Detoxification Method | Detox Information

A Review of Scientific Literature Supporting the Detoxification Method Developed by L. Ron Hubbard

I. Contamination with Synthetic Chemicals

Human exposure to toxic chemicals has dramatically increased in the last century. Millions of compounds have been formulated and some 50,000 are now in commercial use. The environmental persistence of many of these compounds is cause for concern. In addition, many of these synthetic compounds accumulate in biological organisms (“bioaccumulation”), storing in bone, fat, or another compartment of the body.

Hundreds of these compounds are found in U.S. citizens, with many present in each of us (1). In addition to commercial compounds, many drugs — both pharmaceutical and so-called recreational — can remain in the body for an extended time. Drugs such as LSD (2,3), PCP (4), cocaine (5), marijuana (6) and diazepam (7) are found in fat. These drugs can be retained for extended periods, especially under conditions of chronic use (5,8-11).

Adverse health effects have been shown for some of these compounds. Health effects from most compounds have not, however, been studied in detail. Further, the health effects from combinations of chemicals are unknown. It is clearly preferable to have low levels of foreign compounds rather than high.

II. Reduction of Bioaccumulated Compounds

While we still do not fully understand the bioactive mechanisms or the kinetics of many toxic substances, physicians have known for centuries that health problems can ensue as a result of accumulations of xenobiotics (foreign chemicals) and have looked for ways to safely and effectively reduce body burdens.

Ramazzini, in his 1713 work, Diseases of Workers, notes that writers of works on poisons at that time "advise, in general, remedies that have the power of setting the spirits and blood mass in motion and of provoking sweat" ⁽¹²⁾, a recommendation which aligns well with current knowledge of the kinetics and metabolism of foreign compounds.

Approaches to handling bioaccumulation of harmful chemicals depend on increasing the rate of removal of these compounds. This is accomplished by either altering the compound to a non-toxic form or by enhancing the rate of elimination.

This philosophy has been applied in many ways. In acute poisoning, purging is a key means of removing the toxic compound before adverse effects arise. For this reason, a strong purgative is included in the highly toxic pesticide, paraquat.

Ingestion of compounds known to bind to the contaminating compound has been used in some cases. This increases the rate of removal of the toxic compound because it cannot be reabsorbed as it passes through the intestine. In this manner, cholestyramine was successfully used to reduce levels of Kepone ⁽¹³⁾, and Prussian blue was used to reduce levels of radioactive Cesium ⁽¹⁴⁾.

A fasting technique has been used to enhance the mobilization of fat-stored compounds. This approach resulted in improved symptoms in 16 PCB-exposed Taiwanese patients ⁽¹⁵⁾, although the levels of PCBs in the blood of these patients increased.

Ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) has been used for many years in the treatment of lead toxicity. EDTA binds to lead and other compounds in the blood, the resultant complex then being eliminated. ^(16,17)

Reduction of fat-stored chemicals must be aimed at mobilizing chemicals from fat stores, distributing the mobilized chemical to routes of elimination, and increasing the rate at which these routes are utilized. This is the design behind the detoxification procedure developed by Hubbard.

III. The Detoxification Program Developed by L. Ron Hubbard

This program was designed to mobilize and enhance the elimination of fat-stored xenobiotics. The Hubbard program was specifically developed to reduce levels of drug residues but has proven to be applicable to the reduction of other fat-stored compounds. The program has gained widespread support due to its effectiveness and the fact that it is well supported by the medical literature. Each component of the program is in alignment with current research on the mobilization of fat stores and the facilitation of toxin elimination. The components of this program are:

A. Exercise Fat is stored throughout the body, with significant deposits not only in adipose tissue but also in cellular reserves, membranes, etc. Exercise is aimed at both promoting deep circulation in the tissues and enhancing the turnover of fats. Numerous studies have shown that exercise promotes the circulation of blood to tissues (18) and also promotes mobilization of lipid from storage depots (19-24). Mobilization of fat stores is accompanied by mobilization of the toxins stored in the fatty tissue (25-27).

B. Sauna

Mobilization of chemicals is not desirable if routes of elimination are not enhanced. Chemicals are excreted through many routes including feces, urine, sweat, sebum, and lung vapor.

The purposes of the sauna aspect of this program are two-fold. Heat stress is a means of increasing circulation ⁽²⁸⁾ and of enhancing the elimination of compounds through both sweat and sebum. It is documented that methadone ⁽²⁹⁾, amphetamines ⁽³⁰⁾, methamphetamines and morphine ⁽³¹⁾, copper ⁽³²⁾, mercury ⁽³³⁾, additional metals ⁽³⁴⁾ and other compounds appear in human sweat. Enhancement of this elimination route is a key purpose of the sauna aspect of this program.

In addition to an increase in sweat production, increased body temperature results in heightened production of sebum, the material produced by the skin's sebaceous glands (35). In patients exhibiting "chloracne", a specific skin disorder caused by chemical exposure, the causative compounds may be detected both in adipose tissue and in sebum of the skin (36). Though not a major route of elimination for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), PCBs may be found in sebum of exposed individuals (37). Both the concentration of PCBs and the quantity of sebum produced have been shown to increase during the detoxification program developed by Hubbard (38).

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