Are you hesitant when it comes to “detoxing”? You may be wondering, What is it? Will it really make a difference? What are the benefits? Is it worth it?

First and foremost, you must know that metabolic detoxification is much different than a cleanse or a fast. A “cleanse” is defined as removing or lightly washing away dirt. And a “fast” is to rapidly go completely without.

Detoxification, however, is a change on a metabolic level, defined as transforming and removing toxic substances from your body, and then, counteracting its effects. In layman’s terms, the detoxification process gets rid of the harmful substances that have accumulated in your body. (It’s kind of like giving your body, specifically your liver, a little mini-vacation from all the “cleaning house” it has to do.)

You may be wondering, What are these toxins or harmful substances you’re talking about? Do I have them in my body? The answer is yes—we all do. In fact, there’s no way to avoid them. Toxins enter our body everyday, primarily through what we eat, drink, breathe or absorb through our skin. Even lotions, cosmetics, and soaps contain toxins that can harm us. The general rule is “if you wouldn’t put it in your mouth, don’t put in on your skin!”

When the body reaches a certain level of toxicity, when toxins accumulate it is termed “body burden.” This is when the health challenges start appearing —headaches and migraines, intestinal problems, hormone imbalances, skin issues, muscle aches and pains, fatigue, food sensitivities or allergies, sleep disturbances, brain fog… the list goes on.

Since we can’t completely avoid these harmful toxins, the next best thing we can do for our body is to reduce their accumulation. That’s where a metabolic detox comes in. I recommend two to three times per year.

All toxins are “fat-soluble”. That means when they enter the body, they stick to fat cells—wherever that may be—in any and all organs. Since everything that comes into your body is filtered through the liver, we need to help improve its functioning. During the metabolic detox, we change these toxins from fat soluble to water soluble, making them less “sticky,” allowing our body to get rid of them through our urine and feces.

The detoxification program we use at our practice is called the Clear Change program. Here’s an overview of how the process goes.

There are basically four phases.

Phase 1: Preparation
In this phase, we are preparing our body by removing known inflammatory offenders or producers. The most common inflammation offenders are:

• “White” foods with processed sugar and flour
• All processed foods and artificial anything!
• Dairy, especially grain-fed dairy cow products
• Excessive grains (more than 3 servings)
• Caffeine
• Alcohol
• Nicotine

Phase 2: Release (Conjugation)
In this phase, the toxins change or conjugate from fat-soluble to water-soluble with the help of all the foods we’re eating, along with critical micronutrients found in the prescribed powder and capsule supplements you take throughout the program.

We eat bountiful supplies of foods, never to feel hungry, that naturally detoxify and heal us during this phase. Some of these food examples are:

• Dark green leafy vegetables, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts
• Beans, lentils
• Fish
• Herbs and spices
• Fruits like lemons, apples, and pears
• Fresh water and green tea

Phase 3: Elimination
This is the phase that we can actually excrete the toxins from our body, because they’ve made the transformation into a water soluble form. Yay!

Phase 4: Reintroduce & Recognize
This phase is the detail phase of recording how our body responds to foods we re-introduce. This is done slowly and mindfully.

In the past 20 years, I have witnessed profound effects that detoxification can have on people. It never ceases to amaze me and others! There’s typically a dramatic decrease in symptomatic issues, reports of increased energy, improved concentration, restful sleep, weight loss, and people just feel great. They think, eat, move, look, and feel well.

Before we start our detox process, we have our patients take a detoxification questionnaire, which breaks down the body into sections, asking them to specify which symptoms they may be experiencing. Many people end up with a high score, which means they’re experiencing a high body burden resulting in quite a few health challenges—some, they may just view as “normal.” After doing the detox, we have them take the questionnaire again, and it’s awesome to see the “symptom scores” drop!

Go ahead—download our detoxification questionnaire and fill it out. What’s your score? What’s your body burden? Do you have a lot of health challenges? How could your body benefit from a detox? Check out our website for our next detox class, and read below what some of our other patients had to say about their experiences.

Patient Detox Testimonials
“What I really like about this program is it is teaching my husband and I to cook and eat healthier. Once I got the idea of what we can and can’t eat on certain days, I was able to put together some of the meals with our own recipes. I love it and feel GREAT!”
Tracie R.

“The benefits are many, but my favorites are the most restful sleep you can imagine, super energy and better mental sharpness and focus with decision making. You should do this for the love of your family, friends, and most importantly, yourself. You will not find better and more caring expert advice than from Dr. DeFranca. I consider her not only my chiropractic doctor and nutritional expert, but also my mentor and friend.”
Annie L.

“You gave me daily steps to implement. I stuck to the plan, lost weight, and feel so much better. I am much more aware of what I put into my body. I participated in your program while traveling for business and was never hungry. You have educated me on how to be smarter when eating, grocery shopping, cooking, and ordering in a restaurant. Thank you!”
Willie P.