Effective Detoxification Strategies - Rejuvenate inside and out
After last month's newsletter article on combatting a fatty liver we received numerous requests for information on how to effectively detoxify. The following guidelines for a simple two day detoxification program is a simple process that can be easily incorporated into regular life and undertaken every three to four months, or as needed. This is best followed by people in reasonable health with symptoms of minor toxic buildup such as headaches, fatigue / lethargy etc. Those affected by chronic toxicity from solvents, petrochemicals or heavy metals are best contacting our naturopath for a specific detoxification protocol.
To properly understand detoxification, we need to understand a little about the load our body has to operate under.
The modern world is full of many man-made chemicals. We are not only what we eat, but also what we drink, breathe and even touch. Even before you step outside the house in the morning, you are potentially being exposed to a myriad of toxins. Eating breakfast, washing the dishes, applying cosmetics and perfumes, and even having a glass of unfiltered water, can potentially increase your exposure to harmful compounds which may compromise your health and vitality. Some sources have estimated that we are exposed to over 1000 toxic compounds each and every day.
The good news is that your body has an amazing ability to eliminate these toxins through its inbuilt detoxification systems. When you sweat, when you answer the call of nature and even when you breathe, your body is taking the opportunity to expel toxins from the body.
However, there reaches a point where things just aren't quite working out right. It could be any number of things that let you know there is a problem:
- Maybe you are suffering recurrent headaches that disappear only to re-occur a couple of days later?
- Maybe aching muscles and general weakness have become a constant part of life?
- How about a general feeling of fatigue and lethargy?
- For some it's anxiety and mood swings?
- Others experience a hypersensitivity to odours, chemicals or supplements.
It's these warning signs that tell us the body is struggling with a little toxic overload, and, we need to give it a little TLC to get it back on track.
The first step is to give the body a break from eating and metabolising food and to begin to allow it to clean out the toxins that have built up. A short two day juice fast will enable the key organs in detoxification (liver, kidneys and intestines) to take a break from the work of digestion and begin to process toxins in the body.
Leading up to your chosen juice fast date it is important to begin to reduce the amount of food eaten and to eat as much of your food as possible raw. The last meal taken should incorporate only raw salad vegetables. We are not a bear about to hibernate for the winter, our body has important work to do. Too much food before the fast will simply hamper the body in what it needs to do.
It is also important to begin to reduce the recreational toxins that may be in our daily life. This includes reducing the amount of coffee, cigarettes, alcohol and sugar consumed. From personal experience this will make the next two to three days far more comfortable and enjoyable.
On the first fast day consume at least eight glasses of low sugar vegetable juices. You can also drink as much water and non caffeinated herbal tea as you please. Good examples of vegetables for juicing include cabbage, kale, celery, beetroot, cucumber, fennel and lettuce. Make these fresh and spread across the day to prevent oxidation of the sugars in the juice.
With the body's energy freed from digestion and eating, stored toxins will begin to be released back into the blood stream. Depending on your toxicity levels you may feel symptoms such as headache, diarrhoea and nausea. This is not uncommon, your body is essentially mobilising toxins and preparing to remove them from the body.
On the evening of the first day have a vegetable broth with the vegetables removed. Take a large variety of root vegetables, cabbage and onion and cook in a pot with water and celtic sea salt for several hours. Once completed remove the vegetables and drink the remaining broth. Miso and cayenne pepper can be added to this for a little extra flavour.
Before going bed to take some ColonCleanse or ColoZone. Both these products are a high potency, powdered magnesium. They are designed to draw as much liquid as possible into the colon, liquifying all the faecal matter to help flush it through. They are generally taken at night and begin to make themselves known by the next morning.
The most important part of this short detoxification program begins on day two. During day one we have allowed the body to mobilise the toxins, there are many programs on the market that do this stage well. What many forget to do is the second stage which involves the combination of the toxins with amino acids to allow them to be effectively removed from the body. If this is not done the body will simply re-process the toxins and re-store.
On day two continue with juices, however instead of juice for breakfast lunch and mid afternoon introduce a protein shake. This should be a high quality protein powder, free of sugars and artificial sweeteners. Mix two - three tablespoons of protein powder in a glass with filtered water, coconut oil and an egg (for those that eat eggs). In all other aspects day two continues in the same fashion as day one.
Congratulations, you have now done two days without food. On day three we will be breaking the fast. This is best done with light, raw salads. Don't be tempted to overeat, as one of the leading causes of toxicity is over stressing the digestive organs with too much workload. Other foods can be re-introduced gradually while being sure to leave the diet free from highly allergenic foods such as gluten and dairy.
Passion4Health is a wellness clinic located in Browns Plains, Brisbane. At Passion4Health we focus on management and maintenance of optimum health through an integrated lifestyle approach.
Passion4Health provide diet and nutritional advice, massage, lymphatic drainage, iridology and live blood analysis.
Find out how you can reduce chronic disease and maintain optimum health by calling us now on 0437 060 385.