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and heavy metals-some of the worst and most health- damaging toxins around. Toxic accumulation actually begins before birth. And it can last a lifetime. Mercury, for example, is stored in the cardiac muscle in amounts 22,000 times greater than in skeletal muscle. During the aging process, as we experience low-grade inflammations and lose muscle mass, mercury (and other toxins) will get released into the bloodstream when those muscle cells shrink. Even the heart shrinks with aging. If the body is not equipped to handle that surfacing mercury efficiently through normal detoxifications pathways, it will inflict more harm and intensify existing inflammations. Recirculating toxins may move into more critical areas like the brain and heart. As you can imagine, this will hasten the aging process. Because each one of us is encoded with unique DNA, each person has a unique response to chemical toxins. We are now at the place in clinical medicine where the evaluation of genes and mutations are becoming more useful in predicting who will have toxicity issues even with minimal exposures. In the near future, we may see a rising demand for all fetal and newborn children to have amniotic fluid and blood testing for genetic mutations that can result in higher levels of toxicity. This type of testing can give important information on what type of lifestyle, diet, and supplements the pregnant mother and infant should take to optimize their health and avoid the nutritional and toxic disasters that can face unborn children and infants. WHAT IS DETOXIFICATION? While the word detoxification may conjure images of drugged-out celebrities in rehab for substance abuse, from a scientific perspective it actually refers primarily to the body's natural methods of self-cleansing-of ridding wastes that are the by-products of its normal functions, and dealing with potentially harmful invaders such as bacteria, viruses, or toxic chemicals. Detoxification is a constantly bodily process. We are continually eliminating excess toxins through our digestive, urinary, skin, circulatory, respiratory, and lymphatic systems. A secondary meaning of the word related to the treatments and concepts employed by medicine to help support the structure and functions of these natural detoxification channels. Detoxification in this sense is about taking an active role in stimulating your body's innate ability to cleanse itself. Many people view detoxification in a very narrow sense, seeing it as synonymous with colon cleansing. And when asked, most people will define "cleansing" as increased bowel eliminations or just colon cleansing, and they think they will have to take a laxative, stay home from work, and sit by the bathroom. This is not the case, as the colon is just one of the many channels of eliminations. Because toxins are present throughout the body, detoxification (which includes cleansing) cannot be limited to just bowel cleansing- and you wont have to camp out in the bathroom for a month. These regimens are gentle and will detoxify in a gradual, steady process without disruptive side effects. Detoxification must be viewed as a total-body process for all of the body's organ systems. It is as much a series of actionable steps as it is a set of daily habits that becomes a lifestyle. Because detoxification is based on the body's natural rehabilitative faculties, it is very effective for a wide variety of health problems, as well as being safe and helpful for virtually everyone. A LITTLE HISTORY Contrary to what you might think, detoxification methods of healing have been used across all cultures for centuries. They are not an invention of new age medicine. Fasting, for example, is one of the oldest therapeutic practices in medicine. In fact, internal detoxification and cleansing are as old as the idea of health. Page 10 | Abby's Magazine - www.AbbysHealthAndNutrition.com