Detoxification Flashcards
What does CBT stand for?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
What are endo- vs. exotoxins?
Endotoxins are produced by the body (e.g., lactic acid from exercise, hormones, etc.). Exotoxins are any environmental poison that the body is exposed to by air, food, water or skin contact.
Define detoxification
chemical changes of a xenobiotic (foreign chemical), phytochemical (plant chemical), or endogenous compound (body toxin) that render it less toxic and/or more readily excreted.
What affects your total toxic load? Define toxic load.
Toxic Load is not just about what toxins a client has been exposed to. It also describes the efficiency of the body to break down and rid itself of the toxins that have been absorbed.
What is biotransformation, and why is it important?
Biotransformation is the process of chemically modifying a substance to render it less toxic and more readily excreted in the urine or stool. It occurs with both exogenous and endogenous compounds, and varies by person at a genetic level.
What does the Detoxification Pathway include?
Phase I and Phase II reactions
What is conjugation in relation to detoxification?
Conjugation occurs using six pathways, including methylation and sulfonation. During Phase II, Conjugation is the process whereby intermediate compounds from Phase I are further broken down and bound to specific types of molecules, which escort them out of the body via urine or feces.
What does GSH stand for?
Glutathione
What is Glutathione (GSH), and why is it important? What are two types of diseases that a lack of GSH causes?
Glutathione is involved in every aspect of cell function and plays an important role in whole body homeostasis. One of its primary functions is to protect the cells from free radicals (antioxidant). GSH protects cells by maintaining mitochondrial redox (oxidation and reduction) potential and cell membrane stability. Altered levels of GSH can result in diseases commonly associated with aging, most notably macular degeneration and cataracts.
What is glymphatic flow?
Think of glymphatic flow as washing over the brain and removing toxins and broken DNA. It’s the cleaning out of the amyloid proteins and the debris at night.
In stage 3 and 4 sleep, there’s a 60% increase in the space between neurons, so we can really go do a deep clean of all the debris that is floating around in the brain. It’s like cleaning behind your couch
What is a carcinogen? Which area of our lifestyle coaching has been linked to the development of cancer?
A substance that causes cancer. Sleep deprivation has been linked to cancer and the development of other chronic diseases.
Between which hours at night is glymphatic flow highest? Why is this important?
There is more glymphatic flow between 9pm and 12am than there is between 12am and 8am. So the quality of sleep is better earlier in the night, that’s what does all of the clean-up and detoxing in the brain. It’s the cleaning out of the amyloid proteins and the debris at night.
In stage 3 and 4 sleep, there’s a 60% increase in the space between neurons, so we can really go do a deep clean of all the debris that is floating around in the brain. It’s like cleaning behind your couch
What is Grehlin?
Grehlin is the hunger hormone that increases appetite
What is leptin?
Leptin is a hormone that decreases appetite. It makes you feel full/satiated
Guided imagery is contraindicated (suggest or indicated that imagery should not be used) for clients with which conditions?
Clients with PTSD, recent trauma, or thought disorders often experience disturbing images when asked to allow images to bubble up from the unconscious. For people with epilepsy, guided imagery can invoke the relaxation response, which can decrease seizure thresholds. Guided imagery is safe for a person with diabetes, with awareness that they may have a decreased need for insulin medication due to decreases in cortisol levels leading to improved insulin sensitivity.
What is total body burden in relation to toxins?
When all toxins interact with each other and disrupt our physiology, which leads to chronic illness
What makes people more or less susceptible to total body burden in what instances? What can they do to restore health?
The individual’s ability to bio transform, detoxify and eliminate exogenous and endogenous toxins (their genetics plays a big role in this). Lifestyle, diet and nutraceuticals can enhance detoxification, prevent disease and restore health.
Which organ(s) are involved in the transformation of toxins into compounds that we’re able to excrete?
The liver. I’m sure there are more?
Define toxicology
The study of poisons and the adverse effects that chemical and physical agents have on living organisms
What is a downfall of the NOEL-based Risk Assessment for synthetic chemicals?
Neglects to recognize that people are all different and some are more susceptible to chemicals than others based on their genes, their hormone levels, their lifestyle, etc.
Also, doesn’t take into account the mixture of toxins that is happening in the real world, where pesticides and other compounds are constantly being mixed. These mixtures are what we should worry about.
What do we call environmental toxins?
Exogenous (external) toxins
What do we call toxins that are created internally in our bodies?
