Detox your body is periodically cleansing your body of harmful toxins to stay healthy. “Detox” or detoxification is a popular way to cleanse your body. Some people do this routinely once or twice a year; some people may opt for detox after over-indulging during the festive season, for example, at Christmas.
Detox programs and plans have become immensely popular in recent years. Social media posts and lifestyle and wellness magazines are full of miracle detox plans. Some of these detox plans claim to aid in weight loss, improve digestion, boost the immune system, enhance energy levels, revitalize the skin, and restore physical and mental health.
The practice of detoxification is not new; it’s been around since ancient times and is part of the medical and spiritual traditions of several cultures around the world, including Greek, Roman, Native American, Indian, and tribal cultures.
Some ancient cultures used bloodletting or leeches to remove the toxins from the body, Native Americans used sweat lodges to engage in deep healing, and the tribals relied on fresh plants, flowers, and berries found in the forests for their cleansing regimes.
The ancient Indian medical system of Ayurveda also believed in cleansing the mind and body. Panchakarma, a cleansing practice of five natural methods of purgation or elimination, is popular even now.
The five procedures, namely, emesis, purgation, decoction enema, instillation of medicine through nostrils, and oil enema, help detoxify the body and restore its natural balance.
Most of these ancient cleansing procedures are still practiced, and they aim to detoxify the body and mind.
But what is detox exactly? Is it really essential? And how can you go about it? Let’s try to answer these questions.
What is detox?
Detoxification means cleansing your body from the inside out and giving it rest and nourishment. By flushing out the toxins or the harmful substances, then nourishing the body with healthy nutrients, detoxifying can help rejuvenate your body and restore your ability to maintain optimum health.
The process of detoxification mainly involves cleansing the blood by removing impurities from the blood. A detox diet encourages consumption of antioxidant-packed fruits and vegetables along with high-fiber foods like whole grains, nuts, and seeds.
Why do you need detoxification?
Due to poor dietary choices, stressful lifestyle, exposure to harmful chemicals, and several forms of pollution, several toxins tend to accumulate within the body. If these toxins stay in your body for long, they can cause immeasurable harm to your body.
These toxins can damage the immune system, reproductive system, digestive system; some harmful air pollutants can cause chronic pulmonary diseases, and some toxins can cause different forms of cancer.
Actually, your body has several natural processes for neutralizing and eliminating toxins from the body.
Organs like the liver, lower gastrointestinal tract, and kidney are capable of neutralizing and excreting waste and toxins from the body.
But these natural systems get compromised when your body continuously gets exposed to harmful substances like chemicals, pesticides, metals, and the processed foods and beverages so common in a typical western diet. Your body thus fails to eliminate toxins properly.
A detox plan helps remove these harmful substances present in the body and increases the absorption of vitamins and minerals, thereby improving your overall health.
A simple detox plan can optimize your natural detoxification system, give your body a break from harmful routines, and leave you feeling cleaner, slender, and rejuvenated.
So, you can see the benefits of a detox. But if you are not sure about the ways and means to detoxify your body, check out these eleven tips.
11 Effective Ways to Detox your body
1. Detox your kitchen
The first step towards complete cleansing is improving your eating habits. For it to happen, you should get rid of all the processed and junk food from your kitchen.
Toss aside refined carbohydrates like cookies and cake, fried foods and heavy oils, candies, chips, and canned foods. Stock your fridge with fresh fruits and vegetables; make sure you get plenty of natural and local produce.
2. Eat healthy
After getting rid of artificial and processed food from your kitchen, load up on healthy foods. Make a diet plan that incorporates healthy as well as filling foods.
Focus on eating greens, phytochemical-rich, antioxidant-rich, fiber-rich, and anti-inflammatory foods. Lessen your sugar intake, drink green tea, avoid packaged juices, and decrease your salt intake. Include probiotics and prebiotics in your diet to improve your gut health.
3. Try fasting
Fasting is an excellent way to detoxify your body. It gives a good rest to your organs, particularly your overworked digestive system.
Fasting from time to time can help cleanse your body from unwanted toxic substances and prepare it for a healthier diet by reducing your appetite. But fasting doesn’t mean you have to starve. Look for a diet plan that allows you to consume fruits and light vegetables.
