Why TRS and popular “detoxes” miss the mark and what it means to actually detox
Popular detox supplements and programs are widely promoted to the health-conscious female or mom across social media. These are largely do-it-yourself and seem to suggest a “quick fix” solution to solve all of your health issues - anything from eczema to autism. But detox is actually a very complicated process.
Let’s first discuss the popular liquid zeolite product (TRS is the most popular brand). The reasons I don’t recommend TRS are numerous:
It’s one-size-fits-all
We don’t know about liquid zeolite’s ability to cross the blood brain barrier
It doesn’t address all of the parts and phases of detoxification, or biotransformation, and unfortunately many can think all they have to do is use TRS in order to achieve their desired result
Detoxification should be done with a practitioner, especially for children, due to safety reasons and so many possible variables
Step 1. Know what you are detoxing and remove that toxin first
Everyone’s ability to detox is uniquely different and just knowing that “the world is toxic now” isn’t enough to blindly start taking detox supplements. It’s important to utilize functional labs to determine what, in fact, you are detoxing.
Let’s give some examples. If it’s determined you have very elevated arsenic levels. Where did the arsenic come from? Do you live in an area where there’s high amounts of arsenic in the tap water? Or is it from eating a lot of brown rice? Do we need to switch to organic white rice? Soak and rinse the rice to reduce arsenic levels? Reduce consumption of rice all together? We need to know the source so we can avoid exposure.
Detoxing your body from mercury is a lot different than detoxing your body from mycotoxins (and even within mycotoxins each mycotoxin requires different binders so it’s essential to know which mycotoxins are actually elevated if you’ve been exposed to mold). Some heavy metals like to leave the body via sweat and some via feces or urine. With mercury and aluminum for example, selenium is an inhibitor of mercury accumulation and increases excretion of mercury and arsenic so utilizing selenium in ridding the body of mercury is essential, vs silica for aluminum. I could go on and on, there’s so many factors.
What functional labs do I like and use in my practice?
For mold toxicity I like Vibrant Wellness Mycotoxin test or Great Plains mycotoxin test. Vibrant’s tests for more mycotoxins so I generally opt for that test.
For heavy metals, I like HTMA (hair tissue mineral analysis)
For other toxins and chemicals I like Vibrant Wellness Environmental Toxins test
Everyone’s ability to detox is uniquely different and just knowing that “the world is toxic now” isn’t enough to blindly start taking detox supplements. It’s important to utilize functional labs to determine what, in fact, you are detoxing.
Step 2. Foundations come first
What are foundations? Leaky gut? Gut issues? Making sure your drainage pathways are open and functioning well (think am I pooping 2-3x per day, can I sweat easily, for starters), making sure you have optimal micronutrient status needed to support detoxification. Your body’s detox pathways are heavily dependent on micronutrients & amino acids (however, identify the toxin first because toxins and infections can cause the cell to require a lot more nutrients so identify and ridding the body of the toxin can eliminate the need for a supplement. Supporting the deficiency can be a good adjunct but you ultimately have to identify why you’re so nutrient deficient). Are you sleeping well (so the glymphatic system can clear waste from the central nervous system). Is the individual methylating well? Methylation is important in Phase II of our liver’s detoxification process -breaking down toxins for excretion. Not only does poor methylation hinder detoxification from happening in your liver, but it decreases the production of glutathione. Do you have mast cell activation syndrome? Excess histamine? Controlling these things are essential if you want to avoid unpleasant “herx” reactions (fatigue, feeling like you have the flu, skin reactions, etc.). How’s your nervous system? How’s your liver and kidney’s and do they need support?
As you can see, there are many things to address prior to actually even detoxing. I’ve had many women and mom’s come to me because strong detox protocols were recommended to them or their children and the protocols left them with more unwanted symptoms or herx reactions. Unfortunately, many providers tell patients that herx reactions mean the product is “working”, but actually it means your body wasn’t ready for detoxification and/or your body was forced to kill off too many heavy metals, toxins/chemicals, mycotoxins than your body could handle due to drainage pathways being sluggish. Killing protocols are not always the answer. In many cases with clients I’ve had, their cells were very undernourished making it very challenging on your liver detoxification pathways to actually do their job, their drainage pathways were blocked, or other underlying conditions that needed to be addressed first, weren’t.
We need to establish a strong foundation first. Without a strong foundation, what do we build on? Killing pathogens kicks up dust and we have to ask the body first if it has all it needs in place for that type of work.
Step 3. You detox (appropriately, specifically) and then provide the body with clean up supports afterward.
Detox appropriately and specifically, and utilize any necessary tools, like coffee enemas or infrared saunas.
Post detox or post biotransformation, it may be necessary to replenish nutrients and replenish the good gut bacteria in the microbiome.
I truly hope this article was helpful for you to understand the very complicated process of detoxification. I could easily write an entire book on this topic but I tried to fit as much information as I can within this short article. If you or your child could use 1:1 support from me, please don’t hesitate to schedule a free coffee chat.
