Cleansing the Body…Worth the Risk?
It’s great to hear you’re thinking about cleansing your body, but do you really need to detox?
A common oversight in doing a detox diet is not understanding why you have decided to detox in the first place…
Are you looking for ways to improve your health for the better and enjoy more of your lifestyle?
What type of detox diet is best for you?
What if your energy level is low?
What if you are taking medications?
Toxins which have not been eliminated from your system perhaps a weekend detox may help you feel better?
Everyday on the news we hear about pollution in the air and toxins in the foods and drinks we consume.
Does it feel that while technology advances, instead of helping to protect us from toxins we’re being bombarded by them even more?
Detoxing your body is a method many people use to flush out toxins and give your body a jump start it desperately needs to function properly.
And it might not be something you want to pursue, so it’s vital you learn exactly how it can benefit you and how a detox works before you embark on one blindly.
Where Are Toxins Found?
In short toxins are all around you.
Toxins are in your cabinets, on the skin of your fruit, in nature, in the air and more.
You can’t truly escape toxins on a regular basis, but you can shield your body from them and give it a chance to recover and fight back.
Every day you go to the store to stock up on household cleaners, food and beauty products, you’re buying toxins to bring back into your home.
You use them for yourself and even on your little baby if you have children.
They’re typically invisible to you – especially in the air that you breathe – and in products, you can spot them if you look at the ingredients list and see a slew of words you can hardly pronounce.
Natural toxins are in your environment, like poisonous plants, animals and even germs.
You typically know about these and try to avoid them.
We’re less likely to learn about the toxic chemicals in our life, though.
There are natural chemicals made by nature and there are man made chemicals which are very dangerous.
Sometimes we know the dangers – like using pesticides on our lawn or garden to keep pests out.
Other times, we blindly accept a company’s use of toxins in products we buy, assuming the government would protect us from anything truly harmful.
And they’re rarely tested and often ignored until it’s proven that they’re harmful.
It’s almost a case of innocent until proven guilty, when in reality, for the protection of humankind, it should be the other way around.
Companies should have to prove the innocence of their chemicals before using them, but that’s not how it works.
To start, identify the toxins in your day today. Look at everything you eat – especially processed foods. Are there ingredients with very chemical-sounding names in them? These are likely toxic chemicals.
Preservatives, artificial flavoring, and coloring enhancements are all false ingredients that attack your body, rather than contribute to its nutritional benefits.
They’re in foods that are even branded as healthy, so make sure you investigate carefully.
Look at the toxins in your community…
Many news stations will have a pollution index that you can analyze to see how toxic the air is that you breathe.
You want to pay attention to what’s on your skin or being sucked into your lungs…such as cleaning aromas.
Not everything will have a scent, like lemon-scented cleaner.
Many of them are colorless and free of any aroma. So look for whatever is being used in your home and work environment.
What Does Toxic Mean?
Well, it means your body has no use for it, so it has to work hard to rid your body of it.
Sometimes, it even fails, and those toxins build up inside your body and wreak havoc on your health.
You may not see any side effects the first day you’re exposed to toxins…
Over time, it take its toll as you start to experience the burden of your body being unable to handle overload.
Sometimes toxins have mild side effects, like a minor headache or a sneeze or another reaction.
Sometimes it’s more serious like being a cancer-causing toxin residing in your body.
What if your body isn’t performing optimally?
Well it’s going to struggle cleaning the toxins out.
You may feel tired, depressed and your body becomes sluggish and falter.
A detox periodically can rev up your inner engines and help you function at peak performance levels.
The Basic Steps of Detoxing Your Body
When you detox, you would want to identify the toxins in your own life and then avoid them.
At the same time, you need to take consistent steps to boost your body and help the repair process.
You can detox your body from the inside-out…
The toxins are substances you’ve ingested as well as environmental pollutants which are on and around your body.
Many people don’t think about it…
You see, your skin is the largest organ and you may not be protecting your skin from toxins in the air.
When you decide its time to detox…
You not only want to identify and avoid certain toxins, you want to plan your diet, sleep, stress relief and more to help rid your body of damaging toxins.
When you do a full body detox, not only will your skin get cleansed, your internal organs as well – your kidney, stomach, lungs and more.
Your kidneys and sweat glands will do most of the heavy lifting during the detox process.
After identifying where your toxins are coming from, start replacing the processed foods with organic, whole foods.
If you notice your diet has gaps in what your body needs nutritionally, then supplement it with various solutions like vitamins and minerals.
A good place to start would be:
* A good multi vitamin – specifically one for your gender and age group
* Omega-3 fatty acids – a great thing to take in lieu of eating oily, toxic fish like tuna
* Vitamin B – preferably, a vitamin B complex that contains all of the B vitamins
* Vitamin C – which will help boost your immune system
* Vitamin E – with powerful antioxidants and the ability to keep you well
* Resveratrol – which does the same as red wine, providing antioxidants
Diet is one of the main things you’ll be addressing during this detox.
