Q. How can Green Detox support digestive health and intestinal detoxification?
A. Green Detox can support digestive health and intestinal detoxification in several ways. As noted previously, the prebiotic effect of seaweed polysaccharides may alter the bacterial composition of the intestines to one more supportive of health. More specifically, pathogenic intestinal bacteria produce enzymes which convert procarcinogens into carcinogens within the gastrointestinal tract. As an example, many substances, including hormones and hormone–like chemicals, are conjugated to glucoronic acid for excretion from the body. Pathogenic intestinal bacteria, however, produce the enzyme, ß–glucoronidase, which is able to break apart glucoronic acid cojugates, thus "re–toxifying" the chemical which would otherwise be excreted from the body.
Pathogenic intestinal bacteria also produce azoreductases – enzymes which may convert azo dyes (e.g, artificial food colorings) into carcinogenic substances, and nitro– and nitrate reductases – enzymes which have been implicated in gastrointestinal cancer.
Polysaccharides from seaweeds, like other prebiotics, have been shown to shift the population of intestinal microbiota towards more beneficial species, thus reducing the production of these enzymes:
Quote from the above study:
Adaptation to diets containing Nori or Wakame was associated with changes in microbial activity that involved a decrease on reductive and hydrolytic enzymatic activities implicated in the conversion of procarcinogens into carcinogens. The combination of the effect on the gut flora and a more rapid transit of feces would be expected to reduce exposure to potential carcinogens and may have health implications for human nutrition.
The process of digestion itself often produces toxic substances. Vegetarians often note that meat, for example, can putrefy and become toxic within the gastrointestinal tract. The existing research lends support to this contention, although the optimal solution may not be to avoid meat entirely, but rather to consume meats with the fibers and chlorophyll needed to neutralize the toxins which are derived from it.
The components of brown seaweed, laminaran and alginate, have been shown to reduce the production of such putrefactive compounds of digestion including, indole, p–cresol, and sulfide:
Quote from the above study:
In the case of rats fed diet containing 2% (w/w) laminaran or low molecular alginate, the fermentation pattern agreed with that of the in vitro experiment. Laminaran suppressed indole, p–cresole and sulfide, significantly. These putrefactive compounds, in rats fed low molecular alginate, also tended to be lower. These results suggest that the fermentation of laminaran by intestinal bacteria suppresses the putative risk markers for colon cancer.
Emerging research also suggests that some naturally–occurring food–based chemicals, called lectins, may irritate the gastrointestinal tract by attaching to sugars found in the cellular structure of the intestinal lining (these cellular sugars are different than the sugars commonly used by the body for energy). By binding to these sugars, lectins may interfere with proper cellular communication, and may also trigger inflammation which may manifest as gastrointestinal distress.
It's probably no coincidence that some of the foods which are most apt to cause digestive problems – such as wheat (gluten), beans, and legumes – also contain high amounts of particularly irritating lectins:
Interestingly, however, the same cellular sugar molecules to which lectins bind can also be found in some foods. Seaweeds such as Fucus vesiculosus and Undaria pinnatifada, for example, are known to contain such sugars including fucose and mannose.
Traditional cultures often used seaweeds as folk remedies for digestive disturbances, and modern researchers have proposed that the consumption of the unique sugars in seaweeds may act as a "decoy" for the attachment of harmful food–based lectins. In other words, lectins may bind to the sugars found in seaweeds instead of these same sugars located on the cells of the intestinal lining. It's important to note, also, that the health–damaging effects of lectins may not be limited to the gastrointestinal system – as they damage the structural integrity of the intestinal barrier, lectins are capable of entering general circulation where they may attach to other tissues (e.g., connective tissue, elements of the nervous system, bladder tissue, etc.). This partly explains why seaweeds may have such far–reaching benefits for disorders involving systemic inflammation and immune dysfunction*.
In addition, the ingredients in Green Detox are among nature's richest sources of the natural detoxifier, chlorophyll. We've already seen how chlorophyll may play a role in neutralizing the cytotoxic damage produced by heterocyclic amines in meat. In addition to the possible presence of heterocyclic amines, the iron–containing pigment, haem, in red meat has been associated with an increased risk of colon cancer. One proposed reason is the degradation of haem to cytotoxic compounds in the gastrointestinal tract.
The consumption of vegetables, on the other hand, has been associated with a reduced risk of colon cancer – and it's likely that chlorophyll plays an important role. Animal studies have found that chlorophyll is able to prevent the toxic effects of haem in the colon:
Population–based studies in humans seem to support this detoxifying role of chlorophyll as well:
Quote from the above study:
Our data suggest an elevated risk of colon cancer in men with increasing intake of heme iron and decreasing intake of chlorophyll.
Chlorophyll may also support healthy cell growth and repair.* Numerous studies have found chlorophyll to stimulate wound healing:
Study Link – Chlorophyll and wound healing; experimental and clinical study.
In the intestines, chlorophyll thus has the potential to protect the delicate intestinal lining.
As an interesting aside relating to intestinal detoxification, chlorophyll is also a well–known internal deodorant, and is widely used to control odors in those with incontinence and colostomies:
Study Link – Deodorization of colostomies with chlorophyll.
Find a retailer for Green Detox and other Integrated Supplements Products
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Green Detox Q & A - Green Detox Versus Other Detox Supplements
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Green Detox Q & A - Are "Toxins" a Real Threat?
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