Carmen Cawley, M.D.
I have summarized conclusions from the “Environmental Health Advanced Practice Module 2023” by the Institute of Functional Medicine. Extensive references were provided during the lectures but are not provided in this newsletter.
Detox is very important to all of us. Eating organic cruciferous vegetables, other colorful fruit and vegetables, high quality protein, omega 3 fats, nuts, seeds, herbs along with green tea helps everyone detox. I have discussed the need to avoid toxins using apps like YUKA app for skin product safety, the Environmental Working Group website for cleaning products. Despite your efforts, what is your chance of being exposed to enough toxins that they could be affecting your health? It is actually very likely unless you have been actively avoiding toxins since birth. These toxins come from many skin products with xenobiotics that are hormone disruptors, nail polish, pollution, heavy metals from fillings, paint etc, foods with preservatives and organophosphates. Below is a review of individual supplements that you could consider taking depending on your health issues and then a 6 to 9 month detox regimen that is safe enough for anyone to do.
Highest risk occupations:
- Professional janitors
- Nail and hair salon workers
- Automobile and repair workers
- Doctors, nurses and hospital workers
- Dentists
- Builders
- Farmers
- Painters (milk thistle, grape seed extract, garlic, green tea)
The following conditions are associated with various toxins in the environment.
| Condition | Toxin | Beneficial Supplements |
| Hypertension | Mercury | Quercetin 500 mg to 3g daily, Garlic 600 to 1200 mg or 1/2t twice daily or 2 to 3 cloves |
| Autism | Heavy metals including mercury, and pesticides like organophosphates. Lead should be less than 5 µg/dL in children | Curcumin (bioavailable) 500 to 1000 mg twice daily, Quercetin, Milk thistle 200 mg to 400 mg daily to three times daily with vitamin C |
| Oppositional disorder and hyperactivity | Tend to have high manganese, lead, organophosphates | Curcumin, Quercetin, Garlic |
| Borderline diabetes, diabetes, obesity, NASH | Tend to have high arsenic and mercury, atrazine pesticide from Corn, BPA destroys Akkermansia | Curcumin, Quercetin, Garlic, Green tea 500 mg or 1 to 4 glasses daily, Beans, Carotenoids |
| Atherosclerosis | Pollution exposure | Milk thistle, Broccoli extract (sulfurophanes) |
| Arsenic | Green tea extract 500 mg or 1 to 3 c per day, Curcumin protects against high fat diet, Garlic, Pomegranate juice 3.5 T or 50 ml juice daily for 3 years lowered bp, carotid intimal thickness 30 percent)), beet and carrot juice | |
| Liver disease unexplained | Glyphosates in food | Green tea, Curcumin, Milk thistle with vitamin C, NAC |
| Kidney disease unexplained | Heavy metals, Glyphosates and paraquat exposure | Curcumin, Quercetin, Garlic, pomegranate juice, inulin, resveratrol, zinc |
| Irritable bowel syndrome | More microplastic exposure | Curcumin increases diversity microbiome, lactobacillus |
| Neuropathy unexplained | Heavy metals -chromium, cobalt, mercury excess | Use binders, detox powder, NAC 1200 mg twice daily |
| Neutropenia especially if with neuropathy | Arsenic | Curcumin 500 mg twice daily, Garlic, Carotenoids |
| Osteoporosis unexplained | Lead | Curcumin, Quercetin, Milk thistle with vitamin C |
| Hypothyroid | Endocrine disrupters, forever chemicals, urinary perchlorate if raised near bases | See Breast cancer |
| Infertility | Organophosphates and endocrine disruptors | Curcumin, ear organic, see Breast cancer |
| Multi-drug sensitivity | Organophosphates, pesticides | Curcumin increases diversity, growth of microbiome |
| Toxicant-induced loss of tolerance (TILT) | Overexposed to pesticides, other toxins | Detox, must strictly avoid environmental triggers |
| Inflammatory arthritis | Heavy metals, pesticides | Quercetin, Curcumin, Garlic |
| Parkinson’s | High pesticides like DDT, anthocyanins and paraquat | Food with red, purple pigments like berries, cruciferous vegetables, Curcumin, Quercetin reduces DDT, drink tomato and carrot juice, Inulin fiber, Zinc |
| Alzheimer’s | Organophosphates | Quercetin and Curcumin 500 to 600 mg twice daily improve memory, drink tomato, carrot juice |
| Cadmium poisoning | Poisoning smelters, powerplants, incineration of waste, tobacco use, old hip prosthesis | Quercetin and Curcumin, Garlic, Milk thistle |
| Loss of smell or unexplained rhinorrhea | Toxins including heavy metals | Curcumin, garlic, cruciferous extract and detox drink daily |
| Lung disease | Pollution | Green tea, olive oil, Milk thistle, Broccoli extract |
The supplements below have been demonstrated in studies to reduce cellular growth of cancer in animal or human studies. Two of the most powerful supplements with anti-cancer benefits are once again Quercetin and Curcumin:
*Quercetin, amongst many other benefits reduced cancer cellular growth and induced apoptosis or cell death in various studies of cancer and cardiovascular disease mortality at 4 mg/ day.
