Why Detoxification with Infrared Saunas is Important

Do we really need to think about detoxification and are we really exposed to that many toxins?  And of greater interest, can infrared saunas help with this removal of toxins.

Over the past century, medicine and technology have advanced in remarkable ways providing us with many comforts and products.  However this has been accompanied by an ever increasing amount of new designer compounds and toxic materials.

While this has been an issue for an even longer period of time, it is the vast amount of chemicals and the concentrations that were not present centuries ago.  The environment, water, air and foods are all now saturated with substances that can cause minor and major damage to our bodies.  They also just plain  can ruin our day to day energy and effectiveness.

During the past 4 decades, over 4 million chemical compounds have been reported.  Thousands of them are intentionally added to our foods and nearly a thousand to our water supplies.  We netnion just one of those later in this article.  It is estimated that over 10,000 chemical created compounds become part of our foods during the full processing cycle.

Add to this the medicines that remain in our bodies long after we have taken them, radiation and all other forms of toxic bombardment on our bodies.  So is there a real problem, is it something we need to address and can we do anything about it?

Dy Hyman, well known for his studies and books on detox, provides a few basic straight forward reasons that removal of foreign substances is important:

 

5 Reasons You Need to Detox

Millions of us, over half the population, suffer from FLC Syndrome. That’s when you Feel Like Crap. Sometimes it’s annoying little symptoms such as achy joints or muscles, brain fog, fatigue, headaches, allergies or gas, or more serious problems such as autoimmune diseases, migraines, asthma, acne, irritable bowel, reflux, arthritis or worse.

You wake up feeling less than vital, vibrant, alive, joyful and full of energy.

2. You can’t lose weight and keep it off (you want to fit into your jeans).

The scientific establishment has convinced us that losing weight is just a matter of calories in/calories out, that it’s about energy balance, about eating less and exercising more. How’s that working out for you? Probably not so well! Problem is, the scientific establishment is different from the established science. 5 Reasons You Need to Detox and 5 Ways to Detox, Lose Weight & Feel Great - Dr. Mark Hyman

 

As Dr. Hyman has correctly pointed out, what we are often told by the scientific community does not equate to the actual science.  Toxins are prevalent everywhere, and Dr. Hyman has built an entire career around the topic of detoxification. Need some more evidence?

If you have seen the movie Erin Brockovich (which was based on a true story), you know she crusaded to stop  a terrible carcinogen called chromium-6 from being allowed to pollute a local water supply.  Numerous residents were sick or had died as a result of the chromium.  That was almost 3 decades ago.

We would think that of all the thousands of contaminants in our environment, at least that one would have been addressed to protect us.  Unfortunately, the following article from 3 days ago states differently:

 

'Erin Brockovich' Carcinogen in Tap Water of More than 200 Million Americans | EWG

In the film "Erin Brockovich," the environmental crusader confronts the lawyer of a power company that polluted the tap water of Hinkley, Calif., with a carcinogenic chemical called chromium-6.

But almost 25 years after that real-life confrontation,[1] the conflict over chromium-6 is not over. A new EWG analysis of federal data from nationwide drinking water tests shows that the compound contaminates water supplies for more than 200 million Americans in all 50 states.

Yet federal regulations are stalled by a chemical industry challenge that could mean no national regulation of a chemical state scientists in California and elsewhere say causes cancer when ingested at even extraordinarily low levels. 'Erin Brockovich' Carcinogen in Tap Water of More than 200 Million Americans | EWG

 

We can see that contaminants enter our bodies every day on a regular basis.  But is this a serious problem.  Other than the chromium-6 mentioned above, are other substances dangerous.  And is it all that prevalent?  Does the presence of these substances cause any real damage?

The following source, The Townsend Letter, strongly suggests they do cause damage and are widespread.  This was based on numerous scientific examples and numerous cases of detoxification protocols, many including use of a sauna.  The following (I have chosen to make two phrases bold) are a few carefully selected excerpts from this Letter which itself is over 7000 words in length:

 

Sauna/Hyperthermia in Detoxification (Nov 2008) Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients

In the United States, there appears to be a concentration of MS North of the 37th parallel latitude, which coincides with geographic areas relying heavily upon petroleum products.

An extensive literature search coupled with clinical observations within the past five years, indicates a strong correlation between the appearance of inflammatory disease of the central nervous system and exposure to organic solvents. It has long been established that solvents absorbed in large quantities, in part, accumulate in the central nervous system.

Documentation also indicates that chemicals can induce autoimmunity. Research lends further support to the concept that avoiding further toxic exposure, detoxification, and modulating the immune system, in effect, modulates the course of MS.

The large database that is being collected by many physicians over the last few years has clearly indicated that xenobiotics can be safely removed using detoxification programs that include the thermal chamber. From the above review of sauna use, clearly when one considers the millions of times that the sauna has been used without injury that with the use of common sense and being aware of one's own personal reactions, the sauna is a safe method for use in detoxification programs.  Sauna/Hyperthermia in Detoxification (Nov 2008) Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients

 

Some additional studies have focused on the pervasiveness of chemicals and how fast we can consume them.  But also how fast we can reduce the new exposure.  However, it is the acquiring of these foreign substances overs years and decades that causes the real problems.  Remnants of chemicals and prescription drugs remain in the body, often stored in little pockets in fat cells in the liver and throughout the body.

And this is where Infrared Saunas are brilliant.  The healing heat penetrates deep into the tissues, shaking the toxins off of the fat cells.  They are then removed by elimination and sweating.  It is in this benefit of the detoxification process that the infrared sauna is supreme in its effects.

We encourage everyone to begin eating organic food.  In addition to the increase in nutritional value, it reduces the toxic burden on your body.  This reduces the burden on the liver and other elimination systems.  And it will allow methods of true removal of toxins such as infrared heat therapy to be most effective.

 

Image credits:

f76e0f14bff3a83248c8482ee76cff8d-bpfull.jpg image from drhyman.com

mayshadow100.gif image from townsendletter.com

the-organic-effect.jpg.653x0_q80_crop-smart.jpg image from mnn.com

Original Source Article Here: Why Detoxification with Infrared Saunas is Important