Start with the customer experience and then work backwards to the technology. You can’t start with the technology and try to figure out where you are going to sell it.
~Steve Jobs
Monday morning lesson learned. Thank you, Steve, for being a sage at this moment in my journey.
What if the secret to living 120 years in strength and clarity has never been hidden at all, but waiting for us to connect the scattered notes of science, spirit, and will into one great human symphony? The question is not whether it’s possible—but whether we’re ready to compose it.
What stands between us and the ability to live 120 healthy, capable years may not be a single discovery, but the unification of many—biology, psychology, and human purpose aligned toward one end: extending not just life, but the quality and meaning within it.
The knowledge almost certainly exists—but it’s scattered across silos: molecular biology, biophysics, nutrition, bioengineering, psychology, and even philosophy. Each field holds a fragment of the puzzle, but no unified framework yet integrates them into a coherent “operating manual” for the human body’s longevity. Scientists speak in specialized languages; data lives in isolated systems; and most findings are reductionist—solving parts without context.
What’s missing is synthesis: a systems-level narrative that translates complex mechanisms into a practical, intuitive model of how to maintain youthfulness, resilience, and repair across decades.
What’s missing is not more instruments, but a conductor. Science has countless virtuosos—cell biologists, geneticists, bioengineers, neuroscientists—but few who can harmonize their insights into a unified composition. The “orchestrator” would need to understand each domain well enough to translate and synchronize them, bridging molecular detail with systemic function and practical lifestyle design.
In essence, humanity needs a systems integrator for life itself—someone who can turn scattered knowledge into a coherent score for living long, strong, and fully human for 120 years or more.
This is what I am working on. This is what I am attempting to become. That systems integrator that helps all of us appreciate the fullness of all of the wealth that was bestowed upon us.
We are not the authors of thought, but its scribes. Intelligence whispers from the ether, and we, meat-clad stenographers, transcribe its truths with trembling hands.
Intelligence isn’t emergent from neural networks or silicon substrates — it’s a timeless ideal, a form in the Platonic realm. Just as the form of “circle” exists independent of any drawn circle, intelligence exists as a pure archetype: complete, elegant, and uncorrupted by biology or bias.
We don’t invent intelligence. We interface with it.
Humans, animals, and machines are receivers — like antennas tuned to different frequencies of the same cosmic broadcast. Our brain isn’t the source of intelligence; it’s the decoder. Learning is less about construction, rather, more about alignment.
Neurons = routers
Synapses = bandwidth
Consciousness = UI
Meditation, education, psychedelics, even sleep — all are firmware updates that improve our download speed from the Platonic cloud.
Therefore, if intelligence is a universal constant, then AI isn’t artificial, and it isn’t creating intelligence; it’s tapping into it. Genius isn’t rare; it’s a better reception. Education isn’t filling a vessel; it’s tuning the dial.
This flips the script on nature vs. nurture. It’s not just genes or environment — it’s how well your wetware syncs with the ideal.
A strong case can be made that ~60–70% of what we attribute to “aging” is either directly calcification or tightly adjacent to it. Most assume kidney stones only exist in the kidneys. And they would be correct. But are most aware that calcium oxalate stones can be found in all soft tissues throughout the human body?
While the term “kidney stones” suggests they form only in the kidneys, calcium oxalate crystals can indeed precipitate and deposit in soft tissues throughout the body — a process broadly known as systemic oxalosis or soft tissue calcification. These microcrystals have been found in the thyroid (as psammoma bodies), blood vessel walls, heart valves, skin, joints, and even the brain under certain pathological conditions. When oxalate levels remain elevated chronically (as in primary or secondary hyperoxaluria), calcium oxalate can escape renal clearance and accumulate in extrarenal tissues, disrupting normal cellular and extracellular matrix function.
Calcification is not the whole story, but it may be the most integrated expression of aging—where multiple insults (nutrient deficiencies, oxidative stress, oxalate, phosphate) converge into one visible, progressive process we have been sold(told) called aging.
