereas overly strenuous exercise can deplete it. Build up to 30 minutes a day of walking, movement classes or your choice of aerobic machines (bike, treadmill, stair climber, etc.). Strength training for 20 minutes 3 times a week is also helpful.

#2 Tip for Daily Detox: Avoid and minimize glutathione-depleting substances and activities.

What depletes your glutathione?

Eh, so much in everyday life. You’re constantly exposed to many toxic and harmful substances on a daily basis. You require considerable amounts of glutathione to detoxify.

These common substances and activities deplete your reserves. Avoid or minimize exposure to these whenever you can:

• Acetaminophen (Tylenol) and other pharmaceuticals;
• Acetone, solvents, paint removers
• Vehicle fuels and fumes;
• Heavy metals (dental amalgams, vaccines, many tattoo inks, large fatty fish such as tuna, etc.);
• Pesticides, herbicides (conventionally grown foods, golf courses);
• Nitrates and other synthetic food preservatives (salami, hot dogs, hams, bologna, smoked foods, etc.);
• Artificial sweetener aspartame;
• Synthetic food dyes;
• Benzopyrenes (tobacco smoke, barbequed foods, fuel exhaust, etc.);
• Alcohol;
• Household chemicals (synthetically scented and colored detergents and fabric softeners, air fresheners, mothballs, mildew removers, cleaners and bleach, lawn and plant fertilizers, etc.);
• Housewares chemicals (Teflon-style non-stick coating of pots and pans, plastic containers and linings of tin cans and other food packaging);
• Formaldehyde and styrene (photocopiers and toner printers);
• Chlorine and chloramine in treated water;
• Medical X-rays;
• UV radiation;
• Electromagnetic fields (EMF);
• Industrial pollutants.

Other factors that deplete your glutathione include:

• Poor diet – in this case glutathione has to work hard to cover for missing or insufficient antioxidants, and the lack of glutathione cofactor vitamins and minerals impairs glutathione synthesis and proper functioning;
• Overly strenuous exercise – produces a lot of free radicals within the body;
• Chronic stress, anxiety and depression;
• Light pollution which lowers glutathione levels by suppressing melatonin production at night (bedside night lights, street lights);
• Age – after the age of 20 natural glutathione production decreases at the rate of 10% per decade on average in healthy adults.
  

#3 Tip for Daily Detox: Support your body’s elimination paths. Like, poop and pee and sweat. 

Here’s how:

This may sound really basic, age-old advice from your great-grandmother is really really good: Drinks lots of water. Eat lots of veggies (and a little fruit). Get exercise. Take hot baths.

Boring? Stale? So last century?

No….ESSENTIAL!!! If you’re constipated and dehydrated, your body can’t eliminate toxins.  Unclog those pipes!

Most peeps are chronically dehydrated. I know I used to be. For years. Until I finally realized that I was not drinking nearly enough water. Sometimes I still don’t drink enough water. But I’m getting better at it.

How much water do you need? Here’s a handy calculation: take your weight in pounds, divide it by half, and drink that many ounces of water per day. So if you weigh 140 pounds, that is 70 ounces of water, which is eight and three-quarters cups.

Also, herbal teas are good. Particularly dandelion, marshmallow, licorice, ginger. And don’t forget the classic detoxifying drink – hot lemon water.

If you don’t poop at least once a day, and preferably 2 or 3 times, it’s time to loosen things up a bit as you’re getting more toxic – and staying that way — when you don’t eliminate.

Before you reach for laxatives, try morning shakes with psyllium, flax and chia seeds. Ad lots of water!

Also, eat mostly plants, as Michael Pollan says. He’s SOOOO right. Plants give you the soluble and insoluble fiber you need to make gorgeous poos.

Turmeric is good to get your bile flowing, which helps your elimination.

To sweat, you can also treat yourself to Epsom salt baths and saunas, as well as body brushing and self-massage. Luxuriate yourself with self-care!

More to come on recipes and tips for detoxing. And for now, please leave a comment – would love to hear from you and how you are feeling!

