Before You Start an Eczema Detox
So you want to go on an eczema detox to heal your skin? Great!
This is an excellent first step on your healing journey.
However, before you start, you need to prep the body to eliminate the toxins.
If your detoxification organs aren’t ready for an eczema detox, your body is going to be in trouble.
You are experiencing eczema because your detoxification organs are either backed up, overworked and/or need support.
Let me explain.
The six main detoxification organs are kidney, bowel, skin, lungs, liver, and lymphatics.
In holistic medicine, when an organ is unable to efficiently eliminate toxins, the next organ jumps in.
In the case of eczema, because the other organs need support, it’s eliminating toxins via the skin.
This is when you experience eczema, allergies, asthma, and possibly other symptoms.
So where do I start? It is recommended to work with a certified healthcare practitioner.
Everybody’s body is different. Use the information below for your own knowledge.
The easiest thing you can do today is to adopt a predominantly whole foods plant-based diet to start.
1. The Kidneys
The kidney’s main job is to filter your blood and separate toxins.
Chemicals, drugs, medications, or other toxic materials are in your bloodstream. These toxins then leave your body in the form of urine.
Keeping your bloodstream free of waste is one of the most important stages in the detox process.
However, in order for your kidney to effectively work, it relies on your water intake. This is why being adequately hydrated is important.
If not, it can’t clear out the waste and harmful chemicals. A good rule of thumb is to limit any processed foods since they are loaded with chemicals and additives.
The main functions of the kidneys are to:
- Excrete waste through urine
- Aids the liver by filtering out toxins
- Involved in the reabsorption of minerals
- Helps the body balance water levels
- Helps regulate blood pressure
- Activates Vitamin D
- This is important because you get Vitamin D through sunlight or supplements. But it’s ineffective if your kidneys aren’t able to activate it
So what are some of the symptoms of kidney problems? They are:
- Anemia
- Joint pains
- Incontinence
- Eye puffiness
- Low back pain
- Legs feel heavy
- High diastolic blood pressure
- Urinate more than 2x per night
- A burning sensation upon urination
Unfortunately, a lot of these symptoms can be masked with other conditions. It could also be missed because they are either common or dismissed.
We tend to dismiss things like joint pains, eye puffiness, and low back pain and associate them with sitting too much or not enough sleep. This could be the case thing but a lot of the symptoms are interconnected in one way or another.
2. Digestive System / Bowel
We all know that our digestive system is an important function of the human body.
But a lot of people don’t know that a lot of issues are manifesting in the gut.
This then leads to various chronic conditions we are now dealing with as a society. So what are the main components of digestion? They are:
- Digestion
- Break down of foods into progressively smaller units
- Absorption
- Absorbing vitamins and minerals across the GI (gastrointestinal) membrane
- Healthy bacteria in the colon make vitamin K and certain B vitamins
- Assimilation
- Converting food into the cells
- Elimination
- Removing metabolic waste and by-products
But where do problems start anyway?
It all starts when an individual has low HCl (hydrochloric acid). When HCl is low, the body is unable to effectively digest food.
This creates pressure on the rest of the system to try and break it down.
When the food can no longer be broken down further, problems start. Another important piece to digestion is digestive enzymes.
Digestive enzymes are substances that help you digest food. The salivary glands, stomach, pancreas, and small intestine release these enzymes.
They do this by breaking down large molecules that makeup proteins, carbs, and fats.
This allows nutrients from foods to be easily absorbed into your bloodstream. Which is then carried throughout the rest of your body. When digestive enzymes do not activate, this leads to gas, bloating, and reflux.
As a result of low HCl and low digestive enzymes, pathogenic micro-organisms are not killed, bad bacteria feed off of undigested food particles, and minerals are not absorbed.
This is when the body’s internal toxicity increases and the liver becomes stressed. These issues and symptoms as a result are known as a leaky gut syndrome.
So what can I do today to help my digestion? Below are some easy changes you can make:
- Smaller meals more often
- Avoid red meat, dairy, convenience foods, alcohol
- These foods tend to affect HCl
- Reduce fluid intake with meals
- Drinking water throughout eating ends up diluting HCl
- Avoid eating when upset or stressed
- Emotions can cause your body to turn off or slow down digestion signals because it’s in a fight or flight mode
- Eat raw foods with every meal
- This will supply your body with digestive enzymes to support digestion
Are there supplements that can support my digestive system before I do an eczema detox?
Yes, but before you do, make sure to adopt healthy eating habits as suggested above.
Next, it’s recommended to work with a licensed professional before taking supplements. Below is a list of supplements you should research for your general knowledge:
- Betaine HCl
- Pancreatin
- Papain
- Bromelain
- Bile salts
- Plant enzymes
- Bitters
- Probiotics
3. Skin
The skin is the body’s first line of defense against germs, bacteria, and toxins. It plays an important role in getting rid of toxins from the inside out while keeping beneficial ones in.
How does it do this? When we sweat, the body detoxes itself from waste products through our sweat glands.
Waste products from digested foods high in protein, refined sugar, or acidic get pushed out through sweat.
This is why it’s important to not clog your pores using chemical-heavy and scented creams.
