“A healthy outside, starts from the inside” –Robert Urich
Detoxing has become such a buzzword in the health industry, especially around New Years. We all want to clean out our bodies and reset for a new and even healthier year. The term detoxification is simply a process of abstaining from toxic or unhealthy substances. Therefore, detoxing can look different to everyone. Reflect on areas of your life where you may want to abstain from certain habits for a period of time, such as alcohol, sugar, fast food, etc.
Our bodies are designed to detox through phase 1 and phase 2 detoxification. During these phases our body takes a toxic substance (lipid molecule) and turns it into a less toxic water-soluble molecule for detoxification and elimination through stool and urine. The primary organs responsible for detoxification are the gut and liver. Even though our bodies are naturally detoxing machines, our toxic world can overburden our system. Excess toxins can ultimately lead to nutritional deficiencies and poor detoxification.
Signs and symptoms of poor detoxification include, but are not limited to:
- Fatigue
- Brain Fog
- Poor Sleep
- Hormonal Imbalances
- Infertility
- Bloating
- Weight Gain
- Acne
- Fluid Retention
- Bad Breath
There are several things you can do today to help you detox more effectively without having to only drink juices for a week.
Here are 10 ways to improve detoxification today:
- Drink 16 oz of lemon water first thing in the morning before you do anything else.
- Eliminate processed food.
- Choose organic meats and dairy to minimize hormone and antibiotic exposure.
- Add herbs to your food (especially cilantro and parsley)
- Get a deep tissue massage monthly
- Sweat it out- aim for 30 minutes of cardio 4-5 times per week
- Add supplements that are vital for detoxification
- Milk thistle 200-300 mg daily
- Glutathione 500 mg daily
- Methylated B Complex 1 capsule daily
- Avoid unnecessary chemicals in cleaning products and beauty products
- For beauty products, check out Environmental Working Group’s skin database for background on the ingredients in your favorite products (they have a great app too). Also, beautycounter is an excellent example of clean beauty and skin products because they have banned over 1500 potentially harmful chemicals from their products.
- For cleaning products, consider making your own cleaning product with white vinegar and water or using companies such as Honest or Seventh Generation that value less toxic/green cleaning products.
- Eat plenty of cruciferous vegetables
- Add dandelion tea to your daily routine
Here’s to a healthy and clean 2017!
