Detox Library
Detox Library
The Detox Library is the Vault’s reference shelf: herbs, binders, foods and practices people use when they detox. Each entry covers traditional use, what the research actually says (and how strong it is), common forms, typical amounts, and safety, which is never shorter than the benefits.
The full entries are for Vault members. Each one covers what a herb or helper is traditionally used for, how to use it and the safety notes. See what’s in the Vault →
Each entry notes where it fits in the Structured Detox Method: Prepare (A lower the load, B open the exits, C rebuild capacity) → Eliminate → Re-Build. New to the method? See how the SDM works.
By detox area:
ParasiteLiverHeavy MetalsLymphaticGut & CandidaLungHeart & Circulation
By type:
The Remedies Vault
Unlock the full Detox Library
Every entry here is a preview. Vault members get the full entries, plus everything else in the Vault, with the safety notes up front.
- Full Detox Library entries: traditional uses, how to use it, typical amounts to discuss with your doctor, and safety notes
- Herb-by-herb profiles of what’s traditionally used, with how each is believed to work and an honest evidence label on every use
- A members-only Q&A where you can ask your own question
- Remedy requests: ask for anything not covered yet and it becomes a new library page (Herbalist and Full Vault)
Founding-member price, USD. Cancel anytime. Prefer a one-time guide? The Structured Detox Method covers the three phases. Not sure you’re ready? Take the free Detox Readiness Assessment.
All entries
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Activated Charcoal
Activated charcoal is the best-known binder in detox circles, and it’s also a real hospital tool for certain poisonings. Members get the full entry: what the research actually shows, how…
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Artichoke Leaf
Body system: Digestion, Body system: Heart, Body system: Liver, Condition: Cholesterol, Condition: Liver health, Gut & Candida, Herb, Liver, Symptom: Bloating & gas, Symptom: Heartburn & indigestionArtichoke leaf is the bitter green leaf of the globe artichoke, a European digestive herb that people use to support bile flow and the liver. Members get the full entry:…
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Beets
The deep-red root that shows up in almost every liver cleanse and “detox juice.” Here’s why people reach for it, what the research actually shows (mostly about blood pressure, not…
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Bentonite Clay
Bentonite is a volcanic-ash clay that people stir into water as a gut “binder” during a cleanse. Members can see what the research actually shows, how people typically use it,…
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Bitters (Gentian and Swedish Bitters)
Body system: Digestion, Body system: Liver, Condition: Liver health, Gut & Candida, Herb, Liver, Symptom: Bloating & gas, Symptom: Colds & coughs, Symptom: Constipation, Symptom: Heartburn & indigestionGentian root and Swedish bitters are sipped before meals in European tradition to wake up appetite, digestion and bile flow. Here’s the history, what the research does and doesn’t show,…
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Black Walnut Hull
Black walnut hull is the bitter, dark-staining husk at the heart of the classic “wormwood, black walnut and clove” parasite cleanse. Members can read its traditional story, what the research…
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Broccoli Sprouts
Tiny broccoli sprouts carry far more of the compound that becomes sulforaphane than grown broccoli does, and they’re one of the few “detox foods” tested in a large human trial…
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Burdock Root
Body system: Immune, Body system: Joints, Body system: Liver, Body system: Skin, Condition: Arthritis, Condition: Liver health, Herb, Liver, Lymphatic, Symptom: Colds & coughs, Symptom: Joint pain & stiffness, Symptom: Skin issuesBurdock root is an edible root that herbalists have long called a “blood purifier”, traditionally used to support the body’s own exit routes through the kidneys and skin. Members can…
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Calcium-D-Glucarate
Calcium-D-glucarate is a staple of “estrogen detox” and liver formulas. Here is the beta-glucuronidase idea behind it, what lab, animal and the one small human study show, typical label amounts,…
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Castor Oil Packs
A castor oil pack is an oil-soaked cloth laid over the belly and warmed, a slow, quiet ritual many detoxers use on rest days. Members can read where the practice…
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Celery Juice
The 16 oz morning celery juice habit is one of the best-known detox trends. Here is where it came from, what the research actually shows (no human trials of the…
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Chanca Piedra
Body system: Kidneys & urinary, Body system: Liver, Condition: Kidney health, Condition: Liver health, Herb, LiverChanca piedra, the “stone breaker” herb of Brazil and India, is a popular tea for kidney, urinary and liver support. Here is its history, what the small studies on kidney…
