What this covers
In a healthy body, the process of detoxification runs smoothly. But when we are toxic, the mechanism for detoxification in the liver gets sluggish, and certain toxins can remain active longer than we want or than our systems can handle. This makes us sick and impedes normal metabolism. It also causes fluid retention, bloat, puffiness, and more.
In this episode, Dr. Hyman sits down with Maggie Ward to discuss the Functional Medicine approach to assessing your toxic load, and how certain foods, gut health optimization, and other lifestyle factors can enhance detoxification.
Maggie Ward, MS, RD, LDN, is the Nutrition Director at The UltraWellness Center. Maggie holds a master’s degree in Nutrition from Bastyr University which focuses on using whole foods for holistic Nutrition Therapy. In addition, she completed her requirements to become a registered dietitian at Westchester Medical Center in NY. Prior to joining The UltraWellness Center team in 2008, Maggie worked at The Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York providing nutrition counseling to children and families dealing with HIV. She also taught at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan and other sites throughout New York City, teaching nutritionally focused cooking classes for children and adults. Much of her focus is on food allergies, digestive disorders, inflammatory conditions, Pediatrics and Sports Nutrition. Maggie has been counseling individuals, families, and business groups on therapeutic diets to address various health concerns for more than 15 years. Her ongoing clinical training through the Institute for Functional Medicine uses a systems biology approach when working with those who suffer from chronic and acute conditions to help them find their path to healing. She has a passion for cooking and reconnecting people with their potential to heal using whole, organic and local foods.
This episode is sponsored by Thrive Market and my Dr. Hyman’s Sleep Master Course.
Right now, Thrive is offering all Doctor's Farmacy listeners an amazing deal. Select a free gift from Thrive Market when you sign up for a 1 year membership. And, any time you spend more than $49 you’ll get free carbon-neutral shipping. Just head over to thrivemarket.com/Hyman.
In this modern world we place too much value on staying busy and deprioritizing sleep, which is why Dr. Hyman created his first ever Master Class. It guides you through the most important steps to getting better sleep, starting today. Get free access to Dr. Hyman’s Sleep Master Class at drhyman.com/sleep.
Source description (no synthesized summary yet).
Environmental toxins are a widespread, underdiagnosed cause of chronic illness that conventional medicine ignores; functional medicine addresses toxicity through comprehensive testing, dietary support of detoxification pathways, and lifestyle interventions to reduce exposure and upregulate the body's natural detox systems.
- Conventional medical education teaches nothing about chronic low-grade toxicity from 80,000+ chemicals in our environment, only acute poisoning
- Functional medicine diagnostic approach identifies genetic detoxification vulnerabilities, measures body burden via provoked urine testing and metabolite analysis, and systematically upregulates detox pathways through food and targeted supplementation
- Two case studies demonstrate clinical resolution of neurological symptoms (neuropathy, brain fog, headaches) and cancer recurrence prevention through toxin identification, source removal, and dietary/lifestyle optimization
This asset isn't compiled yet
You're seeing its claims, ranked. Compile it to build the argument threads, weight them, and check each claim against your library — the full view.
Newborn umbilical cord blood contains 287 known toxins, 211 of which are neurotoxic, including mercury, lead, arsenic, pesticides, flame retardants, PCBs, DDT, and dioxins—before the baby takes its first breath.
“they found that in the newborn studies essentially they took umbilical cord blood before the baby even took the first breath and in the baby's umbilical cord blood there were 287 known toxins 211 of which i think are neurotoxic including mercury lead arsenic pesticides flame retardants pcbs ddt dioxin you name it we're in the baby's blood before they took their first breath”
Conventional medical education includes nothing on diagnosing or treating chronic low-grade toxicity from the 80,000+ chemicals brought into the environment since the turn of the last century, only acute overdose or high-exposure scenarios.
