GAPS: The Detoxification Portion
The final portion of the GAPS protocol is working through detoxing your body. Many people probably don’t realize how many toxins they are exposed to each day. Some of them can’t be helped, but many can. Examples are:
Food – Conventional food is grown using pesticides and herbicides. Many species are also crossbred (hybrids) to form a “super variety”. The animals are fed antibiotics, growth hormones/steroids, and eat feed just as chemically processed.
Personal Care Products – A 2004 survey conducted by EWG’s Skin Deep revealed the average adult used 9 products per day containing up to 126 different chemicals. Many of those chemicals are known carcinogens and “known or probable reproductive and developmental toxins, linked to impaired fertility or developmental harm for a baby in the womb or a child.”
Cleaning Products – The very things we use to “clean” our homes, offices, etc. also contain numerous chemicals found to be harmful. Fragrances are a huge contributor to respiratory type issues, watery eyes, and sneezing. Many cases of chemical poisoning are contributing to household cleaners. Various others contain hormone disruptors.
Building Materials – Current day society wants the most bang for their buck. So, when something new is bought it’s expected to last forever, be safe, and cost-effective. How do manufacturers make that happen? Everything gets treated with preservatives, fire retardants, formaldehyde, and a whole host of other things that create off-gas, which we then breathe in. New homes/building structures can send someone with severe leaky gut into a toxic overload.
The CDC published this article pertaining to chemicals in the workplace. These areas are the most affected: Food Service, Cosmetology, Health Care, Agriculture, Cleaning, Painting, Mechanics, Printing/lithography, Construction.
The Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) book says this:
When the body is bombarded with toxins it must work extra hard. They can cause developmental delays, mental illnesses, and manifest themselves in a way that causes the body to attack itself. In a body with gut dysbiosis (leaky gut) many toxins end up crossing the blood-brain barrier and settling in the brain.
While it’s hard to completely avoid chemicals, there are things that can help minimize exposure. Following Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride’s GAPS Protocol will help heal and seal the leaky gut. The nutrition portion and supplementation portion will do wonders; however, another step is needed: Detoxing and reducing the general toxic load put on the body.
Detoxification System
There are a few ways the body naturally detoxes. In Dr. Campbell-McBride’s clinical studies she’s found her GAPS patients struggle to detox. Mainly because their body is deficient in certain nutrients needed to complete the process. These deficiencies can include: zinc, magnesium, selenium, molybdenum, trace minerals, enzymes, amino acids, and essential fats (omega’s 3,6,9).
Because the body cannot keep up with detoxing; it stores the toxins in various parts to deal with later. As a result, her patients usually test positive for heavy metals, petrochemicals, and other toxins. Furthermore, she states:
“Unfortunately, a lot of these chemicals have an affinity for fats and therefore get stored in body fats. A human brain and the rest of the nervous system have a very high proportion of fats in their tissues and become storage sites for these toxins. A brain clogged with toxicity cannot develop or function well.”
Thankfully there are things we can do to help the body detox. The GAPS book has an entire chapter outlining different ways to detox and how they work. Here are some highlights!
Juicing
Quite possibly the tastiest way to detox! Juicing fruits, vegetables, and herbs provides a very concentrated amount of nutrition in large quantity. Dr. Campbell-McBride talks about these benefits in her GAPS book:
~ Juicing removes the fiber, which can impair absorption of nutrients, and typically irritates a damaged gut
~ It takes very little work for the digestive system to digest the juices and they are absorbed within 20-25 minutes
~ Drinking at least 2 cups of fresh-pressed juice per day can provide several vitamins and nutrients a person with gut dysbiosis is deficient in
When juicing aim for 50% tasty (fruits) and 50% therapeutic (greens/vegetables/herbs). Drink them on an empty stomach about 20-25 minutes before consuming food and/or 2.5 hours after eating. This allows maximum absorption. It’s important to remember juicing does not replace the need to eat vegetables and fruits in their raw/cooked form.
