The Detox PowerHouse: The Liver - Phase I

Hey there, not sure if you’ve already taken the “should I detox or not quiz, but check it out before we dive deep into the science of Phase I liver detoxification. If you’d like the ‘101’ on what you should know about the liver and detox, then hop on over here.

This is part 3 in a four-part series. If you’d like to start at the beginning, click here.

Phase I detoxification

This is where the chemicals are chemically modified so that Phase II can easily target them and does this with enzymes to neutralize the toxins. Trying to make them either water soluble so the kidneys can excrete them in the urine, or neutralizing them. Lastly, the toxins can be transformed into more chemically reactive forms and move along to Phase II detoxification.

When all of this Phase I detoxification is going on, we are dealing with toxins after all. So, we may end up with free radicals and the transformation or metabolism of toxins occurs. In this process, an antioxidant, glutathione, neutralizes these free radicals that are produced in Phase I detoxification. Glutathione is a molecule that contains three amino acids.

It's glutathione time......

It's glutathione time......

Without getting into all sorts of situations, glutathione levels can vary and be influenced by genetics, frequency, concentration or duration of toxin exposure. There are some foods, herbs, supplements that can stimulate Phase I detoxification. It’s also important to note that each of us, healthy or not, can have varying activity levels of Phase I detoxification. So, stimulation or inhibition of Phase I detoxification should only be considered in individual circumstances and these notations below are for information purposes only and not recommendations.

Stimulants to Phase I detoxification:

• Brassica vegetables: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage

• Oranges, tangerines

• Caraway seeds

• Dill seeds

• Vitamin B1, Niacin, Vitamin C

What may surprise you is that there are other stimulants of Phase I detoxification that you’d definitely leave off your list: alcohol, nicotine, phenobarbital, sulfonamides, steroids, exhaust fumes, paint fumes, dioxin, pesticides. But what we need to recognize here is that these toxic stimulants also contribute significantly to the production of free radicals and oxidative stress. While the nutritional stimulants have a net positive effect.

There are some inhibitors of Phase I detoxification, and I’m not recommending their elimination or reduction, because you’ll see that they can be very helpful in Phase II:

• Grapefruit juice

• Turmeric

• Red child pepper

• Clove oil

To ensure you have a healthy Phase I detoxification process, I do recommend that you eat foods from the Brassica family of plants: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, turnips, cabbage,  collard greens. These veggies are also know as cruciferous vegetables and contain phytochemical that may protect against cancer. Eat plenty of foods that are rich in B vitamins,  like nutritional yeast, whole grains. And finally some vitamin C rich foods (peppers, tomatoes, oranges, tangerines.

Ready to move on to Phase II of the liver detoxification process? Click here to read more.