My Ultimate Health Project - Week 1 - Detox

While I was going through surgeries, chemo and radiation my body felt terrible, it was being abused in a way that I’ve never treated myself before. From fasting before surgeries, medicines to consume for bowel preps (yup that’s right - not much dignity in cancer is there?!), the cisplatin chemo drug, the countless other drugs I then needed to manage side effects from pain, nausea, constant vomiting, steroids and the burning from the radiation I was a wreck. A distant cry from the vegetable loving, newly vegan, green juice drinking girl that existed just a few weeks earlier. I promised myself many weeks ago that I would just focus on doing what I needed to do to get through the treatment and once it was finally over then I would give my body the opportunity to try and heal itself and detox.

It is generally regarded that many toxic substances present in our environments play a role in at the appearance of the first cancer cells as well as causing those cells to transform into a more aggressive tumor. These toxins can cause many health related issues throughout the body such as inflammation and altering the pH level of our blood. Inflammation is a normal response to an injury or attack on our body but  chronic inflammation caused by our lifestyle choices and circumstances (such as diet, stress, sedentary lifestyle) is actually a major cause of many diseases - not just cancer. Similarly it is important to maintain a pH level of your blood that is slightly alkaline - around 7.4. Too much acidity can overburden our liver and kidneys (the warriors in the detox process) and deplete oxygenation to every cell in our body.
Detox therefore is an important mechanism in how you can protect yourself against toxin build up, regardless of if you’ve had cancer or not. 

Our bodies all have natural mechanisms and processes for detoxing which is essentially cleaning our blood. The liver plays a huge role in the elimination process as do the kidneys, intestines, lungs, sweat glands and lymph nodes. A typical lifestyle can overload our bodies with toxins meaning these organs have to work even harder to support the detox process, to a point where all impurities may not be getting correctly filtered out anymore. Detoxing can really help if you suffer with skin conditions, bloating, fatigue and puffy eyes to name a few.

For me though my principle concern for detoxing is to give my organs a refresh after all the hard work they’ve been doing for me with the chemo drugs, reduce inflammation within my body that fosters cancer growth and restore the pH balance of my blood. Cisplatin in particular can be hard on the liver and kidneys and is one of the chemo drugs known to cause the most nausea and vomiting as well as hearing loss (I got ringing in the ears folks from chemo too, how fabulous is that?!) Additionally it can cause bone marrow suppression which is particularly worrisome as bone marrow is directly related to producing cells that are responsible for your immunity. Unfortunately but not surprisingly this has happened to me as my white blood cell count is very low - a common side effect of chemo treatment but something to be aware of as you are at greater risk of infection. But lets be real here - everyone should want to be in a position where their immune system is strong and you are able to fight off infections and disease and live a healthy life.

So what is my objective this week? 

I’m going to be minimizing my exposure and ingestion of toxins by consuming a diet high in organic whole foods and zero processed foods. 

Some people detox differently by fasting or juicing. Whilst I have juiced previously for very short periods of time (2-3 days) this approach is far too aggressive for me at this juncture. If you haven’t done a detox before I wouldn’t start with fasting or juicing. Eating organic whole foods will detox you in a way that does not leave you feeling deprived of food so has a psychological impact on your ability to be successful.

My 6 step Ultimate Health Detox*

1. I aim to eliminate refined sugar, white flour, dairy, caffeine and alcohol - this one won’t be tough, as you may imagine alcohol suddenly becomes bottom of the priority list when you feel so utterly rubbish from cancer treatment! This will be the first step in reducing the task on my organs and reducing overall body inflammation. 
2. My vegetable and fruit intake will increase thereby helping my blood level maintain a more alkaline level and to increase antioxidants present in my blood.
3. All food will be organic to minimize exposure to antibiotics, hormones, pesticides and artificial chemicals. 
4. Food will be mainly consumed raw.
5. I will be exercising to move my lymph system and blood which will aid in detoxing through sweat.
6. Optimal hydration by drinking half my body weight in oz.

* Throughout the rest of the week I will be additionally trying out suggestions provided to me by some wonderful people that relate to detoxing.

There we have it. 6 simple steps to start helping my body heal itself, not a radical or completely “out there” approach and more importantly something that is achievable and I am likely to stick to. Detox can be a complicated subject and it’s easy to get lost in the weeds and overwhelmed or just feel that it’s “not for me”. But it is for everyone and I hope that I have managed to successfully articulate why it’s important for all of us (not just those with cancer) as to why these 5 steps would have positive health outcomes for us all.