Detoxification is an inherent capability of our body and part of the essential bodily functions that take place 24 hours a day and 365 days a week! In modern times, we come across multiple foreign materials that enter our bodies through the food chain or through a highly polluted environment.
On top of this, should your body’s digestive system is compromised, your ability to absorb nutrients from food is also reduced. This increases the “total body load”, affecting the body’s natural detoxification process, and also results in toxin build-up in the body.
Toxin build-up can result in several short terms and long term malfunctions in the body. If toxins are not flushed out of the body on a regular basis, toxin build-up can be chronic.
Hence, it is essential to follow a routine cleanse process through your diet or by including specific measures such as intermittent fasting to assist your body.
Natural Detoxification System of our Body
In Ayurveda, toxins are referred to as “Ama”. Toxins are the foreign materials or waste that our body is not able to assimilate and it needs to flush them out.
Toxins either accumulate internally as metabolic waste or externally as chemicals, pesticides, bacteria, and other harmful substances. There are two types of toxins in the human body:
- Endotoxins, which are formed in the body and
- Exotoxins, which enter through the environment.
Toxin build-up in the body creates the vicious toxin “Amavisha” that impairs the functioning of our immune system, digestive system, nervous system, and respiratory systems.
The human body has several organs such as Liver, Lungs, Skin, and Kidney to expel the waste/toxins. They are an integral part of our body’s natural cleansing system. Healthy cleansing organs strengthen the functioning of our body’s immune system and vice-versa.
- The liver is the human body’s primary organ of detoxification. The liver metabolizes toxins and expels it through the stool.
- The kidneys remove the toxins through urine.
- The skin flushes out through sweat.
- Similarly, lungs expel toxins through our respiratory system.
Common symptoms of Ama – Toxin build-up in the body
When the body is consistently exposed to high amounts of toxic wastes, the ability of our body’s detoxification system gets affected. This can partially or fully damage our cleansing organs such as the liver, kidneys, and skin.
As a result, toxins start to build up and get deposited into various parts of our body such as blood, skin, and liver. Certain symptoms of toxin build up in the body include:
- A white, sticky stuff coating on the tongue
- Indigestion and bloating
- Body pains
- Tiredness and lethargy
- Excessive mucus formation
- Hairfall
- Excessive sweating
- Weakened immune system
- Mood swings, anxiety, and irritability
- Water/Fat retention in the body and hence weight gain
- Restlessness and difficulty in concentrating
Toxin build-up hampers vital body systems
In modern times, we are highly exposed to the undesired substances through our environment, food, and even mental state. A stressed body and mind also generate toxins in the body!
With ever-increasing pollution levels, the quality of air indoors and outdoors has become poor beyond what our body can take. Fast foods and processed foods consist of multiple additives and chemicals that are added to increase the shelf life or appeal of the food products.
It has become hard to stay away from the toxins and it is imminent that we adopt regular detoxification to get rid of the foreign materials that are building up in our body. Here, we will learn about what toxins do our bodily systems.
- Effect on the Gastrointestinal Tract: The toxins usually enter the body through the consumption of contaminated food and water and affect the intestinal wall leading to vomiting, nausea, constipation, and fever.
- Effect on Neurological Health: Several toxins have a destructive effect on the nerves. Neurotoxins can damage the central nervous system to produce symptoms such as dizziness, visual problems, blindness, disorientation, memory loss, slurred speech, and convulsions.
- Effect on Skin: Skin expel toxins from the body through perspiration. However, certain toxins get blocked in the pores while expulsion. This leads to several skin symptoms such as rashes on the body, itching, acne, eczema, psoriasis, skin discoloration, boils, and abscesses.
- Effects on Respiratory system: Breathlessness, cough, throat pain, nasal discharge, pain in the chest, blood in sputum are prominent symptoms from toxin build-up in lungs and respiratory organs.
- Effect on Endocrine system: Certain synthetic items contain xenoestrogens. Their action is similar to estrogen produced in the body. The chemical can hamper the proper functioning of estrogen in women producing conditions such as endometriosis in women and reduce sperm count in men.
Prolonged exposure to toxins impacts the health adversely and increases the chances of diseases like liver cirrhosis, cardiotoxicity and renal failure.
In our next posts, we will go through natural cleaning processes, herbs, and foods that can assist you with much-required toxin flush. Stay tuned!
