Over time, our bodies can start to be brought down by the toxins, chemicals, and waste that build up in our systems. Be it from external, environmental factors (like pollution or natural exposure to toxins) or something wrong internally (such as a poor immune system or consumption of unhealthy foods), it’s important to maintain your health by pulling these toxins out of the body.
Upon searching for “detox” information, you’ll come across nearly 56 million webpages, many which argue passionately for their own detox or diet plan. Let’s skip the sales pitch and find out some simple principles of detoxing, shall we?
Principles Detox
When it comes to detoxing, it’s important that the modern nonthreatening, catch-phrase use of the term doesn’t undermine the necessity to look at the situation seriously: detoxification involves altering the chemical balance of the body, and because of that, you want to be sure you approach the act with safety in mind. Without involving ourselves with expensive detox products or 12-step programs, here are some simple principles for detoxing the natural way:
Fluidity is Key
First things first: fluidity is key! When it comes to detoxifying the body, you want to provide the body with a simple, seamless route for excavation. By and large, removing the waste and toxicity through fluids is the most promising. (Some argue in favor of “sweating it out”, but this will require keeping hydration levels high as well!). Keep these things in mind:
- Eight 8-oz glasses/day – The normal recommendation is to drink up to eight 8-oz glasses per day. This is quite a bit of water, but it provides the body with just its basic needs for growth, maintenance, and proper health. When detoxing, it’s important to get this and more!
- Be Strategic – When it come to getting enough fluids, be strategic in your approach. Keep water where you send most of your time, mix up your intakes sources (juice, iced tea, coconut water), and consider setting a timer to get you drinking every few hours.
- Hydrate through Foods – Of course, you also want to get plenty of water from your foods. Foods like celery are great for getting nutrition along with hydration – make them a part of your hydrating regimen! Check out the citruses and apples in mind, too!
Sustaining a Healthy Body
When it comes to detoxing, be sure to keep in mind that you are what you eat. It’s actually quite likely you’re feeling groggy, weakened, and frustrated because of the food you’ve been eating. That being said, the next time in detoxing naturally is to supply yourself with the nutrients you need to get full nourishment. Follow these simple tips for better eating:
- Quit the Bad – To start, stop eating the bad foods you’re eating right now! Ward yourself away from processed, refined foods and sugary, non-nutritious ‘meals’ that so often stock the shelves at our local stores. This is also your chance to do some digging with your favorite brands and find out if that snack of yours is contributing to your poor feelings.
- Eat Whole – In replacement of these incomplete foods, start supplying yourself with whole, nutritious foods. Going organic is also the best choice, as the pesticides and chemicals found in artificial fertilizers may be contributing your poor health. Also, avoid GMO foods altogether. With the considerably controversy behind these foods, as well as the adamant stance of companies to not allow testing or labeling, GMO foods cannot be considered safe.
- Increase the Raw – Eating more raw food can also be your ticket to better health. As they say, if you cook it, you kill it. Raw foods are more nutritious, have fewer carcinogens, and can help you push out the toxins currently in your body.
- More Greens – Finally, eat more greens! Getting a few extra servings of fruits and veggies is probably something you need to do anyways, so take your detox as the first opportunity to really implement this change.
- Stretch it out – With simple stretches, you can improve your digestion system, circulation, and energy level. Take time everyday to sit down, relax, and stretch out the bad that has been building up.
Having a Healthy Body
The best part of following these principles is that you can continue to do this even after you’ve detoxed. This regimen is actually the perfect recipe for better sustained health all around. Having a healthy, whole body doesn’t have to be an extreme challenge that only the food gurus can overcome – make it simple and make it successful!
