When I just started “practicing” the art and science of naturopathic medicine back in 1989; every now and then a patient would report to me on their second visit, “I got really sick for 3-7 days after I had my initial visit, and then I felt better.” My immediate response was “Did you read the handouts that I sent home with you?” “Oops!” I quickly learned that the most important part of any job was that of educating and communicating to my patient from day one what they could expect as a result of undergoing changes to their diet, lifestyle, and supplement regime or just as the result of the work that went on during their visit.

The phenomenon of the Healing Crisis—sometimes you get worse before you get better. The Law of Cure—what had been the obstacle to the healing, needs to be removed from the body in order for the body to respond by healing.

Let’s look at the skin. The skin is the body’s largest eliminating organ. Many patients have this primary organ of elimination coated day after day with thick moisturizing lotions, which have the effect of clogging the pores so that the skin cannot breathe and eliminate toxins. Simply by removing these unnatural oils and exfoliating the dead skin, the body is now in a superior position to self-cleanse. “But my skin is so dry, especially my hands. They crack without lotion.”

The discussion about the need for adequate hydration now begins.  The typical response to the question “How much water do you drink?” is usually “Not enough.” The quality of our water is also very important.

The lack of essential fatty acids in the body can also lead to extreme dryness, changes in hormonal balance or mineral and electrolyte imbalance. Once these areas are addressed the perceived need for topical body lotions is eliminated, the body’s self-cleansing, and self-regenerative properties are magnified.

Think of a detoxification program like you would think of cleaning out an old closet. When you start to clean the closet you first need to take everything out. This produces a state of disarray much like what happens when stored toxins are mobilized from the lymphatic, liver, colon, or kidneys.  The sensation of disruption can cause the body to respond by producing a fever—the body’s natural attempt to burn up the circulating toxins or sometimes as a headache—when the nervous system ____ toxins.

I once had a patient who was finally ready to stop using Excedrin once a day to deal with headaches.  You can probably imagine that for several days, the combination of withdrawal of the drug contributed to a more pronounced headache and then she was free. Her headaches and her excessive use of pain-relieving narcotics were gone completely.

Most of the time, with proper guidance and adjunctive nutritional support, it is easy to detoxify the system.

The goal is to create new lifestyle habits, so extremes aren’t necessary. Just a slow, gradual tapering off of what is adding to the toxic burden while increasing life enhancing foods, water and specific, properly prescribed herbs and vital nutrients.

A healthy body is a happy body.  And a happy body has more energy, purpose and direction.  How is your body working for you?