“when i was in medical school we learned about acute toxicity you you know took a drug overdose if you got an acute exposure to a pesticide or heavy metals but we learned nothing about chronic low-grade toxicity from the 80 000 plus chemicals that have been brought into our environment since the turn of the last century”
Farmers have the highest rates of Parkinson's disease due to occupational pesticide and herbicide exposure, not from farm machinery—establishing a clear epidemiological link between environmental chemical exposure and neurodegenerative disease.
“farmers have the highest rates of parkinson's disease right um so it can make you overweight it can make you have diabetes it can cause heart disease it can cause cancer it can cause autoimmunity it can cause neurologic issues”
Phthalates are xenoestrogens (endocrine-disrupting chemicals mimicking estrogen) found in plastics, cosmetics, detergents, fragrances, and personal care products; in breast cancer patients, phthalate exposure represents a modifiable risk factor for recurrence.
“when her first labs came back the doctor had checked her for some of these other compounds and she had elevations and two types of phthalates and two parabens the phthalates are found in plastics they're in everything right i think they're like the biggest group of toxins that are out there so they're in there's you know you break them down to a lot of different things but two of the phthalates were high um yeah so cosmetics detergents plastics um some of the pesticides perfumes i mean whenever you see the word perfume on something right you know there's a phthalate in there”
Genetic variations (SNPs) in detoxification genes like GSTM1 and variations affecting glutathione synthesis, methylation capacity, and oxidative stress response compromise the body's ability to eliminate toxins, making some people at higher genetic risk for toxin accumulation even at similar exposure levels.
“genetics is a really important one i mean it's never going to really give us a definitive diagnosis but when people have and and we kind of get into it a little bit more with some of the food certain genetic variations that compromise our ability to make something like glutathione right glutathione is our most like potent detox molecule and there's some of us we make it but some of us don't make it very well given our genetics so there's that's something called gstm1 there's these certain snips in there several in the detox category several in the oxidative stress category several methylation and they're all connected to detoxification basically you're talking about are like slight variations in our genes right that affect our ability to detox right”
Provoked urine testing using a chelating agent (which binds to and pulls heavy metals from body tissues) is more revealing of body burden than blood tests because blood is constantly turning over; a normal blood test can mask significant metal storage in tissues, organs, brain, liver, and kidneys.
“there's a a chelating agent which basically binds on to heavy metals and will pull them out of the body because if you just try to look at metals in the urine unless you just had a really high exposure right you're not going to see it in the urine so this kind of pulls out what might be stored for someone so it's looking at mercury and lead and arsenic and thallium um mercury and led are pie the ones we see no stopping checking your blood is that okay or you can check your blood uh well against this case study i mean we do come we have folks that come back high in mercury and lead or arsenic um so you can check blood levels but you know blood's turning over what every three months or so so if you have ongoing exposure or you happen to catch it right when someone was getting a more acute exposure you'll see it but many times it's not there right right so you have a normal blood test right but actually be storing all these metals in your tissues your organs your liver brain your kidneys”
Sprayed foods have dramatically reduced phytochemical and antioxidant content because plants under chemical stress do not produce as many protective compounds as plants that must defend themselves naturally against pests, reducing the body's access to compounds that support detoxification pathways.
“once foods are sprayed you know the natural compounds they make these phytochemicals that work as antioxidants and are really important for our detox pathways are not nearly as prevalent because they they don't make as many of those phytonutrients when plants are sprayed with these chemicals”
Amino acids are the foundation of detoxification; people with mercury toxicity often present with very low blood amino acid levels because they are depleted by Phase 2 liver detoxification and additionally may not be absorbing or consuming enough protein due to poor digestion.
“this is very common i mean i see in my patients often who have mercury toxicity very low amino acids and the reason is they're not not because they're not eating protein but because they're using up so many of these amino acids in the second phase of detoxification in the liver that require these amino acids right right so it's it's like again it's multiple things like he's not digesting well right he's on he was actually on a peptide he was on something that lowers acid which is affecting how you digest and absorb these amino acids he wasn't eating enough anyway that was definitely part of it and then um so the absorption his gut was compromised and then his need for these amino acids are higher with all the toxins he has”
Every person in fat tissue biopsies (from liposuction, breast reconstruction, or mastectomy) was found to be a toxic waste dump containing DDT (no longer in marketplace), PCBs, heavy metals, and dioxins accumulated in fat and organs.
