Full Body Detox: Why Gut Testing Should Be Your First Step

Most of the time, when someone comes to me for help, they’re already fired up to start detoxing.

They’re hoping this will finally solve their stubborn symptoms—like the fatigue, brain fog, bloating, skin rashes, or hormonal chaos they’ve been dealing with for years (especially in midlife).

So when I tell them there’s a step before detox, I usually get one of two reactions: surprise… or disappointment.

And I get it.

There’s been a massive “detox marketing machine” at work for decades—selling people the idea that a quick cleanse is the magic fix. That if you just do this special juice-only diet, schedule a quick colon cleanse, or complete this 7-day flush, you’ll finally feel like yourself again.

But here’s what most people don’t realize:

Before you draw toxins out, you have to make sure there’s a clear path to get them out.

And that exit strategy? It begins in your gut.

Because no amount of green juice, celebrity-endorsed herbal teas, juice cleanses, or supplements will give you lasting results if your gut microbiome is out of balance.

The Pre-Detox Step

Before you begin any sort of detoxification protocol, you have to open your body’s internal drainage pathways. 

If your natural detox systems are blocked, mobilizing toxins only makes things worse. They get stirred up, recirculated through your bloodstream, and reabsorbed into your tissues—creating new inflammation instead of healing.

That’s why detox without preparation often leads to symptoms like:

• Worsened fatigue or migraines
• Nausea or skin breakouts
• Constipation or loose stools
• Mood swings and brain fog

These symptoms are often a form of a Herxheimer reaction—your body’s way of saying, “You’re moving toxins, but I’m not ready to get rid of them.”

The fact is, your body doesn’t need a “harder” detox protocol. It needs a smarter one. 

So, let’s talk about these detoxification pathways and what this “pre-detox” step looks like.

What Are Your Detoxification Pathways?

Your detoxification pathways (AKA: your internal drainage organs) are the systems your body uses to eliminate toxins.

These include:

• Liver (filters toxins and packages them for excretion)
• Gallbladder & bile ducts (eliminates fat-soluble waste)
• Kidneys (clears water-soluble toxins)
• Colon (removes waste and microbial byproducts)
• Lymphatic system (drains immune and cellular debris)
• Skin & lungs (releases toxins via sweat and breath)

Now you might see this list and notice the gut isn’t on it.

There’s a good reason for this… because your gut is at the center of the entire system. Think of your drainage pathways as the spokes of a wheel, and your gut as the central hub that holds it all together.

The Gut Is Ground Zero for Detox

Your digestive system does far more than just break down food. It’s a fully integrated detox organ—and the gatekeeper for what stays in and what gets eliminated.

The gut microbiome is the ecosystem of trillions of microorganisms—bacteria, parasites, fungi, and more—that live in your intestines. These microbes are essential to your health.

Here’s what the gut flora in your microbiome helps you do:

• Digest food and absorb nutrients
• Regulate hormones and neurotransmitters
• Train your immune system
• Bind and escort environmental toxins out of the body
• Support xenobiotic metabolism—how your body breaks down foreign chemicals like pesticides, medications, and heavy metals [1]

When your microbiome is disrupted or imbalanced, it can’t perform those tasks effectively. 

And then the opposite of what’s supposed to happen, happens: instead of helping your body detox, your gut becomes a source of inflammation and toxic recirculation.

What Disrupts Gut Health?

We live in a world that isn’t friendly to the microbiome. 

Some of the biggest offenders include:

• • Chronic infections – such as parasites, fungus, and overgrowth of harmful bacteria
  • Pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides (particularly glyphosate, which even shows up on toxin testing in our community members who eat exclusively organic. That’s due to cross-contaminated crops and glyphosate now being embedded in our soil, rain, and air.)
  • Heavy metals from water, dental fillings, and cosmetics
  • Environmental toxins – including mold toxins and indoor air contaminants
  • Chronic stress and trauma – which raises cortisol that stokes the fire of inflammation
  • Nutrient deficiencies – often caused by poor diet and gut imbalances that block or inhibit nutrient absorption
  • Antibiotics and acid blockers – which disrupt microbial balance, impair digestion, and damage the gut lining

These disruptors break down the protective mucus barrier, weaken gut wall integrity, kill off beneficial bacteria, and overload your detox systems. 

Over time, this leads to chronic inflammation, hormone dysregulation, and poor elimination – all of which create more toxicity and keep it trapped in your body.

