Definitions:

What do we mean when we say "Detox?"

When most people hear the word "detox," they think of the medical process that persons severely addicted to drugs or alcohol must go through to get "off" the addiction. 

And maybe some people are confusing it with what's known as the DT's, i.e. delirium tremens, an acute mental disorder characterized by delirium, trembling, great anxiety, mental distress, sweating and gastrointestinal symptoms, caused by excessive alcohol consumption. (The New Webster's Medical Dictionary).  That's a very dangerous way to detox and we hope no one has to go through it. 

Though getting clean of a severe addiction is certainly a valid definition of detox, our goal is to expand the general concept of detoxification, or detox for short, to include both the natural process that our body goes through to rid itself of [%href: toxins], as well as the techniques the individual can use to enhance these natural processes.

Here are some official definitions of words used at this website. 

Detoxify:  To decrease the toxic properties of a substance; to remove the effects of a toxic drug. (The New Webster's Medical Dictionary)

Endotoxin:  A toxin the originates inside the body.  (For example, from certain by-products of digestion.)

Epithelial:  Of or relating to epithelium

Epithelium:  A membranous cellular tissue that covers a free surface or lines a tube or cavity of an animal body and serves especially to enclose and protect the other parts of the body, to produce secretions and excretions and to function in assimilation. (Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary 1977)

Exotoxin:  A toxin that originates outside the body.

Phytonutrients:  Nutritional substances in foods which act as as important biological response modifiers.  Examples are carotenoids, the red-orange pigments that give fruits and vegetables their distinctive color.  Not only are they anti-oxidants that protect the body against the damaging effect of oxygen free radicals, they're also converted by the body to vitamin A, which is used in the immune system as well as to prevent blindness.  According to Dr. Bland, "...scientists are recognizing that a great many factors in foods contribute to their ability to act as modifiers of biological function.  The use of specific whole foods and their concentrates, along with the traditional vitamin and mineral factors, provides a much more powerful influence on normalizing biological function and functional health than the traditional American diet of processed foods with the addition of a simple vitamin/mineral supplement with antioxidants." (The 20-Day Rejuvenation Diet Program, pg. 63)

Toxin:  A colloidal proteinaceous poisonous substance that is a specific product of the metabolic activities of a living organism and is usually very unstable, notably toxic when introduced into the tissues, and typically capable of inducing antibody formation.  (Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1977)

Toxic:  1) Of, relating to, or caused by a poison or toxin. 2) Affected by a poison or toxin. (Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1977)

Xenobiotic:  The scientific term for toxic substances, meaning literally "foreign to life."