Several GAPS recipe books have different juicing suggestions. Each fruit and vegetable has different vitamins, minerals, and nutrients; so keep rotating your selections and mix it up.
Store bought juices are not the same as freshly pressed juices! Many brands contain preservatives, natural flavors, added sugars and/or have been processed and pasteurized, which destroys nutrients. It’s also more beneficial to drink fresh-pressed juice right away to prevent oxidization, which also depletes nutrients.
Baths
Nightly baths can help release toxins through the skin. Dr. Campbell-McBride suggests rotating between raw apple cider vinegar, baking soda, and seaweed powder. Those will help normalize the pH of the skin and encourage good skin flora. In between the previous list, use Epsom salt. For example: raw apple cider vinegar, Epsom salt, baking soda, Epsom salt, etc…
Look for products that contain no fragrances or added ingredients. Ideally, these baths would be taken before bed, so you can rest right after, allowing the body to detox. Adults can try 1 cup of each item listed; decreasing as needed for children.
Personal Care Products
Most of these types of products are applied directly to the skin, which can absorb approximately 60%. From there they can enter the bloodstream. The Environmental Working Group has an excellent database called Skin Deep. You can find Quick Tips for Safer Cosmetics, Myths on Cosmetic Safety, and my all-time favorite – search a list of over 70K products and/or ingredients to see how it’s rated and any potential health concerns. Some of their categories include Makeup, Baby, Nails, Hair Care, Skin Care, Fragrance, Oral Care, & Men’s.
This is an industry not generally regulated – meaning manufacturers can put whatever ingredients they want in a product and sometimes not even list them on the labels. Many used to believe the skin acted as a barrier; however, that has been disproven. More pharmaceutical companies are creating drugs delivered in the form of a skin patch because it’s proven more effective.
Reducing the number of harmful chemicals applied directly to the skin greatly reduces the amount of stress put on the body. It also allows the body to focus on detoxing what’s already stored instead of finding new places to store additional toxins.
Cleaning Products
According to the Organic Consumer Organization “Cleaning ingredients vary in the type of health hazard they pose. Some cause acute, or immediate, hazards such as skin or respiratory irritation, watery eyes, or chemical burns, while others are associated with chronic, or long-term, effects such as cancer.”
In the last few years, several companies have come out with all-natural and/or bio-degradable household cleaning supplies. Many things around the house can be cleaned simply using water, vinegar, baking soda, and other common ingredients.
The EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning is a great resource to look up common cleaning products and/or ingredients. The products are rated on a scale from A being the best to F being the worst. Their list of top products by category can be found here.
Chelation
A new therapy within the past few years has emerged called chelation therapy. According to Web MD this therapy ” is a chemical process in which a synthetic solution-EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid)-is injected into the bloodstream to remove heavy metals and/or minerals from the body. Chelation means “to grab” or “to bind.” When EDTA is injected into the veins, it “grabs” heavy metals and minerals such as lead, mercury, copper, iron, arsenic, aluminum, and calcium and removes them from the body. Except as a treatment for lead poisoning, chelation therapy is controversial and unproved.”
Dr. Campbell-McBride states she “has grave concerns” about this and the type of drugs used to complete the therapy. She lists 7 known problems with chelation therapy in her book. A drug is a drug and using one to withdraw the other seems counterintuitive.
It may seem time-consuming and overwhelming to think about, let alone start looking at, the various products you use personally or in the house. Once you start it will become easier and you’ll find favorite brands or places to look. Here are some tips I’ve found helpful:
~ Pick one area and/or one product to focus on at a time.
~ Use the EWG links provided above to look for alternatives.
~ Take the time to read labels. Just because a product is labeled “Natural” doesn’t mean its void of harmful chemicals/fragrances!
~ Research online! A few bloggers I trust are the healthy home economist and Wellness Mama.
To learn about my experience with personal care products read here.
Happy Detoxing!
