Detox — the quick-fix solution to health isn’t a ‘detox’. So what are the risks? And what are the pitfalls to your health?
As we all know, beauty starts from within. If you're feeling sluggish, suffering from rashes, unexplained headaches, or even if you're finding it difficult to lose weight, this is your body telling you it needs to take a break. But where do you go for advice?
Popular detox diets promise to flush poisons from your body, purge pounds of excess fat, clear your complexion and bolster your immune system. But experts say there's little evidence that any form of detox, mild or extreme, can do anything more than lead to unpleasant, unhealthy side effects.
The idea of detoxifying or purifying the body of harmful substances has been around for centuries and is a now constant feature on TV, in newspapers and in magazines. There is also an avalanche of books each year professing to have discovered the Holy Grail, whereby you can detox your way to a healthy life-style.
So let’s take a look at the advice that’s offered, and examine the potential damage you may be doing to your body. Naturopaths, dieticians, psychologists, slimming clinics, life-style coachs, eating disorder specialists, homeopaths. colonic irrigationists, herbalists, food intolerance testing, Ayurvedic gurus, traditional Chinese medicine, nutritionists, chelation therapists, neurotherapists, spa treatments, mercury detox, fasting . . . The list is endless, and growing. So which specialism has discovered the Holy Grail of detoxing? And how would a Field Control Therapy practitioner address the problem?
There is no doubt that a healthy diet and a healthy lifestyle are integral parts of any detoxification process. But these things alone are rarely enough to experience life-long good health. The word detox implies the removal – either real or perceived – of toxins from the body. Popular methods tend to involve the cleansing of liver, kidneys and colon, together with dieting or fasting. Some therapists also recommend chelation (either pharmaceutical, or herbal), and the removal of dental amalgam fillings.
Fasting
Fasting for more than very short periods can be damaging to the body. It is not a healthy weight loss tool since it causes your body’s metabolic rate to slow down, leading to increased weight gain after the fasting period. The same is true of low calorie, high fibre diets. Proponents of such diets assert that the liver has a chance to rest, but if anything, fasting overworks the liver, since it has to deal with the toxins of fasting itself. The body’s ongoing need for nutrition is met by glycogen, which is stored in the liver (and in muscles and red blood cells). During a fast, the blood sugar drops. Blood sugar levels are maintained during the first few hours by the stores of glycogen in the liver. As fasting continues, and these stores are used up, the body starts to break down proteins and fats, releasing the by-products of ammonia and urea. Rather than cleansing the system, fasting produces more toxic waste for the body to deal with. It is well established that heavy metals and xenobiotics are laid down in the fatty tissue of the body. Increased levels of circulating toxicity occur as a result of the release of these ‘by-products’ too. As proteins are broken down, there is a loss of lean muscle mass, and a corresponding decrease in the number of mitochondria (the power house of the cell), which provide us with energy.
Fasting also results in the rapid loss of water, and sodium and potassium, which explains the light-headedness and increased risk of fainting. Severe cases of potassium depletion can cause a heart arrhythmia. Fasting is at best dangerous, and at worst it can be fatal.
Liver cleansing
Many will have heard about the famous liver and gall bladder flush, made popular in recent years by the late Andreas Mortiz. The principle behind this cleanse is that exclusion of dietary fat for a day allows the bile to build up in the liver and gall bladder, so that when Epsom Salts dilate the tracts in the liver, drinking 4 oz of olive oil causes a deluge of stored bile to push out the stones and fatty deposits from the liver. The liver is the major detoxification organ in the body. It can contain many chemicals and heavy metals, since these tend to be laid down in fatty tissue. The release of fatty deposits and stones into the small intestine during the flush can result in the distribution of toxicity round the body. In addition to toxin release, worms and parasites can be released into the gut also.
