The party’s over: For all those in favour of a detox, say ‘I’.

By Guy Lawrence

It’s that time of year again when new years resolutions will soon been made, and soon be broken. The festive season has a great habit of magnifying unhealthy self-indulgence, with a limp commitment in the New Year to resolve it. And being the non-committal person that I am, I thought putting it out there on the blog would help me see any commitments through!

Naturally, the one resolution that is more than popular at the beginning of a new year is the detox. So when is there a better time to say you are going to follow through with something right?So yes, I’m going to be embarking on a 6 week detox with the help of a naturopath and metagenics, as I track it through my blog. So if any one has the urge to join me, feel free.

I’ve decided to detox, so what now?

Things that spring to mind:

Pharmaceutical companies and chemists will be rubbing their hands together with the amount of different detox formulas on the shelves right now, all promising you to help shed a few kilos and clean you out quicker than the tax man. So assuming most of us are indeed in need of a detox (I believe that we are), there are a few questions that i’m thinking:

Is walking into your local chemist really going to help?

When you read the label they’d have you believe that in 10 days you’ll be leaping out of bed on 4hrs sleep and practically levitating, which really makes me think, is months or years of neglect really going to be fixed in a week or two?

And does one size fit all so to speak?

If I’m due for a detox, how do I measure it?

How toxic am I?

Should I be nervous?

Maybe I have got all sorts of foreign “nasties” or bad things swimming around inside of me!

Surely a point of reference is needed then?

I consider myself some one who lives a pretty healthy life style, so in my case, it’s not a question of giving up my Friday night Indian take away and beer for a few weeks,  as these things are not part of my life style.

After some due diligence on the topic, I thought it would be best to seek a professional’s opinion, so I caught up with friend and Naturopath Tania Flack, who kindly put me through a few simple tests to see how toxic I really am, which included a Urinary Indicans test, which is used to identify toxicity, including the overgrowth of gut bacteria.

My test results came up pretty shabby to say the least.

I also had a live blood analysis, where you can see a lot more of what’s going on and are able to screen for signs of inflammation and toxicity before a detox, this way we know what we’re dealing with and are able to repeat the process at the end of the detox to make sure you have got the results you need.

Here’s an example of the blood screen shots and results:

So all in all and to cut a long story short, my “gut” needs a clean out, as I am not completely absorbing micro nutrients effectively at the moment, and my blood is coming up short with Iron and B12.
Now this has really got me interested, as I’m someone who’s fairly diligent with what I eat. But there are a few theories why I’m coming up short:

There is an increased demand for these nutrients as occurs in pregnancy, lactation, growth, the elderly, athletes and vegetarians. I think I can rule out the lactation or pregnancy side of things, but I’m someone who usually trains 6 times a week and sometimes twice a day.
My bacteria in the gut is bad. Which means that even if I am due diligent and eating well, I won’t be absorbing the nutrients efficiently and some will pass through my body and leave unused.
But I’m also someone who loves my coffee, which can reduce the absorption of iron and zinc by up to 50%(and traditional black tea).

I will also measure my body fat % and muscle mass, and note the changes over the 6 weeks.

So what now?

I’m about to embark on a detox through the use of a controlled diet and Metagenics. It’s not quit a journey into the unknown, but it’s going to be a 6-week journey never the less! No caffeine, no alcohol. Just Metagenics along with good clean food and living baby!

And it is going to look something like this. 3 stages broken into 2 weeks each with the prescribed Metagenics.

Stage 1/ Clear the bad bacteria from the gut

Stage 2/ Seal the lining of the gut and recolonise the gut (enhances absorption)

Stage3/ Detox the liver

I’ve been told to brace myself a little, especially in the first two weeks, as some pretty interesting and funky things maybe vacating the premises. I was also reassured that if you have a background of travel and experiencing different cultures etc. it’s pretty much a guarantee. But if this is the case, I’m happy for all unwelcome visitors to leave in a swift manner.

If your interested in doing the detox yourself in the new year, then we would love to here from you with comments on the blog or drop us an email with any questions, or if you want to learn more about a detox, check out Tania’s post here, or you can contact her directly here. Even if you were to cut out processed foods and stimulants (coffee, alcohol etc) for the duration, you would be doing your body a great service.

I think it will be interesting to see how the body is after 6 weeks of clean living. I am officially going to start January the 10th, 2011, and over the coming days and weeks, i’ll go into the do’s and don’ts in what i’m doing in greater depth.

So what will happen during the detox? We’ll have to wait and see. But I’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Brought to you by 180 nutrition