Signs Your Gut Is Distressed

Many people assume their gut is “fine” because they’re not dealing with gas, bloating, or irregular bowel movements. But the real flags are often more subtle—and they’re usually what drive people to seek out detox in the first place.

If you experience:

• Daily fatigue or energy crashes
• Extra weight (especially around the middle)
• Cravings (particularly for sugar and carbs)
• Skin breakouts or rashes
• Poor sleep quality
• Brain fog or poor memory
• Mood changes or irritability
• Hormonal fluctuations
• Autoimmune disease flare-ups

…there’s a high chance your gut is inflamed, imbalanced, or ‘leaky’.

How To Find Out What You Need

Interestingly, the first test people usually want to do is a toxin test. But that’s actually Step 2. 

Step 1 is a gut microbiome test, which reveals which organisms are out of balance, whether you have inflammation or leaky gut, and how well your digestion and detox pathways are functioning.

Why is completing a toxin test Step 2? Because toxins don’t always show up on lab results until your body begins actively mobilizing them. 

In the early stages, when they’re still locked deep inside your tissues and cells, they often go undetected. That’s why we start with a gut test—it gives us insight into where your detox capacity stands and where support is needed. 

Once your gut is balanced and your drainage pathways are open, your body can begin to safely release stored toxins. Only then does a toxin test provide an accurate picture of what’s ready to be eliminated. 

Many clients see new toxins appear on follow-up tests after working through their protocol—a sign that long-buried toxins are finally on the move, and healing is truly underway.

So let’s focus on what we do when we heal the gut.

Gut Healing Phase 1: OPEN

OPEN is the first of the three-phase framework called OPEN-CLEAR-REBUILD.

As I mentioned, a gut microbiome test is the tool we use to identify the exact imbalances in your body. From there, we tailor your protocol to target specific areas while working to achieve these four goals:

Goal 1. Reducing Toxic Load

Imagine your body as a bucket. Every day, toxins drip in—from the air you breathe, the water you drink, the products you use, and even the food on your plate. If your bucket is already full and you keep adding more, it overflows. That overflow is where symptoms happen.

So in Phase 1, we work to stop filling the bucket. That means reducing exposure to toxins in your home and environment.

Some of the most impactful steps include:

• Drinking clean, purified water
• Using an air purifier to reduce airborne pollutants
• Choosing non-toxic skincare and cleaning products
• Avoiding cookware and food packaging with PFAS (“forever chemicals”)

Research shows PFAS chemicals have been detected in 97% of Americans and are associated with hormone disruption, immune dysfunction, and metabolic disorders [2].

Goal 2. Calm Inflammation

Inflamed tissue can’t detox efficiently, so we aim to soothe inflammation at the root and address those core factors that ‘fan the flames’:

• Fill nutrient gaps – The gut needs some key nutrients to fight inflammation and activate healing, including L-glutamine, zinc carnosine, and curcumin [3, 4, 5]. Based on what your gut test reveals, additional supplementation may be necessary. For example, if you have an overgrowth of H. pylori, we may introduce mastic gum, which helps inhibit the bacteria, soothe the stomach lining, and support long-term microbial balance.
• Activate the parasympathetic nervous system – This is our “rest and digest” function, the balance for our sympathetic nervous system (or our “fight or flight” stress response). We leverage techniques such as breathwork, vagus nerve support, and mindful movement to flip the switch from an activated state to a restful state, where the body can focus on healing and repair.
• Food – We emphasize an anti-inflammatory, whole foods diet, ditching sugar, alcohol, and gluten while introducing nourishing foods like bone broth, wild-caught fish, and cooked greens. These support healing while starving out inflammatory microbes.

One recent study found that dietary patterns can alter the composition of the microbiome in just 72 hours—highlighting how responsive (and vulnerable) it is to both toxins and healing interventions [6].

Goal 3. Restore Microbiome Balance

I can’t think of a case where someone sought a detox who didn’t have gut dysbiosis (an imbalance of harmful vs beneficial microbes). In the majority of cases, there are too many harmful bacteria and too few beneficial gut bacteria, which usually causes their symptoms.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is popping probiotics and expecting things to get better. But introducing more good bacteria without reducing levels of bad bacteria or nourishing the gut terrain simply won’t work. 

Pathogenic bacteria thrive in an inflamed environment, which is why calming inflammation and cutting off their food supply is so crucial.

