How to detox healthily
January is the month for thinking about a ‘detox’ after the holiday excesses… If you are thinking of embarking on a detox read this guide first…
January is the month for thinking about a ‘detox’ after the holiday excesses… If you are thinking of embarking on a detox read this guide first
It’s important to remember that our bodies are naturally constantly detoxing – through our skin (sweat), lungs (breathing), GI tract (poop), kidneys (urine), and liver (poop again).
However, we do live in an increasing toxic world and those same routes through which our bodies detox may be routes we are taking in more toxins and chemicals e.g. polluted air, toxic personal care products, chemicals and pesticides in our food. Imagine the toxic load in your body as a sink – you want water flowing from the faucet to flow out as soon as it reaches the sink.
If there is hair stuck in the drain, or if the faucet lets in far more water than the outlet can remove, then the water(toxins) starts to build up. In our bodies, a toxic load may produce very low grade symptoms e.g. slight fatigue, brain fog, low mood, achy joints, and if you stop adding to the toxic burden and started clearing out the load your symptoms might resolve.
However, if the toxic burden builds up without you ever clearing it – then your symptoms may worsen, you might start experiencing medical ailments like food allergies, migraines, fatigue, low mood, hormonal issues like PCOS or endometriosis…
The good news is, your body already knows how to do the job – you just need to remove the stumbling blocks, support it, and stop adding to that toxic load in the first place so it can clear the backlog.
Here are 6 tips which can help support your body:
1. Make sure you are pooping regularly – at least once a day if not twice… make sure your stools are nice and soft by eating a high fiber diet (minimum 40g a day but preferably higher, if you have IBS or digestive issues and are sensitive to FODMAPS, speak to a practitioner who can work with you to improve your gut health). Fiber binds to and transport toxins out of our bodies. Fiber also feeds our beneficial gut bacteria which in turn help us break down xenobiotics and pesticides so maintaining a healthy gut microbiome is key for detoxification.
2. Stay hydrated – this will help your kidneys get rid of toxins and also help keep your bowels regular. p.s. try to drink filtered water (as municipal water has been found to be contaminated with prescription drugs, metals and chemicals).