Elimination Systems

Supporting our pathways of Elimination

When we think about our hormone health we don’t often immediately think about our digestion, poop skin and sweat. However, our elimination pathways are the silent MVPs of our hormone balance.

What do we mean by elimination and how does poor elimination affect my body?

24 hours a day our body is taking in, processing and working to eliminate toxins in order to keep our hormonal systems humming right along. Toxins that accumulate in our body come from a variety of sources including internal and external factors. Internally, our elimination pathways processes hormones that have been used and are now in their toxic, inactive forms. These hormones include sex hormones like estrogen and stress hormones like cortisol. Externally, environmental toxins build up in our systems from our food, beauty products, household cleaners, air pollution, water pollution, alcohol, medications and the list could go on and on ladies.

As you can see, our modern lifestyles can over time, lead to a chronic overload of our elimination pathways, slowing their function, and leading to a toxic internal environment. In more ways than one, we can say our bodies start to mimic Los Angeles at rush hour. The systems in place are just not able to handle the ever-increasing load.

In a similar way, these internal and external toxins start to interfere with many of our other systems and result in slowed, overloaded elimination pathways.

• Acne

• Body odor

• Sleep disturbances

• Brain fog

• Low energy levels

• Low libido

• Bloating

• Abdominal pain

• Diarrhea

• Constipation

• Heavy painful periods

• Clotting during periods

• Irregular periods

• Nausea and vomiting

Fortunately, our body has several systems in place to help us decrease the load and mitigate the negative effects these toxins have on our bodies. Syncing up with these systems and supporting their functions is a huge way that we can start to reverse the symptoms listed above and optimize our hormonal health.

What are our pathways of elimination?

Our body has 3 primary ways that it processes and eliminates toxins.

They are our …

1.     Liver and large intestine

• Our liver and large intestine work together process and convert toxins and excess hormones into forms that we can then excrete through our stool.

2.     Lymphatic system

• Our lymphatic system parallels our cardiovascular system. It comes along side like a waste water treatment plant and processes fluid from our bloodstream. Then we are able to excrete those toxins through our kidneys and out into our urine

3.     Skin

• Our skin, the largest organ in our body, eliminates waste through our sweat. This is our bodies last resort so when symptoms like acne, rashes and body odor start to show up, its likely because the first two pathways have already been overloaded for awhile

Here are some quick tips to support each of these pathways

1. Make sure you are pooping every day

• Constipation backs up the liver and large intestine pathway leading to reabsorption of toxins back into our bodies.

• Use a regular bathroom schedule, carve out time in your morning routine every day to sit yourself down and allow your body to do its thing.

• Drink plenty of water, experts recommend ½ your body weight in ounces. That means if you weigh 150lbs working up to about 75 ounces of water daily is a good goal.

• Use food to supplement fiber

  • Try cruciferous veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, kale, brussel sprouts) with hummus or roasted in soups and salads, 1-2 servings/day is recommended

  • Ground flaxseed added to smoothies and salads, 2 tablespoons/day is recommended

  • Supplements that have been shown to support this system include N-Acetyl Cysteine, B vitamins, Hydrochloric Acid (HCL)

2.     Support your lymph system

• Dry brushing supports the efficiency of our lymphatic system. Using a dry brush on dry skin, gently swipe in one direction from your extremities towards your heart.

3.     Detox your skin

• Avoid anti-perspirants – we need to sweat!

• Sweat regularly – hit that Soul Cycle or Orange Theory class, get outside for a jog or spend some time in a Sauna (YESS GIRL, DO IT) 

• Supplement with Omega-3 fatty acids

  • Supplements are great for this but also look to add in eggs and fish into your diet, avocado, flax seeds and pumpkin seeds if you are plant based.

Ok so that was a quick run-down on our pathways of elimination. Hopefully you can see just how important these systems are and why we are including them in one of the first, most foundational set of topics!