6 minutes read

Welcome back to Panacea, the newsletter that helps you getting healthier one treat at the time.

Today’s treat is… DETOXING

and to learn something new about it
we will have to fly to the
Amazon’s forest

To tell you this story I will have to introduce you to a branch of science I’m highly fascinated with (because I love to observe wild animals and nature) which is Biomimicry.

• Biomimicry is the practice of learning from and mimicking the strategies found in nature to solve human challenges.
  
  Over the last decades it has been applied to many different fields:
  

• Japan's Bullet Train: Inspired by the beak of the kingfisher bird, engineers redesigned the train's nose to reduce noise and improve speed and energy efficiency.

• Lotus-Effect Paint in Germany: Mimicking the self-cleaning properties of the lotus leaf, this paint is designed to be dirt and water-repellent.

• Whale Power Turbines: Humpback whale fins inspired the design of more efficient wind turbines, capturing more wind without requiring an increase in speed.

• Gecko Tape: Modelled after gecko feet, this tape allows for super-strong adhesion that can be easily removed without residue.

• Sharkskin Medical Devices: The texture of shark skin has inspired the design of medical instruments that are more resistant to bacterial growth.
  
  Today the one thing you can take away from biomimicry is

  MACAWS’ DIETARY HABITS

If you know macaws you already know where I’m heading with this:

when I was a kid, the grandma of one of my neighbours, Sharon, had two macaws in her flat. Being a young kid and the birds being as majestic as they were, I always felt very intimidated walking inside of her flat.

One thing I did not know at that time is that macaws are highly intelligent creatures: they can memorised up to 20 words (the parrot I told you about died saying ‘I love you’ to his owner, and no I’m not saying that to get you hooked emotionally, it really did happen) and they know exactly what food heals them and what food harms them. Humanity has much to learn from animals.

Intelligence is the ability to collect and extract information to adapt and thrive through challenges, right?

Imagine electricity goes down, internet disappears we you are running out of gas. Needless to say mayhem breaks free and each city get assaulted by a crowd of belligerent people. Food is running scarce in any shop in a radius of 6,378 km.

You are left with hunting, growing food and going to the closest wood and harvest anything edible from the ground:

One will nurture you, the other one will kill you. Choose wisely:

• Wild Blueberries or Nightshade berries

• Porcini or Death Cap

• Wood Sorrel or Foxglove

• Nettle or Poison Ivy

• Violet or Buttercup

• Burdock or Hemlock
  
  Unlike macaws and our ancestors I wouldn’t have a clue apart for some mushrooms. I used to go hunting mushroom with my parents as a kid, from 6 to 16, so I could last at least 3 days in wilderness (I’m between generous and delusional here, I know).
  
  The good news is that someone already went through the trial an error to figure it out for us.

  
  The bed news is that there is a lot of misleading or false advertisement.

Macaws figured out how to make the best out of their environment with the resources they had.

Instead of migrating they tried few different things and realised how to combine them together:

Macaws and other parrot species in the Amazon rainforest eat a diet rich in fruits, nuts, and seeds. The problem is that some of these fruits and seeds are toxic or have secondary metabolites that can be harmful when ingested in large quantities.

These can include:

• Manchineel Fruit: Highly toxic and can cause blistering.

• Seeds of Inga, Mimosa, and Acacia contain compounds that can be toxic in large amounts.

• Oleander seeds: Contain cardiac glycosides, which can be fatal.

• Various native fruits that may have evolved to include toxins as a defense mechanism against overconsumption by animals.

Eating clay helps these birds neutralize the toxins they've ingested, allowing them to benefit from the nutrients in these otherwise risky foods.

We DON’T have to eat clay though

Assuming you don’t want to go to the closest river harvesting clay (I used to do it as a kid and spread it on my skin, which helps ‘sucking’ inflammation in, when clay dries it pulls your skin though) the second best option is zeolite:

HOW ZEOLITE WORKS

Zeolites have a honeycomb-like structure that allows them to attract and trap positively charged ions like heavy metals and toxins.

Once bound, they are safely removed from the body through the natural elimination processes.

All that glitters is not gold

Zeolite comes with risks too

What to look for:

1. Impurities: Research the brand before you buy the product and where the clay is harvested from. Same as pollen, honey and mushrooms, zeolite is responsive to its environment and the final product may contain harmful impurities like heavy metals, which could be counterproductive to detoxification.

2. Dehydration: Zeolites can absorb water, potentially leading to dehydration if adequate hydration is not maintained.

3. Drug Interference: Zeolites can bind to medications, reducing their effectiveness.

How detoxification works anyway?

The primary organs involved in detoxification are the liver, kidneys, and skin.

The liver filters the blood to remove large toxins and synthesizes bile to help break down fats.

The kidneys filter out waste products from the blood.

While the skin helps to remove toxins through sweating (sauna is the best thing to help your body detox).

Long-term storage of toxins can lead to chronic inflammation (that’s why it’s important to learn how to listen to your body)  a precursor to many diseases including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and neurodegenerative disorders.

It can also result in hormonal imbalances, gut issues, and impaired immune function.