“i remember when i was was researching a book many many years ago i found this study that looked at fat biopsies so people got liposuction yeah or they've got liposuction or they had a breast reconstruction or a mastectomy they would send the tissue to go be analyzed and they found that every single person in the study was a toxic waste dump yeah and they had things like ddt which isn't even out there anymore in the marketplace and pcbs and heavy metals and dioxin and all these pcbs i mean just nasty stuff that is stored in all of us”
Spices and herbs (cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, rosemary, etc.) are among the richest sources of antioxidants and have detoxification properties; they counteract oxidative stress generated in Phase 1 detoxification and are both medicine and flavor enhancers.
“spices and herbs i think we overlook them a lot and they are some of the richest sources of antioxidants and antioxidants they protect you from oxidative stress which we're all under you know just breathing in oxygen creates that but oxidation is part of that phase one detox and you want to counteract that oxidative stress so antioxidants are really important too so whenever you're getting color you know and cinnamon and ginger and turmeric you know they're really rich in antioxidants but they're also you know working as detoxifying”
The FDA issued a statement on September 24 (recent date) restricting mercury fillings in high-risk groups: pregnant women, women trying to conceive, nursing women and their infants, children under six, people with neurologic conditions (Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, MS), people with kidney issues, and people with mercury allergy—acknowledging 20 years of accumulated evidence.
“the fda just came out with a statement uh september 24th which basically said that certain groups should not have fillings and that there are higher risk from the off-gassing and the vapor for mercury fillings including pregnant women women who are wanting to get pregnant nursing women and and their infants children before six years old people who have neurologic issues like we talked about mercury related ones like parkinson's alzheimer's or ms people with kidney issues and people who have allergy to mercury that is fascinating to me uh because this is a review to 20 years of data and finally the fda finally and the fta is not a progressive group right for them to say this you know it's got to be it's pretty bad right now”
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) provides free resources (Dirty Dozen/Clean Fifty produce lists, cosmetics databases, low-mercury seafood lists) for reducing toxic exposure; checking ewg.org is a practical first step toward a low-toxin lifestyle.
“and you know we have the little dirty dozen cards of you know people can carry with them to avoid these these highly sprayed produce and actually that was a lot of what we focused on with this second case this was a 52 year old woman who had a history of breast cancer back in 2017 um so she came to us more to prevent reoccurrence um because she was you know she had already had surgery chemo radiation she was on tamoxifen to help keep her estrogen levels low um which you know to prevent the reoccurrence of her estrogen-sensitive cancer but when we spoke with her i mean obviously cancer we were talking about right that's a a huge thing we see with with toxicity since so many things are carcinogenic um”
Silver dental fillings are over 50% mercury by composition and continuously off-gas mercury vapor when chewed, ground, or exposed to temperature changes.
“if you have what calls silver fillings which are really mercury fillings they're not silver they're over 50 mercury over the course of your life you're chewing you're chewing gum you're grinding your teeth maybe and the off gas and we know this is true and we can measure the mercury from your fillings”
Selenium is an essential mineral that acts as a cofactor for glutathione activation; Brazil nuts provide 2-3 nuts' worth of the recommended daily selenium intake, making them an efficient food source.
“selenium right so selenium i kind of put in there it's considered an antioxidant because it helps to activate glutathione the best food source of people don't know is brazil nuts but it's it's pretty well known now they say two to three brazil nuts right gives you kind of your recommended amount of selenium so selenium is really key and a lot of the detox products that we carry will have some selenium in there for that reason”
Fish selection matters: Predatory fish (tuna, swordfish, blue fish) accumulate high mercury; Case 2 patient was advised to switch from tuna to salmon and white fish (lower trophic level, lower bioaccumulation).