Spicy vitality… what does it mean to you? I recently sent out a survey to understand that, plus what our readers’ interests are so I can better serve you with great information. Big thanks to everyone who completed it!

I felt like a kid at Christmas unwrapping your responses. It really meant a lot to me to hear back from peeps.

Following are some of the nuggets and gems that people sent.

Spicy Vitality: Does the Concept Resonate or Not?

Overall, the phrase “spicy vitality” resonated strongly with almost everyone!

My original definition that I sent out was:

“Having physical energy to do the things you love to do, and the gusto to power you through things you have to do cheerfully. Spicy vitality is being well-grounded and comfortable in your body, and having emotional resilience and joyous involvement in life.”

When I asked if this resonated or not and why, awesome comments came in. Better than my definition

Here are just a few of them:

• “It’s a positive, fun, uplifting, happy dance kind of statement.”
• “Spicy means fun and every woman wants more vitality in her life!”
• “I like foods that are a bit spicy. Plus I think of spice as enhancing any taste. Vitality is something I want to achieve so I feel like this wording appeals to me!”
• “Spicy denotes sexy. Vitality denotes youth and vigor. Hence vigorous sexiness.”
• “It sounds like something which is delicious, good for my health, and enjoyable in every way!”
• “Indicates a love and energy for life”
• “It gives me the desire to be part of the group that has “spicy vitality”
• “It feels alive, juicy and vibrant!.. Feels Good, God, Grace.”
• “Vitality is great at any age but as I get older the concept is even more precious. Spicy just adds to the zing.”
• “Spiced sounds exotic, hot as in hot and sexy”
• “It expresses a sensual and creative vitality.”
• “Both spicy and vitality bring “vibrant” to mind.”
• “LOVE IT the term resonated immediately. Two perk words together, and alluding specifically to your brand.”
• “Spicy Vitality feels positive and uplifting. I think because both words are positive. It makes me think: “interesting,” “different,” “new experience,” a bit like trying flavorful new foods in ethnic restaurants or travel. Adventure. Well-being.”

This is exactly what spicy vitality means to me, thank you for improving the definition!

Every day, being able to wake up and live, to move forward, and to be happy and healthy is extremely important.  I am so glad that the ideas of quality living, vibrancy, sexiness, fun and happiness came across in the definition.

Another comment was that adding the word ‘spicy’ to vitality lends a precious element to life. I couldn’t agree more.  The life that we have is very precious and we should live our lives with spiciness every day.

Who wants the opposite? Bland, dull, boring….

Several readers mentioned that “spicy vitality” brings forward the idea of food as medicine and using spices and herbs instead of using pharmaceuticals.

That resonates with me, thank you!

If you read the ‘About’ section on our website, you will find that the concept of using holistic means to heal our bodies is one of the big goals of Spice Pharm.  We become our own primary care, staying healthy and avoiding big pharma where at all possible.

When we take care of our bodies using what the earth has already provided, we are engaging in that sensual and creative vitality: we are connecting with what is already designed to heal our bodies from the very core.  Here at Spice Pharm, we want you to enjoy living. To LOVE living!

A few people gave “spicy vitality” the thumbs-down.

They thought the words didn’t go together, had too many syllables or equated the term with hot spicy food they don’t like.

I understand and appreciate your point of view.

For only two words, that is a lot of syllables!

And I know people who don’t like hot peppers or the kind of spicy that scorches your taste buds.

But there’s also nutmeg, cinnamon, cumin, cardamom, coriander, garlic…Golden Goddess Chai and Chocolate Elixirs… Golden Goddess Turmeric Tea….

Spicy doesn’t have to sear your mouth! Spicy can be enlivening without the burn!

And spicy has become a metaphor in our language. As I’m hopelessly mono-lingual, does anyone know if “spicy” in other languages has so many meanings as it does in English? Please contact me, I would love to know!

How often do you feel spicy vitality?

