By Luc Chaltin, ND DIHom
The concept of detoxification is very old and can be traced back thousands of years. All early religions had some form of purification that was accomplished by fasting. Fasting had a reputation of cleansing the body from impurities. In Chinese Medicine, liver (detoxification) remedies have been used for some 5,000 years now. It was not until homeopathic medicine had been well established during the 1800s, that it grew to encompass detoxification as a part of homeopathic treatment.
In the 1800s, some time after his discovery of homeopathy, Dr. Samuel Hahnemann began treating his French patients with the homeopathic remedy Sulfur. In his opinion every chronically ill person was affected by an inherited illness which he called a miasm; he chose to treat this miasm with Sulfur. This information can be found in the excellent book A Homeopathic Love Story by Rima Handley (North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California).
A small band of French homeopaths followed Hahnemann on this path of treatment, but in those times no one really knew the true nature and cause of illness, especially chronic disease. In France, due to the high consumption of wine, a large number of people suffered from cirrhosis of the liver which made them incurably sick. It was only in the latter part of the 19th century that the famous French physiologist, Claude Bernard, discovered the function of the liver, to detoxify the blood and the lymph. The discovery allowed the homeopaths to finally understand what was happening when they prescribed certain homeopathic remedies to detoxify the liver. Today, more than 500 detoxifying functions of the liver are known, with many more probably undiscovered.
The French doctors, followers of this later Hahnemannian approach, applied detoxification to every person. The Hahnemannian doctors differed in this from the French Kentists (followers of the American doctor and famous homeopath Kent who used the classical approach of the similimum, or single remedy) who did not use the detoxifying remedies.
The Chronic Diseases
Hahnemann published a book about chronic diseases in the early nineteenth century in which he states that chronic disease is curable when the inherited miasm is addressed homeopathically. By the beginning of the twentieth century, French homeopaths were able to cure chronic disease by detoxifying the liver with multiple remedies. Léon Vannier was the first to write a book about this approach, and that book saved my life in 1965. It was my guide as I cured myself of tuberculosis.
When a chronic disease establishes itself, it is because the liver function is deficient. If toxins are not transformed into excretable wastes by the liver, the kidneys are unable to remove them. The toxins then interfere with the metabolism and the organs slowly lose their strength as the metabolism becomes weaker and eventually insufficient. The toxins are particularly devastating for the sensitive enzymes, and as more and more enzymes are destroyed, the metabolic functions become weaker and weaker. This process also affects the immune cells so that they become unable to respond to the invasion of pathological bacteria and viruses as strongly as needed, and are tolerated by a body that is unable to destroy them. This creates a situation that is called latency.
The pathway is now open to the malfunctioning of many body parts, especially the glands, the digestive system, the respiratory system, the circulatory system, and the brain. Because the liver function is no longer normal, toxins settle in different body parts, especially the mucous membranes of the nose, the vagina, and the lungs, creating allergic reactions, such as sinus problems, vaginal discharge in women, asthma in children and adults, and candidiasis.
The glands are also affected and this causes chronic fatigue when the adrenals and the thyroid are impaired or exhausted. When toxins affect the brain, sleeplessness occurs at first and later nervous excitation. When the pancreas and the brain are affected, the resulting symptoms are hyperactivity and attention deficit. In the digestive tract, a lack of enzymes can cause gas and upset stomach. Combined with an affection of the pancreas, the situation can evolve into hypoglycemia or diabetes, especially if there are hereditary precedents.
A very important function of the liver is to take care of the nitrogen that becomes available when the body transforms protein into carbohydrates. This nitrogen is transformed into uric acid, which is a dangerous free radical. When the liver is healthy, this uric acid is transformed into its salts and excreted by the kidneys. But in the case of a deficient liver, the amount of uric acid in the blood and the tissues can become too high and cause other diseases.
Although conflicting data exists, this author believes that when the uric acid attacks the inner walls of the arteries and causes inflammation, the body uses cholesterol to patch the damage. If the artery does not heal because of lack of enzymes, more cholesterol is used, which may eventually cause arterial clogging. Clogged arteries can cause heart attack if the artery is situated in the heart or a stroke if it is in the brain. In other persons, the uric acid attacks the cartilage of the joints, the tendons, the bursea, and even the muscles, causing gout, rheumatism, carpel tunnel syndrome and arthritis.
The Origin of Toxins
Toxins are the result of normal metabolic action, and the body is well equipped to handle these wastes. The problem we face today is that we have introduced thousands of chemical substances in the food and the environment that have never been present before. It started in the 19th century when organic chemistry was discovered and thousands of toxic substances were created that have been haunting mankind ever since.
These toxins are for the most part the newly produced, synthetic organic chemicals used for farming, preserving food, drugs, household cleaners, etc. These new chemicals are alien to the body. Life has never met them before and does not have the enzyme cycles to handle and excrete them. These toxins need to be handled in a complicated way for disposal but if too many of them are introduced, the body is unable to cope effectively with all of them. Some are stored in the fatty tissues or other parts of the connective tissue, such as lymphatic tissue. Here, they are more or less neutralized, at least temporarily, but only in people with a tendency to become overweight.
People that have a constitution that has the tendency to stay lean cannot do this, or only on a limited scale. They suffer earlier and more intensely from the assault of toxins than persons that have the tendency to become overweight. I once met a person who chose to live in a shack out in the woods in order to avoid the poisonous man-made chemicals. It is obvious that even “normal” people will suffer.
Some of these toxins are easy to avoid. We can stop ingesting them deliberately with the food and the drinks we consume daily, by switching to organically grown foods and pure spring/well water.
Homeopathy & Detoxification
After many years of using homeopathy for liver detoxification, I am now convinced that a good detoxifying complex is the best way to help the body to free itself from toxins. Of course, it does not make sense to use a homeopathic detoxifier and at the same time continue to eat the regular food that is laced with toxins. The only solution to restore a healthy body is to switch to organically grown food exclusively, and to use a homeopathic detoxifying complex. I also recommend a regular exercise program.
In the case of illness, do not use drugs. Use homeopathy and herbs instead. Drugs are always toxic and add to the toxic load in the body, making the situation worse with time.
If you take vitamins and minerals, their absorption will be improved if you also take a homeopathic detoxifier.