Endogenous (internal) toxins
Provide some examples of naturally-occurring sources of exogenous toxins.
- UV light
- Radioactive elements
- Oxidation (free radicals)
- Animal, plant and mycotoxins (toxins)
- Products of combustion (smoke, incineration)
- Heavy metals / metalloids (Hg, Pb, Cd, As…) that are common in water and food
How does oxidation occur in our environment? Provide a couple examples
Inhaling cigarette smoke, fire burning, automotive exhaust, etc. Basically pollution
What are some human-generated synthetic sources of exogenous/environmental toxins?
- Industrial chemicals
- Pharmaceuticals
- Food preparation byproducts
- Personal care products
- Metals (commercial uses)
- Electromagnetic fields
Why is lead toxicity so bad for us?
Even low levels of it can impair the intellect of children (neurotoxicity & brain damage, also damage to the nervous system). So IQ levels of children are lower when lead is present in children.
Define subclinical toxicity
When effects of a toxin aren’t severe enough to be noticeable
On average, how many new environmental chemicals per year are registered for use in everyday items like food, prescription drugs, hair products, etc.? How many chemicals are manufactured in high production volume? What does that mean?
About 2,000. Since WWII, over 85,000 synthetic chemicals have been registered with the US EPA (TSCA). About 3,000 of those synthetic chemicals are manufactured in high production volume (greater than 1 million lbs of each chemical produced or imported into the US every year.
What percentage of pesticides actually reach the intended pest? What happens with the rest?
0.1%. The rest contaminates the environment.
How many chemicals has the EPA approved to use on our food?
350
What are POPs in relation to pollutants?
“Persistent Organic Pollutants” are long-lasting synthetic chemicals that began production less than 60 years ago. POPs are now all over the planet, and they’re orally ingested, inhaled, exposed topically (skin). We’ve detected levels of POPs in all human beings. They persist for decades or longer in the environment and in animal tissues
What are PCBs? How do they relate to POPs?
Polychlorinated biphenyls are highly toxic industrial compounds. PCBs are slow to break down and can persist in the environment at dangerous levels. PCBs are ONE of the original twelve POPs.
What are the original 12 POPs covered by the Stockholm Convention? And what is the value of this convention?
Members of the convention can no longer produce PCBs and they’re obliged to stop using this chemical. See pg. 4 here for break down of the industrial chemicals, pesticides and unintended byproducts that make up the 12 POPs: https://www.who.int/ceh/capacity/POPs.pdf
Pesticides:
- Aldrin
- Dieldrin
- Chlordane
- DDT
- Endrin
- Heptachlor
- Mirex
- Toxaphene
Industrial chemicals:
PCBs
HCB
Unintended byproducts:
Dibenzodioxins
Dibenzofurans
What is estradiol and how does it function in relation to estrogen?
Our bodies produce 3 different types of the estrogen hormone: Estriol, estradiol and estrone. Estradiol is the most potent/strong out of the three estrogens. Estradiol is a compound that looks for other estrogen compounds to attach itself to for normal female hormone/reproductive function. Estradiol contributes to most gynecologic problems, including endometriosis and fibroids and even female cancers.
What is a DDT molecule, and how does it interrupt regular hormone function?
A DDT molecule is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochlorine. It was originally developed as an insecticide, then it became infamous for its environmental impacts. When an estradiol compound sees a DDT compound, which looks similar to an estrogen compound, it thinks “Well, that will do!” and attaches itself to the DDT compound. The chlorine in that compound starts to wreak havoc on the estradiol compound, and our entire endocrine system gets all jacked up.
What are the dirty dozen POPs?
Pesticides:
- Aldrin
- Dieldrin
- Chlordane
- DDT
- Endrin
- Heptachlor
- Mirex
- Toxaphene
How could POPs be the reason for weight gain?
The body is trying to dilute the local concentration, and the solution to pollution is dilution. If we have a local concentration of chemicals, the body will put on more fat so that you spread out the toxins so that they’re not all concentrated in one cell
Describe the effects that toxins/POPs have on phase 1 enzymes
Phase 1 enzymes are detoxification enzymes. Toxins induce these enzymes, and the body tries to ramp up its ability to transform these enzymes and get rid of them. It can be problematic if you only halfway induce this process. If you DON’T induce enough enzymes to eliminate toxins, you can have immune/liver toxicity, disruption of the endocrine gland system, gene toxicity, brain toxicity, development (puberty) toxicity