“so we talked about clean fish she had been eating tuna so we talked about you know avoiding all the predatory fish swordfish is there blue fish you don't want to eat fish that are eating other fish so i went more to like salmon and some of the white fish and i think she was doing some seafood too”
The tri-mercury test breaks down mercury exposure into two forms—methyl mercury (environmental, from fish and food) and inorganic mercury (from dental amalgams off-gassing)—allowing clinicians to identify the source and predict where it is stored (inorganic in urine, methyl in hair).
“what's known as a tri-mercury test which i think is excellent it's looking at um recent exposure but it's but so they're doing a blood test but they break it down between methyl mercury and inorganic mercury so methyl mercury is typically the form that we're getting exposed to from environmental stuff like fish and food and you know if there's uh coal burning areas um then in organic mercury if your amalgams your silver fillings are maybe still off gassing that's you're going to see the inorganic mercury be high”
Safe amalgam removal requires specific protocols: dental dam to prevent swallowing, high-speed suction, supplemental oxygen, dentist wearing mask; these precautions are typically practiced only by biological dentists affiliated with IAOMT (International Academy of Oral Medicine & Toxicology).
“you do not want to go get your feelings out unless you do it with a dentist who follows specific guidelines that are designed to create a safe removal of the amalgam so you need a special dental dam so you don't swallow them you need high speed suction you need breathing oxygen the dentist should be wearing a mask there's all these precautions that need to be taken and they're usually done by biological dentists and there's a website called iaomt.org which is a dentist uh toxicology group that's trained to do this properly you can find a dentist in your area”
B vitamins (especially methylfolate and methyl-B12) provide cofactors for methylation-dependent detoxification pathways; many people cannot fully methylate B vitamins from food alone and require supplementation with activated forms.
“a lot of the b vitamins are are supporting these enzymes a lot of them provide methylation support and methylation happens all over the body but it's a really important detox pathway too so when you're taking methylfolate and methyl b12 and some people again have difficulty kind of the b vitamins they get in through their food they're not fully methylating them or what i say activating them so this is where a really good b complex can be really helpful that has methyl covalent which is b12 and methylfolate because it will ramp up those methylation pathways that's one of the key pathways in the liver is requiring those b vitamins”
There is no safe level of mercury for humans; the ideal level should be undetectable/zero, not the 'normal range' of 3-15 ng/mL that conventional labs report.
“my question is oh when the doctors go oh his mercury level was normal i'm like is there a normal level of mercury for a human being what's the ideal level of mercury for human being it's zero right it should be undetectable and and and you know there is a normal level of blood sugar it should be 70 to 90. that's fine if it's zero you're dead right but mercury should be zero there is no safe level of mercury”
Liposomal glutathione is a tripeptide formulated in a fat molecule (liposome) that preserves it through digestion so it can be absorbed intact; oral glutathione in non-liposomal form is broken down and not absorbed.
“the liposome glutathione is interesting because it's a tripeptide which means there's three amino acids and if you take it just in its normal you know form you're gonna not you're gonna break it down and you're not gonna absorb it um so what they do is they put it in almost like this fat molecule that's kind of how i think of it so that it keeps it intact so it can get absorbed”
N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) is an amino acid precursor that enhances glutathione synthesis and works synergistically with liposomal glutathione supplementation.
“they gave her liposomal glutathione along with n-acetyl cysteine which helps the glutathione work and make more glutathione”
Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, arugula, collards, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts) contain sulfurophane and other compounds that support both Phase 1 and Phase 2 liver detoxification, making them the top food for detoxification support.
“the cruciferous vegetables probably are number one um you know there's so many compounds in there that we've identified they are there's quite a few um you know broccoli cauliflower cabbage kale arugula's in that family collards kohlrabi yeah a lot of really just the dark greens and what they do i mean they have a lot of compounds but the liver has two phases of detoxification and you really want to support both phases to have good detox and the compounds like the sulfurophane which is probably most rich in broccoli sprouts support both those pathways”
Toxicity can cause a spectrum of conditions including: overweight, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, autoimmunity, neurologic issues, cognitive impairment, depression, and chronic fatigue.