* Curcumin high dose 4 grams per day in one study reduced the risk of adenomatous polyps. (Caroll RE, Curcumin for prevention of colorectal neoplasia, Cancer Prev Res Colon Cancer 2012, Dec 5)
*Ellagitannin foods (walnut, pomegranate, red raspberry, strawberry) reduce breast, prostate, cervical, esophageal, colon, liver. skin cancer.
*Lignans are polyphenolic compounds found in plants (flax, chia, sesame seeds, kale, broccoli) reduce risk of cancer.
*Beans were proven to reduce breast cancer by 2/3 (4 Corners Breast Cancer Study).
*Olive oil – 25 to 50 ml per day (average Mediterranean diet contains 25 ml) is critical to prevent and fight some cancers. Olive oils from older trees have acetylcholinesterase inhibitor affects to prevent Alzheimer’s. Where the highest intake of olive oil, there is an inversely low incidence of dementia and cancer.
#1 OLIVE OILS IN THE WORLD ARE LISTED: Picqual Spain, Ogliarola and Coratina and Cima Di Mola and Peranzana Italy, Koroneiki Greece. The best olive oil comes from these 3 countries.
| Breast cancer | Endocrine disrupting chemicals, plastics, PFAS forever chemicals in teflon | Cruciferous foods or cruciferous vegetable extract (DIM, sulforaphane), Milk thistle, Fish and olive oil, green tea, berry extract, beans, seeds, tomato and carrot juice for lutein, lycopene |
| Below age 50 | DDT exposure | Quercetin |
| Ovarian cancer | See breast cancer | Quercetin |
| Prostate, testicular cancer | Heavy metals, plastics, PFAS (forever chemicals in Teflon) | Curcumin, Milk thistle, green tea, berry extract esp. strawberry, black raspberry (organic from Oregon), cruciferous food extract pomegranate juice, olive oil |
| Bladder and renal cancer | Wide variety of toxins, tobacco | Olive oil |
| Skin cancer | berry extract, olive oil, pomegranate juice | |
| GI (oral to colon cancer) | Organophosphates, advanced glycation end products (AGEs) from cooking at high heat | Curcumin, green tea, berry extract esp. strawberry, black raspberry, pomegranate juice, cruciferous foods and extract, olive oil 25 to 50 ml per day, garlic, pomegranate juice |
| Lymphoma and leukemia | Organophosphates, plastics | Curcumin, Quercetin |
| Lung cancer | Tobacco | Green tea, Olive oil , Pomegranate juice |
| Glioblastoma | Radiation | Olive oil |
| Thyroid cancer | PFAS |
DETOX PROTOCOL – Everyone can go through a detox for 6 to 9 months because testing, research shows higher than normal levels of toxins in Americans.
The 5 ingredients to a detox protocol are Vitamins and Minerals below, Protein, Anti-oxidants, Binders and water:
A. Basic vitamins and minerals for liver and kidney function
1. Bariatric advantage multivitamin 2 to 3 daily per Dr. Cawley
2. Tocopherols (vitamin A), vitamin E
3. B vitamins including methylfolate and methlcobalamin (if you are low)
4. Selenium 200 mcg daily or 2 brazil nuts daily
5. Alpha lipoic acid 300 mg twice daily is optional if feeling low energy
6. Vitamin C 1000 mg twice daily
7. Adequate magnesium and Potassium citrate if sweating is part of detox or KSP tablets added to water when hydrating before, during or after exercise (alkalinizing urine).
8. Adequate coq10 – life extension coq10 with PQQ beneficial
B. Protein especially taurine and lysine to support liver detox – we sell a detox powder with all ingredients for phase 1 and 2 detoxification called NutriDyn detox powder protein shake with added taurine 500 mg. In addition to the usual ingredients in protein shake, consider adding olive oil, berries, and chia seed or flax.