Studies show that short-term fasting (1-3 days of fasting) may improve a few disease markers in some people, including improved leptin and insulin sensitivity.
4. Hydrate
Staying hydrated is critical to the success of any diet. Water helps your body to flush the toxins. Drinking plenty of water leads to more toxins getting excreted from the body.
Add a squeeze of lemon to a glass of warm water. This wonderful combination is an effective body detox. Keep seeping water throughout the day – carry a water bottle with you everywhere you go.
5. Limit alcohol
Your body metabolizes and expels alcohol through your liver. Excessive alcohol can damage the liver by causing inflammation and fat buildup.
Due to this, your liver cannot perform its routine task of filtering waste and other toxins from your body. Therefore, limiting your alcohol intake is advisable.
6. Exercise
Regular exercise is associated with a reduced risk of several diseases and conditions. Simply speaking, regular exercise leads to a healthier and longer life.
Exercising improves blood circulation and makes you sweat. Sweating helps you detox by expelling toxins through sweat. It makes you feel happier, lighter, and more energized. Exercises such as brisk walking, yoga, or jumping rope are recommended.
7. Go to the sauna
Taking a steam bath is another way to sweat. Your body eliminates waste through sweat when you take a steam bath.
The more you sweat, the cleaner your body becomes. Steam relaxes your skin and revitalizes it. Going to a sauna and sweating it out can leave you refreshed and revived.
8. Get proper sleep
A proper good night’s sleep is crucial for good health. Stick to a standard bedtime routine to ensure -that you get at least 7-8 hours of sleep.
Adequate and quality sleep will help reduce stress and inflammation and reenergize your body. Not only that, but nightly sleep also removes toxic waste products that have accumulated throughout the day.
9. Supplement your natural detoxification
Use organic supplements to support your body’s natural detoxification efforts. Although you will be eating nutrient-dense whole foods, drinking plenty of water, getting plenty of sunshine, and doing regular exercise as part of your detox plan, sometimes it might not be enough.
You can get extra detox help from natural cleansers like milk thistle, diatomaceous earth, French oak extract, and activated charcoal.
These supplements will help your body detox naturally and optimize liver function without the harmful side effects of artificial ingredients.
10. Detox your life
Digital detox is the first step in detoxing your life. Digital detox refers to a period of time during which a person abstains from using electronic gadgets and devices.
The digital world has become part of our everyday life. Wherever we are, the virtual world is nearby. We are constantly immersed in our smartphones, tablets, laptops, and computers.
It won’t be wrong to say that we have become addicted to technology. However, like any other addiction, this addiction also has several harmful effects. Several studies have found that tech addiction is linked to depression and anxiety.
Technology use contributes to stress, encourages sedentary behavior, and reduces real-world activities. The blue light emitted from mobile devices and computer screens can disrupt sleep.
Clearly, a digital detox can work wonders for your mind and body. Unplug yourself, stay away from gadgets and instead have real-world interactions.
Meet your friends, spend time with your family, and go for nature walks to detox your life.
11. Keep it short and simple
Many detox plans advocate some drastic lifestyle changes that aren’t exactly good for your body or overall health.
These plans often involve extreme fasting and restrictive eating, and they usually lack a scientific approach. Stay away from any detox or cleanse that is extreme and sounds like marketing myths.
Follow a sensible plan that encourages you to eat healthy and make a long-lasting impact on your health and wellbeing.
Choose a type of detox diet that suits you the best. Before starting, consult your nutritionist or doctor. Ensure that the diet you wish to follow will not cause any detrimental effects on your health.
Conclusion
Detox diets are widely popular. With the media and celebrities endorsing it, people are lapping it up eagerly.
Detoxification involves getting rid of harmful substances (toxins) from the body to boost health and wellness.
Our body has systems in place to flush out the toxins naturally. However, our altered eating habits (excess consumption of processed and junk foods) and stressful lifestyle means that our body needs help to flush out these contaminants.
Here we have highlighted eleven effective ways to detox your body. We hope that these tips will help you to detox and achieve optimal health.