You want to start by knowing what to avoid putting into your shopping cart at the grocery store.
That includes:
* Milk, which is packed with antibiotics and hormones
* Corn oil, which comes from genetically modified corn
* Margarine, or anything that contains trans fat
* Soy, which many believe is healthy but is horribly processed for consumers
* Deli meat, which is packed with salt, artificial color and flavors and more
* Tuna fish, which contains higher levels of toxic mercury than other fresh fish
* Lard, which comes ripe with steroids, hormones and antibiotics like milk
* Artificial ingredients, like colors and sweeteners that are harmful to your body
Get ready to sweat!
Your body’s sweat glands help clean out toxins from your body.
So in movement via exercise, your body’s natural detox is the sweat activation system.
You can also use heat like a pampering sauna (proven to help heart health) to increase your body’s sweat activity.
Does this mean you’re going to have to change your habits?
Getting a good night’s sleep to moving around more helps your body flush out toxins on a daily basis.
What if you’re a smoker?
Would you stop smoking?
What if you drink alcohol?
Would you let go of that habit during your detox stage?
Even bad habits like cursing a lot can weigh heavily on your emotions and contribute to stress, which is toxic to your body because it floods your bloodstream with unhealthy hormones.
Benefits You Can Experience with a Good Detox Diet
A detox diet plan can be something you have to fully commit to and it might feel dramatically different to you.
And if you give yourself a chance to experience the full array of benefits, you can absolutely feel amazing and give your body a gift which contributes to your longevity.
The first thing you’ll notice is that when you’re starting the detox, your energy levels might slump slightly at first.
Then, they soar…
Detoxing your body helps refuel your energy levels because your body isn’t having to work so hard to function.
Your stress levels will plummet.
Doing a total wellness detox means not only are you avoiding physical toxins, and the pollutants of your mind start to disappear as well.
When your brain is functioning better and you’re sleeping better, your stress levels will naturally subside because you’ll gain clarity.
You’ll notice that you get sick less often.
Toxins really attack your immune system, so when you rid your body of them, your white blood cells are able to fight off invaders more easily.
Weight loss will come to more easily, too…
Your body won’t have to focus on cleaning your body of toxins.
It will be able to burn fat with a laser-like focus.
The energy increase, paired with natural shedding of pounds will really inspire you to stay on track with your detox.
Factors Which Can Derail Your Detox Success
You want to believe that when you embark on a formidable detox plan, you’ll stick to it.
And there are many issues which can stand in your way, unless you know what they are and how to manage them, you might be prone to failure.
The first step you want to watch is eating away from your home.
Whether it means fast food, nice restaurants, the office workplace or a friend’s house – eating where you’re not the one fully in control can be hazardous to your detox plan.
You have to understand that Sally who brings a casserole in for lunch at work or Ed’s Chicken Shop down the street, don’t have detox plans on their minds when they’re planning their meals and menus.
They’re not ensuring your food is toxin free, made with whole grains or organic, pesticide-free fruits and vegetables.
They haven’t even looked to see if the chicken they’re serving is awash in steroids, hormones and antibiotics.
This means you have to be very diligent about planning your meals away from home.
If you’re serious about detoxing, then that doesn’t mean you flub a few meals.
Your body will be bouncing back during this flush and re-introducing toxins periodically keeps it from achieving its goals of better health.
Mindful eating and mindfulness in general helps keep your stomach and other organs from having to work overtime for you. Take your time eating, enjoy the meal and flavors and give your brain time to recognize your fullness cues.
Throughout your day be mindful whenever you’re driving, working, interacting with others and spending time alone.
When someone snaps at you, take a moment to think about what’s possibly going on in their world to cause them to lash out…
It helps you not take it personally so stress hormones won’t flood into your bloodstream, wrecking your detox plan.
Make sure you get the minimum exercise requirements into your day.
Remember, sweat helps your body flush the toxins out.
Shoot for a minimum of 30 minutes of sweat-inducing movement, like cardio.
Rinse them off quickly in the shower so that they’re not re-absorbed through the skin.
Up your intake of water…
Water should be one of the only things you drink on a detox plan.
Your body needs it to help almost every organ function, and most of us don’t get nearly enough.
You’ll notice a change in the color of your urine when your body is getting plenty of water.
It will go from yellow to clear, usually in a couple of days.
TIP: Keep a glass of water nearby and sip it throughout your day to stay hydrated and give your organs the fluid they need to get rid of toxins.
Help get your family on board for better health for lifestyle enjoyment.
They don’t have to be on the exact same detox plan as you, and try to replace the unhealthy, processed foods and toxic cleaners and beauty products with those that are not harmful to anyone living with you.
Detoxing is a great way to lose weight, clear out brain fog, distress and increase your longevity by preventing disease.
It’s not something that’s easy and enjoyable right at first, but most people who commit to it, eventually crave the detox lifestyle because they feel so much better while doing it.
