Everybody knows that you need good elimination habits to function optimally but few have only a basic understanding of what that means. In a society that is becoming more focused on health and nutrition, a closer look at a group of toxins, called neurotoxins, is needed.
While elimination routes include kidney, gastrointestinal, skin and exhaled air, the liver is the most vital of body functions in the process of elimination of neurotoxins. Common sources of neurotoxins include metals, biotoxins (viral, fungal or parasitical sources), man-made chemicals called xenobiotics that include pesticides, preservatives and excitatoxins such as MSG, aspartame, and food colorings.
Neurotoxins are absorbed by nerve endings and travel inside the neuron to the cell body in the mammal nervous system. As a result, they cause disruption in vital functions of the cell such as axonal transport(1) of nutrients, mitochondrial function and proper DNA transcription.
In the liver, elimination of most all products are expelled with the bile into the small intestine. Unfortunately, because of the lipophilic and neurotropic nature of neurotoxins, most of these toxins are reabsorbed in the small intestinal wall by nerve endings of the enteric nervous system (ENS). The ENS tissue is the same as the brain in the embryonic stage and then separates, hence sometimes referred to as the brain away from the brain. Once these toxins are reabsorbed, they can be transported back to the brain, the liver, subclavian vein or uptake by bacteria in the bowel resulting in cause or exacerbation of illness caused by neurotoxins.
Obviously, the issue is complex. Risk factors that can contribute to the sluggishness of the liver include allergy, poor diet of high carbohydrate and low protein, occupational exposure, prolong illness, surgeries, constipation, metal absorption and genetics to name a few.
Solutions include evaluation of liver function for Phase I and Phase II detoxification, evaluation of toxic levels, and implementing a detoxification program. It must include proper protein, a good mineral base and balanced electrolytes which can help displace metals. Other nutrients and food sources, including a mercury-free EPA/DHA fish oil, aide in binding up these toxins so they can be eliminated. Improving the diet, elimination and reduction of metal sources and other risk factors are a start but it needs to be done right.
1 Axonal or axoplasmic transport is the movement of mitochondria, lipids, neurotransmitter regulation, proteins, and other cell parts to and from a neuron’s cell body through the contents of a cell that are enclosed within the plasma membrane or cytoplasm.
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