Nutrition Archives - Dr Carla Atkinson | Functional Health Practitioner & Coach for Women

Is not to ‘detox’! Work on your minerals and drainage instead…

Forcing toxins out of storage in the body (with things like sauna, intermittent fasting, juice cleanses, or rapid weight loss) can be dangerous, especially if your drainage pathways (how these toxins leave the body) are clogged (which is super common if you’re struggling with fatigue).

Your body is super smart, always working to keep you functioning as well as possible. It’s working to eliminate wastes and toxins daily, so if your body chose to store those toxins instead of eliminate them, there’s gonna be a reason for it.

Our body needs minerals to function and act as cofactors for the enzymes responsible for various detoxification processes in the cells and in the organs of our body.

In depleted fatigued bodies we generally see the body sequesters (holds on to and stores) toxins. That’s because we need good body function; strong liver health, kidneys, adrenals, thyroid etc to be able to properly metabolise and eliminate waste and other toxins.

When the body isn’t strong enough in those areas (not enough energy to do the task), it will prioritise other tasks first and store the toxins until later (often this is in fat tissue but can also be in the liver, brain and other organs).

That’s why I instead encourage my clients to:

Support your drainage pathways AKA how the wastes and toxins get excreted from your body, and
Support your cells and organs to function at their best by increasing important minerals needed for the detoxification process.

I have a 30-day Energy & Drainage Boost Challenge that helps you do just this! Join HERE.

What exactly is drainage?

For our body’s detoxification to be efficient, and to avoid becoming congested, we need good drainage pathways.

Watch this video for an introduction to drainage or scroll down and click the transcript if you prefer to read.

Video Transcript (click to read)
Drainage is a process where-by various organs are stimulated to excrete and transport toxins out of the body. It is important that these pathways are open and clear before any detoxification protocols or parasite cleanses are done to avoid reabsorption of toxins.

Think of this like the garbage disposal in your sink. If it, or the drain, is clogged and you start running water in trying to clean the sink, you’re going to end up with a backed-up mess. But if the garbage disposal and plumping pipes are clear, you can clean the sink, and the dirt plus any other nasties that happen to fall in, all get moved down through the drain and out into the sewer system easily.

If your pipes aren’t clear, then you will be congesting the body and reabsorbing toxins, which can lead a reaction known as the “Herxheimer Effect” where you experience flu-like symptoms including headache, joint and muscle pain, body aches, sore throat, general malaise, sweating, chills, nausea, brain fog etc.

Below is a diagram of the drainage funnel.

When clearing the drainage funnel I like to start at the bottom with the colon, and first ensure that we’re pooping with full bowel voids at least once, but ideally 2-3 times a day. This is because:
- If our colon is congested, the liver, gallbladder, skin, kidneys, bile ducts, and lungs are affected.
- If the liver and bile ducts have stagnation, then the lymph flow is negatively impacted.
- If the lymphatics aren’t flowing well, then the organs and tissues get congested.
- If the organs and tissues are congested, your cells and mitochondria are negatively impacted.
I’ve give you some starters to get those poops following in this Instagram Reel.

How do I know if my drainage pathways are clogged?

If you’re answering yes to the following, your drainage pathways need support:

Are you pooping less than 2-3 times a day?
Do you have chronic fatigue you can’t explain?
Do you barely sweat when exercising or in the sauna?
Do you have rashes, dark spots on your skin, and/or cellulite?
Do you have swollen glands and lymph?
Do you have tender breasts?
Do you have puffy eyes when you wake?
Do you have fatty yellowish lumps around your eyes?
Do you have liver or gallbladder pain or congestion (pain around the bottom of the rib cage)?
Do you have trouble digesting fatty foods?
Do you wake up between 1-4 am?
Do you have brain fog?
Do you retain water easily?
Do you have mood problems?
Do you have a suppressed Immune system?
Do you suffer with low blood sugar, high blood pressure, and/or high cholesterol?

Why you also need to support your cellular energy production with minerals…

Minerals are what we call the spark-plugs to the chemistry of life. They are literally required for life and for our bodies to function well. Yet for whatever reason they often get overlooked.

Watch this video to understand why you want to start working with minerals, or scroll down and click the transcript if you prefer to read.

Video Transcript (click to read)

We all love to feel energised but have you ever stopped to think that every cell of your body actually needs energy for it to be able to function and do its job?

When our cells and organs have the energy to function optimally, that’s when we ourselves can feel our absolute best and, of course, that generally means we feel energised too!

Minerals are what we call the spark-plugs to the chemistry of life. They are literally required for life and for our bodies to function well. Yet for whatever reason they often get overlooked.

Our body needs minerals to function and act as cofactors for the enzymes responsible for various detoxification processes in the cells and in the organs of our body.

In depleted fatigued bodies we generally see the body sequesters (holds on to and stores) toxins.

That’s because we need good body function; strong liver health, kidneys, adrenals, thyroid etc to be able to properly metabolise and eliminate waste and other toxins.

When the body isn’t strong enough in those areas (not enough energy to do the task), it will prioritise other tasks first and store the toxins until later (often this is in fat tissue but can also be in the liver, brain and other organs).

If we were to do a detox and force toxins out of tissues into circulation (with things like frequent sauna, intermittent fasting, juice cleanses, or rapid weight loss) without the body being ready, and especially with clogged drainage pathways, then it’s a recipe for trouble!

In my clinic I instead use mineral balancing which I assess with Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA), to give the body the minerals it’s missing that are needed to strengthen the adrenals, thyroid, liver, kidneys, digestive tract etc.

As we balance minerals, what we see is the body picks certain toxins (in the case of HTMA we specifically see the heavy metals) to release. When we see this we might bring in other extra support to help the body with the elimination of that particular toxin. It’s literally supporting the body to do what it does best – keep you as healthy and energised as can be.

Can you work on energy & drainage when pregnant or breastfeeding?

Can you detox when pregnant or breastfeeding? No
Can you support minerals and drainage pathways when pregnant or breastfeeding? Hell Yes!!!! You NEED to!

Watch this video for why, or scroll down and click the transcript if you prefer to read.

Video Transcript (click to read)

Detoxes can be dangerous when pregnant, whereas supporting you cellular energy production and drainage pathways will be very much relevant to help support you during pregnancy and postpartum.

During pregnancy and postpartum, minerals and nutrition in general are massively important in the health of your baby and yourself, as is getting rid of wastes in the body.

Minerals support cellular energy production needed for the body to function and for all the systems in the body to do their job – for nutrients to get into cells and wastes products to get out.

Many mums without balanced minerals can experience postpartum depletion, anxiety, and depression, often due to an adrenal and liver insufficiency that’s disrupting hormone clearance, copper and iron metabolism, and thyroid hormone activation.

Supporting the safe elimination of wastes and toxins (what your body is already doing every day), as well as your cellular energy production; something that’s most definitely needed to grow or feed your baby and maintain your health, is a must!

Are you ready to start your first Energy & Drainage Boost Challenge?

This 30-day challenge gives you the steps to help support your drainage pathways and boost your energy. Click below to join!

What about you mumma?

I’d love to know – did this resonate with you? What do you feel your biggest energy and drainage concerns are?

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