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Chlorella
Binder, Body system: Digestion, Body system: Immune, Gut & Candida, Heavy Metals, Symptom: Colds & coughs, Symptom: ConstipationChlorella is a single-celled freshwater green alga that many detoxers take as a daily “green binder.” Members get the full entry: what the research does and doesn’t show, typical amounts,…
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Chlorophyll and Chlorophyllin
Liquid chlorophyll is usually copper chlorophyllin, and its one solid finding is as an aflatoxin binder. Here is its odd history from 1950s chlorophyll gum to social-media trend, what the…
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Cilantro
Cilantro is the everyday kitchen herb that became famous in detox circles as a “heavy metal” herb, usually paired with chlorella. Members can read where that idea came from, what…
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Clove
Body system: Digestion, Body system: Joints, Gut & Candida, Herb, Parasite, Symptom: Bloating & gas, Symptom: Heartburn & indigestion, Symptom: Joint pain & stiffnessClove is the warming kitchen spice that rounds out the classic three-herb parasite cleanse, alongside black walnut and wormwood. Members can read what the research really shows, what product labels…
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Corn Silk
Corn silk, the fine threads at the top of an ear of corn, is a gentle traditional tea for the bladder and puffiness in Chinese and Native American medicine. Here…
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Cranberry
Cranberry is the best-studied urinary food in the library. Here is its Indigenous and folk history, what the 2023 Cochrane review of 50 trials found for repeat bladder infections (and…
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Dandelion
Body system: Blood sugar, Body system: Digestion, Body system: Immune, Body system: Joints, Body system: Kidneys & urinary, Body system: Liver, Body system: Skin, Condition: Blood sugar, Condition: Cholesterol, Condition: Immune support, Condition: Kidney health, Condition: Liver health, Condition: Type 2 diabetes, Herb, Liver, Symptom: Colds & coughs, Symptom: Constipation, Symptom: Heartburn & indigestion, Symptom: Joint pain & stiffness, Symptom: Skin issuesThe common lawn weed is one of the most widely used plants in folk medicine, from European herbalists to Chinese and Native American healers. Members can read the traditional uses…
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Diatomaceous Earth (safety entry)
Food-grade diatomaceous earth is a fine white powder made from fossilized algae, sold for garden pests and stirred into water by some detoxers for “parasites” and “heavy metals”. Members get…
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Dry Brushing
Dry brushing takes a few minutes before a shower and leaves skin noticeably smoother. Here’s where the habit comes from, what it does and doesn’t do for the lymph system,…
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Epsom Salt Baths
A warm soak with Epsom salt is one of the oldest and simplest rituals in home detox routines, used to unwind sore muscles and settle in for sleep. Members can…
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Fennel
Body system: Digestion, Body system: Immune, Food, Gut & Candida, Herb, Symptom: Bloating & gas, Symptom: Colds & coughsFennel seed is the sweet, licorice-like seed behind many after-dinner teas, traditionally used to ease bloating and gas. Members can read what the research says, typical amounts from the official…
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Garlic
Body system: Blood sugar, Body system: Digestion, Body system: Heart, Body system: Immune, Body system: Joints, Body system: Kidneys & urinary, Body system: Lungs, Body system: Skin, Condition: Arthritis, Condition: Blood sugar, Condition: Cholesterol, Condition: High blood pressure, Condition: Immune support, Food, Gut & Candida, Heart & Circulation, Heavy Metals, Herb, Parasite, Symptom: Colds & coughs, Symptom: Joint pain & stiffness, Symptom: Skin issuesGarlic fed the pyramid builders, went into Hippocrates’ remedies and is still one of the most used herbs in Ayurveda and Chinese medicine. Here’s how each tradition uses it, what…
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Ginger
Body system: Blood sugar, Body system: Digestion, Body system: Heart, Body system: Hormones, Body system: Immune, Body system: Joints, Body system: Liver, Body system: Lungs, Condition: Arthritis, Condition: Blood sugar, Condition: Cholesterol, Condition: Immune support, Condition: Liver health, Condition: Pain & inflammation, Condition: Type 2 diabetes, Food, Gut & Candida, Herb, Liver, Symptom: Bloating & gas, Symptom: Colds & coughs, Symptom: Dizziness, Symptom: Headaches, Symptom: Heartburn & indigestion, Symptom: Joint pain & stiffnessAyurveda calls dried ginger “the great medicine” and Chinese medicine calls fresh ginger its most important herb for nausea. Here’s how each tradition uses it, what the trials found for…
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Glutathione
Glutathione is the body’s own main antioxidant, and detoxers take it as a supplement to back up the liver’s natural clean-up work. Members get the full entry: what the small…
