Live with Dr. Elson Haas: Bestselling author, pioneering doctor and nutritional detox expert

Mike: A lot of people are familiar with detox, but some are not, and from a nutritional standpoint, they certainly may not be familiar with what it involves. What type of detox do you focus on?

Dr. Haas: Well, detoxification involves getting rid of things from the body as well as stopping toxins and irritants in the body, those things that our body does not handle well or that cause damage, inflammation, irritation or over-stimulation in the case of caffeine or over-sedation in the case of alcohol. Now, when people think of detox, they think of drug addicts who need to go into a detox center. However, there are many others who could benefit from detox. It is really the more common, everyday people who have habits that I call a SNACC -- which stands for sugar, nicotine, alcohol, caffeine and chemicals. Probably well over 90 percent of people have a habit of at least one of these substances. I think over time our habits are what create our problems, especially what we eat.

Mike: So, that's sugar, nicotine, alcohol, caffeine and chemicals?

Dr. Haas: SNACC -- sugar, nicotine, alcohol, caffeine and chemicals. The chapters in the book, The New Detox Diet, cover each of those.

Mike: When you say chemicals, what type of chemicals are you referring to?

Dr. Haas: I am referring to food chemicals in processed foods, food additives, food coloring and food flavoring. I am referring to chemicals that we use in over-the-counter medicines and even prescription medicines. I am not telling people just to go off all these things, although getting off the food chemicals certainly does not hurt.

I find if we go through the detoxification process, we do not just turn to medicines or drugs. If we do not feel well, we more clearly ask ourselves, "Why am I not feeling well? What is the problem? What are the causes of this problem?" We do this through an integrated approach, and we don't just say, "What can I take to make this to go away?"

We focus more on why a problem is present and what is needed for healing. Typically, one of my overall philosophies in medicine and healthcare is that our body -- and how we feel and how we look and whether we are healthy or not -- is result of our life. It has to do with our genetics, our upbringing and the way we go about living -- our diet, our exercise levels and our stresses. Even illnesses that we have had over time and how we went about treating them can be a factor.

We often just treat symptoms with drugs and don't really work on why the symptoms presented themselves in the first place. Most of us do not live perfectly. Most of us do not live in a way that creates disease. I encourage people to support health. I do what I call "health care," and I do less "disease care." In other words, I focus people on the positive -- the things that they can do -- and also on the negative -- the things that they should avoid. Detoxification involves both things. There are a lot of positive actions we can take, and there are also things to avoid, so there are two aspects of detoxification and preventative medicine.

Mike: Right.

Dr. Haas: The basic ideas of lifestyle medicine and preventative medicine include nutrition, exercising and moving the body to keep it working and flexible, getting proper sleep, learning to manage stress and keeping a positive attitude. What I have found since I became a doctor in early 70s is that I must get people to shift their attitude to a more positive one and remind them that this is the only body they have, so they must think, "I am going to love it, and I am going to take care of it." If I can instill that attitude and inspire that attitude in my patients or people who read my books or people who hear me speak in public, they are likely going to eat better and exercise and make sure they get proper sleep and can deal with stressors. Attitude is really an important factor.

Mike: I want to talk about your philosophy that certain elements of nutrition are necessary but others -- like the elements SNACC -- must be avoided. What are the common criticisms you hear about this? Have you heard the criticism like, "People should enjoy life and not try to avoid everything that we say is causing disease?" What is your response to that kind of criticism?

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