Toxicity - Do You Brush Your Teeth?
by Brian Cunningham
There is logic in that strange title. Scientists call brushing
your teeth an ‘investment’. Besides good hygiene, the main reason
people brush their teeth is for future reward; clean teeth get
less dental caries (cavities) and gum disease. They last longer.
We are ‘investing‘ our time every day to brush our teeth (and
floss) so that they look better and last longer. As you will
learn, health and fitness are not only comprised of what is on the
outside, but the inside as well. We clean our teeth, skin, and
hair regularly, but what do we do to clean our ‘inside’?
The ‘inside’ represents most of who we are; for example, our
behavior and emotions- regulated by a brain sensitive to subtle
fluctuations in its biochemistry. Our muscles – grow through our
motivation (brain), activation (neurological) and recuperation
(blood, liver, GI tract etc). The more you look, the more you see
everything is connected. How many dots can you connect?
What does this have to do with toxicity? All tissues in our
bodies; our lungs, skin, and brain for example, are sensitive to
toxins. In fact our entire system of internal organs, especially
our liver and kidneys, are already especially burdened in modern
times. There are over 500 chemicals active inside your body that
never even existed 100 years ago. 1
Not only posing a toxicity threat, many, such as xenoestrogens
(pronounced ‘zeno’), also mimic our own bodies hormones, causing a
wide variety of undesired effects.
Researchers are now beginning to see the correlation between
exposure to these chemicals from our environment and a wide range
of conditions, including fertility/reproductive problems, certain
cancers, and multiple sclerosis. Exposure can be from anything;
food, air, water, clothing, carpeting, household chemicals, and
even items like dental fillings, cosmetics and shampoo.
Symptoms of toxicity include many common to bodybuilders: joint
pain, respiratory problems, back pain, allergies, mood changes,
and insomnia. Conditions such as arthritis, constipation,
hemorrhoids, sinus congestion, ulcers, psoriasis and acne can also
be related to toxicity. 1
Invest in your future! Besides cleaning your teeth, you should
‘clean’ your organs as well. The additional stress added from
bodybuilding needs to be accounted for. Large amounts of food and
protein, training, use of bodybuilding supplements like vanadyl
sulfate and all the different drugs add stress to our bodies. We
need to compensate for this.
Part I – the Liver
The liver is the body’s central organ for detoxification and
other important metabolic processes, performing over 500
functions, many critical for life. Detoxification is the process
by which dangerous or toxic compounds are removed from the body.
The liver produces proteins, cholesterol, and blood clotting
factors. We get energy by it’s conversion of carbohydrates into
glycogen, which it also stores. It also stores many vitamins such
as vitamin A, E K and B12. One of the livers key functions is the
production of bile. Bile is essential for the absorption of fats
and normal intestinal function.
The liver also metabolizes drugs and alcohol. One of the most
liver-toxic drugs used by bodybuilders are oral steroids. Everyone
knows orals are more toxic than injectables. This is due to an
extra alkyl group added at carbon number 17 (17aa) on the steroid
molecule to allow it to escape the liver and enter the bloodstream
intact. This adds more stress to the liver by interfering with
certain liver enzymes. Orals are also not as efficient on a
milligram per milligram basis as injectable esters. This is
because adding the 17aa group sacrifices binding efficiency to the
androgen receptor. Therefore more drug is needed to achieve
similar results versus injectables, leading to build-up of the
drug in the liver.
17aa groups have been shown to increase liver toxicity through
cholestatis. 2 This is impaired bile flow, and can lead to
inflammation of the liver, as well as elevated blood cholesterol
levels. Milk thistle, contrary to popular opinion, does little for
this type of toxicity. What does work are compounds that can
donate sulfur groups to the 17aa steroids, like anadrol. This
increases their solubility and allows easier passage through bile
ducts and out of the liver. The normal liver apparently has
limited ability to accomplish this sulfation reaction on it's own.
3
What donates sulfur groups? One of the best is SAMe (S-Adenyl-
Methionine). Another possible one is MSM
(methyl-sulfonyl-methane). As these are non-toxic, high doses
should be used with all oral steroids. Look for 800-1200 mg for
SAMe and 4,000 to 8,000 mg for MSM. Other low cost methyl donors
include NAC, choline and lecithin.