C. Antioxidants – First, I always recommend NAC=cysteine amino acid 600 mg to 1800 mg twice daily and / or glutathione or liposomal reduced 1 g twice to support the most active detox system in your liver – glutathione production and binding of free radicals, toxins.
Add the supplements below because they modulate both phase 1 and 2 of the detox pathways in your body making them the most powerful anti-oxidants to detox:
1. Curcuminoids (from turmeric powder) 500 to 600 mg up to three times daily working on 60 , is binder, improves diversity of microbiome, heals leaky gut and when absorbed (low absorption) has more than 60 targets in your body making it an antimicrobial, anti-neoplastic, anti-inflammatory and much more.
2. Milk thistle seed 200 to 400 mg daily to three times daily with vitamin C
3. Quercetin 500 mg 1 or 2 x daily
4. Garlic 600 to 1200 mg or ½ t twice daily or 2 to 3 cloves (especially if you need metal binding)
5. Green tea, pomegranate juice and beet juice, cruciferous extract and can be supplemented or added to diet, protein shakes or powders
D. Binders and skin elimination: Do you need a binder or chelating agent? Yes, but there are natural chelators that you can incorporate into what you are already taking or your diet or add more potent zeolite or humic acid if known toxin levels high.
1. Natural chelators – cilantro, curcumin, dandelion, green tea and lemon/lime, sulforaphane from broccoli and vegetables in that class, garlic 1 gm daily binds mercury, cadmium, chlorella in green shakes, rice brain
2. Zeolyte by Pure Body removes heavy metals and is recommended as number one binder to removal metal (over humic acid, charcoal)
3. Humic acid removes glyphosates and heavy metals but watch your source.
(Theon global Canadian source humic acid 2 to 3 x day – must be organic and this is organic, hidden source in Canada)
4. charcoal (activated bamboo) 3 caps twice daily for acute detox especially
Skin elimination of toxins – Walking on a hot Texas summer day, Intense exercise or Sauna induced sweating for 10 minutes 2 to 3 x daily (then 3 to 4 x week long term) eliminates toxins through the skin. Sweating removes arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury! You must shower after sweating to make sure toxins are not reabsorbed. Saunas can cost $2000 to 3000. Clay can be used to draw toxins out of skin too.
E. Water – drinking water and / or green tea with lemon balm or dandelion is essential to support elimination of toxins.
IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE:
A healthy gut is needed to detox – If you have constipation, you need more bile excretion and better motility before starting detox. Megaguard or Integrative therapeutics heartburn advantage with licorice, artichoke and ginger helps heartburn, bile excretion and overall gut motility. The leaky gut supplements with licorice, marshmallow root, glutamine (Dr. Axe leaky gut capsules or Amy Myers leaky gut revive powder) promote bile excretion and motility. Magnesium citrate 100 to 200 mg twice daily helps motility.
The probiotic megaspore was proven in studies to lower inflammation in the gut and bloodstream (lower liposaccharides) by 30 percent and is beneficial to detox process. Lactobacillus may help lower metals and curcumin encourages the growth of lactobacillus.
If you experience fatigue, increase supplements like B vitamins, coq10 and alpha-lipoic acid to support ATP production and detox process.
If you experience headaches or joint pain – reduce supplements, hydrate more, take binders listed above and natural binders like dandelion, parsley and more NAC or glutathione.
This Sample detox regimen works along with replacement of basic vitamins and minerals.
| Morning | Medicine | Dosage | Frequency |
| Dynamic Detox Powder | 1 scoop in Smoothie | Daily | |
| Supplements | |||
| Life Extension N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine | 600 mg | 2x | |
| Life Extension CoQ10 with PQQ | 100 mg | Daily | |
| Fish Oil | 1000 mg | Daily | |
| Life Extension Curcumin Elite | 500 mg | 3x | |
| Dinner | |||
| Supplements | |||
| Jarrow Quercetin | 500 mg | Daily | |
| Soloray Vit C | 1000mg | 2x | |
| Life Extension Curcumin Elite | 500 mg (or 1000mg) | 3x (2x) | |
| Bedtime | |||
| Supplements | Milk Thistle 448/896 mg | 448/896 mg | 2x |
| Life Extension Curcumin Elite | 500 mg | 3x | |
| Life Extension Super Selenium Complex & Vit E | 200 mcg / 20 mg | Daily | |
| Life Extension Triple action Cruc Vegetable Extract with resveratrol | 1 | Daily |