DeTox: Lotions and Potions

Your skin, the epidermis, is your largest organ. And never forget that it is an organ. A porous, living, breathing, nutrient absorbing and nutrient starved organ. Be careful what you feed your skin; your skin is permeable and what you put on your skin is absorbed into the bloodstream.

People are aware of the health risks of pollution. But there is very little we can do today about the air we breath - changing the composition of the air we breath will be a long, slow process which will probably involve everything from personal choice to politics. But the more immediate health risk is in ignoring all the many ways you apply toxins to your skin on a daily basis.

Pollution enters your skin through chemicals, pesticides and heavy metals. We expose our skin to shampoo, deodorant, hair spray, shaving cream, toothpaste, cosmetics, office supplies, bedding and water without applying the nutritional logic: would I put that in my mouth?

Shower water is heavily chlorinated; shampoo contains chemical dyes; cosmetics contain isopropyl alcohol; dental amalgams contain mercury; cotton mattresses are laced with pesticides and fire retardants that can cause toxicity in the nervous system. What to do?

• Water - A hydrated system allows your body to flush toxins. There is no such thing as a pure environment. You wouldn't want a pure environment even if one was possible: our gut is an intelligently conceived battle of good bacteria and bad bacteria with the good bacteria posed to win if we aid the war nutritionally. A hydrated system also allows for a more active electric current making the brain quicker and the cells more active in communicating with one another. Here's the formula: Take your weight (120), divide it in half (60), convert it to ounces (60 oz.), drink that much distilled water per day (60 oz. Smart Water). Iced tea, coffee, carrot juice or any other liquid are DISQUALLIFIED. I mean it!

"Blood formation is designed in such a way that
its composition is standardized, even if other tissues have to sacrifice some of
their reserves to achieve this. Water is one of these elements that will
be taken away from less active areas and used to maintain the consistency of
blood, if sufficient amounts do not become available from external sources of
supply - that is, from drinking."

Water Cures

F. Batmanghelidj, M.D.

• Olive Oil - As often as possible, use pure vegetable oils on your skin. It is very difficult to find even an organic body lotion that does not contain dyes and chemicals. Extra virgin olive oil works just as well and serves an important dual purpose in that it nourishes the body as it is absorbed into the skin. Try it and see. Experiment with coconut oil, almond oil and walnut oil.
• Tea Tree Oil - The melaleuca tree (most often found in Australia) provides an oil that is 100% natural and highly antibiotic. Use shampoos and conditioners that are made from a tea tree oil base. One side benefit to those with elementary age children: lice hate tea tree oil due to its antiseptic properties. My children made it through elementary school without one case of lice. Also use it with colds: place a drop in each ear, a drop on the tongue and a drop up each nostril to create a vapor barrier to fight congestion and sinus infections.
• Food - Remember that ingesting whole foods will flush toxins fastest. The more vegetables, fruit and brown rice you eat, the better your digestion system will remove the pollutants.

"The foods that form the basis of a normal
Western diet cause the liver to work overtime as it tries to metabolize the dense
concentration of nutrients that are constantly flooding the digestive system and
bloodstream. Poor digestion is one of the main causes of toxicity because
it adds an unnecessary and in many cases overwhelming burden to the liver's
normal workload."

7-Day Detox Miracle

Peter Bennett, N.D., Stephen Barrie,
N.D.