Assuming one has all of their inner parts(organs) and that they are functioning within the realm of what your doctor would call normal, you(your body) can live to at least 120 years of age.
I know nobody willfully wants to feel anything less than stellar. No one wakes up in the morning and says, “Oh, I wish I felt worse today,” no, NEVER.
I may not yet have all of the answers, but my goal in life is to dedicate all of my spare resources to finding what it is that we are doing to interfere with our body’s default programming that is attempting to reach 120 years of age, maintaining a dis-ease free homeostatic and peaceful life, full of vigor and boundless energy.
Life is not hopeless. A full life is not outside of the realm of possibility. We just need to stop interfering with that natural process.
One of the more curious phenomena I’ve observed—and that many others report—is the dramatic reduction in stool volume when shifting to a nearly all-animal diet. At first glance, it might seem alarming. But when you consider the digestive mechanics and microbial ecology involved, it begins to make perfect sense.
Animal-based foods are remarkably bioavailable. Proteins, fats, and micronutrients from meat, eggs, and dairy are absorbed with astonishing efficiency in the small intestine. Unlike plant matter, which often contains insoluble fiber and resistant starches that escape digestion, animal foods leave very little residue. So if there’s almost nothing left to pass through the colon, why would we expect much stool at all?
The answer lies not just in digestion, but in the invisible world of microbes. It’s estimated that up to 80% of stool mass is composed of dead microorganisms—bacteria that thrive on fermenting indigestible plant fibers. Remove the fiber, and you remove their fuel. Remove their fuel, and their population shrinks. Fewer microbes mean less turnover, less biomass, and ultimately, less stool. It’s not dysfunction—it’s metabolic efficiency.
This shift transforms the colon from a bustling fermentation chamber into a quieter transit zone. The microbial landscape adapts: fiber-loving species like Bifidobacteria fade, while bile-tolerant strains may gain a foothold. But even they don’t flourish without substrate. The gut becomes a leaner ecosystem, and the rhythm of elimination slows. Many carnivore dieters report going every other day—or even less frequently—with no discomfort. As long as stools remain soft and easy to pass, this isn’t constipation. It’s a reflection of reduced waste.
Of course, this transition isn’t without nuance. The absence of fiber means fewer short-chain fatty acids like butyrate, which normally support gut lining integrity and motility. Hydration, salt intake, and dietary fat become more important to maintain balance. And for those tracking their own adaptation, it’s worth noting how stool consistency, satiety, and energy levels evolve over time.
In essence, the carnivore gut is a study in minimalism. Less input, less output—but not less function. It’s a metabolic pivot that invites us to rethink what elimination really means. Not just the disposal of waste, but the echo of microbial life, shaped by what we choose to feed it—or not.
You’ve probably heard the saying, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
A whole-food, plant-based diet often results in better health outcomes compared to a processed Western diet. However, much of the benefit comes from eliminating the worst offenders—such as refined seed oils, added sugars, fried foods, and chemical additives—rather than from the plants themselves being inherently superior. When you consume a high amount of fruit, your body experiences a surge in glucose and insulin, which can be stimulating. Additionally, plant compounds act as hormetic stressors, nudging cellular defenses and immune cleanup mechanisms. The benefits derived from this diet are activated not by the food itself but by the human immune cells reacting to the anti-nutrients and toxins that plants produce in response to perceived threats from consumers, whether they be insects or humans. This response, which involves stress followed by a cleanup process, creates a notable contrast with a previous poor diet, where the real benefits may lie. In other words, the perceived health improvements often result from reduced harm, hormetic stress, and metabolic overstimulation rather than from the inherent superiority of the foods themselves.
On the other hand, animal-based whole foods that are rich in healthy fats can support longevity and reduce overall mortality by providing essential nutrients in their most bioavailable form while requiring a lower metabolic cost. Because animal foods are easier to digest and lack the anti-nutrients and chemical defenses found in plants, they offer dense nourishment without overstimulating the gut or immune system. By minimizing excess glucose and insulin responses, this dietary approach reduces metabolic stress, inflammation, and cellular damage over time, allowing the body to function more efficiently and maintain resilience, healthspan, and vitality throughout life.