The skin steps up in the detox process when the liver, kidney, and lungs cannot handle the toxic overload.
When the other organs struggle to detox themselves, this is when rashes appear on the skin.
This eventually leads to skin conditions like acne, eczema, psoriasis, and more.
This is why topical steroid creams do not work in the long run.
The skin is also exposed to toxins through products like toiletries, cosmetics, and household cleaners.
This then gets absorbed into our bloodstream, through our skin.
A good place to start is to start switching to natural products with minimal ingredients.
4. Lungs
Did you know, as we breathe in and out 24/7, we are constantly detoxing? Our respiratory tract has its own filtration system to protect us from harmful toxins.
These toxins are in air such as carbon dioxide, fumes, mold, and other airborne toxins.
If your liver, kidneys, and digestive system are not able to eliminate toxins, your lungs step in and support the detoxification process.
The toxins are picked up by the bloodstream and moved upwards.
This is where the toxins enter the alveolar sacs that make up the bottom of your lungs. Then, the lungs pick up difficult toxins and eventually get them out as phlegm.
Depending on where you live, the air quality and pollution will make a difference.
The household products you use every day also will affect your lungs.
Common household cleaners are made with toxic chemicals and fumes.
Your body care products and laundry detergents also use scents that will affect you.
Breathing these toxins is impacting your lungs, affects your hormones, and ultimately, delaying your healing.
So what can you do to minimize the impact on your lungs?
Make the air quality of your home great. You can start by hiring duct cleaners if you live in a house.
You may also want to invest in a high-quality air purifier and use indoor plants to help filter the air.
Switching over to natural household cleaners and laundry detergents is another place to start.
Last but not least, try to spend time in nature around trees.
5. Liver
Your liver is the main detoxifying organ for your entire body. This is the most important job out of the hundreds of functions it performs every minute.
The liver keeps beneficial nutrients from your diet and passes them into your bloodstream.
It also protects you from toxins that come in the form of food additives, medication, alcohol, drugs, and chemicals in our everyday products.
These toxins are kept away from the bloodstream so they could be broken down further down by the liver.
This makes the toxins ready for the next stage of the detoxification process, which then ends up being excreted.
Even though the liver is not responsible for excretion, when your kidneys and digestion are not performing optimally, this also affects the liver. Why?
Because when your digestive system is backed up, toxins that should have been excreted are left in the colon.
These toxins are then reabsorbed and signal the liver to detoxify them all over again.
Functions of the Liver:
- Regulation, synthesis & secretion of glucose, protein, lipids
- Storage of nutrients
- Glycogen
- Vitamin A, D, E, K
- Folate, B12
- Cu, Fe
- Purification, transformation & clearance
- Filters poisons
- Thyroid hormones
- Lactic acid glycogen
- EFAs lipoproteins
- Regulate blood sugar & protein levels
- Filter waste products, drugs & toxins, ammonia, bilirubin, red blood count breakdown, hormones
What can I do to support my liver? First, increase your water consumption and then avoid the following:
- Toxins
- Alcohol
- Nicotine
- Caffeine
- Processed foods
- Allergens
- Environmental toxins
6. Lymphatics
Last, but not least, we have the lymphatic system. It plays a crucial role in the detoxification process.
There are about two liters of lymph fluid that circulate through our body, in the lymphatic vessels.
These vessels cover the body from head to toe. Within the lymphatic system, we have lymphatic capillaries, which lead to the lymphatic vessels, which then lead to the lymphatic glands.
The network of lymphatic capillaries leads to bigger lymphatic vessels and finally to the lymphatic glands.
The lymphatic system’s task is to maintain the defense of the body and purify the body fluids.
Infectious substances are filtered and white blood cells are produced in the lymphatic glands.
If the lymph nodes are not functioning properly, this will impact the detoxification process.
The filtration, breakdown, and transportation of waste products will have been severely compromised resulting in the body being overwhelmed with toxins.
So if your lymph system isn’t ready for an eczema detox, you’ll end up feeling a lot worse than before you started.
So how can you support the lymphatic system before an eczema detox? Follow the steps below:
- Get moving!
- Exercise, walking, and yoga helps stimulate the lymphatic system
- Drink water throughout the day to stay hydrated so lymph can easily move throughout your body.
- Adopt a predominantly whole foods plant-based diet
- Minimize exposure to toxins by switching to natural cleaning and cosmetic products
- Dry brushing also helps gently stimulate the lymphatic system
It’s Time to Start Your Eczema Detox
Now that you have a general understanding of your detox organs, you may be left with more questions. If you want another resource, check out this article: The Organs of Elimination.
- Should I even start an eczema detox?
- How do I know if I am ready for one?
- What if my eczema gets worse?
These are all valid questions. This is why it’s a good idea to work with a certified healthcare practitioner so you can be fully prepared.
They can help you assess how to support and prepare your body for a detox.
If you have been experiencing eczema for a while now, or even topical steroid withdrawal (TSW), it’s safe to say that your body and organs are already overwhelmed.
So it might not be a good idea to do an eczema detox just yet.
Check out the XZMA Warrior Healing Program to start healing today!