“it can make you overweight it can make you have diabetes it can cause heart disease it can cause cancer it can cause autoimmunity it can cause neurologic issues it can cause cognitive impairment it can cause depression chronic fatigue i mean you name it”
Green tea and herbal teas (aruba's tea, burdock tea, dandelion tea) provide phytonutrients that support detoxification while improving hydration; Japanese populations consuming high-mercury fish but also high green tea consumption may mitigate mercury effects through green tea's chelation and glutathione upregulation.
“green tea green tea and a lot of the teas like aruba's tea and burdock tea dandelion tea i have a lot of my patients you know not only are you bringing in these herbs you're staying hydrated so the food is really important um supporting the liver moving the bowels and then sweating yeah you know so good hydration we get people into saunas”
Low-fat diets deplete the body of fat-soluble vitamins and lipid-based nutrients, compromising both nutrient absorption and hormone metabolism; adding good fats (especially from fish and whole foods) improves blood sugar control and energy.
“when she started adding more protein and good fat she's like you know my i just feel like i got better energy i can think better you know and that's your blood sugar was doing a lot better”
Soluble fiber from fruit pectin, ground flax seeds, and chia seeds is essential for binding and eliminating toxins being mobilized through the liver; patients on low-fiber diets during toxin clearance risk reabsorption of toxins.
“and you know we also uh use other things with these people we're going to talk about the next case some of the approaches but i mean we we used uh supplements that help boost the detox pathways right one of the the main ones we like to use is something called cysteine glutathione orally lipoic acid we use milk thistle selenium we use artichoke extracts and broccoli extracts and uh and we really focus on this very intensively to push these pathways right vitamins like you mentioned and i think one of the things we we um also focus on is how do we facilitate also other things not just the pooping and peeing but how do we get people sweating so saunas can be very effective”
DMSA (dimercaptosuccinic acid) is FDA-approved for chelating mercury and other heavy metals; it was used in combination with the Detox Cube in the neuropathy case to facilitate metal mobilization and elimination.
“we did something you did the detox cube and dmsa so the detox cube is something that quicksilver scientific has put together that goes along with the tri-mercury test it has glutathione liposomal glutathione which is a really probably the most important detox molecule out there”
The liver has two phases of detoxification; Phase 1 creates reactive intermediates that must be neutralized in Phase 2 using glutathione; if Phase 2 capacity is insufficient, these intermediates accumulate in tissues and cause damage—requiring both phases to be supported simultaneously.
“the liver has two phases of detoxification and you really want to support both phases to have good detox and the compounds like the sulfurophane which is probably most rich in broccoli sprouts support both those pathways so sulfation's a really important pathway that you want to support because that builds up glutathione right it does and it up regulates two enzymes right that the glutathione will then bind onto toxins so they become water soluble so that's a tricky thing like if you don't have good phase two detoxification in the liver and you're you get more toxins in the liver that can't be excreted so you need the second phase and glutathione is a really important part of that”
Sweating via saunas is one of the most effective ways to eliminate fat-soluble toxins (pesticides, solvents, plastics) because these toxins are stored in fat tissue; people who exercise regularly and sweat have demonstrably lower toxin levels.
“they're fat soluble and they're hard to get rid of they store the fat a lot of them right so you need to sweat in order to get rid of them and people exercise have lower toxin levels people who sweat have lower toxins so you kind of sweat every day yeah i think we all need to do that”
The patient had GSTM1 deletion (genetic variation reducing glutathione production), warranting proactive supplementation with liposomal glutathione, N-acetyl cysteine, and sulforaphane-rich compounds.
