Does your body need a detox or cleanse?
Do you really ever need to detox?
I’m sure you have seen the 3 day or 7 day “cleanses” that claim to detox or cleanse your body. Don’t let those marketing claims fool you. There is no way that these juice cleanses will get rid of years and years of accumulated toxins in that short a time frame. Many people like to jump on a juice cleanse to benefit from the quick water weight loss (which you gain right back) and to give themselves a mental boost or the motivation to maintain a tighter diet and/or workout routine. (hand raising) Yes, I have done a few juice cleanses but only to regret it later. You can expect weight loss simply because you are restricting calories, period. You will be hungry for sure, maybe even moody, and your metabolic response will be that your metabolism will fight hard to get back to balance. (not good) However, some people will claim that they feel more energetic during and after a juice cleanse. That is probably true but there are specific reasons for that. For one, when following a juice cleanse you are not eating processed foods, taking in caffeine, and/or foods with high amounts of sugar and fat that create sugar (glucose) spikes in your bloodstream followed by significant drops which causes that low energy feeling. In addition, some people do not drink enough water and fluids throughout their day and when they are on a juice cleanse they are more disciplined about properly hydrating themselves which can make them feel more energetic if they do not practice adequate hydration on a daily basis. So it makes perfect sense that when change certain behaviors, you will have more balanced energy during the day. However, this can be done without spending large amounts of money on expensive juices.
What does it take to actually begin a real detoxification of the body?
The only type of action you can take that would truly detox the body is doing a 7 day (or longer) fast once or twice a year. This type of fast would involve drinking only water and basically taking a vacation from work and other responsibilities during that time because you are not going to be able to do much during a fast like this. (not the way I want to spend my vacay) Some people who are on medications might not even be able to do a real fast without being under the supervision of a doctor of functional medicine or a naturopathic doctor. This is especially true for someone who takes certain medications daily.
Your body has its’ own ways that it naturally detoxifies.
Your body detoxifies itself through the skin, lymphatic system, liver, kidneys, and lungs.
Your body detoxifies through the skin. Boost that by increasing your time sweating to detoxify. Exercise and get your sweat on daily or sit in a steam room or a sauna as often as you can. <BTW, infrared saunas are the new rage>
Your liver detoxifies for you like a champ. Each minute, nearly one-third of the total body blood flow is pumped through the liver. The liver filters the blood and removes harmful substances such as drugs, bacteria, toxins and foreign proteins. Wow! Go Liver! You can support the liver by avoiding things that tax the liver like alcohol and by drinking lots of water each and every day. Drinking water with lemon is helpful too. Read more about that here. In addition, water is essential in forming waste in the large intestine to properly move that waste out of the body.
Support the ability for your lungs to detoxify by doing cardio! Your lungs help to clean and eliminate toxins so think about that every time you take a deep breath in and exhale out! Get that heart rate up and do some heavy breathing every day for even 5 minutes and you can help strengthen your lung capacity!
So, do your body right and support its’ natural detoxification processes as much as you can by drinking lots of water, exercising, eating less processed foods, and watching your caffeine, alcohol, and sugar intake.