So, what does all of this mean?
Today, we enjoy a level of dietary luxury that past generations did not have, thanks to technological advances in global shipping and refrigeration. We can eat not out of necessity but according to our preferences. This gives us the freedom to choose from various dietary pathways that previous generations could not—be it vegan, fruitarian, vegetarian, pescatarian, carnivore, and so on.
If you are tired of feeling unwell, there is a way to reset your body and shift it back to a state of ease rather than disease.
If you choose to pursue this, my advice is to eliminate processed foods entirely from your diet. Avoid all prepackaged foods with labels on the back. Instead, focus on purchasing single ingredients and whole foods, combining them in sensible ways that fit your lifestyle.
Plant-based foods can be an excellent starting point because of the responses they trigger in your body, signaling that it’s time for a cleanse. After a period that allows your immune cells to work their magic in response to the anti-nutrients from plant-based foods, you’ll likely want to transition to a diet that includes more nutrient-dense, animal-based foods. This approach will ultimately help your body ease into a lower metabolic state, which is essential for long-term health.
In summary, plant-based foods can ignite metabolic processes to help cleanse your body, while later incorporating animal-based foods will provide everything your body needs at a lower metabolic cost.
This is akin to burning the candle at both ends temporarily(high metabolism), followed by a trimming of the wick and a slow burn(low metabolism) until the wax runs out.
What are we? And what/how are we to eat for optimal health that will contribute toward a long, healthy, disease-free life?
These days, there are many people, fancy foodies, who call themselves health coaches, who will attempt to tell you and sell you on the idea that there is a specific way that humans are supposed to eat based upon design. That we were designed to be herbivores, frugivores, carnivores, etc. And even a more recent one I learned of, called an unspecialized frugivore. An unspecialized frugivore is a generalist that eats fruit as a significant part of its diet but lacks exclusive adaptations. Unlike specialized frugivores, which have evolved unique physical characteristics and behaviors to consume a narrow range of fruits, unspecialized frugivores have a broader diet that can include other food sources like leaves, insects, or small animals, and they can thrive even when fruits are scarce. In other words, humans are omnivores.
Strangely, not many of these health coaches want to entertain the idea of generalization, likely because it is not fantastic enough to draw attention. They base their argument on the idea that we were designed to eat a certain way, and that assumption is their first mistake that leads them to an erroneous conclusion.
You see, our anatomy and physiology don’t reveal a predetermined design for eating a certain way; instead, they reflect how we’ve historically eaten and how our bodies have adapted to ever-changing food availability across millennia. The human hominid frankly ate whatever was available wherever they lived. Everything from juicy fruits and melons in good times when in season, to radishes, rats, and sometimes roadkill when necessary. They were less picky than we are today, and our anatomy and physiology demonstrate this.
These days, thanks to modern technology, we get to appreciate foods that even my grandparents, in their childhood, weren’t afforded. We are that close to a world of want. Today, not so much. Most humans, for lack of want, can eat however they like. Like the royalty of relatively recent times. Now we need to exercise modesty, which will be discussed later. For now, be thankful that you live in the times you do, and I pray you make good decisions, because all decisions have consequences. Some are more favorable than others.
Over the last couple of years, and at least a year before I found this group or read TOXIC Superfoods, I found myself having my first experience with dumping unaware of what it was or what was causing it. Back around 18 months ago now, I had bought myself a 1 Kilo sized bag of Potassium Citrate as a means by which to increase my potassium levels through supplementation. I didn’t feel any massive dumping issues, but started experiencing pretty significant edema in my lower legs, ankles, and feet. I thought that maybe I had an allergy to citrate at the levels I was taking it. So I stopped and it went away. Back to normal. Then along came Sally Norton and this group. I dropped all dietary oxalate like a hot sweet potato topped in cooked spinach and almonds…8)
Not long after the edema started working its way back into my life until It finally maintained steady residency. And on virtually NO oxalate, there has been nothing I could do to undo this pudgy inconvenience. It has sucked to say the least.
