6 ways to detox by using supplements

What is a detox diet and will it really work?

Short for detoxification, detox literally means to get rid of toxins. Toxins are poisonous substances but don’t go imagining snake venom or arsenic. Everyday toxins can include alcohol, trace pesticides, cigarette smoke and even processed foods. A buildup of toxins can lead to the damage or dysfunction of sensitive organs like our livers and kidneys.

How the Body Deals With Toxins

There is no need to despair though because in general, our bodies are very well equipped to get rid of the toxins. It does this through our sweat, urine and feces. While these systems are in place to combat everyday toxins, there is a limit to what they can do.

Eliminating Toxins from Our Body

Popular detox diets that include laxatives, diuretics or teas do not have any evidence that supports their role in toxin elimination or sustainable weight loss (1). Dietary supplementation with antioxidant-rich foods or lifestyle changes such as sleeping adequately CAN however, enhance our body’s natural detoxification systems.

This blog post will outline supplements that can support your body’s detoxification systems in 6 ways.

Liver detox supplements: Vitamin B-complex and curcumin

The liver is one of the most functionally diverse organs in the body. The detoxification of foreign substances is amongst its most important roles. The bile produced by the liver is also very important to kick-start the digestion of fat. Supplements that can support these functions of the liver, are therefore, highly recommended.

Vitamin B Complex

Supplementation with the B vitamins, especially vitamins B9 and B12, has been proven to have liver-protective effects (2).

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is only found in animal-based products. Thus, those on a primarily plant-based diet, may be deficient in this vitamin. The EFSA assumes 4 ug/day to be an adequate daily intake for adults (3). 

Folate (Vitamin B9)

Folate (vitamin B9) is more easily included in a variety of diets. However, natural food folates have a low bioavailability (3). Small intestine absorption issues can also lead to its deficiency. The tolerable upper intake level is set at 1 000 ug/day for this nutrient (3).

Liposomal Vitamin B-Complex

Our liposomal vitamin B-complex product contains vitamin B9 in the form of folic acid and vitamin B12 as methylcobalamin. These are their most bioavailable forms (4).

Curcumin Supplements

In a previous blog post, we wrote about the winter benefits of curcumin. Aside from this, curcumin is also beneficial to the function of the liver. It has been proven to increase the antioxidant effects of the liver in animals fed on a high-fat diet (5) (6). We highly recommend that you add our 47-times more bioavailable liposomal curcumin to your liver-health supplement list.

Supplements for skin health: Vitamin A and vitamin D

Our skin is almost the first barrier to be exposed to environmental pollutants. This includes bright festival lights and smoke. In addition, what we consume can also affect our skin. Alcohol, for example, can cause our skin to become dry (7).

Vitamin A For Skin Health

Vitamin A is the first vitamin approved by the Food and Drug Administration as an anti-wrinkle agent (8). It can effectively maintain normal skin by promoting skin cell proliferation, strengthening the protective function of the outer layers of the skin, reducing water loss and by preventing collagen degradation (8) (9). However, since vitamin A is sensitive to air, is easily oxidized and is poorly water-soluble, liposomal vitamin A delivery may be preferable (10).

Vitamin D For Skin Health

Did you know that the human vitamin D receptors in the skin can contribute to the detoxification of exogenous and endogenous compounds? (11) Especially in the winter months therefore, we promote vitamin D3 supplementation, to support healthy skin. Since the vitamin’s absorption increases in the presence of fats (12), we recommend our 13-times more bioavailable liquid liposomal vitamin D3 product.

You can read more about the beauty supplement recommendations we have here. 

Antioxidant supplements: Vitamins C & E

Vitamin C is one of the most popular antioxidant supplements on the market. This is because unlike most other animals, humans do not have the ability to synthesize vitamin C (4). We can only obtain it from our diets.

In spite of this, it is the primary water-soluble, non-enzymatic antioxidant in human plasma and tissues (4). It is powerful even in trace amounts. The average adult requires 80 mg of vitamin C daily (3).