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Humic and Fulvic Acid
Humic and fulvic acids are the dark, carbon-rich compounds that form as plants break down in soil, peat and ancient deposits. Detoxers take them as a liquid “binder” for metals…
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Lemon
Warm lemon water is probably the most familiar morning “detox” ritual there is. Here’s what lemon brings to the glass (citrate, vitamin C, a reason to drink more water), what…
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Marshmallow Root
Body system: Digestion, Body system: Immune, Body system: Lungs, Gut & Candida, Herb, Lung, Symptom: Colds & coughs, Symptom: Heartburn & indigestionMarshmallow root (the plant, not the candy) is a soft root that turns slippery in water. Herbalists have used it for over 2,000 years to soothe the throat and an…
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Milk Thistle
Body system: Blood sugar, Body system: Digestion, Body system: Heart, Body system: Liver, Body system: Skin, Condition: Blood sugar, Condition: Cholesterol, Condition: Liver health, Condition: Type 2 diabetes, Herb, Liver, Symptom: Bloating & gas, Symptom: Heartburn & indigestion, Symptom: Skin issuesMilk thistle has been the go-to liver herb in Europe for about 2,000 years, from Roman writers to today’s naturopaths. Members can read how it’s believed to protect liver cells,…
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Mimosa Pudica Seed
Mimosa pudica, the “sensitive plant” whose leaves fold shut when touched, has become one of the most talked-about parasite-cleanse seeds online. Members get the full entry: its Ayurvedic and folk…
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Modified Citrus Pectin
Modified citrus pectin is a citrus-peel fibre that’s been broken into smaller pieces, and detoxers use it as a gentle binder. Members can read what the small studies found, how…
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Mullein
Body system: Digestion, Body system: Heart, Body system: Immune, Body system: Joints, Body system: Lungs, Body system: Nervous system & sleep, Body system: Skin, Condition: Arthritis, Condition: High blood pressure, Condition: Immune support, Herb, Lung, Symptom: Colds & coughs, Symptom: Joint pain & stiffness, Symptom: Poor sleep, Symptom: Skin issuesMullein is the tall, velvety roadside plant that peoples from Spain to Turkey to the Canadian Interior have turned to for tight, irritated chests. Members can read every traditional use,…
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NAC (N-Acetylcysteine)
Body system: Immune, Body system: Liver, Body system: Lungs, Condition: Liver health, Heavy Metals, Liver, Lung, Supplement, Symptom: Colds & coughsNAC (N-acetylcysteine) is a form of the amino acid cysteine that the body uses to make glutathione, its main built-in antioxidant. Members get the full entry: where the research is…
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Neem
Body system: Blood sugar, Body system: Digestion, Body system: Skin, Condition: Blood sugar, Gut & Candida, Herb, Parasite, Symptom: Skin issuesNeem is a bitter Indian tree that Ayurveda has used for centuries, and it turns up in many parasite and candida cleanses today. Members get the full entry: what the…
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Oregano Oil
Body system: Digestion, Body system: Immune, Condition: Immune support, Gut & Candida, Herb, ParasiteOil of oregano is a strong-tasting herbal oil that many people add to parasite and gut & candida cleanses. Here’s what the (small) research shows, the forms people use, and…
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Papaya Seeds
Those small black seeds you scoop out of a papaya have a long folk reputation as a worm remedy, and they’ve lately become a social-media “parasite cleanse”. Members get the…
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Parsley
Parsley is the kitchen herb detoxers turn into “kidney flush” teas, parsley water and green juices. Here is its traditional “water herb” use, what the evidence does and does not…
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Pau d’Arco
Pau d’arco is a South American tree bark that shows up in many candida and parasite cleanses. Members get the full entry: what the lab studies do and don’t show,…
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Psyllium Husk
Binder, Condition: Blood sugar, Condition: Cholesterol, Gut & Candida, Heart & Circulation, Symptom: ConstipationPsyllium husk is a gentle, gel-forming fibre that many detoxers use to keep things moving while they cleanse. Members get the full entry: what the research actually shows, typical amounts,…
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Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin seeds were an official worm remedy in US pharmacy books for over 70 years, and today they’re one of the most-shared “parasite cleanse” foods online. Members get the full…
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Rebounding
Rebounding means gentle bouncing on a small fitness trampoline, and it’s a favourite in detox circles for “getting the lymph moving.” Members can read where that idea came from, what…
