Spring Detox Basics: Where To Start To Enhance Cancer Prevention

A spring reset sounds nice until you realize how much “stuff” we’re exposed to every day. 

We're kicking off a month-long focus on detox and cleansing with the true first step: awareness. Before we talk about supporting detoxification pathways, we have to get clear on what’s actually adding to your toxic burden and which exposures you can realistically reduce. 

In today's episode we will dive into the modern-day toxic load we live with and why lowering exposure matters for staying cancer free. We will also share a simple framework to spot what is coming in through air, food, water, and skin so you can make realistic swaps without chasing perfection.

Here's some of what we're covering:

• examples of known and probable carcinogens in daily life
• how toxins create oxidative stress & DNA damage which increase cancer risk
• the sink-and-drain model for toxic burden and detox support
• why genetics can change detox capacity and inflammation response
• what exposures to audit from your environment & lifestyle
• plus simple low-hanging swaps you can make to start reducing your toxic burden today

👉 Resources mentioned on today's episode:

1- Environmental Working Group

2- The Healing Accelerator Spring Detox Challenge

3- Episode 2: Why Cancer Grows

Enjoying our content? Subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next, share this with someone who wants a safer home and lower toxin exposure, and leave a review to help more people find the show. 🙏

🌿 Let's Connect 🌿

Learn How to Enhance Your Recovery (with our 3-Step Approach)