Colon cleansing
Many people think of colon irrigation as the best way to cleanse the colon of unwanted toxins, pathogens and stagnant faeces. Is it helpful, or harmful? Certainly, a toxic colon can be the underlying cause of many chronic health complaints, such as allergies, IBS, arthritis and constipation. But, the fact is that colonic irrigation does carry some risks: it can increase your risk of dehydration; it can lead to bowel perforations, which can be fatal; it can increase the risk of infection, and; it can cause imbalances in sodium and potassium, which can be dangerous in cases of kidney disease. However, more fundamental to colon health, is the presence of hundreds of species of healthy gut bacteria, which are, to a large degree, eliminated during colonic irrigation. Though therapists would recommend either oral probiotics, or a probiotic ‘implant’ following irrigation, the number of species in the capsules does not normally exceed half a dozen, if that. A huge part of the immune system involves the gut. There is a very complex ecosystem in the colon, without which we would not be able to manufacture and absorb vital minerals and vitamins. It can take years for a healthy population of gut flora to develop, as anyone who has taken many courses of antibiotics will know.
Parasite cleanses
Parasitosis can cause a myriad of health problems, and so it is no surprise that parasite cleanses remain a popular option for those seeking an alternative remedy for their chronic ailments. In addition, allopathic medicine uses pharmaceutical agents in an attempt to destroy worms and parasites detected in the gut following stool analysis. Whether the medication is pharmaceutical or herbal, results can be unpredictable. In the case of prescription medicines, the treatment is often deemed successful if no trace of parasites, or worm eggs are found in the subsequent stool analysis. Infection often recurs; this must lead us to question whether or not the parasitosis was cured in the first instance.
A further problem is that many worms and parasites have become resistant to chemotherapeutic agents. There have been reports of anaphylaxis, following conventional antihelminthic treatment (worming medication); this is almost certainly a reaction to the massive release of toxins as larger worms die, in combination with the drug itself. Since the immune system may already be hypersensitive because of the parasitosis, a deluge of toxicity can provoke a serious allergic reaction.
The use of herbs is not necessarily a quick fix either. Some herbs, if toxic to worms, can be toxic to humans, and there is the same issue of resistance. Regarding the use of herbs, the presence of herbicides and pesticides obviously increases the toxic burden, and the use of inorganic herbs is not necessarily without risk; some herbs and roots contain funguses, spores and mycotoxins, particularly if they have been harvested or stored in damp conditions.
Some people experience severe ‘detox’ symptoms and this is as a result of the release of toxins and smaller pathogens. Recurring parasitosis can also be an indication that the body’s immune system isn’t operating optimally, and so leaves the body open to re-infection. As has been mentioned elsewhere on this website, a ‘one dose suits all’ mentality can be dangerous. Each of us has a different capacity to destroy these smaller pathogens and excrete any toxins released when the worms die. But, potentially even more dangerous is the fact that the worms and parasites can ‘go into hiding’ in an attempt to escape the effect of the therapy . . . and they often do, invading the liver, the lungs, or even the brain.
For more information click here, Herbicides and pesticides and Parasites
Kidney cleansing
Kidney cleanses vary in their approach and are often marketed to those who have reduced kidney function. Although the individual components of a kidney cleanse may imply various health benefits, there's no scientific evidence to support their use in cleansing the kidneys or preventing kidney stones. Proponents of kidney cleanses suggest that these approaches enhance the detoxification aspect of kidney function, but there is little scientific data in support of these claims. The cleanses are often a mixture of herbs, foods and vitamins, although some cleanses are simple, for example ‘The Watermelon Cleanse’, which can, in fact, be dangerous for those with poor kidney function.
Other than its role in excretion of waste metabolic products, and heavy metals and chemicals from the body, one of the functions of the kidney is to balance the levels of sodium and potassium in the body. During ‘The Watermelon Cleanse’, one eats an entire watermelon and drinks a gallon of water over a 24 hour period. Watermelon is very high in potassium and the resulting excess can cause heart arrhythmias, or even heart attacks. In 2004, Hulda Clark introduced an herbal kidney cleansing tea. Although she died in 2009, her name is still used to promote this product. There was no information as to the potassium or phosphorus content of her herbal cleansing product, so kidney patients could not tell whether this product was safe. Clark received warnings letters from the FDA and was sued repeatedly by patients.
Chelation
What is chelation? The word is derived from the Greek work for claw, and refers to methods which ’claw’ heavy metals from tissues of the body, in the hope that they will be excreted. Chelation methods can involve the use of chemicals such as EDTA, or herbs, such as spirulina. The main disadvantage of chelation is the lack of control the therapist has in terms of the redistribution, or excretion, of the metals. Although there is no doubt that the chelating agent can draw the metals out of the tissues, from there the fate of any circulating toxins is completely unpredictable. If the kidneys or colon are not able to excrete the metal complexes, they simply circulate within the body until they settle into the tissues again, sometimes with devastating effects, especially if the brain or heart tissue absorbs metals, such as mercury.
