How SCD Helps with Detoxification

An expert in Toxicology is using the SCD diet as form of detoxification.
Kevin S. Merigian, MD, an expert in toxicology who established the Toxicology Center at the University of Tennessee, is using the Specific Carbohydrate Diet as an effective method of detoxification.

SCD differs from other methods of detoxification, which work by removing toxins from the human body. Instead, SCD works by restoring the body's own toxin removal system and its damaged detoxification pathways.

In order to understand why SCD is so effective as a method of detoxification, we need to understand how toxins from pathogenic bacteria impair the ability of the body to detoxify.

Bacterial toxins are amazingly destructive to the body’s detoxification system. They cause harm by:
1 Impairing the production of glutathione.[1]Glutathione is the most important molecule for the detoxification and elimination of environmental toxins.[2]
2 Producing oxidative stress.[3]
3 Impairing the liver in many ways, [4]which is devastating as the liver is the major detoxification organ of the body. It converts food to stored energy and filters toxins from the blood, converting them into harmless water-soluble substances which the body then can eliminate. The liver also processes foods, drugs and medications that have been absorbed from the digestive tract, enabling the body to use them effectively and then finally disposing of them. Additionally, the liver makes substances like bile, cholesterol, triglycerides and albumin for use elsewhere in the body. In summary, the liver functions as the body's "garbage collector and recycler".[5]

One of the liver functions damaged by bacterial toxins is the Hepatic cytochrome P450 (P450),[6] the detoxification system that is used by the body to detoxify medication, heavy metals and other toxins.

Impairing the organs that have a key role in excreting toxins from the body: gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, sweat glands, and lungs (through feces, urine, perspiration and respiration.)[7][8][9][10]glutathione is the most important molecule for the detoxification and elimination of environmental toxins The SCD diet starves pathogenic bacteria by eliminating their food source so that they die.[11] Thus the body’s natural detoxification system is restored. Then the body can return to natural functional detox, which also will reduce excessive metals in the body.
We live today in a toxic minefield: vaccines, pesticides, antibiotic-laden food, and mercury-poisoned fish as well as indoor and outdoor pollution.2 In order for children to live a toxin-free life, it is crucial to repair and restore their bodies' own toxin removal systems and detoxification pathways. The SCD diet accomplishes both.

References
Let us use endotoxin, a very common bacterial toxin, in order to show how destructive bacterial toxins are to the body's detoxification system. Endotoxin is also known as Lipopolysaccharide (LPS). LPS is found in great numbers in the body of people with autism, IBD as well as in other auto immune disorders.
[1]Click here to view how LPS impairs the production of glutathione.
[2] Changing the Course of Autism: A Scientific Approach for Parents and Physicians by Bryan Jepson (Author), Katie Wright (Foreword), Jane Johnson (Collaborator) Page 224. The book states that glutathione is the most important molecule for the detoxification and elimination of environmental toxins and provides this reference:Oxidative stress in Alzheimer's disease by Ved Chauhan and Abha Chauhana Pathophysiology, 2006
[3]Click for proof that LPS is producing oxidative stress.
[4]Click for proof that LPS is producing liver dysfunction.
[5]http://www.nutrident.com/Pages/Part_V.html
[6] Click here to view how LPS impairs the the Hepatic cytochrome P450 (P450) detoxification system
[7]Click here to view LPS impairs the gut
[8] Click here to view how LPS impairs the the kidney's ability to excrete chemicals
[9] Click here to view how LPS impairs a modified sweat gland.
[10] Click here to view how LPS impairs the lungs
[11]Breaking the Vicious Cycle
http://pecanbread.com/p/intro/detox.html


This is why SCD is important to everyone. In this world there is a variety of toxins so we must go out armed and ready for battle everyday. Eating food that harms you like soda and doughnuts is akin to fighting naked.