Join our Free Community 

Watch Episodes on YouTube 

Follow Us on Instagram

Transcript

Spring Cleaning For Your Body

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello and welcome back to the Ground and Root Podcast, where we are exploring the world of holistic and functional strategies to enhance healing and help you stay cancer free. I am your host and holistic cancer dietitian Deion Detrez. I'm so excited to be here with you today. We are welcoming in a new month. It is April at the time of the release of this recording. But today is actually the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, the day that I'm recording this. It is the spring equinox. And this is the perfect time of year, of season, to talk about this topic. We naturally begin to shift our focus to spring cleaning. And we think about this in the context of our homes, perhaps like airing out the houses, opening up the windows, clearing out the clutter. But we can also think about this inside of our own bodies. And that is going to be our theme for the next four episodes. We're going to focus around detoxing and cleansing our bodies and the different ways we can do this. Today we're going to start with the what I would consider step one in this process, which is first just getting really aware of the toxins that you are exposed to right now. And how can we start to lower that burden? How can we begin to reduce your exposures? That's number one. Step number two will be how to enhance your pathways of detoxification. You have six pathways of detoxification. And there are very specific things we can do for each of those pathways to help them function better. So whatever is coming in can get cleared out more efficiently. Our next solo episode, we will talk more about that. Okay. But for today, in today's episode, we're gonna first just talk about the reality of the world that we live in when it comes to toxic exposures and some really specific ways you can begin to reduce your burden. You ready? Let's dive in. So first and foremost, the background. And I imagine if you're here listening to this podcast, you already have a pretty good sense of the amount of toxins we, you know, have exposure to in our world. But I just want to give you a few numbers. Because when I dove into this research for one of my previous workshops on enhancing detoxification, I was really shocked. Yes, I think, you know, abstractly we know there's a lot of toxins in the environment. But actually, okay, just since 1990. So really in just the last three decades, we have we have introduced 84,000 new chemicals into the environment. Okay. That's enormous. Every year, new chemicals are coming out. But what's really horrifying to me is that fewer than 1% of those chemicals have actually been tested for safety. And to me, I feel like we wonder why younger and younger people are getting cancer. You know, why statistics have shown us that nearly 80% cancer rates have increased nearly 80% over the last three decades in people under 50. There's a lot of reasons for this, but a major reason is the fact that we are just inundated with chemicals in the last three decades in particular. Okay. There was a very interesting study done by the Environmental Working Group. I'm going to refer to them again later on. So if they're not already on your radar, please go to their website, go to their app, evg.org bookmark it, because it's going to be very helpful in your quest, your goal to reduce your toxic burden. Okay. But this study, I have also cited this before. You may have heard it from me already because it's so just profound. I think the average newborn born today has almost 300 known toxins in their umbilical blood, their umbilical cord blood, before they even take their first breath. And this is not because their moms were like willy-nilly, you know, being reckless in their exposures. Of course not. This is just the reality of what we're being exposed to, even when we're trying to be cautious and careful, right? Now, of these 1% that have been tested for safety, there are some well-established known carcinogens. And a carcinogen just means something that has been shown with research to cause a cell to become cancerous. So I'm just gonna list a few. Some of these will hopefully be like, oh yeah, I knew that, but maybe there's some that aren't. But actual known carcinogens, alcohol is a known carcinogen. I know I should probably do a podcast just on alcohol alone because that is a big topic. It's still very culturally accepted in many countries, and yet it is a known carcinogen. So that and cigarette smoke, living in France, the amount of people that are still smoking and still drinking every day, it's a real cultural thing here. And both of these substances are known, right? They're not suspected. They're known carcinogens. Some other ones, though, too, oral contraceptives have been shown to be carcinogenic. Many different viruses have been shown to cause cancer. Engine exhaust, right? So even just living in a city and being exposed to a lot of engine exhaust is can be carcinogenic. Arsenic, of course, is one. Aflatoxins, this is found in mold. So that is something that we definitely think about at ground and root is the potential mold exposure as a potential source of toxins for our clients. And there's others. I don't want to, I don't want to spend our time together just like listing off things. I just wanted to bring a few to your attention. And then another, like a subset of that, which have, again, through research, have been shown to be probably carcinogenic. Okay. So not as accepted, but probably. So acrylamide is one. Acrylamide, one of the more common ways this is found is in burnt starch. So we already know that burning meat, right? Like blackened charred meats, is problematic when it comes to cancer. But