The Stages of Detox: How the body and mind react during withdrawals — The Walker Center (2024)

FAQs

How does your body feel while detoxing? ›

Common physical reactions include muscle tension, racing heartrate, difficulty breathing, and tightness in the chest. Other common symptoms include profuse sweating, headaches, nausea, and vomiting. These symptoms can put the individual through tremendous stress.

The phases of metabolic detoxification are performed by three sets of enzymes or proteins, called the Phase I (functionalization) enzymes, Phase II (conjugation) enzymes, and the Phase III (elimination) proteins.

The best way to detox your body is to let it flush out toxins naturally. The body is equipped with its own effective detoxing processes. Methods that support these natural processes include exercising, getting enough sleep, staying hydrated, and limiting processed foods and alcohol (if you drink).

The three phases of healthy detoxification are the generation of water-soluble intermediaries, the neutralization of toxic water-soluble intermediaries, and the excretion of the neutralized intermediaries. Preventing unhealthy detoxification function begins with reducing our exposure to toxins.

Any person who has been drinking alcohol for a long time will have developed some serious toxins in their body. The process of detoxing from alcohol abuse and particularly heavy alcohol consumption is associated with body odour that does make you really sweat, at night and then start to smell.

Yes, your urine may be pale yellow or even darker if you are detoxing. In addition, they can even have a strong smell indicating an overload of molecules that need to be treated during detox.

The phase II detoxification systems involve conjugation reactions that attach charged hydrophilic molecular moieties to reactive metabolites, thus facilitating the elimination of the harmful metabolites from body, ultimately reducing their toxicity (22).

From 11pm to 3am, most of your blood circulation concentrates in your liver. Your liver gets larger when filled with more blood. This is an important time when your body undergoes detoxification process. Your liver neutralizes and breaks down body toxins accumulated throughout the day.

Phase I Cytochrome P450 Enzymes. Initially, the “phases” of detoxification were described as functionalization (or phase I), or the addition of oxygen to form a reactive site on the toxic compound, and conjugation (phase II), or the process of adding a water-soluble group to this now reactive site [14, 15].

What is the fastest way to flush your body of toxins? ›

The human body has a self-based mechanism to remove toxins. The fastest way to detox your body is to drink water, get enough sleep, exercise, lower sugar intake, and eat probiotic foods.

This protective ability of the liver stems from the expression of a wide variety of xenobiotic biotransforming enzymes whose common underlying feature is their ability to catalyse the oxidation, reduction and hydrolysis (Phase I) and/or conjugation (Phase II) of functional groups on drug and chemical molecules.

First few hours: To be sure, symptoms of a detoxing liver start approximately 10 hours after alcohol abstinence. It is common for a person to experience nausea and abdominal pain. Psychological symptoms begin to appear, including anxiety. In general, a person feels tired but restless.

Detoxing symptoms

Some of the following symptoms may be experienced during a detox: Fatigue, as the body diverts energy to 'spring cleaning' the body. Hemorrhoids, as motions increase to unaccustomed levels. Frequent urination, as the kidneys and bladder begin to work more effectively.