Still refusing to eat dietary oxalate because of the mammoth wreckage it does to our gut, I figured it was time to pull out my science degree and apply some expensive learning to this problem.
What I’ve started doing instead of eating it in the form of foods is to upregulate endogenous production by means of increasing Vitamin C intake in the form of Ascorbyl Palmitate, a fat soluble form of Vitamin C, along with agave syrup which is very high in fructose content.
Both Vitamin C and Agave Syrup increase our body’s ability to internally synthesize oxalate/oxalic acid so that I can avoid doing damage to the lining of my intestinal/colonic tract. So far, the results have been fantastic to say the least. I’m almost shocked at how quickly it initially started working. Literally within two days there was an appreciable reduction in swelling. So it has seemingly been a successful way to slow down the painful reality of dumping while not having to put any oxalate in my mouth.
And from what I’ve read, someone could literally blunt oxalate dumping all together in a VERY short period of time with just a single 2-3 Tbsp. dose of Agave Syrup. That being said, I may have stumbled upon a safe means by which to reduce the oxalate dumping gently if one wanted to, or, at the own discretion, treat it acutely and halt it altogether with something as innocuous as 2-3 tablespoons of Agave Syrup.
Fructose, which is particularly high in agave syrup, can indirectly raise endogenous oxalate production because of how it’s metabolized in the liver. When you consume fructose—especially in higher amounts—it’s rapidly phosphorylated and shunted into glycolysis and related pathways without the tight regulation that glucose has. This can lead to an oversupply of certain intermediates, particularly glycolate and glyoxylate. Glyoxylate is a direct precursor to oxalate, so when its levels rise, more oxalate can be formed.
High fructose intake can also increase uric acid and oxidative stress, which may push metabolism further toward oxalate formation.
Are the kidneys the primary pathway by which oxalate is removed from the body?
Yes, the kidneys are the primary pathway for oxalate removal from the body. The glomeruli filter oxalate and either excrete it directly in urine or secrete it by renal tubule cells. Around 90–95% of oxalate elimination occurs through the kidneys, while a small percentage is degraded by gut microbes or excreted via feces. If kidney function is impaired or overwhelmed, oxalate can accumulate in tissues, leading to conditions like oxalate nephropathy or systemic oxalosis. Maintaining proper hydration, electrolyte balance, and gut health supports oxalate clearance.
If kidney function is impaired or overwhelmed, where would oxalate accumulate?
If kidney function is impaired or overwhelmed, oxalate can accumulate in soft tissues throughout the body. Common sites include the renal parenchyma, bones, vascular walls, myocardium, retina, skin, and joints. In advanced cases, it may deposit in the thyroid, liver, lungs, spleen, and central nervous system. This widespread deposition—called systemic oxalosis—can cause inflammation, fibrosis, and organ dysfunction. The tissue preference often depends on local calcium concentrations and tissue perfusion, as oxalate forms poorly soluble calcium oxalate crystals, which trigger damage where they lodge.
Reading Time: 6 Minutes – Rebecca (Asmar) Krisko, ND – Content Source
Discussion: NotebookLM
Emunctories? What in the world…
How do you define an emunctory and the emunctories system?
An emunctory, most simply, is a “route of elimination.” But, a more complex understanding would be any process or location by which the body rids itself of toxic substances or waste products it does not need. Primary emuntories (GI, lung, skin, kidney) are the most efficient routes of elimination, when those are not working properly, the body will attempt to use secondary emunctories. These secondary emunctories are not only not as efficient, they are not “meant for” this job of elimination.
Therefore, secondary emunctories often develop an “itis” when the primary emunctories are not working. Any chronic “itis” is an indication of poor elimination through primary emunctories.
What are the physiological and philosophical differences between emunction and detoxification?
Philosophically: Emunction is proper physiology working well to process, filter, and eliminate toxins and waste products. Detox is an external force imposed on the body to drive out impurities.