actually charring starchy things as well. So bread, like burnt toast is maybe the easiest one to think about, creates a compound known as acrylamide, which has been shown to be probably carcinogenic. Styrene, which is found in certain types of plastics, right? Styrofoam, pesticides, many pesticides, have been shown to be probably carcinogenic. Cisplatin, this is like a really big one for the cancer community and people who are receiving treatments to help, you know, to help get rid of cancer, but yet some of those treatments have actually been shown to cause cancer too. So we have to balance that and bring in some protections when we know that the treatment we need is also likely toxic. Thankfully, there are ways we can help with that. Lead is another one, nitrates. Okay, I was just referring to the burnt meat, but also processed meats with nitrates, vinyl, and so many others. Okay. So it's just that's just a sampling, but it's just to get a few of these things on your radar. Okay. Now, here's the problem when we're exposed to these toxins, because not all of these things are in our control. Some of them are, and we're gonna try to focus our attention today on the ones that we do have control over, but some are not. And so we are gonna be exposed to some things. And thankfully, we have very efficient systems to help us with that. But I want you to also just understand the physiology of what's happening what's happening behind the scenes. You know, I think it's important for you to understand how this works in your body. So here's the primary problem. We are exposed to one, just let's say one of those toxins I just mentioned. And then changes happen inside the cell. It creates change in the cell, right? So perhaps the cell breaks, perhaps it causes an oxidative lesion, perhaps it causes proteins to cross-link, right? It creates some kind of damage inside, like in it creates damage to the DNA inside a cell. Okay. When a cell is dividing, just on its own, just naturally, even without any outer influence, it is more susceptible to DNA damage. So if while it's dividing, we have these toxins now circulating through the blood, you know, creating contact with these cells, we can create a situation where that cell mutates, that cell changes and can go from a healthy cell to a cancerous cell. Now, some carcinogens actually cause cells to divide at a faster than normal rate. And that's part of the damage, if you will, that they're bringing to the cell is they're causing it to divide more rapidly. And knowing that they're that while a cell is dividing, it's more susceptible to damage just naturally. It's increasing the chances that DNA changes are going to occur. So that's really, again, you know, trying to understand cancer is such a complex thing, but if we think of it really on a cellular level, it can help us understand why some of these things are increasing our risk, right? Now, there's two primary concerns with this situation. So one is just the sheer amount of toxins that might be coming in to your body. So how many substances are already circulating in your bloodstream that could potentially be making contact with cells and creating DNA damage. But number two is what's coming in is outpacing what's going out, right? And that's what we're gonna talk about more in the next episode, but just to lay the foundation for that. So one of the ways I typically explain this in my classes is to think about a sink. Okay. So let's just turn the faucet on. So water's coming in, let's open the drain so it's not gonna overflow, right? And the water coming in and the drain is leading it out, it just continues to flow, right? The sink doesn't get backed up, the sink doesn't overflow. It can pretty much handle the pressure of water coming in, right? That is a healthy, functioning detox system. Now, what happens when the drain gets clogged? Right. Now, maybe it's still drain, maybe the water is still draining through, but not as efficiently. Perhaps it's starting to back up, right? Eventually it's gonna overflow. So it's really about both elements here. Trying to control as much as we can coming in, but knowing that our sinks, our bodies can handle some coming in. But what is gonna be very important is how efficiently we're draining, our pathways open, right? So that what's coming in can flow out. And like I mentioned already, there are six different pathways that help us remove toxins. So there are a lot of different ways we can enhance that sink flowing. And we're gonna talk about that more next time. Okay. So if you're not already, make sure you subscribe and you'll be the first to know when that episode goes live in a couple of weeks. Now, I want to say one more thing before we talk about the strategy here, okay, about how to reduce our exposure. So, another element to this is genetics and how genetics influences the risk of toxins becoming cancerous in our body. So, I think the easiest way to explain this is to go back to the environmental working group study I mentioned about the baby, right, being born with almost 300 known toxins in their blood. So, now what if that baby also happens to have inherited genetics from his or her parents that have suboptimal or poor genotype, genetic expression in their detoxification pathways? So, if that's true, if that combination is happening, they're gonna have a much harder time clearing those chemicals than another baby who had the same amount of exposures, but happens to have optimal genotypes in their de in their detoxification pathways. And so they actually clear them much easier. They create, it creates less inflammation, less irritation, less oxidation in their body just because of how efficiently they're set up genetically to handle it. Now, obviously, this is true for adults too. As we move through life and we accumulate