Natural Detoxification and Homeostasis

Homeostasis is the body’s natural detoxification route par excellence. It is the normal maintenance of bodily functions via various negative feedback mechanisms as well as utilizing various pressure gradients of the fluids that move through the body. Homeostasis literally means to keep things the same or in a state of equilibrium. This is a dynamic state of equilibrium because in life things are in a constant state of motion. Things are changing all the time. Because the body is constantly being exposed to various toxins, natural detoxification is how we avoid being overwhelmed by these toxins.

Another example of the body’s drive towards balance is the maintenance of stable body temperature. Perhaps we move from a warm environment to a cool environment, i.e. on a bright sunny day entering an air-conditioned room or going from a heated environment to a cold wintry day. It’s not just our clothes that we use to maintain homeostasis and a stable body temperature. As warm-blooded animals we have mechanisms for keeping a relatively stable temperature. When our body senses the changes happening, there are all sorts of mechanisms that we engage to maintain as even as internal temperature as possible. A drop in temperature is sensed by our hypothalamus which can set in motion a series of biochemical changes that cause the muscles to shiver and shake a little, which then raises our body temperature. Our metabolism can also be adjusted to regulate our temperature and of course if we are too warm, we all have the experience of sweating where the body tries to vent as much heat as possible through perspiration. Sweating, besides being used to vent heat is also a primary example of how the body engages in natural detoxification.

Homeostasis is also happening via the many hormone loops throughout the body. This is typically why it is a very bad idea to take either synthetic hormones or hormone mimetics, which are chemicals that mimic the effects of hormones, as many petrochemicals will do with estrogen. To be specific, one of the reasons ingesting anabolic steroids over a period of time can be problematic, is because the increased presence of exogenous testosterone in the body engages the body’s negative feedback mechanism which maintains homeostasis by simply not producing its own testosterone. This is true with not only testosterone but also with numerous other substances such as opiates which create addiction due to decreased endogenous endorphin production because of the exogenous painkillers. In the cases of prolonged exposure to exogenous hormones, the body’s natural detoxification routes may be compromised to various degrees.

What is also to be noted about the body maintaining homeostasis and natural detoxification, is that it does so to the best of its ability. For the most part it does an extremely good job. But our environment is so overloaded with toxic chemicals, in fact there are another 500 industrial chemicals that come into use every year, that the body simply does not have the resources break down via the liver and to excrete through the kidney all these various chemicals. The build-up of these foreign chemicals, including dioxin, DDT and various other petrochemicals and even heavy metals have been concentrated in people in the same way that larger, older fish have more heavy metals as a result of long-term bio-concentration. The increase of these heavy metals and petrochemicals in a person’s system can really overwhelm the body’s ability to excrete them. These toxic substances, when present in the body in increasing concentrations, compensate natural detoxification and the ability to restore homeostasis and to adjust and regulate the various subtle mechanisms that keep us healthy.

These are just a few examples of how lifestyle and the environment can impact our ability to maintain structural integrity and a stable environment, which essentially is what homeostasis is all about. In the context of natural detoxification it should be understood that this is simply the body releasing the accumulated chemicals and debris on a regular basis via the normal modes: sweat, excretion and filtration of the blood via the kidneys and the various enzymatic systems in the liver that break down different obstructions.