5 Nutrients to Support Healthy Detox

Short Read

Your body is constantly exposed to toxins from both internal and external sources. The body has natural mechanisms to help detox - that is, to neutralize and eliminate toxins. However, without adequate nutritional support those natural detox mechanisms can become depleted and overwhelmed leaving the body vulnerable leading to disease and premature aging.

• Exposure to toxins is unavoidable
• Some toxins come from your surroundings while others are produced internally
• Your body has natural systems in place to deal with toxins appropriately
• Natural detox systems can be overwhelmed if they aren't properly supported
• There are key nutrients that can help your body's natural detox systems run more efficiently

Tell Me More About Healthy Detox!

Before we get started, I want to make something very clear: 

When people talk about detox, it tends to be the "2 week cleanse" type of detox where you try to clean out your body over a short period of time. 

This is not the type of detox I am talking about, or recommending. 

Instead - I want you to think about how you work to support your body over the long term - helping it handle the detoxification processes that occur all day and every day of your life - not just for a couple weeks at the start of a new year.

Daily Exposure to Toxins

You are probably aware that there are unavoidable toxins in our air, food, and water that the body needs to be able to handle in order to avoid health problems. Even medications need to undergo detoxification to avoid accumulating and causing toxicity. It’s best to limit your exposure to environmental toxins, but inevitably some will get into the system where they need to be neutralized and eliminated before they cause damage to your cells, tissues, and organs.^2–7

But did you know even if you were able to completely avoid environmental toxins, your body constantly creates its own waste products that continuously need to be neutralized and removed from the cells and bloodstream?

Eliminating Toxins Naturally (Natural Detox)

Your body neutralizes and removes toxins by filtering blood through your liver where enzymes and antioxidants convert waste products into forms that can be more easily excreted from the body.  This is a vital function because waste products from cellular metabolism, such as free radicals, can cause inflammation and damage to lipids, proteins, and DNA when they are not neutralized or removed.¹

Your skin and the cells that line your lungs and gastro-intestinal tract also work diligently with your immune system and beneficial bacteria to protect your body from environmental toxins.

5 Nutrients Essential for Detox

^{Proprietary Blend} supplements contain a wide variety of nutrients that are known to help neutralize free radicals and increase elimination of waste products and toxins through a variety of mechanisms. 

1.) Acetylcysteine (N-acetyl-l-cysteine / NAC)

Acetylcysteine is a naturally occurring sulfur-containing amino acid vital for production of one of the most essential cellular detoxifying antioxidants, glutathione.^8–10 Glutathione levels can be depleted by medications, toxins, some diseases, and nutrient-poor diets, resulting in cellular stress.^8,11–13 

NAC is the safest and most effective remedy to restore cellular levels of glutathione.^10,13–16  NAC is found in all Proprietary Blend products, but the highest dose is found in ImmuneHealth. Natural dietary sources include foods like garlic, broccoli, onion, and oats.

2.) Hydroxytyrosol

Hydroxytyrosol from olives can actually help turn on cellular antioxidant systems by increasing the expression of intrinsic antioxidants like MnSOD.²⁰ These antioxidant pathways are vital for helping cells neutralize free-radicals generated by metabolic processes in the mitochondria, keeping the cells healthy. Hydroxytyrosol from olive leaf extract is found in all McCord Research Olivamine^® products, but the highest dose is found in ImmuneHealth.

3.) Dietary Fiber

Dietary fiber can act like a sponge in the intestines, soaking up toxins and waste products so they can be eliminated instead of absorbed into the blood stream.^25–30 It also helps to support beneficial bacteria that help to metabolize toxins and nutrients before they enter your blood stream, while improving intestinal health, digestion, and waste elimination.^31,32 You can easily boost your dietary fiber intake and support healthy intestinal bacteria with Proprietary Blend DigestiveHealth that provides 11 grams of soluble prebiotic fiber per serving.

4.) Sulforaphane

Sulforaphane is a naturally occurring antioxidant found in foods like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and other cruciferous vegetables.  Sulforaphane has been shown to help support your body’s natural detoxification pathways by increasing the activity of metabolic enzymes in the liver.^17,18 It has also been shown to protect the cells that line the stomach and decrease the permeability, potentially reducing absorption of potentially harmful compounds.¹⁹ Sulforaphane is included in Proprietary Blend BrainHealth, and JointHealth.

5.) Additional Antioxidants

Antioxidants like EGCG from green tea, curcumin from turmeric, and resveratrol from grapevines can also help to neutralize free radicals, reduce inflammation, and protect cells from damage.^21–24 These types of antioxidants have numerous effects throughout the body that help to additionally support the detoxification and elimination processes. EGCG, resveratrol and curcumin are found in several Proprietary Blend supplements while including BrainHealth, CalmMind, SleepHealth, and JointHealth.

Increased work = Increased Waste

Sometimes your cells have to work much harder than normal, such as during strenuous exercise or when you are sick or have chronic diseases.  When the cells work harder the metabolic processes are sped up and they subsequently produce waste more quickly.

The increased production of waste products means your body requires even more support for free radical neutralization and detoxification.

Basically, when your body (and cells) are working harder you need to be more diligent in providing them with the proper nutrients to keep them healthy and working efficiently.

No matter your age or health status, you need to take care of your body by supporting it’s natural “filters” and detoxifying pathways. The best way to do this is by incorporating a healthy diet along with target nutritional support with dietary supplements such as Proprietary Blend ImmuneHealth, DigestiveHealth, and MultiVitamin.

References

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