In the broadest sense, vitamin therapy is the use of vitamins to prevent or cure disease. In contrast, vitamin detoxification therapy is detoxification with vitamins, primarily antioxidants. The use of antioxidants is generally recommended as an ongoing, daily regimen when well-being is in anyway compromised.
Some vitamins, such as C and E, are antioxidant nutrients capable of neutralizing certain toxins called free radicals. A free radical is an atom or group of atoms that can damage cells and impair the immune system.
Although our bodies contain natural enzymes that work to eliminate free radicals, vitamins C and E as well as the beta-carotene in vitamin A function as free-radical scavengers, thus neutralizing the toxins that can harm the immune system.
Oxidative stress results from an imbalance, an excess of oxidants, and depletion of antioxidants or failure to repair oxidative damage. A vast amount of evidence implicates oxygen-derived free radicals and high-energy oxidants as mediators in many mental and physical disorders.
Oxidative stress has been associated with the pathogenesis of many major psychiatric disorders, as the brain has comparatively greater vulnerability to oxidative damage. Clinical research has linked oxidative stress with autism, ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia, and substance abuse. Antioxidant therapies can be of great benefit for these problems.
Some of the recent pharmacological strategies that are ongoing in antioxidant therapy include the use of free radical-scavenging enzymes, superoxide dismutases, catalase mimetics, flavonoids, vitamins and poly polymerase inhibitors.
Vitamin detoxification therapy can also be used in conjunction with other types of detoxification, such as detoxification diets or hyperthermia treatments. During these methods, natural antioxidants can help to protect healthy cells and promote the cleansing and healing process.