Skin detox

[Guest guest]

Here's a tricky question that almost no one gets right the first time they

hear it:

Q: What is the body's largest organ?

A: The skin.

It weighs roughly six pounds, and if taken off your body and laid flat it

would cover more than 20 square feet. More importantly, skin is instrumental in

stabilizing the body's internal environment. And just as the interior of the

body benefits from detox, so does the skin.

In a previous Members Alert, HSI Panelist Ann Louise Gittleman, Ph.D.,

C.N.S., shared information about special cleansing baths developed by Dr. Hazel

Parcells, who Dr. Gittleman calls a pioneer of inner and outer cleansing.

According to Dr. Parcells, radiation (from cosmic rays and naturally occurring

radioactive materials in our environment) is a hidden killer that assaults our

immune

systems, via the skin, on a daily basis.

For skin detox, Dr. Parcells recommends this salt and soda soak, which is

highly alkaline and helps neutralize the effects of radiation: Place 2 pounds of

salt with 2 pounds of baking soda in a hot bath and soak for 20 minutes, until

the water cools. That's all there is to it.

In addition to the typical radiation we're exposed to daily, each airline

flight increases our exposure to gamma-ray radiation, which may put some

frequent

fliers at greater risk of cancer. Dr. Parcells suggests that a salt and soda

soak following every flight, as well as every dental or medical x-ray, will go

a long way toward providing your skin the detoxification it needs in order to

help keep the rest of your body healthy.