The medical doctor’s role was dedicated to creating the emperor’s daily meal plan and itinerary of activities based on his daily inspection.  Regardless of the legend being true, this coincides with the tenants of traditional Chinese medicine that we can observe so much about our health from our OWN bodies. For one, our stool is an important indicator for our overall health.  It’s actually one of the only things we can actually examine to determine where our health is headed.  The signs of congested elimination are literally in front of your eyes every single day.

Truth of the matter is, when your pathways of elimination are congested, your body cannot get rid of toxins such as chemicals that interfere with the production, release, transport, metabolism or elimination of the body’s natural hormones which can occur through air, water, soil, food and consumer products.    Now pile on the issues of mismanaged blood sugar ( a good majority of us) and adrenal fatigue (yup all of us again at some point), which further interferes with your body’s natural ability to clean out it’s own system, and you’ve got a monopoly free pass collect 100 dollars to hormone imbalance.

Your stool isn’t the only way your body gets rid of toxins though.  There are four other pathways that also deal with elimination and they are all interconnected.

1.  Liver and Large Intestine
These are your internal garbage processors, compacting and moving the big stuff such as digested food, toxins, chemicals and hormonal waste every single day!  
The liver’s primary purpose is to convert fat-soluble toxins (most) into water soluble waste through at two step process so that your body can excrete them via sweat, urine and bowel movements.  Hormones are fat soluble because that allows them to stay in the body longer.

Phase 1– the liver breaks them down using nutrients like glutathione, B vitamins, and C vitamins (from the food you eat).  This breakdown causes free radicals which are toxic, and so phase 2 is also vital and needs to happen.

Phase 2- Selenium and amino acids in the liver combine these free radicals and make them harmless and water soluble.

It then enters into the gallbladder, mixes with bile and leaves the body via the large intestine.  The last substance needed is adequate fiber so the large intestine can bind the waste and make sure it leaves quickly.

** Now an important point here, you can’t just supplement with these nutrients and expect the pathways to clear.  These nutrients don’t become bioavailable when you take them as typical supplements, if you eat them as they naturally occur in foods, the body can easily recognize them.  It’s important to consume enough and use whole food supplementation as needed to fill in the gaps and support both phases of detoxification.  If you don’t complete phase 2 because of a lack of nutrients, you’re exposing yourself to a greater degree of toxins.

When you wake up in the morning, have a glass of water and feel the urge to have a bowel movement within about 20 minutes of waking, this is successful elimination in this pathway.  If it’s longer than that, or if you require a cup of coffee to get things rolling your are constipated!. Even if you go later in the day. The reason being is because the liver stops working around 3am in it’s cycle, so by the time you wake up, you have been clearing yesterday’s waste for the past 12 hours.  If you don’t get proper elimination, the toxins and other chemicals work their way back through and become reabsorbed through the bloodstream.  This can lead to menstrual, fertility, libido, and chronic conditions.

2. Skin
Your skin is your largest organ!  That’s why products in your home were so important to be clean.  It has to handle whatever the large intestine and liver are unable to eliminate.  It does so by exerting waste, by sweat. Have you ever noticed when you are stressed or upset, the sweat from your armpits smells foul?  That’s a sign your pathways of elimination are congested and your skin is trying to expel it.
Cystic acne, rosacea, eczema, often are all signs the other systems haven’t been working well!

3. Lymphatic System
The lymphatic system is a network of organs, nodes ducts, and vessels that produce and transport lymph, a fluid made up of white blood cells.  This system sweeps up metabolic waste, toxins, dead cells, and excess fluid from your organs and deposits them into your bloodstream, which eventually transfers them to the liver and large intestine.  When it’s clogged, the  organs and parts of the body that deposit waste into it become backed up too.

When it works efficiently, your lymphatic system directs white blood cells to germs and other invaders and helps you fight off infections.  When congested, it still attracts these bugs and transports them throughout your body, dumping them into the bloodstream, putting at a greater risk.
You can also experience allergies, high blood pressure, chronic sinusitis and can develop autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus with clogged lymphatics.

4. Kidneys
Just like the liver, the kidneys process toxins all the time and are very sensitive to chronic exposure.  Instead of eliminating through the bowels, it’s elimination is through the urinary system.  An over abundance of chemicals, hormones and low numbers of minerals and electrolytes leading to dehydration puts this organ and relationship out of balance, and can also lead to kidney stones, low back pain and infections.  

So there it is…..
I would also state that our oral health and respiratory system and lungs are also areas that are pretty vulnerable to these toxins.
Oil pulling is a great option here!