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AAPI’S NUTRITION GUIDE TO OPTIMAL HEALTH: USING PRINCIPLES OF FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE AND NUTRITIONAL GENOMICS
8
Detoxification
Diana Noland,
MPH, RD, CCN
Continuing the theme of this book, it is important to
include a chapter on the subject of detoxification.
Realizing how much the food you eat makes a
difference in how your body maintains a ‚clean‛
vibrant state of health, it empowers you to take a
proactive role with your health and help prevent
and/or manage chronic disease. Health of all living
organisms depends on having the ability to efficiently
detoxify. Detoxification is the metabolic process by
which the waste products our body produces on a
daily basis, and the environmental poisons or toxins
we are exposed to, are bio-transformed and
eliminated from our body. For our bodies to have
good ‚detoxifying ability,‛ we must have three key
factors in place: eating a detoxifying diet, optimum
gastrointestinal health, and sleep and a healthy
lifestyle i .
Food is the most powerful medicine available to
deter and heal chronic disease. Chronic disease is
projected to account for over 50 million deaths and
cost the global economy $47 trillion by 2030. All
you need to do is eat your medicine and think of
your grocery store and your meals as your
pharmacy ii . Fortunately, the Asian-Indian cuisine has
some of the best detoxifying foods and herbs known.
By eating the whole-foods, traditional foods of the
Asian-Indian diet, one can support detoxification in
an excellent way.
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The question may arise, what is the benefit of
helping your body detoxify?
First, in the past decade there has been a rapidly
emerging awareness in public health and medicine
that the increasing environmental toxin exposures to
human, animal and plants on the earth are being
identified as disruptors of our metabolism. These
disruptions affect primarily the immune and
neurological systems. These toxic effects are being
recognized as significantly contributing to the
development of chronic disease. For example, the
toxin dioxin is strongly associated with risk of
developing diabetes iii, iv
and cardiovascular v
disease,
and toxic lead with hypertension and cardiovascular
disease vi
. For all of us to be able to prevent
developing the chronic diseases of heart disease,
cancer, neurological, autoimmune, diabetes, and
others, each person would benefit from ensuring the
food they eat includes those that assist detoxification.
Secondly, it is important to realize that the human
body is capable of eliminating most toxins via their
stools, urine, outbreath, and sweat. The toxins are
constantly being processed primarily by our liver –an
amazing organ that filters our blood every two
minutes to process toxins in preparation for
elimination. Our bodies are made for detoxifying IF
they have the right materials available (the materials
are primarily NUTRIENTS from food). When you find
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