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Red Clover
Body system: Heart, Body system: Immune, Body system: Liver, Body system: Skin, Condition: Cholesterol, Herb, Liver, Lymphatic, Symptom: Colds & coughs, Symptom: Skin issuesA pink meadow flower that herbalists have long counted among the classic “blood purifier” herbs, often sipped as a gentle tea. Members can see how people use it, what the…
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Sarsaparilla
Body system: Digestion, Body system: Hormones, Body system: Joints, Body system: Kidneys & urinary, Body system: Liver, Body system: Skin, Condition: Arthritis, Condition: Liver health, Herb, Liver, Lymphatic, Symptom: Joint pain & stiffness, Symptom: Skin issuesSarsaparilla root was one of the most famous “blood purifiers” of European and American medicine for about three centuries, and it still turns up in blood-cleanse, skin and men’s tonic…
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Sauna
Sweating it out in a sauna is one of the oldest cleansing rituals there is. Here’s what sweat really carries out of the body, what decades of Finnish research found…
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Schisandra
Body system: Liver, Body system: Nervous system & sleep, Condition: Liver health, Herb, Liver, Symptom: Low energy & fatigue, Symptom: Poor sleepSchisandra is a small red berry from Chinese medicine, known as the “five-flavour fruit”, and it’s one of the traditional liver tonics people add after a cleanse. Members get the…
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Slippery Elm
Body system: Digestion, Body system: Immune, Gut & Candida, Herb, Symptom: Bloating & gas, Symptom: Colds & coughs, Symptom: ConstipationSlippery elm is a North American tree bark that turns silky and gel-like in water, and it’s a favourite gentle “soother” in gut-focused routines. Members can read its long history,…
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Spirulina
Spirulina is a deep blue-green algae powder that’s been eaten as food for centuries, and many detoxers add it to smoothies during heavy-metal and liver routines. Members get the full…
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TUDCA and Ox Bile
Body system: Digestion, Body system: Liver, Condition: Liver health, Liver, Supplement, Symptom: Heartburn & indigestionTUDCA and ox bile are bile-acid supplements sold for “liver detox”, bile flow and fat digestion, especially after gallbladder removal. Here’s what the research on the related drug ursodiol shows,…
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Turmeric
Body system: Blood sugar, Body system: Digestion, Body system: Heart, Body system: Immune, Body system: Joints, Body system: Liver, Body system: Nervous system & sleep, Body system: Skin, Condition: Arthritis, Condition: Blood sugar, Condition: Cholesterol, Condition: Liver health, Condition: Pain & inflammation, Condition: Type 2 diabetes, Food, Gut & Candida, Herb, Liver, Symptom: Bloating & gas, Symptom: Colds & coughs, Symptom: Heartburn & indigestion, Symptom: Joint pain & stiffness, Symptom: Skin issuesTurmeric is the golden root behind curry, wedding rituals and centuries of Ayurvedic and Chinese herbal practice. Here’s how each tradition uses it, what modern studies on joints and digestion…
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Uva Ursi
Uva ursi, or bearberry, is one of the best-known traditional bladder herbs, and one with the strictest limits. Here is its history from Welsh physicians to kinnikinnick, what the EU…
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Wheatgrass and Barley Grass
Wheatgrass shots and barley-grass powders have been sold as “detox” and “blood-builders” since the 1940s. Here is where the habit came from, what the small human trials found, how people…
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Wormwood
Wormwood is one of the bitterest herbs there is, and one of the three classic herbs in the traditional “parasite cleanse”. Members can read what the research actually shows, the…
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Yellow Dock
Body system: Digestion, Body system: Liver, Body system: Skin, Condition: Liver health, Herb, Liver, Lymphatic, Symptom: Constipation, Symptom: Skin issuesYellow dock was one of the classic “blood purifiers” of 19th-century herbal medicine, and it still turns up in liver and lymph cleanse blends and folk iron tonics. Members get…
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Zeolite (Clinoptilolite)
Zeolite is a volcanic mineral with a honeycomb of tiny pores, and people take the purified form as a binder during a detox. Members get the full entry: what the…
Full entries are for Remedies Vault members
Anyone can browse the list. Opening a full entry needs any Vault membership (Foundations and up), from $12/month at founding pricing, USD, cancel anytime. Membership also includes the Remedy Library and the Herbal Library.
Educational only, not medical advice. This information has not been evaluated by the FDA or Health Canada and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Talk to your healthcare provider before starting any remedy, supplement, or detox, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or managing a health condition. Read our full Medical Disclaimer.