Emunction is a passive process of optimizing function, detox is an active process of pushing out perceived contamination.
Physiologically: Emunction involves optimizing functionality of all major routes of elimination as well as considering what is required to properly process any ingested substances and to move the waste products through the fluid systems of the body to the proper routes. Detox, physiologically, involves stimulating the liver, removing external toxic exposures, and some kind of external process to eliminate (colonic, enema, sauna etc.)
Which of the emunctories is the most critical for care?
All are the most critical. All must be working efficiently to support optimal health.
What are the clinical applications of the emunctories systems? What are these clinical applications based upon?
Not sure what you mean by “based on,” but we apply the idea of opening emunctories as a first step in the treatment of every patient that comes to the clinic. We believe that most patients’ symptoms are at least partially the result of poor emunctory function, but also that open emunctories provide a stable foundation upon which to build optimal health. Open emunctories virtually guarantee fewer side effects or adverse effects of medications (both ND and MD remedies). In addition, once the emunctories are open and properly functioning, we can dive deeper into the physiology that will reveal the underlying reason why the patient became ill. Without this foundation of open emunctories, we would be dealing with many more complications as treatment progresses.
“The exultation of the vital force is accomplished by the stimulation of the emunctories.” Faber’s medical dictionary of 1865. Please elaborate.
When you provide gentle stimulus to the emunctories and watch them open and begin to function properly, you do, then, get to see the vital force in action. The body restores itself to proper function on many deeper levels just by returning these systems to balance.
What is the impetus for creating this elective?
If you know how to properly restore emunctory function, you know how to begin EVERY naturopathic case. Every patient will benefit from this foundational approach and it provides a very stable place for each naturopath to then use his/her own individual style to treat the case. Proper function on this level is the foundation for good ND care regardless of what else you choose to do. And our collective results will improve by many times if we all employ this approach in our practices before we do any type of external intervention.
Which classical methods do you employ to assess that a patient may need emunction/detoxification?
Asking basic questions about digestion, sleep, energy, appetite, mood, menses.
Assessing the case history by keeping emunctory function in mind. Like I said, all chronic inflammations are related to emunctory function. Must draw relationships between the chronic constipation of a patient and their skin rash that will not go away. But, it is easy to assess which patients need this when we believe that every patient needs this. Its not always that every patients emunctories are not functioning properly (although it is often the case), but every treatment plan requires proper emunctory support to be even more effective and to achieve long-lasting cure.
Would pulse taking, tongue reading and iridology be adequate complementary assessment tools for assessing emunctory function?
Yes, I believe these tools can add information to a case that is already developing. If you have good support in the case history, the family history and lab reports, these assessment modalities can add further pieces of the puzzle. When assessing emunctories in the context of a case, we are trying to put a puzzle together to determine the underlying cause of the patient’s imbalance. These tools can be invaluable at providing missing pieces.
Which common classical patterns require emunction?
Constipation, skin problems, joint problems, chronic inflammations “itises,” chronic discharges (cough, acne, etc…), congestion of any part of the body (edema, liver congestion like dysmenorrhea), weight issues esp. overweight patients, absence of proper immune function (never gets sick, autoimmune), any disease of growth/storage (cancer, cysts, growths, fibroids, high cholesterol), the list goes on & on…
What treatment modalities do you use to stimulate emunctories?
100 conscious breaths/day, water, get outside daily, castor oil packs, daily movement/exercise, dry skin brushing, acidophilus, 2 tbsp ground seeds daily, UNDAs, flower essences, acupuncture, gemmotherapies, homeopathy.
Where does emunction fit in your therapeutic order?
We do nothing before we are sure that the emunctories are functioning properly. If we treat before the emunctories are optimal, we risk the patient suffering unnecessary effects of treatment.
How do mental/emotional aspects of clearing emunctories manifest?
