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The High Performance Journal - November 25th, 2025

For the past couple of months, I've been living in Vietnam.

I love the country. I love the people. I love the coffee so much that I might need a separate detox just for that.

But the one thing I do not love is how everything comes in plastic.

They put hot soup in plastic bags. They put newly cooked foods in thin black plastic (which is the worst kind, btw). They put boiling liquids in cups lined with plastic. Most food items have had some contact with plastic.

By week 2, I started joking to my wife that I was becoming 50% pho noodle and 50% polyethylene.

But microplastics aren't a joke.

Microplastics in the body are linked to inflammation, oxidative stress, cancer risk, heart attack, impaired fertility, metabolic and gut disruption, and possible immune and neurological damage.

So when I get back stateside, I'm going to run a full detox protocol to reduce the microplastics from my body. If I'm going to do it, I may as well take you through the entire science-based process.

I'm going to start with testing, as I want to see how many microplastics are actually circulating in my system after this trip. Then, I will run this protocol for a few months to retest to see what changed.

Everything below is exactly what I'm doing and why.

You ready? Let's go 🔥

The Big Picture: What Is Actually Possible?

Image courtesy of ​https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8929/4/2/23

Before I reveal the protocol, we need to get real.

Microplastics and nanoplastics are everywhere. They enter through food, water, air, clothing, dust, packaging, and even cookware. They have been found in stool, blood, placenta samples, arteries, and brain tissue. This tells us two things:

Some particles are excreted. Some get stuck.

Right now, there is no human study showing that any lifestyle protocol removes microplastics embedded inside organs. So the goal is not a magical full-body purge. The goal is to:

• Reduce exposure
• Lower the amount circulating in your blood
• Improve your body’s ability to excrete what it can
• Minimize the damage from whatever remains

For now, this is the realistic framework, and within that framework, there's a lot you can do.

Step 1: Reduce Exposure Aggressively

This is the foundation. If you do not fix this, everything else is like bailing water out of a leaky boat.

Water And Beverages

I use reverse osmosis at home and drink from a glass or stainless steel. No plastic bottles. No hot drinks in plastic. And when a coffee shop uses plastic lids, I remove the lid or drink from a ceramic mug.

Food Storage And Heating

No microwaving plastic. No reheating leftovers in plastic containers. I store everything in glass or stainless steel. I also avoid worn-out nonstick cookware because it sheds polymer fragments.

Food Choices

Highly processed foods tend to test higher for microplastics. Fast food is the worst offender. I stick to whole, fresh foods as much as possible. It is better for ​metabolic health​ and exposure reduction.

Air And Textiles

A huge percentage of microplastics comes from indoor dust and synthetic clothing. We vacuum with a HEPA filter, keep windows open when cooking, use a high-quality air filter, and use natural fibers when it makes sense.

Exposure reduction alone makes a big dent. It is the part that scientists agree on the most.

Step 2: Blood And Plasma Donation

This might surprise you, but blood and/or plasma donation is one of the strongest levers we have for lowering circulating contaminants.

The cool thing is that some countries pay you to do this (hi Canada 👋🏽).

PFAS chemicals, which often travel with microplastics, are found in blood. When high-exposure groups donated plasma regularly, their PFAS levels dropped by roughly 30-40% over a year. Whole blood donation also produced smaller but meaningful reductions.

Microplastics and nanoplastics bind to proteins and lipoproteins. So when you donate plasma or blood, you're removing a portion of the contaminated fluid and replacing it with clean fluid from your own body.

It is not perfect, and it does not touch microplastics stored in tissues, but it lowers what is circulating at the moment.

My Plan:

• Whole blood every 12 to 16 weeks
• Plasma donation when available, 4 to 6 weeks.

Think of it like draining a dirty aquarium. If you also stop pouring more dirt into it, it can stay clean for longer.

Step 3: Optimize Gut Excretion

Most microplastics come in through the gut, and most of the larger ones leave through the gut. My goal is simple: keep things moving and support the barriers so fewer particles slip through.

Fiber Is The MVP

I aim for thirty to fifty grams of fiber a day from fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole foods. Fiber increases stool bulk, reduces transit time, and can bind to some toxins.

Gut Barrier Support

A strong gut wall means fewer particles entering circulation. I'll eat foods rich in glutamine, zinc, carnosine, collagen, and fermented foods to support gut integrity.

Microbiome Diversity

A healthier microbiome seems to handle xenobiotics better and may even degrade some fragments. I focus on plant diversity and regularly fermented foods.

People often ask about binders like chlorella, clay, or charcoal. The human data for microplastics is not strong yet, so I treat these as optional "nice to haves", not essentials.

Step 4: Sweat And Kidney Detox

Some plastic-related chemicals appear more easily in sweat than in blood or urine. This means sweating may help remove certain compounds that co-travel with microplastics. In fact, I am doing sauna a couple of times a week while here in Vietnam to do my part to remove these from my body.

What I'm doing:

• Exercise that produces real sweat
• Sauna sessions two to four times weekly
• Adequate hydration so the kidneys can filter efficiently

This will remove soluble plasticizers and related chemicals, not the particles themselves. Still, it is a solid lever that improves overall toxin clearing.

Step 5: Reduce Inflammation And Oxidative Stress

Now, even if microplastics stay in the body, you can blunt the harm they cause. This means I'm going to focus on:

• Eating colorful plant foods high in polyphenols
• Omega-3 fats
• Vitamin C, NAC, glutathione, vitamin E, and selenium

This will support your antioxidant systems, protect tissues from oxidative stress.