Vitamin C Supplements

Conventional vitamin C supplements suffer from the problem of a loss of absorption at single doses higher than 500 mg (4). PlantaCorp’s liquid liposomal vitamin C formulation contains 1 000 mg of vitamin C. Liposomal encapsulation helps increase the bioavailability of this high-dose form by 12 times! Further, the fluid form of the supplement was found to be 21.64-times more bioavailable than a powdered liposomal form of the same dosage!

Vitamin E as an Antioxidant

Vitamin E is another powerful antioxidant. It prevents the generation and increase of free radicals in cell membranes and plasma proteins (4). Vitamin E occurs naturally in eight forms.

The human body preferentially uses only one of these forms. Known as alpha-tocopherol, this is also the only supplementation form that can reverse vitamin E deficiency. Being a fat-soluble vitamin, it has to be taken with a meal containing a sufficient amount of fat to guarantee optimal bioavailability (13). Alternatively, liposomal vitamin E supplementation is recommended.

Lymphatic detox: Vitamins K & B6

The lymphatic system is an extensive drainage network. It helps drain tissue waste into the blood (14). It also defends the body against infections.

The lymphatic system itself, therefore, needs to be cleansed from time-to-time (15) (16). According to Ayurveda, cold, heavy, oily and sweet food are aggravators of lymphatic congestion (17). A lymph detox may therefore, be just the thing we all need after the holiday season.

Vitamin K2

Vitamin K2 has been studied as an anti-cancer agent in the lymphatic system (18). It does this by inhibiting the production of reactive oxygen species. We have demonstrated that our liquid liposomal vitamin K2 is 37-times more bioavailable than a non-liposomal supplement of the same dosage.

Our Business Development team will be happy to share information on our liposomal D3K2 supplement. Contact us.

Vitamin B6

Vitamin B6 is a water-soluble vitamin. Growing evidence from experimental and clinical studies suggests that systemic inflammation may increase vitamin B6 requirements (4).

The average requirement of vitamin B6 is 1.3 mg/day with a maximum tolerable intake of 25 mg/day (3). Although easily soluble in water, conventional vitamin B6 supplementation suffers from low cell permeability. Liposomal vitamin B6 may overcome this problem (19).

Supplements for kidney support: Zinc

The kidneys are one of the primary organs that remove toxins and waste from our blood. The waste is then eliminated through urine. A kidney cleanse can, therefore, improve one’s ability to process certain foods, absorb nutrients and convert food to energy (20). Flushing out waste and toxins also prevents potential infections.

An estimated 17.3% of the world’s population is at risk of inadequate zinc intake (21). Chronic alcoholism and a vegetable-rich diet may lead to a zinc deficiency. This deficiency is associated with chronic kidney diseases and worsens kidney complications (22).

Zinc supplementation has, therefore, been studied for its anti-oxidant properties (23). It is also a key co-factor for the correct functioning of anti-oxidant enzymes in the kidney (22) (23). Before you take any zinc supplements though, we recommend you to follow your physician’s advice and EFSA recommendations for your specific age, gender and diet type (3).

Full body detox: Magnesium

Magnesium is an essential nutrient that is involved in more than 300 essential metabolic reactions (4). This is why this mineral is recommended for a full body detox. 300-350 mg/day of magnesium is deemed acceptable by the EFSA (3).

A magnesium deficiency in healthy individuals who are consuming a balanced diet is quite rare. A poor dietary intake, alcoholism and old age may result in sub-optimal magnesium absorption though. In such cases, we recommend our liquid liposomal magnesium product. It was found to be 5.18-times more bioavailable than non-liposomal magnesium supplements of the same dose. 

Detox supplements: Market perspective

The global detox product market was valued at 42 630 million USD in 2020 (24). The market is expected to reach 51 150 million USD by the end of 2026. A CAGR of 2.6% is expected to be recorded between 2021 and 2026.

Contact our Business Development team to be a part of these exciting times with liquid liposomal detox supplements.

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Key takeaways

References

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