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Your body is detoxifying every day, but that does not mean every juice cleanse, detox tea or supplement actually supports the process. Detoxification is not something your body does only during a cleanse. It is a continuous process involving your liver, gut, kidneys, lymphatic system and skin.
Your body is detoxifying every day, but that does not mean every juice cleanse, detox tea or supplement actually supports the process. Detoxification is not something your body does only during a cleanse. It is a continuous process involving your liver, gut, kidneys, lymphatic system and skin.
In this episode, Dr. Taz explains what detoxification actually means from a holistic and functional medicine perspective. She breaks down the five major pathways your body uses, the nutrients those pathways require and the everyday factors that can reduce their capacity.
You’ll discover why protein is essential for liver phase two conjugation, how constipation can interfere with elimination, why your lymphatic system needs movement and how sleep supports the brain’s own clearing processes.
Dr. Taz also examines popular detox methods, including juice cleanses, detox teas, foot pads and extended fasting, explaining why many of them fail to provide what the body needs most.
Rather than chasing another detox product, learn how protein, fiber, hydration, cruciferous vegetables, movement and sleep can support the sophisticated detoxification systems you already have.
Learn more about Hol+ and explore holistic care, educational resources, health quizzes and physician-grade wellness products at https://holplus.co
You’ll learn:
• How the liver processes compounds through different detoxification phases
• Why protein and amino acids are essential for liver function
• How constipation can allow processed compounds to be reabsorbed
• Why the lymphatic system depends on movement and breathing
• Whether sweating actually supports detoxification
• Why juice cleanses can remove nutrients the body needs
• What detox teas, patches and foot baths really do
• How alcohol, medications, stress and poor sleep affect detox capacity
• Simple ways to support your body’s natural detoxification systems
• Why protein and amino acids are essential for liver function
• How constipation can allow processed compounds to be reabsorbed
• Why the lymphatic system depends on movement and breathing
• Whether sweating actually supports detoxification
• Why juice cleanses can remove nutrients the body needs
• What detox teas, patches and foot baths really do
• How alcohol, medications, stress and poor sleep affect detox capacity
• Simple ways to support your body’s natural detoxification systems
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Creators and Guests
Host
What is hol+ with Dr. Taz MD | The Future of Medicine is Holistic?
hol+ with Dr. Taz MD is redefining modern medicine through a comprehensive, evidence-based holistic approach; integrating functional medicine, integrative medicine, and time-tested healing systems to treat the whole human, not just symptoms.
Hosted by Dr. Tasneem Bhatia (Dr. Taz), triple board-certified physician in integrative, functional, and holistic medicine, bestselling Penguin Random House author, and founder of hol+; a comprehensive evidence-based holistic medicine platform with clinics in Atlanta, New York City, and Los Angeles, and virtual care available nationwide.
At the heart of hol+ is a revolutionary framework: the Five Body Map- physical, mental, emotional, energetic, and social/community bodies that create whole health. This whole-human approach connects hormone imbalances, gut dysfunction, microinflammation, cortisol dysregulation, metabolic disease, autoimmune conditions, perimenopause, and stress-driven illness to the full spectrum of who we are; body, mind, and spirit.
Each episode explores Dr. Taz’s original clinical frameworks ;The Cortisol Loop, Microinflammation, and The Invisible Load alongside conversations with leading experts, celebrities, and thought leaders including Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, Katherine Schwarzenegger, Cameron Mathison, Carol Alt, Jane Seymour, Tamsen Fadal, and Kris Carr.
Topics include hormone health, gut health, GLP-1 and metabolic therapy, thyroid dysfunction, weight loss, inflammation, autoimmune disease, mental and emotional wellness, energetic health, and the future of holistic medicine.
This is the show where science and spirit converge- driving health, happiness, relationships, and family ecosystems.
