Meta-eHealth article

Role of nutrition in preventing toxic injury

In response to the increasing amounts of toxins and reactive oxygen species (free radicals) that we are exposed to on a daily basis, detoxification programs are becoming more and more important. Such programs are designed to support and facilitate the detoxification process in the body. These programs may relieve certain chronic health problems thought to be of toxic origin, including headaches, muscle and joint pain, chronic fatigue, and allergy or flu-like symptoms.

Frequently used methods of detoxification include the water or juice fasts. Methods such as these, however, may do more harm than good. On the other hand, detoxification programs that use a broad-based nutritional approach are advantageous for a number of reasons.

According to Dr. Shayam Bala Lall and colleagues in the Indian Journal of Experimental Biology, "The importance of nutrition in protecting the living organisms against the potentially lethal effects of reactive oxygen species and toxic environmental chemicals has recently been realized. This new perspective has prompted re-evaluation of the food constituents of [the] human diet from the point of view of their nutritional adequacy, deficiency, and toxicity."

Dr. Lall and colleagues stated that adequate levels of glutathione, magnesium, vitamins A, C, and E, and minerals such as iron, zinc, selenium, copper, and manganese should be considered in any detoxification program.

Researchers concluded that "...almost all the ingredients of the diet including carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, vitamins, trace elements, spices, and dietary fibers play an important role in detoxification and in prevention of oxygen free radical and toxic chemical induced pathogenesis of disease processes." Simply stated, the body requires a variety of nutritional factors to rid itself of harmful substances and prevent their damaging effects.

Indian J Exp Biol 1999;37(2):109-16.