Toxin Overload: What You Need To Do

by Eric Bakker N.D.

If you feel there’s a toxic overload in the body, you can do some investigations to determine what toxins are present and how the toxic load is affecting the body.

I’m not a fan of doing a variety of detailed test to determine what kinds of toxins are in the body. Quite frankly, if you did that, you would need to do dozens of tests because there are tens of thousands of chemicals in our environment. I think specialized solvent testing and other similar tests are a waste of time. Instead, there are a couple of select tests that I recommend.

Liver detox testing is quite effective. You can do a functional liver detoxification profile (FLDP). An FLDP will test your urine for two organic acid. The levels of the acids indicate the extent of any liver impairment. An FLDP is a very good test to quickly assess how your liver is coping with any toxins in your body.

In addition to a FLDP, you could also do a hair analysis test. If you go that route, send the sample to Genova Diagnostics or Doctor’s Data in Chicago. There is also a good hair lab in Texas that you could use. A hair analysis is an excellent way of determining mineral and toxic element levels in the body. You can quickly measure arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium, strontium, and other similar metals using hair analysis.

Hair’s an excretory tissue. If you look at the hair follicle, it’s bathed in blood. The hair shaft contains what’s in the bloodstream and can give a measure of about four to six weeks of toxin levels. I’ve completed many hair tests over the years with people and in some cases, I’ve picked up incredibly high toxin levels. The same is true for some of the FLDP tests I’ve ordered. I also think stool testing is a good starting point.

Further readings:

You will get some idea of your risk of a high toxin load by looking at your environment. If you work around solvents, chemicals, gasoline, diesel, heavy metals, and the like, you’re going to have toxins in your body. The same is true if you’re smoking, drinking alcohol, or taking pharmaceuticals – all those habits can increase your toxin load. In case where you have regular exposure to toxins, you can ask your doctor for specialized testing. For example, functional medicine doctors may be able to test for mycotoxin, a type of poison made by mold.

Remember not to cast too wide a net when it comes to toxin determination. Its quite expensive and you might not need all that information.

Do the test that make sense, act on the information, and problem solved.

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About Eric Bakker N.D.

Eric Bakker ND has completed almost ten years of study and has almost almost 25 years of clinical experience in natural and integrative forms of medicine, and has pursued continuous post-graduate study in Australia, America, India as well as in New Zealand.

Eric is the past Vice President of the NZ Natural Medicine Association and is currently on their editorial advisory board.