What is Detoxification? Who hasn’t been lured into a detox program with the hopes of rising up from the baptismal font of kale juice a brand-new and “cleansed” person? I get it. Having the chance to “start fresh,” and “get a clean slate” is tempting to even the biggest of doubters. The truth is that (un)fortunately, our body is way too smart to be remedied in the long term by quick fix approaches and a few days of fruit and vegetable juice. So, what does it even mean to “detox”? Technically speaking, detoxification, otherwise known as “biotransformation”, is “a metabolic process of clearing, neutralizing, and/or transforming toxins and ridding them from the body”. Aside from the obvious sources of toxins, like pollution, pesticides, cosmetics, processed foods, and self-care items, the body naturally produces toxins through its normal everyday functions that are eliminated via the detoxification pathways. Nowadays, there are more chemicals floating in the air than ever before and recent studies have linked the transfer of pollution in utero to negative long-term implications on the fetus (1). The human body is so sophisticated and “on the ball” that several mechanisms are in place to ensure that toxic levels do not...