Once inflammation is tamed, we can reintroduce beneficial bacteria species through:

• Prebiotics (the fibers beneficial bacteria eat but your body can’t process)
• Probiotics (the live beneficial bacteria strains themselves)
• Polyphenol-rich foods like berries, herbs, and green tea, which help regulate microbial diversity
• Fermented foods (if tolerated), another source of live beneficial bacteria
• Probiotic rich foods to help naturally repopulate your gut

Microbiome testing helps personalize this approach. Not everyone needs the same strains—and some need to reduce overgrowths before adding more bacteria.

Goal 4. Ensure Daily Elimination

Elimination is the number one way your body gets rid of toxins, infections, and other harmful waste. If you’re not pooping every day—or if your microbiome is imbalanced—detoxing can cause more harm than good. 

Constipation is a detox dealbreaker. We define constipation as having Bristol Stool Chart 1-2 stools, fewer than one complete bowel movement per day, or needing to strain to go. BTW a ‘complete’ bowel movement means the amount of stool eliminated measures about 12-18 inches per day (if you lined all the little pieces up). Without consistent elimination, your body reabsorbs the very toxins it’s trying to expel.

We support daily elimination through:

• Bile flow with bitter herbs and tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA), because bile acts like a garbage truck—carrying toxins, hormones, and metabolic waste from the liver into the intestines for elimination.
• Gut motility (movement) with gently non-habit forming herbal blends, magnesium oxide, hydration, fiber, and enteric nervous system support. For example magnesium oxide draws water to the colon, fiber acts like a broom, sweeping waste out, while hydration keeps everything moving smoothly through the digestive tract.
• Toxin binding with a carbon-based binder with humic shale—after drainage is supported

But your bowels aren’t the only drainage route that matters. We also want to support:

• Liver function, because it’s your main detox organ, transforming harmful compounds into safe substances for removal. We support it with bitters, amino acids, and herbs like milk thistle and dandelion.
• Kidneys, which eliminate water-soluble toxins through your urine. Hydration, minerals, and herbs like parsley and dandelion leaf can help.
• Skin, your largest detox organ. Regular sweating, dry brushing, and infrared sauna use support toxin release.
• Lungs, which exhale volatile compounds. Deep breathing and movement help clear this pathway.

In short, Phase 1 is where you reduce overall toxic exposure, calm inflammation, restore your gut microbiome, and get your internal drainage pathways flowing again—so your body can actually eliminate what you’re about to release.

Once all that’s in good order, then you can move on to Phase 2: CLEAR.

Gut Healing Phase 2: CLEAR

Now that the drainage pathways are open and your gut is starting to function like it should, you can safely go deeper—this is where you’ll eliminate bacteria overgrowth, parasites, and fungus that all like to live in a toxic terrain inside your gut.

It’s a place where harmful pathogens can thrive due to inflammation, poor digestion, stagnant bile, or excess mucus. Think of ‘toxic terrain’ as a swamp: stagnant, overgrown, and hard to clean up until you clear the muck and restore flow. 

The CLEAR protocol involves addressing the harmful elements discovered on your gut microbiome test results, including:

Infections

Gut tests often reveal hidden infections that have developed due to past antibiotic use, foodborne exposures, or weakened immunity. These pathogens create protective biofilms, disrupt digestion, stress the gut lining, and keep inflammation smoldering in the background—making it hard for the body to heal.

Parasites

Even if you don’t travel internationally, parasites can enter through everyday exposures like undercooked food, unfiltered water, or household pets. Once established, they interfere with nutrient absorption, weaken the immune system, and damage the gut’s structural integrity. We use targeted interventions to “unhook” these hitchhikers and safely eliminate them from your body.

Bacteria

In a disrupted gut, harmful bacteria can crowd out beneficial species, contributing to bloating, brain fog, food sensitivities, and immune dysregulation. These imbalances make the gut more reactive and less capable of protecting you. These can overgrow after antibiotic use, chronic stress, or poor diet. Our goal in the CLEAR phase is to lower those levels while creating an environment that favors beneficial bacteria, thereby restoring balance.

Fungus

Fungal overgrowths like candida thrive in a high-sugar, low-oxygen, low-bile environment. These organisms release toxins that impair liver function, inflame the gut lining, and worsen fatigue and cravings. Our goal is to starve out fungal overgrowths and create terrain that doesn’t support their return.

