Every substance that is ingested or injected, as well as those that present as a topical application or exposure have to be altered in way that will allow them to pass through the body without causing any harm in the process.
This includes things we eat or drink, medications (over the counter as well as prescription), creams that we rub on our bodies and even substances that our bodies naturally produce.
One example many people are familiar with is Tylenol.
When you consume Tylenol your body has to change it to a form that is not toxic so it can be excreted from the body without harming us.
If you consume too much it will kill you.
This is dose and time dependent.
Meaning, if you take too much Tylenol in too short of a time span you will use up all your glutathione and your body will not have time to produce more before you develop liver failure and die.
If you make it to the hospital in enough time you will be given an infusion of n-acetylcysteine which your body will use to create more glutathione and hopefully prevent you from dying.
Glutathione is one of the most important factors in your body's detoxification pathway.
Tylenol overdose is an extreme example of what can happen if things do not work properly but there are other extreme examples and many more where the consequences may not be death, but impaired functioning and less than optimum health.
There are two main pathways involved in the detoxification process.
They take place in the liver.
In general it involves altering chemical structures of substances so that they can be excreted in the bile, urine, sweat and feces and not build up and get stored in tissues in the body.
For some substances they are temporarily more toxic after step one and if step two does not happen or happens too slowly they are more toxic then when ingested.
The process sounds is very complicated and requires many enzymes and cofactors for these enzymes.
It also requires all the building blocks to be able to manufacture glutathione.
The ability to add sulfur groups and methyl groups is crucial during this process and any deficit will leave the pathways working at less than optimum efficiency.
This means there are many B vitamins as well as amino acids that can act as sulfur and methyl donors that are necessary for this process to work.
Because of the complexity of this system it means there are multiple different ways in which it can malfunction.
There can be congenital deficits in these pathways, liver disease (infectious, inflammatory, malignancy) that can have a negative impact.
Poor nutrition (either from poor intake or inability to absorb due to gut inflammation), toxic exposures, as well as epigentic changes can all play a role in the efficiency of the detoxification pathways.
Since this system is so delicate it is easy to understand how an individual who has a baseline weakness in this system and less than adequate nutrition would have a problem when confronted with a toxin in the form of food, medication or injectables.
The food does not even have to be tainted but just something to which their body is sensitive and causing an up-regulation of the immune system.
Another scenario would be an individual who had been given multiple rounds of antibiotics over a short period of time without allowing the gut to heal so that it could not absorb the necessary nutrients from the diet or supplements as needed.
This could also happen if you exposed an individual to several injectables at once.
This may also trigger a response in the immune system, which may result in inflammation and poor absorption.
If you combine any of the scenarios then the potential for issues would be increased.
Because at birth we do not know who is susceptible and because many people handle these situations without obvious significant impairment the most reasonable course is to not overload your body's detoxification system unnecessarily.
Maintain proper nutrition which includes the necessary cofactors in the diet and as supplements for those that are more vulnerable.
Avoid exposure to unnecessary antibiotics and if not possible, repair and restore the normal gut flora every time they are used.
Spread out any vaccines that are being given and do not take them when you are ill, or after antibiotics without using probiotics.
I find the variability in the functioning of the detoxification system and the possible complications from it not working properly comparable to smoking cigarettes.
Most people who smoke will NOT get lung cancer but many will develop heart disease, stroke, and lung disease.
You do not know if you are the one who will get lung cancer until you have it and then it is too late.
The best defense against lung cancer is not improved detection and treatment, or genetic testing to see who is more susceptible to the development of lung cancer.
The most effective and least expensive way to prevent lung cancer is not to smoke at all! So no matter who you are, you should avoid toxins and make sure your body is detoxifying as best it can.