exposure, right, to thousands of chemicals all the time. How are how we're genetically set up to manage these toxins is definitely going to play a role as well. So when we think about the steps to help us reduce our burden and enhance our systems of detoxification, it's really threefold because it's actually controlling how much is coming in as best we can, enhancing the drainage, enhancing all the pathways that are clearing, and having some awareness around our genetics may be helpful, especially if you're already dealing with cancer. This is something we do with our clients and something I'm a real big advocate for, is if you're already dealing with cancer or you have in the past, or it runs in your family and you're trying to do everything you can to reduce your risk. Part of that formula is understanding your genetic potential. Because if we know that you have suboptimal or poor genotypes in your detoxification pathways, we can be even more targeted in making sure we're enhancing those pathways, right? It's not set in stone. We can bring in strategy with food, with supplements, with some lifestyle practices to make sure that we're making up the difference, if that makes sense. It's also gonna be helpful for us to know how well you antioxidate. So when there is exposure, right? What happens to those oxidative lesions? How well does your body get rid of oxidation or inflammation when there is an exposure? The body's gonna be inflamed by that exposure. How well do you clear inflammation? These are just a few of the pathways that we can actually look at through DNA, which is amazing, to know how you personally, how you uniquely handle those things, and then we can take steps to improve them. So I will recommend that. Okay, and this is something we will talk about more going forward. I will talk more about testing because I know that there's a lot of questions typically around that. But as a starting point, we first just need to reduce our burden, right? That's like step one, regardless of what your genetics are. If we just do what we can to reduce burden, then we do what we can to enhance clearance. And then if we need to, particularly if you're currently dealing with cancer, we dive deeper into the DNA. I hope that makes sense. So let's actually go into the nitty-gritty of how do we reduce your exposures. Now, the way I like to think about it or even teach it is to group them by category. And maybe you want to take some notes here if you can, if you're not driving or, you know, on a walk or something. I mean, you have me in your ears, but I like to think of them in categories just because it can help you think about categorically how do we reduce it. So here's how we're gonna approach this. We're gonna talk about what you breathe, so what's coming in through the air, and then how can we control for that? Okay. What you ingest, so what's coming in orally, and that could be with food, it could be with beverages, it could be with medications. It's what are what's coming in through your mouth, okay? And then we're gonna talk about what touches your skin. And that's the easiest way to group things. And obviously, this is not gonna be a complete extensive list, but it is gonna be the more common things to have on your radar. So let's start with what you breathe, what is in the air. And that's gonna vary, right? Some of it's gonna be what you choose to breathe. So that could be perfumes that you're wearing or scents that you're spraying in the air, or scented candles or incense or things like this, right? Some of it's gonna be just like where you live, radon is a really uh common issue. And that just has to do with where you live, like how much radon is coming into your home just based on the rocks of where you are. And that's something we can look up so you can determine are you living in an area that's a high risk for radon? And if you are, then we can bring in a professional to measure radon so that we do what we can to reduce that. Because that is actually the second most common cause of lung cancer. And especially for people who get lung cancer who never smoked, we have to look for radon. Mold is another one, okay. That is the spores will get in the air. You will breathe those. So mold can be ingested from your food or beverages, but it can also be breathed in. So knowing if you have any potential exposures to mold in your home, in your car, in your office, or like where you work, right? So when we think about what's in the air, it's all of those places. It's in your home, it's outside, it's at your work, it's in the car. Okay, certainly outside, particularly if you live in the city, is there a lot of gas fumes, diesel fumes, is there smoke in the air? This was some, this was actually a really big issue for us before we moved to France. We were in California and we were living in this really beautiful forested redwood area, but we were in a bit of a valley. And in the wintertime, everybody was using their wood stoves, of course, to heat their homes. But there was like so much wood smoke in the air that it was a problem, right? It was certainly a problem for people who have asthma or breathing difficulties, but it lowered the air quality of where we lived. So your exposure to smoke, it could be from you actually smoking or living with somebody who smokes, but it might just be like that scenario, you know, that in the winter there's a lot of wood smoke in the air. So smoke, diesel gas fumes, scents, radon, mold, dust. Okay. Those is a sampling of some of the ways that you might be exposed to toxins in the air. Now, what you ingest, what are you actually taking in orally? So obviously, let's start with foods, okay? Certain foods that are going to be a problem, certainly ultra-processed foods, simple sugars, simple refined sugars last month or this month