Dental amalgam removal
For some with chronic health conditions, amalgam removal may be at the top of their list of priorities. But, extreme caution should be exercised. If the mercury which is leaking from the fillings has caused a serious health condition, how much more mercury is going to be released into the body during removal? In their endeavour to ‘get rid of that mercury as soon as possible’, such patients are almost certainly laying themselves open to danger if they have many fillings replaced within a very short space of time, without adequate support for the body’s excretion process.
For further information go to Safe amalgam removal section.
Is Field Control Therapy some kind of ‘detox’?
Strictly speaking, it does prompt the body to rid itself of toxic agents and pathogens, but not in the same way as the methods mentioned above.
The body is a living system, and by virtue of this fact it is a complex, open, and dynamic system. For this reason, there is no such thing as a one-cleanse-cures-all. The very essence of the Field Control Therapy Bio-resonance testing system is that it tests, individually, each patient, at ‘that’ moment. The result of this testing procedure aims to determine which organs and tissues are weak, and which are toxic, which toxins and pathogens are where, and above all, it prioitises the order of treatment, and the potency of each remedy that is needed. It simply gives an energetic instruction, which lies within the capability of the patient’s body, to excrete a particular toxin. Off-the-shelf recipes simply offer a collection of chemicals, whether plant-based, or chemically-based, which will exert an effect with unknown outcome.
With regard to diet, Field Control Therapy practitioners encourage a diet which is free of sugars and junk-food. The liver, the colon and the kidneys are organs which are involved with detoxification and elimination, and so are supported as necessary during treatment. As toxins are shed from the tissues, the treatment regime provides successive support (and protection from the ingress of circulating toxins) to the various tissues and organs as determined by the individualised testing procedure. In this way, the toxins and pathogens leave the body with minimal disturbance to the well-being of the patient. Detoxification is carried out at a rate that is appropriate to each individual patient.
Parasitosis is treated in the same way as any other infection. Field Control Therapy provides a stimulus for the body to excrete any toxins and pathogens at the body’s preferred rate, whilst the FCT homeopathic remedies aim to protect vulnerable and weak organs. The fundamental difference between Field Control Therapy and other methods is that the remedy does not kill the parasite, it simply instructs the body’s immune system - in the way that only it knows how - to kill and excrete the invaders. Each treatment is specific to that patient.
Chelation is generally regarded as dangerous, but Field Control Therapy addresses the issue of heavy metals in the same way it does toxins and pathogens in general: they are removed in the way that the body chooses, in its wisdom, and with minimal side-effects. Field Control Therapy also aims to address the damage to tissues caused by previous chelation, in just the same manner.
There is no doubt that dental amalgams give off mercury vapour 24/7 from the mouths of those who have metal fillings. Within a few seconds, this toxic vapour has reached the brain via the olfactory nerve at the top of the nose. The vapour also enters the lungs, from where it is distributed round the body via the bloodstream. For this reason Field Control Therapy practitioners recommend that their patients have their amalgams removed, in stages, at the appropriate time. The timing of replacement is determined by the overall ability of the body to withstand further, though temporary, intoxication as the amalgams are removed. During removal and replacement, the patient has remedial treatment to expedite the excretion of the mercury from the body.
Although there is no calorie restriction per se, it is not uncommon for overweight patients to lose weight along the way. This can be as a result of various things. Toxicity can cause weight gain due to fluid retention – after all, ‘the solution to pollution is dilution’ in the various tissues. As lymph becomes less stagnant and excretion improves, overweight patients can shed pounds. Other reasons for weight loss may be due to improved hormonal balance, or improved gastrointestinal health. Conversely, patients who are underweight may gain weight as a result of improved digestion, removal of parasites and worms, and improved hormonal balance. When the body is restored to health, energy and the feeling of well-being always improves. These are our birthright.
It is said that the benefits of ‘detoxing’ are: improved energy; clearer skin; regular bowel movements; improved digestion; and increased concentration and clarity. There is no doubt that the most comprehensive, and safest, way to undergo detoxification is through Field Control Therapy, which overhauls every system in the body.