The emotional sphere can be included as a higher order emunctory. Our emotions are definitely one way in which we eliminate some of what we encounter on a daily basis. So, then, emotional symptoms can also be a product of opening the emunctories. As you decongest the GI in working with a constipated patient, anxiety might manifest indicating that the kidney is really the emunctory that needs your support in this process. So, emotions can also help to point the physician to the proper emunctory to support (lung-grief, kidney-anxiety/fear, liver-anger)
How is sound spiritual health associated with healthy emunctories?
We do not believe that sound spiritual health is possible without healthy emunctories. This is the place we are all trying to achieve… balanced physical and spiritual health… cannot have it without optimizing the basic fundamental processes of the body like elimination of wastes.
How do we communicate with other allied health practitioners what we are doing when we “open the emunctories?”
I think we just tell them we are optimizing the body’s ability to eliminate waste products. If properly managed, the function of the emunctories should not decline with age. Please elaborate on this statement.
I do not agree with this statement. I think that the natural decline of the emunctories IS the normal aging process and that “dying of old age” means partly that your emunctory function cannot keep up with the demand. More cells die than can be regenerated…
How could chronic back pain or a diagnosis of schizophrenia be managed through opening the emunctories?
Back pain is very common. If emunctories are not efficient, then waste products build up.
Where are they going to go??
An intelligent system will not deposit these waste products in the heart or brain(crucial organs). So often, they are deposited in the joint spaces. Chronic back pain goes away regularly by maximizing emunctory function.
Schizophrenia is a much more severe diagnosis. If the toxic products/wastes have crossed the BBB, then all systems are likely involved in this long term degeneration of health. Meaning that emunctories need to be opened first, then all the systems of the body will need to be supported and rebalanced to achieve any real progress on this diagnosis.
What are the emunctories of our living environment/earth and how do they correlate to our physiological emunctories?
Seems our living earth has obscured its emunctories, but we do have living systems for dealing with wastes/toxic byproducts. Respiration is one of these systems. Not only humans breath. Plants breathe also, but in reverse. So, our waste product CO2 is their fuel and their waste product O2 is our fuel. The oceanic soup has many mechanisms for processing byproducts of organic life and recycling them back into the environment as usable materials. And weather patterns are also an environmental balancing act. Our thunderstorm is the counterpart to an environmental event on the other side of the globe.
What is the role of public health and policy in keeping our environment clean and our emunctories properly open?
It is our responsibility to maintain our own personal health as a reflection of the overall health of the planet and I think it is our responsibility to maintain the health of the planet as a reflection of our personal health. Health has inherent value. We do not need to “prove” its benefit. By optimizing the wellness of our individual bodies and of the world, we provide an atmosphere in which spiritual growth and evolution can occur.
More Reading: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7217398/
Introduction-
The concept of the emunctories, the organs of elimination, has been a component of traditional medicine since the Greco-Roman Period. The concept has been incorporated into traditional medicine practices throughout our recorded history, up to and including modern naturopathic medicine. The conception of Emmuctorology is much more recent and took place at the First International Editorial Skamania Retreat of the Foundations of Naturopathic Medicine Project in 2007. Specifically, it arose in a breakout group of educators discussing the limitations of teaching the classical body systems relied on by conventional medicine. There was a general consensus that multi-system synthesis, such as psycho-neuro-immunology, was more representative of the naturopathic approach to the human body and made it easier to both teach and learn. During this discussion, Emunctorology was born, a multi-organ synthesis of the naturopathic approach to elimination synthesized with modern clinical and basic science. At the end of the discussion, the idea ignited in the larger plenary group when the break-out group reported. Within weeks a sponsor provided an untethered academic grant to develop an educational program which has now been taught in a number of North American Universities. It is obviously an idea whose time has come.
Definition-
Emunctorology is a synthesis of traditional naturopathic medicine practice and modern science that provides a multisystem construct allowing the integrated study of the organs of elimination (the emunctories), their functional relationships, the role they play in maintaining normal physiology (homeostasis) through the elimination of waste material and toxic substances, the pathophysiology that occurs if the emunctories function sub-optimally or are diseased, and the clinical strategies that are used in modern naturopathic medicine to treat, nourish, tonify, stimulate and sedate the emunctories in the maintenance of good health.
