Episode Description

What if detox wasn’t about deprivation, but about bringing your body back into flow?

In this episode, Shelley Swapp blends Traditional Chinese Medicine philosophy with cutting-edge nutrigenomics to reveal how your body’s natural detox pathways influence hormones, metabolism, and energy. You’ll learn why restoring gentle flow—rather than forcing a cleanse—is the key to long-term balance.

Shelley explains how genes like NRF2, GSTM1, GSTT1, GCLM, and COMT shape your ability to clear hormones and toxins, and how everyday foods, herbs, and joyful practices can switch those genes on again. From the “savings-account” power of glutathione to the hormone-balancing effects of sulforaphane from broccoli sprouts, this episode turns complex biochemistry into everyday wisdom.

“Your genes may show where the river narrows, but your lifestyle is the water itself—bringing life back into those channels, one small, consistent ripple at a time.”

• 🌿 Why true detox is about restoring flow, not restriction

• 🧬 How glutathione works as the body’s “savings account” for resilience

• 🥦 How chopping or chewing cruciferous veggies creates sulforaphane—the compound that flips on the NRF2 pathway

• 🔁 Why sluggish detox can stall hormone balance, thyroid function, and weight loss

• 💃 How movement, meditation, and joy lower cortisol and inflammation so the body feels safe to release weight

• Detox begins inside the cell—glutathione clears the waste so the liver and gut can take it out.

• Missing or slower GST genes don’t doom you; they simply mean nutrition and movement matter even more.

• Activating NRF2 through cruciferous vegetables, herbs, and exercise keeps hormone clearance steady and metabolism responsive.

• Joy and creativity are biochemical resets—down-regulating stress genes and up-regulating repair.

• Glutathione • NRF2 • Sulforaphane • COMT • IL-6 • Broccoli Sprouts • Cruciferous Vegetables

• TCM “river” analogy for detox and flow

• Nutrigenomics Insights Session with Shelley Swapp

• Bryan et al., Molecular Neuropsychiatry, 2018 — Broccoli-sprout supplementation increased blood + brain glutathione (PMC5981770)

• Egner et al., Cancer Prevention Research, 2014 — Broccoli-sprout beverage enhanced pollutant detox (PMID 24913818)

• Zhang et al., Nutrients, 2025 — Sulforaphane activates NRF2 and antioxidant enzymes (MDPI 17(8):1353)

• Kaliman et al., Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2014 — Meditation down-regulated NF-κB inflammatory genes

• Understand how your detox genes influence hormones and weight

• Trade “cleansing” for gentle, daily restoration

• Learn how food, herbs, and joy can literally switch on resilience

🌿 Work with Shelley: Link to Nutrigenomics Insights Session