at the time of this recording, but in March, we did a whole month around food and diets. If you haven't, you can go back and listen to those inflammatory fats like seed oils, like fried oils, oxidated oils, those can all be toxic in the body. I mentioned earlier about like acrylamide or meats getting charred, blackened. So those create a certain type of compound, HCAs, PAHs, which can also have, again, are known carcinogens. And that's when your proteins, okay, that could be animal food, that could be meat, but it could also be poultry, it could be fish, it could be eggs, right? When your animal food is cooked at a really high temperature, it becomes dangerous. It creates these compounds that have been shown to cause cancer. Essentially, the hotter and the longer a meat is cooked, the more the HCAs and PAHs are produced, right? So we could control for that. You could still barbecue, just cook it at a lower temperature, cook it longer, right? Flip it often so it's not charring. That's what we're trying to avoid. Another thing to consider is how you're storing your foods and what you're cooking your food in, because ultimately that could leach into the food and then you consume it, then you're ingesting it. So think about plastics, think about aluminum, think about Teflon pans, right? Pesticides in food, of course, I already mentioned that as a known carcinogen. Alcohol, I already mentioned, and it's really what alcohol breaks down into, which is the acetylaldehyde that is the known carcinogen. What's in your water? That is also going to vary dramatically depending on where you live. I typically do recommend that everybody filter their water. But for some people, depending on where they live, that becomes even more important, right? And they may need to invest more in a higher-end filtration system or even a full house filtration system, depending on what's in their water. So knowing what's in your water. Another thing to consider is mercury in your teeth, in your in your cavity fillings. Because over time that begins to leach, particularly when we eat certain things, and then we ingest that. And then, of course, medications, various right medications. Now, also let's consider what touches your skin. And some of this is obvious, some of this is less obvious. So I hope it's helpful to go through some different ideas here. Obviously, any cosmetics. Body care products, right? Shampoo, conditioner, things like this, lotions, all of that. Think of your skin. Your skin is a very important detox organ, right? It is breathing, it is absorbing. Anything you put on your skin is going to go into your bloodstream. So that includes different treatments, skin treatments that you're getting that you're receiving, right? That includes hair dye. That includes nail polish. It even includes remedies like first aid products you're putting on your skin. You know, think neosporin or cortisone. We actually have a very fascinating conversation coming up next week, in next week's episode, about this topic in particular. I'll tell you a little bit more about that at the end. Clothing is another thing to consider, especially clothing that's really tight fitting, like your underwear, for example, or active wear that you might be sweating in, your laundry detergents, right? That's all can be absorbed through the skin, especially when you're warm, sweating, pores are open. Chlorine is another one. I spent pretty much the majority of my childhood in chlorinated pools because I was a year-round swimmer and a competitive swimmer, which means I was training, I was sweating, right? I was like soaking up chlorine, basically. I had open pores just absorbing chlorine. And that did cause problems in my body. It started with hormonal issues because chlorine is an endocrine disruptor. It can absolutely cause hormonal problems, but it can also be cancer-causing too. And think about the chlorine coming into your home as well, in your showers, in your baths, right? In hot water. Again, the skin is open, it's porous. You're pulling that chlorine in. Now, there are also a few other things I just want to mention here that don't necessarily fit nicely into one of those three categories. But certain jobs are going to have higher risk, right? Depending on what you're exposed to at your place of work. One that is very concerning when it comes to cancer risk. And I have personally seen this with, you know, a percentage of my clients is salon workers, typically women, but people who are working in hair salons, nail salons have a much higher risk for cancer. And a lot of that is from what they're breathing, right, in the salon, but also could be from what they're touching. So what's coming in through the skin. Mechanics, same, right? They're using a lot of lubricants and oils and different things that they again could be coming into contact with their skin or breathing. Pilots and flight attendants actually have increased risk for cancer too, likely because of the radiation exposure. And I would say too, probably the circadian rhythm disruption, depending on how far you know they're flying. Dentistry is another one. So something to consider about just your job. Do you are there certain exposures in your job that you could potentially control for or reduce your, you know, reduce your risk for them, wearing masks or gloves or, you know, different things. Cell phone radiation, cell phone towers. So that is really important too, depending on where you live, how close are you to some of these things. And as I previously mentioned, which I know is a very complicated one, but cancer treatment is a toxic exposure. And it might be a very necessary toxic exposure in the moment for the short term, but for the long term, that could be a problem, right? So we have to be very diligent in once you've finished