What are binders & how do they work?

Toxins are everywhere. We are exposed to chemicals in our cleaning products, our food, our makeup, and in our environment. This means our bodies are burdened by foreign substances that can, over time, wreak havoc on the brain and body.

Taking steps to clean up your diet and take a few detox supplements when you remember is not enough. Binding and removing chemicals, environmental toxins, and heavy metals is a complex process that must be done carefully so as not to cause a Herxheimer reaction or re-toxification.

One of the most effective approaches to natural detox includes the use of binders. Keep reading to learn more about what binders are, the binders I recommend, and how to use them.

What Are Binders?

Binders are specific compounds that bind toxins and remove them via the digestive tract so they’re not reabsorbed into the body. 

Binders are taken orally and come in gel, pill, powder, and tincture form. Binders are a crucial piece to treatment protocols, whether they you’re trying to reduce toxin exposure, remove environmental toxins, or treating infections. Different binders can attract different toxins, so knowing which one to use can make or break your protocol. 

Binders can help bind and excrete toxins from: 

• Dental work, including amalgam removal

• Heavy metal toxicity

• Lyme disease and co-infections

• Mold

• PANDAS

• Parasite removal

• Vaccine aftercare

Binders work to remove everything from: 

• Biotoxins from Lyme and/or parasitic infections

• Heavy metals, including aluminum, mercury, and lead

• Herbicides (like Round Up)

• Mycotoxins from mold

• Pesticides

• Plastic particles

• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

Binders also help to remove endogenous toxins* created by different pathogenic organisms. Typically referred to as biotoxins and endotoxins (a toxin that is present inside a bacterial cell and is released when the cell disintegrates), these are released by bacteria, molds, parasites, and yeasts, activating inflammatory cytokines and other molecules that trigger inflammation and other symptoms in the body. 

While your body has an incredible detox system that helps to remove toxins on its own, the amount of toxins we are exposed to on a daily basis has is higher now than it has ever been. In 2015, EWG (Environmental Working Group) said that women put an average of 168 chemicals on their bodies each day. This accumulation of harmful compounds, plus chemical exposures and exposure to infections requires the help of binders to get things moving out of your body. 

How Binders Work 

Your liver is your main detox organ and can remove toxic chemicals on it’s own. It does this by creating bile, a digestive fluid that flows from the liver through the intestines to help break down fats for digestion and absorption.

Since many toxins are fat-soluble, they enter the bile. In a perfect world, toxins would move with the bile through the intestines and out of the body through the stool. However, your gut lining is made of delicate tissues with veins and nerves that can pick up these toxins and recirculate them. 

This is where binders come in. Binders attach to biotoxins, chemicals, and heavy metals to shuttle them out of the digestive tract without the risk of reabsorption and recirculation. Binders also reduce stress on other elimination and detox organs and help prevent uncomfortable detox symptoms. 

*Endogenous toxins are created in our bodies, usually by compromised digestion, inefficient metabolism, or poor detoxification.