To support the Phase 2: CLEAR process, we use:

• Binders like humic shale which help feed beneficial microbes  while discouraging overgrowth of unwanted strains—supporting a healthier, more balanced microbiome
• Lymph supporting supplements (like Lymphactiv), which include herbs that stimulate natural lymphatic flow and drainage—important because your lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump of its own.
• Bile flow boosters like tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA), bitters with dandelion and gentian
• Antimicrobial herbs such as blends of thyme, sage, tansy, epazote, black walnut hull, holy basil, and clove
• Gut scrubbers (especially those with mimosa pudica, like Para 1), which act like a sticky gel in the gut to latch onto parasites, biofilm, and debris, helping to pull them out
• Probiotics (like CT Biotic), which help reintroduce beneficial strains and crowd out any pathogens that try to regrow during the clearing process
• Simple lifestyle shifts like reducing sugar and processed food, getting better sleep, drinking more water, and introducing gentle movements you enjoy (so you actually do them!) to keep the gut and lymph moving.

We typically stay in the CLEAR phase for at least 2 months. It takes time to lower pathogen load, dismantle biofilms, and restore a healthy gut environment. Rushing this phase can result in leftover infections that cause a resurgence of symptoms later.

Once we’ve cleared the “bad” gut microbes out, we shift into Phase 3: REBUILD.

Gut Healing Phase 3: REBUILD

Phase 3: REBUILD focuses on repairing the gut lining, restoring microbial diversity, healing leaky gut, and restoring your microbiome to a thriving, protective state.

We’re essentially introducing targeted interventions to repair the harm that’s been done to your gut, cells, and immune system. Think of it like rebuilding a house after a flood—before you can redecorate, you have to clean up the debris, dry out the foundation, and reinforce the structure so it’s strong, safe, and ready to support vibrant life again.

We focus on fortifying your body’s natural defenses, healing damaged tissue, and building a resilient foundation that keeps infections, pathogens, and inflammation from taking root again.

This is the turning point where gut healing shifts from symptom relief to real resilience—your body isn’t just recovering, it’s rebuilding strength for the long haul.

By the time you reach this phase, you’re already started to feel different—lighter, clearer, more stable. You’re likely to have more energy, notice fewer headaches, digestive disruptions, and skin flare-ups. You might feel brain fog lifting and a reduction in anxiety or depression.

Phase 3’s protocol includes targeted support for:

• Repairing the gut lining, to heal the terrain and reverse leaky gut
• Restoring mucosal immunity and lowering gut inflammation and irritation
• Tissue healing, to repair damage from years of inflammation
• Immune regulation, to protect against future triggers
• Commensal bacteria repopulation by creating an environment conducive to ‘good’ bacteria regrowth

In short, Phase 3 is where you shift from “getting better” to “staying better.”

Gut Healed? Now You’re Ready To Detox!

Toxins tend to burrow into tissues over time—especially when the gut is compromised. That’s why OPEN-CLEAR-REBUILD is so important: it carves a path for deep detox to actually work.

In the DETOX step, we can begin to mobilize and remove toxic build-up from your tissues and cells, including:

• Mold and mycotoxins
• Heavy metals like mercury, lead, and cadmium
• Parasites and hidden pathogens
• Candida and other yeast overgrowths
• Pesticide residues

Glyphosate is one of the most pervasive toxins in modern life. It’s the active ingredient in the pesticide Roundup and has been linked to gut permeability, endocrine disruption, and oxidative stress. It’s so widespread that it’s found in rainwater, organic oats, and even umbilical cord blood.

We typically stay in the detox step about 5 months. That’s how long it takes to mobilize and remove deeper toxins stored in the body. After that time, we often recommend re-testing—because new toxins may begin to show up on your labs. That’s not a setback; it’s a sign that your body is finally releasing what it couldn’t touch before.

When your toxic load decreases, your body can:

• Regulate hormones more effectively
• Process and retain information the way it’s supposed to
• Improve immune function
• Reduce inflammation and pain
• Heal better and faster at a cellular level

This is the transformation people hope for when they start a detox—but most never reach, because they skip the earlier steps.

The Foundation of True Healing

If you’ve tried detox and didn’t feel better—or felt worse—it’s not your fault.

Most detox programs skip over the most important part: Opening your detox pathways and restoring the microbiome before detox.

If your drainage pathways are clogged, if your gut health is compromised, if your liver and lymph are overwhelmed… no amount of green juice or supplements will give you lasting results.

True healing starts in your gut. That’s where the toxins leave. That’s where inflammation cools. That’s where your energy gets rebuilt.

Ready to take the first TRUE step to detoxing?

If you’re dealing with fatigue, inflammation, hormone issues, or mystery symptoms that just won’t go away—don’t guess. Start with a gut test.

Let’s find out what’s going on inside your microbiome and drainage systems so we can create a plan that actually works.

Take your first step with me here >>