How Drugs Damage Your Liver
The death of Michael Jackson has highlighted the problem of toxicity of the drugs that people regularly take without a thought about the impact on their livers or immune systems. Many people regularly take over the counter (OTC) drugs like aspirin, ibuprofen or acetaminophen, the main ingredient in Tylenol, (known as paracetamol or Panadol in the UK) for colds or aches and pains without being aware of the dangers.
Virtually all drugs need to be detoxified by the liver and the side effects experienced by some is due to the damage caused directly buy the chemical to the liver or their effect on the metabolism of other drugs. Adverse side effects are experienced by 15 – 30% of those taking both over the counter medication and prescription medication. Some research has found that 8 million people (28% of all admissions) are hospitalized each year for conditions caused by prescription drugs. A frightening thought.
The liver detoxification tests that are used by some laboratories use aspirin and acetaminophen (paracetamol) as the agents to determine how the detox pathways are working. Drug companies who produce these drugs always study how the drug is detoxified so the way aspirin and acetaminophen are detoxified is well known.
The Two Step Detox Process
The liver converts drugs in a two step process called Phase 1 and Phase 2 pathways into substances that can be more easily excreted in the urine. For most drugs the liver uses the route that will get rid of the chemical as rapidly and safely as possible but in cases where the preferred pathway is not working efficiently often other pathways can be used with the danger that it is not eliminated so quickly or efficiently. The result here is that toxin stays in the system longer, may get turned into a more toxic form or may not get completely detoxified so it can cause damage to health.
We all know that you can tell a lot about your health from the state of your hair but did you know that a simple hair mineral analysis using a few strands of your hair can reveal more about your health than many expensive blood tests?
Since Oprah Winfrey started raving about the benefits of Acai Berries that she included in her detox and weight loss regime many companies have rushed to launch their own products. There are sites all over the internet offering free trial bottles and these are some of the outrageous things that they claim this latest superfood can do for you:
For years we have been told that we should apply plenty of chemical sunscreen before any exposure to sunlight. We are urged to slather our children with it too. Cosmetic manufacturers and doctors have warned us that we could get skin cancer unless we used these sun cream despite any adequate safety testing of the chemicals used in them. So it will probably come as a shock to you to learn that if you use sunscreen you are applying toxic chemicals that are absorbed into your body and could in fact cause cancer.
Sugar is one of the most addictive substances in the world and it has a devastating effect on your health. Excessive use contributes to long term health problems and diseases. It seems to be in just about every product you pick up in the supermarket so it is hardly surprising that people are asking how to detox sugar?
Since the green smoothie revolution some people are asking if blending is better than fruit and vegetable juicing for detox. When you juice fruit or vegetables you extract the juice from the produce leaving a lot of pulp behind. Unless you add this to other dishes you lose the health benefits of the fiber and possibly some other nutrients like flavanoids and anthocyanins. With blending on the other hand you use the whole fruit or vegetable. So which is best for detox?
Do you like your steak well done? If so you may be increasing your risk of pancreatic and colon cancer. According to a nine year study if you eat a large quantity of well done meat you increase your risk of pancreatic cancer by 70%. Previous studies have shown that your risk of breast cancer, colon cancer, stomach cancer and prostate cancer is increased if you eat charred red meat.