Want to go deeper? Join Dr. Taz’s private community, the hol+ Circle ; medicine beyond the exam room. (holplus.co/circle)
A 2025 Webby Award honoree, recognized alongside the Mel Robbins Podcast in the 29th Annual Webby Awards, hol+ is built on the foundation of Super Woman Wellness, which surpassed 1 million downloads over 8 years.
This is medicine beyond the exam room. Welcome to hol+
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This episode is sponsored by Hol+, a holistic health platform built around [00:00:05] education, personalization, and integrative care. Hol+ blends [00:00:10] holistic, integrative, and functional medicine clinics with learning resources like blogs, [00:00:15] YouTube videos, and of course this podcast, so you're not just treated, you're informed.[00:00:20]
The platform also includes holistic health quizzes and a curated wellness shop, helping you [00:00:25] make choices that support your body at the root level. Hol+ is [00:00:30] holistic healthcare designed for real life. Visit us at holplus.co [00:00:35] to learn
more about the platform. Again, that's [00:00:40] holplus.co.
The body detoxifies continuously through the liver, the [00:00:45] kidneys, the gut, the skin, and the lymphatic system. Juice fasts and cleanse kits [00:00:50] do not add capacity to that system. What measurably supports it [00:00:55] is adequate protein for liver phase two conjugation, daily bowel movements, [00:01:00] hydration, cruciferous vegetables, limited alcohol, and [00:01:05] sufficient sleep.
Detox has been turned into a product. Powders, [00:01:10] teas, juice fasts, foot pads. Meanwhile, you already own the [00:01:15] most sophisticated detoxification system ever built, and almost [00:01:20] nobody is taught how to support it. Let's fix that. In traditional Western medicine, detox is [00:01:25] honestly dismissed as a wellness kind of woo woo fad, and in fairness, [00:01:30] much of what is sold under that name deserves it.
Your liver [00:01:35] detoxes itself is the usual answer. True, but it stops the [00:01:40] conversation too early. Liver enzymes are checked only when something is [00:01:45] wrong, and mild elevations often go unexplored. [00:01:50] Cumulative environmental exposure is rarely discussed despite being a genuine [00:01:55] load on the system. The functional medicine approach to detoxification believes and [00:02:00] explores that detoxification is essentially continuous [00:02:05] biochemistry.
It's not an event that you schedule. It runs in a couple of [00:02:10] phases, and phase two is what requires nutrients that most [00:02:15] people are simply not getting any longer The exits matter [00:02:20] as much as the processing, and what I mean is that if your bowels are slow, your [00:02:25] work for detoxification is simply not done.
Supporting the [00:02:30] detoxification system is not glamorous, but it's effective. It's protein, [00:02:35] fiber, hydration, and sleep. The basics, guys. They keep applying to [00:02:40] so many of the different things that we talk about. There are actually five pathways of [00:02:45] detoxification that our body actually uses, and here's how we're gonna break them [00:02:50] down, and maybe while I'm doing this, you're kinda thinking through if there's one [00:02:55] that might be the weak point for you.
We have the liver, which is the processing [00:03:00] plant. It needs protein, B vitamins, and cruciferous vegetables. We have the gut, [00:03:05] which is how things get out of here. It needs fiber and a daily bowel movement, or the work [00:03:10] is reabsorbed. We need filtration from the kidneys, which needs adequate water [00:03:15] and electrolytes.
And our lymphatic system needs drainage. It doesn't have a pump, [00:03:20] so it needs movement and breathing. And your skin, largest organ of the body, needs [00:03:25] a secondary route, supported by sweating and by lowering what you put [00:03:30] on it. Now, here's what maybe doesn't really work. A juice [00:03:35] cleanse strips out the protein and the fiber and actually takes away the essential [00:03:40] things that this entire detoxification process depends on.
May [00:03:45] provide temporary gut rest. A detox tea, those are usually laxatives, [00:03:50] which is not actually the same as true detoxification. [00:03:55] Your foot pads and your patches and your foot baths, that discoloration is a [00:04:00] chemical reaction, not actual toxins. And then all that extended fasting as [00:04:05] a cleanse, over time, that can slow the very pathways that we're trying to [00:04:10] support.
