Body Detoxification System: Your Body's Way of Getting Rid of Toxins
Whenever you hear about body detoxification or detox, the first things that come to mind are diets, herbs, and other detox programs designed to cleanse the body. But these programs enhance the detox process that is already taking place in the body. Did you know that your body has its own means to get rid of toxins accumulated in it? Yes, the body can detoxify by itself.
Defined as the process of eliminating toxic chemicals from the body, detox is a complicated process performed through the liver, skin, kidney, lungs, and intestinal tract. The intestinal tract releases toxins and solid waste through the feces, while the skin and kidneys get rid of heavy metals such as lead and mercury through sweat and urine, respectively. Skin rashes are a sign that your body is trying to flush out harmful toxins. For their part, the lungs remove toxic gases from the blood, which are released when a person exhales. All these body detox systems work hand in hand to ensure that the body is freed of as much toxins as possible to prevent health problems in the future.
How do the body's detox systems work? The toxins that go into the body via the digestive system are absorbed. Then the toxins go into the blood stream. Before reaching other organs in the body, toxins pass through the liver. The liver then gets some of the toxins and neutralizes them before releasing them through the kidneys and bile.
The toxins that are not collected by the liver go to the major blood stream where they are transported to different organs in the body. Water-soluble toxins are typically removed through the kidneys, while fat-soluble toxins do not pass through the kidneys. Instead, fat-soluble toxins are captured again by the liver to be eliminated from the body. Obviously, the liver is the main organ responsible for the detoxification process in the body. When this organ fails, your body is bound to suffer from multiple health problems. It happens because toxins are not filtered correctly by the liver, so the overall health suffers. The same effect takes place when the kidneys, lungs, or the skin are damaged and cannot perform their detoxification duties.
Help your liver, kidneys, skin, and intestinal tract do a better job at body detoxification by using a detox program. Make sure your diet is full of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and bioflavonoids so that the different organs of your body can wash out harmful toxins and help maintain good health.