treatment, how do we help the body detoxify, heal, repair, clear it? I've had some clients tell me that six, seven years later on toxic panels, they still found platinum, platinum, you know, from cisplatin, from carboplatin in their bloodstream still. It's wild. So we need to help your body clear that so it doesn't create a problem down the road. And I would say too, something to consider for any of you who are still moving through treatment. Many of the side effects that are commonly associated with treatment, like fatigue, like brain fog, even muscle aches and pains, and particularly if those are lingering once treatment is done, those are often a consequence of the toxic buildup from treatment rather than from the treatment itself. And like I said before, we can support that process. So as we support your clearance, we get your detox pathways working better more efficiently, we can minimize those symptoms. So, take home message here. First, we really just need to take an honest look at what we're exposed to, right? Think through those different categories, take inventory of just your life, your routines, like your potential exposures, and get a sense of where, where are toxins coming in, as far as you know, and what is potentially controllable versus not, because the truth is we're not gonna be able to control everything. Once you have a good idea of where things are coming in from, then hopefully there's some low-hanging fruit, right? Remove the easy things first or swap them out like plastic water bottle to a glass or a stainless steel water bottle. Make some simple swaps, right? And then for the things that are more complicated, we just take one thing at a time. We gradually, you know, finish what we have, replace it with a healthier, less toxic alternative, do a little research, figure out what we're gonna try. You know, that it will take some time. Again, the environmental working group is a fabulous resource to help you do this. They have so many useful databases and checklists to help you trade out products or to even think about filtration, right? Like water filters, air filters, tap water, toxins, like a whole bunch of resources. So please go there. I'll make sure I link to it in the show notes as well. But that is gonna take time and it's okay because at the same time as you're gradually reducing your load, we're also going to be enhancing your drainage pathways, right? And we're gonna talk about that later in the month. Every swap you make is reducing your burden. So I don't want you to feel like it has to be 100% perfect. It's just like your diet, right? It doesn't have to be 100% perfect for you to get the benefit, even if you have high risk for cancer or you're currently dealing with cancer. Every swap we make is going to help. It's gonna reduce the burden and it's gonna help lower the risk. So we just take one thing at a time. Now, if you're feeling actually, though, really fired up to tackle this and you're like, yes, this is like top of mind for me. I wanna do what I can to reduce my exposure. I wanna really ramp up my detox pathways. We are actually doing this as a group inside our coaching program this month. So through April and May, and then it'll live as a do-it-yourself program. So anytime you listen to this, if you decide to join us in our coaching container, if you're already in there, you have access to this. Okay. But what we're doing is we're doing an eight-week challenge, a detox challenge. And week by week, we're helping you take action on both reducing your exposure and enhancing your detox pathways. And we're taking very actionable steps. So by the end of the eight weeks, there will be significant shifts in your load, in your toxic burden, and in how well you're clearing those toxins. For those of you who are working with us one-on-one, also, you will be doing your DNA. And so we will use your DNA information as well to make sure that we're doing everything we can to enhance these pathways for you. So, in addition to getting personalized support to enhance your recovery, to enhance your prevention plan, you will also get to take a closer look at just cleaning up one of the primary reasons cancer grows. So I invite you to come in and do that with us instead of just feeling overwhelmed, but like there's just so much I don't even know where to start. We'll make it easier, I promise. You can click the link in our show notes to learn more and to connect with us if you're interested in not only the coaching, but doing the detox challenge as well. And like I mentioned, next week we have a guest. We have Jodi Scott is gonna come talk with me. She is the founder and CEO of Green Goo, which is a plant-based first aid and herbal wellness company. We have such a fabulous conversation. You're gonna love it. We talk more about the connection between skin health and immune regulation and nervous system regulation and how to reduce toxic burden and create safer, less toxic home environments. It's really good. So again, make sure you subscribe so that you'll be the first to know when that episode drops next week. I hope you found today's episode helpful. I know it can feel overwhelming to tackle this topic. Just take one thing at a time. Okay, think about it in categories, low-hanging fruit first. Every swap you make will make a difference. If you are enjoying the content we are covering here at the Ground Root Podcast, as always, please help us spread the word. We are still a new podcast. By you sharing and subscribing and leaving a review, it helps us get into the ears of as many people as possible. And I am so appreciative for your help in that process. I wish you such a beautiful day. Enjoying the spring season, if that's when you're listening to this. And I look forward to connecting with you again on next week's episode. Bye for now.