“she also had some mercury and things like that but um and based off her genetics she had the gst-1 deletion so she needed some glutathione support which when she saw the doctor at her follow-up they gave her liposomal glutathione along with n-acetyl cysteine which helps the glutathione work and make more glutathione we gave give our product called oncoplex which is very rich source of sulfurophane which again very important for that detox pathway”
Eggs are a nutrient-dense food providing choline and fat-soluble vitamins despite being potential food sensitizers; they should be included in pescetarian diets for protein and micronutrient density.
“she did have some eggs we i got her on a good like just protein supplement and eggs also have sulfur they do so i you know my only concern with eggs is they're up there on the likelihood of being a food sensitivity but from a nutritional standpoint they're an incredible food and the you know the yolk has choline and all these like fat-soluble vitamins that are so important too so i definitely kept in eggs for her for that reason”
Pomegranate, berries, and other dark-pigmented fruits provide antioxidants and polyphenols; the color indicates antioxidant density, making 'eating the rainbow' a practical guide to detox support.
“pomegranates another one we you know we're always trying to push pomegranate and berries any time you're getting like dark pigmented yes skins is always a good thing so you want that color i mean we teach our kids you know eat the rainbow it's so important”
DIM (diindolylmethane) is a compound derived from cruciferous vegetables (specifically indole-3-carbinol) that supports the metabolic pathway for estrogen conjugation toward less toxic forms—beneficial for cancer prevention and recurrence prevention in estrogen-sensitive breast cancer.
“when she saw the physician here um she got dim diendyl methane which is the one of the compounds that you get from indole-3-carbinol which is from cruciferous vegetables right your broccoli so this is one of the compounds that we know is so important basically it helps to metabolize estrogen to the forms that are less less toxic so uh she was given some dim”
The lamppost analogy illustrates why conventional medicine fails on toxicity: doctors check what is easy to measure (blood) rather than what matters (tissue burden), looking where the light is (the test they know how to do) rather than where the keys actually are (stored toxins).
“and you know the doctors will say well we checked your blood it was fine uh and you know sort of like the joke where the guy uh you know has dropped his keys on the street he's looking under this lamppost and his friend comes by and says what are you doing is i'm looking for my keys he said where'd you drop them while i dropped him down the street he says why are you looking over here as well because the light's better well that is not the right look in the shadows right so so what happens in traditional medicine we look at the blood test because that's what we do but it's actually not necessarily the most accurate view of what's going on right”
The Ultra Wellness Center was designed as a healing environment with specific environmental controls: filtered water, filtered air, toxin-free furniture (no off-gassing), formaldehyde-free materials, low-EMF lighting, and sustainable building materials to minimize patient exposure to environmental toxins during care.
“and at cleveland clinic we built our center for functional medicine and i was insistent that we make sure we do it through uh you know the environmentally safe compounds so there's no off-gassing from furniture no formaldehyde the carpet's on off gas the lighting is better for you the water's filtered the air is filtered so we really made an effort to create a healing environment and i think it leads to much much better health overall”
Case 1 treatment: The patient initially did not tolerate the detox protocol well due to poor gut health; treatment required starting with gut support, digestive enzymes, decolorized licorice, glutamine, and dietary expansion to increase protein and good fats before introducing aggressive detox supplements.
“we initially supported his digestion because he had a lot of reflux he was taking medication for that so different herbs like decolocized licorice and glutamine which is a protein that helps support the gut and gave them some digestive enzymes because right we always start in the gut even if there's a toxin issue you need to support the gut um and then i did support him further with the fodmap diet because he was feeling better but i really was focusing on getting more protein in him more good fats just getting in good calories with what he felt he could digest”
Dr. Hyman experienced mercury toxicity from a combination of living in China (environmental pollution), mercury dental fillings, and frequent fish consumption, resulting in neurologic symptoms (muscle damage, autoimmune issues, chronic diarrhea, irritable bowel, brain fog, fatigue, memory problems, sleep disturbance), but conventional doctors could only prescribe symptom suppressants rather than address the underlying cause.