If bile flows, cholestasis doesn't set in, cholesterol and
other metabolic by-products drain properly, leaving little or no
liver inflammation and stress. This means none of those nasty
sounding liver conditions like bloody peliosis sinusoid dialations
and cysts. Although rare for bodybuilders, these blood filled
cysts can rupture and even lead to death. Less stress negates the
need for rapid cell replacement and turnover in the liver.
Therefore we avoid liver cell senescence (ie, the liver stays
'young'), and we get no malignancies.
Anything that gets the liver chronically inflamed likely sets
in motion the cancer process. The Hepatitis Virus, for another
example, leads to liver neoplasm’s basically as a result of the
liver being chronically inflamed, so liver cells are constantly
forced to divide in attempts to replace themselves. When cells
divide and replace other cells, this process increases the odds of
error and mutations in the DNA. These errors and mutations often
lead to cancer. 4 Thus the importance of keeping the liver from
becoming inflamed.
There are other modes of liver toxicity which is why the
following are also important:
Milk thistle – there are many published reports
indicating milk thistle can reverse toxic liver damage, and
stimulate hepatocytes (liver cells). It can be useful in the
treatment of alcohol and drug induced toxicity, some forms of
hepatitis, cirrhosis and fatty degeneration of the liver. The best
results are found in toxic metabolic hepatitis and cirrhosis. 5
Adding this to your supplements during a cycle would be wise.
However, herbs, unlike nutrients, are not usually advised for
continuous use. For example, we may not want chronic stimulation
of hepatocytes with prolonged milk thistle usage.
Licorice – contains triterpenes, which are chemically
similar to adrenal cortex hormones, and may account for its
anti-inflammatory action. Glycyrrhizin, a triterpene, inhibits
liver cell injury and is used in other countries to treat chronic
hepatitis and cirrhosis. 6
NAC: good source of L-cysteine for replacing depleted
intercellular glutathione levels. Liver glutathione powers some
sort of anti-oxidant enzyme. When glutathione stores are gone, the
liver cells get damaged, and die off. This probably has little or
nothing to do with the cholestasis problem, but cannot hurt. NAC
is the antidote for acetaminophen (Tylenol) poisoning. This is
more effective when compounds yield toxic metabolites during liver
detoxification, like Tylenol. Other glutathione boosters include
alpha lipoic-acid and the herb astragalus.
Essential fatty acids (EFA’s) are just that; essential.
This also applies to healthy liver function. EFA’s include the
Omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids as well as gamma-linoleic acid. They
are critical in many important activities, such as oxidation, the
moment to moment living process that turns food into energy and
keeps us alive. They also are precursors to prostaglandin
formation, some of which are anti-inflamatory for the liver. They
also boost immune function, and enhance muscle growth and
recovery. They govern every life process in our bodies.
Supplementing with EFA’s is critical as most fats found in our
diets are non-essential and even dangerous. 7
We have discussed several dietary and supplemental approaches
at improving liver functin and counteracting the accumulation of
toxins. Next month, part two will discuss the gastro-intestinal
system.
Brian Cunningham has a MS in Epidemiology from New York
Medical College, and was employed in the pharmaceutical research
field. Brian can be reached at
Brian@RxBody.com.
References:
- Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide.
Puyallup: Future Medicine Publishing. P158.
- Hepatology for the clinician: a
problem-oriented approach. Edited by Beker, S., Alan, R. New
York: Liss Inc. ISBN: 0-471-56212-2
- Hepatoxicity: the Adverse Effects of Drugs
and other Chemicals on the Liver. Hyman J. Zimmerman, M.D. New
York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. ISBN: 0-8385-3725-1
- Hepatology: A textbook of Liver Disease 3rd
Ed. David Zakim, Thomas Boyer. W.B. Saunders Co. ISBN:
0-7216-4836-3.
- Hikino, H; Kiso, Y. (1988). Natural Products
for Liver Disease. Economic and Medicinal Plant Research Vol 2.
London: Academic Press.
- Armanini, D. et al. (Nov 1983). Affinity of
liquorice derivatives for mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid
receptors. Clinical Endocrinology 19: 609-612.
- Erasmus, U. (1993). Fats that Heal, Fats that
Kill. Burnaby: Alive Books.
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