One of my favorite health related activities to do at the beginning of the year is to support my body to detoxify itself. This is a great way to clean up after the indulgences of the holidays.

The liver is one of the primary organs the body uses to rid itself of toxins. I like to start there. Our kidneys, intestines, respiratory tract, skin, and lymph system also each play important roles.

Kidneys purify the blood from toxic medications and chemicals by filtering and sending them out through our urine.

This requires blood pressure that is not too high nor too low, as well as an adequate volume of blood.

If the membranes of the kidneys that filter toxins are irritated by damaging substances, or clogged by a high concentration of synthetic or chemical waste products, their function will be reduced.

Our skin protects us. But it also can excrete waste products that are known as crystals. These are a byproduct of normal metabolism of proteins and will also contain uric acid. High levels of uric acid can cause a painful condition called gout. These crystals are soluble when in liquid and come out through our sweat glands when we are sweating.

The lymph system contains about a half a gallon of fluid that circulates throughout our body. Waste products will leave cells and enter the lymph system to be carried away into the blood stream. This purification of infectious agents from body fluids helps maintain proper functioning. You can feel these glands swell, warm up, and get tender when they are reacting to an invader.

When we breathe we are excreting toxins in the form of gas out of our body through the lungs. We may also do this through phlegm. The blood stream will transport microbes, their byproducts, and waste resulting from insufficient digestion and excretion into our respiratory tract where we will cough them out.

The intestinal track, more often thought of as important for digestion, is also critical for elimination of toxins. Toxins are excreted into the digestive tract through our mucus membranes. These membranes are a two-way street, letting important nutrients penetrate into our body. But they also let harmful stuff out after the blood transports them into the capillaries.

Our liver will dump chemicals, toxins, drugs, heavy metals and excess hormones back into the small intestine using bile. Bile also helps with the digestion of fats. These harmful substances then will travel through the rest of the digestive tract to exit with the stool.

The lining of our gut plays a very important role in this two way filtering process, letting in well digested and prepared nutrients and getting rid of toxic residue and undigested molecules.

In order to do this optimally, the membrane must be healthy and maintain tight junctions. If this lining gets irritated it may become porous and not work as it should.

Our gut microbiome plays an important role in breaking down food. That is why I consider probiotics so important. When things slow down and passage gets delayed, food starts to ferment and putrefy. In that environment, some gut bacteria may over grow or mutate into aggressive microbes, and these can produce harmful toxins on their own.

After eating and drinking a lot of stuff that I know my body just doesn’t like, I give some extra support to my liver to enhance and promote its normal detoxification ability.

This always starts with eliminating the foods that I know don’t serve me well. This is typically called an elimination diet. I’ll also usually do a bit a fasting to give my entire system a break, increasing my filtered water intake at the same time.

I then make sure I’m moving food quickly through my intestines, but not too quickly. Fiber and magnesium help me regulate this. I insure I’m getting enough foundational nutrients through a multivitamin that has a least 4 capsules. Anything less is not as effective as I like. I want my B vitamins to be in a methylated form.

Clean protein is important during this time. There are also several key supplements that I’ll take, including milk thistle, artichoke leaf, curcumin, and dandelion root that are each well studied to support liver detoxification processes.

A natural substance produced from the seeds and sprouts of broccoli has been part of my regimen lately. It has the ability to increase the activity of detoxification enzymes and works as a broad-spectrum antioxidant.

Come on down if you’d like to hear about the differences between stage 1 and stage 2 detoxification in the liver.

Scott Porter, a functional medicine pharmacist, is the director of the Center for Functional Nutrition at Sandpoint Super Drug.