It's really important to keep your blood sugar levels stable, lift weights, prioritize sleep, and avoid smoking and excess alcohol. All these keep inflammation low and vascular health high.

The 12 Week Microplastics Removal Template I Am Following

Daily:

• Filtered water only
• Plastic-free food storage
• High fiber, mostly whole food meals
• Natural fiber clothing, when possible
• Movement that produces light sweat
• Antioxidant-rich nutrition

Two to four times weekly:

• Sauna or intense exercise to support sweating
• Higher intensity training on selected days

Every eight to twelve weeks:

• Whole blood donation

Every six to eight weeks (if available):

• Plasma donation

Ongoing:

• Improve the gut barrier
• Remove plastic sources in my environment
• Retest microplastic levels in a few months
  
  

The Final Word

This protocol is not perfect. Nothing in the world right now clears microplastics completely.

But it is the most evidence-based protocol we have for lowering the amount entering your body, reducing circulating levels, supporting elimination, and protecting your tissues.

After a few months in Vietnam drinking coffee out of plastic cups and eating pho on a weekly basis, I am now more motivated than ever.

I hope this helps you on your journey to becoming the healthiest version of yourself.

Onward and upward. 🚀

- Dan

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References

Microplastics Are Detectable in Human Blood (Detection, Bioaccumulation)

Leslie HA, van Velzen MJM, Brandsma SH, et al. Discovery and quantification of plastic particle pollution in human blood. Environ Int. 2022 May;163:107199. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107199. PMID: 35217024.

Liu M, Liu X, Zhang L, et al. Microplastics in human blood: Polymer types, concentrations and detected plastic additives. Environ Int. 2024 Jun 14;185:108569. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108569. PMID: 38761430.

Microplastics Detected in Multiple Human Tissues and Organs

Thompson RC, Olsen Y, Mitchell RP, et al. Detection of microplastics in human tissues and organs. Sci Total Environ. 2024. PMID: 11342020 (PMCID: PMC11342020).

Ding J, Zhu D, Yang X, et al. Tissue-specific distribution of microplastics in human blood and organs. Sci Total Environ. 2024. PMID: 40882421.

Therapeutic Apheresis Can Remove Microplastics from Blood/Plasma

Lopatynsky-Reyes EZ, González JF, Enríquez S, et al. Therapeutic apheresis: A promising method to remove microplastics/nanoplastics from human plasma. Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2025 May 19;18(5):591. doi: 10.3390/ph18050591. PMID: 38328493. [Open access: ​https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12162106/​]

Gasiorowski D, Lange BJ, Lopatynsky-Reyes EZ, et al. Therapeutic apheresis may remove microplastics from the bloodstream. JAMA Netw Open. 2025. PMID: 38328493.

Blood and Plasma Donation Reduce PFAS Levels (Blood-Borne Microplastic-Related Chemicals)

Gasiorowski D, Leso V, Russo M, et al. Effect of Plasma and Blood Donations on Levels of Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in Firefighters. JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Mar 31;5(3):e227761. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.7761. PMID: 35394514.

Rotander A, Kärrman A, Toms LM, et al. Blood/plasma donation can speed up elimination of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) from blood. Environ Int. 2021;150:106434. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.106434. PMID: 34224633.

Ingested Fiber (and Chitosan) Aids Microplastics Excretion via the Gut

Liu D, Chen Z, Zhang Y, et al. Ingesting chitosan can promote excretion of microplastics. Sci Rep. 2025 Apr 22;15(1):96393. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-96393-w. PMID: 38882801.

Teng X, Wang M, Wang Z, et al. Novel probiotics adsorbing and excreting microplastics in vivo and in vitro. NPJ Sci Food. 2025 Jan 9;9(1):5. doi: 10.1038/s41538-024-00226-1. PMCID: PMC11757873.

Sweating Increases Excretion of Plasticizers (BPA, Phthalates)

Genuis SJ, Beesoon S, Birkholz D, Lobo RA. Human Excretion of Bisphenol A: Blood, Urine, and Sweat Study. BioMed Res Int. 2011;2012:185731. doi: 10.1155/2012/185731. PMCID: PMC3255175.

Ma WK, Zhao M, Chen L, et al. Excretion of Ni, Pb, Cu, As, and Hg in Sweat under Two Classical Chinese Medical Therapies. BioMed Res Int. 2022 Apr 3;2022:4291720. doi: 10.1155/2022/4291720. PMCID: PMC8998800.

Microplastics Induce Oxidative Stress & Antioxidants Offer Protection

Wang X, Li C, Jiang Y, et al. Antioxidant Intervention Against Microplastic Hazards: Pathogenic Pathways and Potential Protective Mechanisms. Environ Sci Ecotechnol. 2025 Jun;26:100770. doi: 10.1016/j.ese.2024.100770. PMCID: PMC12291741.

Wang S, Gong Y, Hu W, et al. Antioxidant intervention against microplastic hazards: A review. Sci Total Environ. 2025. PMID: 40722901.

Engineered Enzymes and Microbiome Approaches (Experimental, Preclinical)

Tang L, Chen Y, Qu Y, et al. Recent advances in microbial and enzymatic engineering for microplastics degradation. Front Microbiol. 2024 Mar 24;15:10961967. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1211256. PMCID: PMC10961967.

Butt T, Ahmad SR, Azam M, et al. Biotechnological methods to remove microplastics: a review. Front Microbiol. 2023 Feb 7;14:9907217. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.9907217. PMCID: PMC9907217.

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