“probably 20 say 26 years ago i lived in china and i got mercury poisoning from living in china plus i had mercury fillings plus i ate a lot of fish so the combination of the pollution and all the rest of it caused me to have mercury toxicity and i just had no idea right and i went to doctor after doctor i had neurologic symptoms i had muscle damage i had autoimmune issues i had chronic diarrhea an irritable bowel i had severe brain fog and fatigue and memory issues and i couldn't sleep i mean it was just a mess”
Even people without diagnosed chronic illness or high toxin burden should proactively support their detoxification systems through daily food choices and lifestyle habits because universal environmental exposure means all humans have baseline toxin burden.
“this is just something we all like you said even if you're not sick you need to be thinking how do you support your body and detoxify absolutely live clean and green that's what it is”
The functional medicine approach to toxicity emphasizes a systematic framework: (1) diagnose genetic detoxification risk, (2) measure body burden via toxin testing and metabolite analysis, (3) identify exposure sources, (4) upregulate detoxification pathways via food and targeted supplementation, (5) reduce ongoing exposures, and (6) facilitate elimination through hydration, fiber, sweating, and bowel movement.
“and in functional medicine we we really focus on this extensively and we do it through like you said a very detailed history and through various kinds of testing so we test a lot of things um right both the load of toxins uh we test our ability to detoxify and we also look at genetics so can you talk about some of the diagnostics that we use yeah that are different here at the ultra wellness center in functional medicine right genetics is a really important one”
The Ultra Wellness Center was the first place in the country where patients cannot get a doctor's appointment without also meeting with a nutritionist because 'food is medicine.'
“here at del chu wellness center i think we were the first place in the country maybe in the world where you could not get a doctor's appointment without also getting a nutrition appointment because if food is medicine how can i practice medicine without a nutritionist this is basically my view”
Cyrex testing detects antibodies and immune reactions to toxins (benzene, formaldehyde, parabens, metals) even when tissue levels are not particularly high, revealing which toxins are triggering autoimmune responses in specific individuals.
“we can't get like we did before you know with covet i think there's just been some issues but we do use great plains quite a bit for looking at different metabolites again and pesticides and solvents one of the labs that we use through cyrex who's typically our food sensitivity testing company they check for antibodies or immune reactions to toxins so you don't necessarily have really high levels of these toxins but small amounts can provoke the immune system for some people autoimmune so yeah so when someone's got on immunity and we're suspecting toxins you know if they're coming back reactive to a lot of different again they're looking at like benzene which is a solvent formaldehyde um different parabens and metals when they're showing reactive we know okay we've got to work with this person to help them detoxify”
Food has synergistic effects that isolated supplementation cannot replicate; organic food contains compounds not yet identified in research but that work synergistically for detoxification.
“in functional medicine we become experts in detoxification right and it really all comes down to food i i do think you know the supplementation really helps but you know there are things in food i'm sure we don't know about and you know they work synergistically so all these these nutrients are found in our food and again the quality makes such a big difference”
Toxic burden can cause leaky gut and impair detoxification capacity, creating a feedback loop where toxic load reduces the body's ability to eliminate toxins, causing the burden to increase further.
“you're talking about like you know affecting the gut and you know gaining weight i mean your ability to detoxify starts going down so you have this toxic burden and it's it's increasing and then people's guts are leaky and they're not eliminating as they should and that toxic burden becomes that much more of an issue”
Functional medicine clinicians must spend time in detailed health history taking and patient education about detoxification, which is not time-efficient in conventional medicine settings.
“it's a team approach right because it takes a lot of time and a lot of education around this and and resources to support people so we have you know low mercury seafood lists and you know here's a clean list of of cosmetics that don't have some of these compounds in it”
Most dentists no longer use mercury fillings and instead use white fillings, yet claim mercury fillings are perfectly safe—a contradiction that is logically inconsistent if the materials were truly equivalent in safety.
“most dentists don't use the mercury fillings anymore they use the white fillings even though they say it's fine uh”
The assumption in functional medicine oncology is that removing all identifiable toxins and optimizing protective compounds gives the body the best chance to fight cancer recurrence, even if specific causal links between individual toxins and cancer cannot be definitively proven.