Creating a Synthesis-
The term emunctories come from the Latin root, ēmungere, for wiping or cleansing, and describes an organ or duct that removes or carries waste from the body. The etymological evolution into modern Italian, emungere, the verb ‘to drain’ is more indicative of the term’s modern use. The etymological relationship between the origins of the term mucous and emunctories finds a relationship to its use in modern naturopathic medicine. Emunctories describes organ or ducts with the physiological function that involves draining or removing waste materials from the body.
An important traditional concept in naturopathic medicine is that illness may result from the accumulation of potentially noxious waste products. Lindlahr noted that “Kuhne, the German pioneer of Nature Cure, claimed that ‘disease is a unit’ that it consists in the accumulation of waste and morbid matter in the system.” Restated in modern scientific idiom, Kuhne postulated that underlying all disease is the accumulation of both toxins and abnormal organic material (which would include cells and cellular components). The corollary of this postulate which forms the basis of nature cure is that the elimination of toxins and abnormal organic material is an important part of the healing process. The Reverend Dr. Bronby noted in 1882 that these wastes, which include imbibed toxins, endogenous toxins and exhausted blood corpuscles, are dealt with by the emunctories on a constant, involuntary basis. The emunctories function to eliminate both the waste produced by the thirty thousand billion body cells and the exogenous toxins absorbed from the environment either deliberately or involuntarily. Dr Guenoit considered the emunctories as important to the condition of health as food and digestion.
Emunctorology explores the complex processes by which the body rids itself of toxic substances or waste products and how the emunctories function to eliminate that which does not benefit the organism as a whole. Traditionally, the emunctories were divided into primary and secondary roles. The primary emunctories, classically, the bowel, kidney, lungs and skin, are the most efficient routes of elimination. When these are not functioning optimally, the body will attempt to compensate and use the secondary emunctories, including the stomach, liver, pancreas, spleen, lymphatic system, prostate and mucosal surfaces. These secondary emunctories are not as efficient at elimination as this is not the primary function of these organs or tissues. Consequently, when the primary emunctories are not functioning optimally, the secondary emunctories may also become perturbed and respond with a generalized inflammation. A chronic systemic inflammation therefore suggests to the naturopathic physician poor elimination through primary emunctories. This inflammatory state can present as a generalized fever with or without an inflammatory condition affecting specific emunctories such as bronchitis, colitis, vaginitis, sinusitis, eczema or gastritis.
The basic functions of those excretory organs herein termed emunctories have been understood for some time. The overall role of the GI tract, the kidney, the lungs and the skin in elimination and excretion of both exogenous and endogenous toxins is well known. What is not very well understood is the interplay between these different organ systems and the early indicators of dysfunction or sub-optimal organ function. The functional disturbance of the emunctories has been a core component of naturopathic practice theory. In contrast, it is not a core concept within conventional medicine and there is surprisingly little known about the etiology and early natural history of deficits in these organ systems. It is the naturopathic view that normal homeostatic (perhaps better termed homeodynamic) mechanisms are singularly dependent upon the proper functioning of all the emunctories (the organs of elimination), and that a dysfunction in one will affect the function of another and, moreover, may result in a cascade of deficits and dysfunctions, including fatigue, leaky gut syndrome, vasculitis, chronic infections, pruritis, joint pains, migraines among others. The end-result may be systemic inflammatory responses and potential multiple systems dysfunctions. Lindlahr considered the accumulation of poisons (toxins) and morbid matter (abnormal organic materials) to be amongst the primary causes of disease and that their elimination was essential for health.
The Future-
The emunctories are a complex and highly integrated physiological system, upon whose structural and functional integrity our health is vitally dependent. It is hoped that Emunctorology, the integration of the traditional thinking about the emunctories synthesized with modern scientific understanding, research and discoveries can provide a tangible benefit to educators and students; and through our future clinicians to our patients and the global community.