So when we kind of find the middle road, right? The root cause [00:04:15] approach, really, like, taking what the wellness world is talking about and trending and [00:04:20] all that stuff with what the medical world really wants to solve and finding the happy [00:04:25] spot, we know we need to adopt a functional medicine and holistic medicine approach.
We [00:04:30] wanna know why the system is struggling to keep up. Is it not enough protein? [00:04:35] So then phase two conjugation that takes place in the liver slows down. It [00:04:40] runs on amino acids. Is it constipation? All that processed stuff, all those [00:04:45] compounds get reabsorbed rather than getting eliminated. Those [00:04:50] nutrient gaps, like your B vitamins, magnesium, and glutathione, these are things that we talk [00:04:55] about in practice over and over again.
Those are really important for both phase [00:05:00] one and phase two detoxification and all the different pathways we just talked about. [00:05:05] Alcohol and your medication load, it's competing for those same liver [00:05:10] pathways, so detoxification can slow down. And then chronic stress and poor [00:05:15] sleep just reduces capacity, and the environmental and cosmetic exposure, [00:05:20] that actually contributes to the total toxic load, which matters, as [00:05:25] science is showing, more than any one particular source [00:05:30] What we try to do at holplus, and what I try to do and e- educate my patients on, [00:05:35] is we start with the basics when it comes to detoxification.
It doesn't have to be fancy. It doesn't [00:05:40] have to be super organized, but the basics matter and the day-to-day routine [00:05:45] counts. Getting enough protein, the single most overlooked requirement for [00:05:50] real detoxification. Remember, we need those amino acids, but [00:05:55] that protein has to be paired with fiber and water or it [00:06:00] also does not get metabolized well and elimination won't happen, [00:06:05] along with movement that the body needs to make all of this work together.
We [00:06:10] know the cruciferous vegetables are powerful when it comes to detoxification. [00:06:15] They contain everything from DIM that helps metabolize estrogen to sulforaphane, which really [00:06:20] helps the glutathione pathways in terms of eliminating both internal and environmental [00:06:25] toxins. Broccoli, cabbage, and greens support the liver pathways [00:06:30] directly.
We know we need to hydrate properly. Water with electrolytes, having that [00:06:35] consistently throughout the day. And then measuring and understanding [00:06:40] your incoming load. Alcohol, ultra-processed foods, and one or [00:06:45] two personal care swaps can make a world of difference when it comes to how you [00:06:50] detox and your overall detoxification pathways.
Sleep, the [00:06:55] brain has its own clearing system and when we are not sleeping, we are putting more [00:07:00] burden on the body when it comes to toxic load, which in turn triggers [00:07:05] inflammation and micro inflammation, keeping us in that cortisol loop and [00:07:10] becoming sort of the precursor for future disease. So again, [00:07:15] everything is connected.
We've gotta connect the dots and we've gotta understand your [00:07:20] story rather than just jumping on the latest trend. You don't need a cleanse. You need [00:07:25] to give a very sophisticated system the raw materials it's been asking [00:07:30] for. I'm so curious, what detox products have you guys tried? Have they worked? Have [00:07:35] they not worked?
What was the benefit that you saw as you tried them? Now, a lot of the [00:07:40] nutrients that I'm talking about here we do have and we use within our clinics as [00:07:45] a part of our detox protocols when we're trying to help patients support these different pathways. [00:07:50] They are all physician-grade. They're evidence-based.
We've used them over and over again and you can [00:07:55] find them in our holplus shop. If you want a deeper dive into all things [00:08:00] detoxification and cleansing and what it actually means and our perspective clinically, check [00:08:05] out my latest episode on the holplus show where I talk a little bit more in depth [00:08:10] about detoxification.