“you don't know if that particular paraben or phthalate is causing her cancer right but the assumption of functional medicine is you get rid of all the bad stuff right you optimize the good stuff you give your chance uh body a chance right exactly do a better job at fighting you don't want that stuff in there when you're trying to prevent”
A 52-year-old woman with history of breast cancer (2017), on tamoxifen therapy, with three to four silver fillings, low-fat pescetarian diet, and reflux presented for detox optimization to prevent recurrence.
“this was a 52 year old woman who had a history of breast cancer back in 2017 um so she came to us more to prevent reoccurrence um because she was you know she had already had surgery chemo radiation she was on tamoxifen... she had three to four silver fillings um her diet was good but it was low fat and she was pescetarian”
Case 1 outcomes (5 years follow-up): Urine mercury decreased from 31 to 15; methyl mercury percentile improved to 75th (patient reduced but didn't eliminate fish); inorganic mercury normalized; blood mercury decreased from 24 to 7; neuropathy improved 50%; headaches and brain fog improved; energy and weight normalized; digestion improved 75%; patient identified gluten, dairy, and alcohol as triggers.
“at five years out when we uh looked at some of his labs his uh urine toxic metals which had been 31 is now down to 15. um so going definitely in the right direction right yeah the the methyl mercury from the fish was down in the 75th percentile partly because he won't give up some fish but he has really cut back um inorganic was normal um he had good clearance of both you know so when they looked in the urine and the hair he was now clearing them well um and his conventional blood work was at seven which again that's not a good thing but it was definitely you know i'm 24. she was better again weighed his headaches got better his neuropathy was improved right right so he's at least 50 percent better he says with the neuropathy and the headaches those are i think always his his top things but his energy's good he's got great weight he he's like you know thanks for making me eat more food um and his digestion is a lot better like 75 percent better and he said he you know if he goes off it's he now knows it's gluten dairy alcohol those are his three triggers”
At the Ultra Wellness Center in Lenox, Massachusetts, the team includes doctors, nutritionists, and providers who systematically assess toxin history, test toxic burden and detoxification capacity, and support patients through remote consultations for those unable to visit in person.
“you know we use a very systematic approach of diagnosing your genetic risks of detox problems your body load of metals and pesticides and toxins we look at also how to up regulate all these pathways like we talked about with food and lifestyle exercise sweating drinking lots of fluids making sure fiber pooping very important and then how do you reduce your load like the environmental workout you go to ewg.org and look at these guys and start to clean up your house make your home a safe zone right”
Lemon peel from organic lemons grated and added to salads provides detoxification compounds, creates flavor enhancement, and increases palatability of detox diets.
“also like lemon peel lemonade right and i often will grate lemon peel from organic lemons and put it in my salad or right and the thing is all these things add a lot of flavor right when people say they don't like to eat these foods and like you know they really enhance the culinary aspect of all this too so they're they're they're tasty which you know i think is really important too”
Case 2: Patient was advised to prioritize sauna use (which she had available but was underutilizing) to facilitate sweating and fat-soluble toxin elimination.
“and the doctor was like okay you got to get into sauna she had a sauna but she wasn't using very often just like sweat sweat sweat you know get these things out of your body”
Hyman tested in the top 10 out of 10,000-20,000 mercury tests he has conducted with patients for mercury levels.
“i've probably done 10 20 000 mercury tests over my lifetime with patients probably more and mine was in the top you know 10 that i've seen wow”
Magnesium is a cofactor for detoxification enzymes and supports the body's ability to eliminate toxins.
“you also need other nutrients like magnesium magnesium is important absolutely mm-hmm right there they're supporting all those enzymes”
Medicinal mushroom formulations (Host Defense brand) provide immune support for cancer patients; used alongside nutritional and detoxification protocols.
“and we gave her my community which is from a company host defense which is a bunch of different medicinal mushrooms which are very good for the immune system for folks that have you know something like cancer”