How Detoxification Can Support A Healthy Immune System? 
Written by Dr. Meenakshi Chauhan, from Planet Ayurveda, February 9, 2022
According to Ayurveda, A person is considered as healthy when he has balanced doshas, balanced agni (digestive fire), balanced dhatus (body components), three waste products urine, stool, and feces and mind are in balanced and functioning properly and to maintain this state of healthy one should follow healthy lifestyle and diet. Nowadays people are so busy in their daily routine, eating junk food, living in so polluted environment it has been so difficult for the human body to be healthy as all these activities increases the toxins in the body and these toxins will lead to unhealthy state of the body. So in this article we will be discussing the detoxifications of these toxins to keep yourself healthy and increase our immunity.
Introduction
Toxins are the molecules which have the ability to cause disease these are not able to absorb by the body and it can also interact with the biological molecules in the body like enzymes and receptors and alters their functions which can result into many diseases according to which biological molecules have been interacted by toxins.
According to ayurvedic texts we can relate these toxins to the concept of aama (undigested food). The aama is formed when a person overeats or eats without the appetite which leads to accumulation of undigested food in the bowel and this undigested food stays there for some time and it gets converted to aama due to enzymes and hormones acting on the undigested food this aama can be referred as toxins. After sometime this aama dosha travels through the channels and spreads throughout the whole body.
These toxins and aama dosha have to be eliminated otherwise the body will not be able to protect itself from the diseases and can lead to lower immunity. Lower immunity can also lead to auto-immune diseases which are very difficult to treat.
Detoxification And Immunity
We can hear on a day to day basis that one should detoxify the body but what is this detoxification and how is it done? Detoxification is the removal of toxins from the body which are accumulated due to a person’s unhealthy lifestyle or diets. People are taking in toxins on a regular basis by having food with the preservative, the polluted air we breathe and the products which we apply on the body are full of chemicals which will produce toxins. We are gifted with a very intelligent body which helps us to regularly eliminate the toxins with the help of the liver, kidney circulatory system etc.
Immunity is the body’s ability to fight infections. Our body is able to fight on its own with the help of white blood cells it’s of two types innate and acquired the innate type of immunity is the immunity of the body which is present from the birth and the acquired immunity is that immunity which are acquired to the person during their lifetime due to different infections in the body. Our body recognizes the microorganisms and keeps a memory of it and acts against it when there is the same type of infection in the body. Our immunity works by forming an antigen-antibody complex. When any antigen (foreign body) enters the body it forms specific antibodies for that antigen and acts against the antigen by forming an antigen-antibody complex.The toxins in the body will act as foreign bodies and our immune system will act against these toxin molecules and form an antigen-antibody complex. This is the reason we need to detoxify our body otherwise it will lead to decreases in immunity and the person can get easily ill.
Symptoms Your Body Needs Detoxification
- Getting fatigued easily
- Poor bowel movements
- Irritated skin with dark spots
- Hyper allergic
- Recurrent infections
- Puffiness around eyes
- Irritated mood
- Psychologically disturbed
Ways To Detoxify Body
- Fasting
- Drinking juices and herbal teas, detox drinks
- Using purgatives and enemas
- Exercising and physical activity
- Eradicating alcohol, coffee, and cigarettes from your daily diet.
Ayurvedic Ways To Detoxify Body
- Langhan – This means to do fasting, in ayurveda the first step to treat a disease is doing fasting it will help in the digestion of undigested toxins in the body. It can be done in ways like by not having any food for a certain time period or having light and uncooked food like fruits.
- Deepan-Pachan – It means digestion, detoxification can be done with the help of administering herbs which helps in increasing the metabolism and increasing digestive fire which will digest the aama dosha in the body.
- Exercising – Many toxins are burned down and excreted through the sweat when we do any physical activity so this is a way to detoxify the body.
- Sunbathing – It’s also a method to detoxify the body and eliminate the toxins as this will increase the pitta dosha which stimulate the digestive fire and digest the toxins.
- Vaman – It’s a procedure of panchkarma in which the toxins from the whole body are aggravated and collected in the abdomen which is eliminated through the induced herbal emesis.
- Virechana – It’s also a procedure of panchkarma in which the toxins and aggravated doshas are brought from the channels of the body to the bowel and eliminated through the induced herbal purgation.
- Rasayan – These are the medications which are known as the rejuvenating herbs, these herbs contain antioxidants which are helpful in eliminating toxins from the body. Many herbs are categorized in the category of rasayan which can be used for detoxification of the body.
Conclusion
As we saw how detoxification and immunity can be linked and how ayurveda has approached immunity and detoxification. Toxins in ayurveda can be related to the aama dosha in the body which will further be affecting our immunity and causing the diseases. There are many methods to detoxify the body in ayurveda which we can follow to eliminate the toxins from the body. We can use ayurveda juices and teas for detoxification also.