I’m happy to see the majority of folks feel spicy vitality at least sometimes or often. A few lucky peeps are almost always there! The answers here were:

Never (0%)	11.10%
Rarely (1-25%)	18.50%
Sometimes (26%-50%)	31.50%
Often (51%-75%)	31.50%
Almost always (76%-100%)	7.40%

I confess to be in the “often” category, and aspire to “almost always.” I’m on an upward trend and expect to get there this year!

But I remember the days when I was burned out and fatigued, so I empathize and sympathize with you who said “rarely” or “never.”

Hopefully I can provide you with inspiration to feel better in the coming year…and…. I have some new energy products in the pipeline! Stay tuned for more on those later this year!

What gets in your way of feeling spicy vitality?

Oh, the stresses of life. The reasons that we aren’t feeling that wonderful spicy vitality… In today’s world, there are definitely common factors that keep people in the doldrums.

There were some very poignant answers to this. We all face so many challenges and share common humanity. Do any of these sound familiar to you?

• “Too many demands/too little sleep or down time”
• “Physical/mental limitations acquired over a lifetime”
• “Not having time to eat well, not getting good, restful sleep, not spending enough time walking, dancing, and playing outside.”
• “Lack of energy due to stress from work and from the political environment.”
• “The separation and feeling of an absence of Love…pretty much”

I know I’ve felt them all.

Rolling up the responses into categories, the top draining issues emerged as:

• Work/demanding schedule
• Anxiety/stress/fear
• Tired/fatigue
• Pain/joint/back/arthritis
• Politics/state of the world

These issues feed other issues that were mentioned:

• Lack of sleep
• Lack of nutrition and time to eat well
• Lack of exercise
• Excess weight

So know that you are not alone.

We’re in this together. We’ll get through it and dance and feel joy along the way.

While life gets in the way, we need to learn to spend more time on self-care. Even little things like a hot bath, a kind thought, talking a walk, breathing deeply, helping someone… they can all add up in big ways.

This is another reason why I created Spice Pharm.

It started as part of my own self-care from grueling work schedules, sleeplessness and fatigue. I started tapping the wisdom of nature and using herbs and spices to help rejuvenate and repair my body, when it was crashing.  We need to take care of our bodies and souls so that we can live life to the fullest.

Finally, what topics interest you the most?

I was all ears for these responses!  This will guide my efforts this year!

1. Less fatigue/more energy: As I’ve pulled myself out of Stage 3 adrenal fatigue, metabolic syndrome and debilitating joint pain, this is a topic I’m quite familiar with. I look forward to sharing about this in future posts.

2. Food as medicine: Recipes: OMG, this is a topic I love. Expect lots more recipes in the coming year!

3. Improving digestion: This really important as we live in a society that thrives on preserved, sugar filled junk foods. And we’re assaulted by GMOs and pesticides from every direction.  When we eat these consistently, it messes with the good fauna in our stomach – our microbiome. Also, Ayurvedic medicine has some great wisdom to share here.

4. Food as medicine: Science: OMG, another topic I can geek on. So glad you love it too!

5. Natural alternatives to pharmaceuticals: If you’ve read the ‘About’ section on Spice Pharm, you know that this is a large part of what we do here. Our products help with stress reduction, pain management, inflammation, weight loss, and other aspects of health.

Other notable topics of interest are:

• Tips for getting better sleep
• How to lose weight
• Ways to relieve joint/back pain
• Brain health
• Reducing stress
• Beating anxiety and depression without meds
• Pain relief

And the top write-in topic was how to maintain libido! Yes, let’s keep it sexy and fun. Check out this blog on ashwagandha for some initial ideas.

So there you have it everyone.

I really appreciate all of the feedback and wanted to share the results of what you told me.

Also, thank you to everyone that provided constructive criticism on the branding and the term “spicy vitality.” It gives me the feedback I need to always keep improving and to always grow and progress.

If you didn’t answer the survey, or if you want to add additional thoughts — please leave a comment below! Thanks!

Keep watching for new updates and blog posts, and let’s keep in touch.

All the best,

Kitty