June 12, 2012 at 4:55 am
Thank you for this info. These are good tips, but I’m wondering if you might have some tips on how to break food addictions. Its like being addicted to crack!!! Well, I don’t really know that, because I’ve never done crack, but I’m just saying that food addictions are super difficult! My problem is that I run a new bakery (new this year). I work long hard hours and sometimes don’t leave the bakery at all from 7am-midnight on a busy day!!! I DO bake all organic baked goods, which is just the tiniest bit better, but right now my diet is consisting mostly of flour, butter and sugar! Ack! I do manage to eat a couple of my own free range chicken eggs for breakfast each morning, and sometimes a hardboiled egg or two in the evening, but I rarely have time for a sit down dinner, not even 10 minutes. I’ve tried munching on carrots and fruit and such because i have that stuff in the bakery, but I’ve gotten more and more addicted to the pastries and muffins and such. They call to me when I’m not even truly hungry. I’ve never been addicted to sugars in this way before, but I’ve heard about it. Its been about 3 months now since I started and I’ve gained about 25lbs! And here I am SUPPOSED to be portraying a HEALTHY image, being an all organic baker and what not!!!! UGH!!! What in the heck!!!??? Its soooooo hard to begin to break an addiction when your literally surrounded by that addiction ALL DAY long!!! I’ve told myself I’m not going to eat it anymore, and I’ll do fine for a few days… maybe even several, but then I’ll have a bad day, jump off the bandwagon and then its this super fast downward spiral because I’m so disappointed in myself that I feel like I don’t care anymore so I just keep eating the bad stuff. Its horrible. Its effecting me on all levels. My concentration is lacking, my thinking not as sharp, I feel horrible physically so don’t feel like being as active… its a vicious cycle. You’d think that all would be enough to make me stop eating what I know to be the problem!!!! Gosh, addictions are CRAZY!!! My only hope is that since this is relatively new in my life, that there is some HOPE???!!!!! I’m hoping you can provide some tips or ideas to help me break this addiction… I’ve put everything into this new business of mine and I HAVE to make a living at it at this point so not doing this business is not an option. (on a positive note – it IS doing WELL!!!!). I should be elated with my life right now, but I find myself spiraling into depression because of this addiction and weight gain. I also do not have the time to do yoga anymore (or the energy because of the sugar and weight gain!, but even if I did, time is an issue), which I think would help me, but I tell you its like being weighted down by the biggest weight I’ve ever felt. I can articulate and understand what is happening to me, but I feel like I’m not strong enough to do anything about it which is crazy because I am one of the strongest people you could probably ever know… I’ve just never dealt with such a TRUE ADDICTION before…. if you’ve never dealt with one, maybe you won’t be able to understand… but if you have, you will know exactly what I mean… and the best way to rid an addiction is often cold turkey…. easy if you aren’t literally surrounded by said addiction EVERY DAY ALL DAY…. I’m hoping to hear some magic solution! lol… or at least some really good tips.
THANK YOU!!!!
July 5, 2012 at 1:21 pm
Hi! Great Article~ I am going to share it! @ Kathy I have worked for a Alternative Medical Office for many years and one of their main focuses when a new patient comes in is detoxing. One main addiction we saw was to caffeine and sugar…most people put sugar in their coffee which makes it worse(ie caffeine is not good for us either, it stresses our adrenal glands to pump out energy) sugar helps to create an acidic environment in our body in which many problems can arise from. Candida is one of the main problems that stems from a acidic environment..it lives and feeds off sugar and creates havoc in the body, not only that it becomes systemic and continually makes our bodies crave more..you guessed it sugar in any form.
So my advice would be to start researching candida and cut off and back on sugar at least until you can get candida under control. So a detox would be a great start..also check into probiotics and Candex that helped both my boyfriend and I kick our candida quick! Hope this helps~
May 22, 2013 at 11:53 pm
Good day! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after looking at many of the articles I realized it’s new to me.
Anyhow, I’m certainly pleased I came across it and I’ll be
book-marking it and checking back often!
June 9, 2013 at 5:49 pm
Practiced for centuries by many cultures around the world — including ayurvedic and Chinese medicine systems — detoxification is about resting, cleaning and nourishing the body from the inside out. By removing and eliminating toxins, then feeding your body with healthy nutrients, detoxifying can help protect you from disease and renew your ability to maintain optimum health.^-’:
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