More About Detox

Detoxing your body of harmful chemicals and years of built-up toxins is imperative for a healthy and happy body. The human body has a built-in detoxification process, but today, it is rarely enough.

Between the chemicals and processed foods that we ingest daily to the pollutants steadily building around us, our bodies, often aren’t able to keep up. This backup can cause severe issues with our health, both mind, and body.

When we are filled with unnatural toxins, our bodies are continually trying to fight them. We are in a constant healing mode, which can lead to sluggish and exhaustive bodies. These toxins can also affect our mental health.

Exercise and all-natural diets have shown to help reduce the symptoms of anxiety and depression. Clearing the toxic waste from our bodies enhances that effect, giving our bodies the ability to produce the chemicals we need for positive and healthy mental health.

Detoxes are essential, but also need to be achieved through safe and healthy means. We are all unique, and the route you take to detox is personal to you. Make sure you check with your physician before undergoing any detox program and follow the guidelines set out by your doctor and the plan you choose to follow.

Don’t be fooled, detoxes and cleanses don’t immediately make you feel fantastic. You will go through the initial period of detox and possibly feel even worse than before you began. This is a natural thing.

Doctor Mark Hyman with EcoWatch puts it perfectly: “You might not want to hear this, but initially feeling bad is a good thing. When you eliminate inflammatory, processed foods and stop feeding your body garbage and chemicals, your body goes through withdrawal just like with drugs or alcohol. It is good be- cause it means you are on your way to getting clean!” Sounds great, until you are knee-deep in it. One of the biggest reasons people quit their detox before they even start to heal their bodies, is due to the sluggish, draining feeling during the beginning of a detox. But there are things you can do to combat this.

1. Ease your body into accepting those healthy foods, and allow it to begin cleansing you of the built-up toxins.

2. Don’t give in to cravings. Detoxing from refined sugars and carbs can quickly bring on incredibly intense cravings. Instead of giving up and indulging, try eating healthy fats to satiate your body. Things like nuts, seeds, fatty fish, and avocados are great fill-ins. Your mind still might tell you differently, but you’ll be better able to fight that off if your body is full of healthy foods.

3. Again, drink lots of water. Water helps the body get rid of those toxins.

4. Easy exercise and stretching, which we will cover later in this report, will also help with toxin release and soothing of achy muscles and joints.

5. If you experience constipation, and you are meeting your water intake goals, try a bit of flaxseed. Put it on your salad, in your smoothie, or cook with it.

6. Magnesium Citrate helps with toxin release, stress, pain, and can help you sleep. Doctors recommend around 400 mg, but you can take more to help with constipation. Always check with your doctor if you are taking other medications.

7. Sleep is critical. Our body’s natural detoxification occurs during sleep. Not getting enough sleep stops that process in its tracks. If you struggle to sleep 8 hours, try adding in naps throughout the day or evening.

8. Watch your blood sugar. You don’t want to wait until you are so hungry you have little control over your cravings. Try eating a high protein-based snack every three or four hours. Fish, legumes, and almonds are great fillers.

Just remember that whether its exhaustion, mood shifts, or withdrawals, these symptoms will pass and usually after two to three days. So, hang in there, because you will soon begin to feel so much better.

Hunger seems to be one of the biggest struggles during detoxing, and it’s not just physical desire. The mental changes that occur when switching from toxic foods to healthy ones can be difficult. As mentioned before, if you are truly hungry, snack on high-fat foods such as nuts and legumes. If you’re physically satiated, but withdraws have your mental status struggling with cravings, try some of the following activities to help stave off that psychological hunger.

Take a bath. Indulge in a warm bath surrounded by candles, light music, and relaxation. Practice mindfulness to help you understand exactly what type of hunger you are experiencing. This will help you pin- point the best way to tackle it.

Clean. Naturally, a cluttered or dirty space makes us anxious. Try cleaning and organizing your home to help reduce the amount of anxiety you are experiencing.

Relax at home. We usually have regular routines like shopping and social activities with friends. During your detox, try staying home and relax. This will help keep you from situations where you may be tempted to eat unhealthy foods or ingest alcohol.

Try not to smoke. Smoking not only introduces thousands of toxins into the body, but it also raises your blood pressure. That blood pressure rise will increase your anxiety and mental acuity. If you are a heavy smoker, it’s not recommended you quick smoking cold turkey at the same time as a detox, but try to reduce as much as you can.

The most important thing is to understand your body and mind and know what you need to help get through the cravings and anxiety. It won’t last forever.

You have just undergone an incredible journey with your body. You have enabled and assisted your body in the process of ridding itself of the dangerous toxins it had been carrying around.

At the end of your cleanse, you should do take steps to ease your body back into a regular routine. Take this time to change your eating habits. Instead of going back to processed foods, move into a more whole and holistic way of eating. If you go from detoxing to full meals without allowing your body to adjust, you will get sick. Everything from nausea to diarrhea can occur. So, it’s best to ease yourself back in.

Here are some pointers to help with that transition:

The day after your cleanse ends, eat mostly vegetables, fruit, and nuts. Continue to drink water, and reduce your portion size from your before cleansing size.

Don’t include sugars, coffee, wheat, processed foods, or dairy.

Day Two starts to introduce starches and grains such as brown rice, nuts, beans, and extra-virgin olive oil or coconut oil for cooking.

Day Three is when you can reintroduce dairy if you want to.

Day Four is the day for meat, poultry, and/or fish.

Day Five, you should be able to incorporate other healthy foods and begin to normalize your eating habits. The main thing to take away from this is that you want to test what your body can handle.

Always listen to your body. Make sure if you have any questions or adverse side effects, you contact your doctor immediately.

Deciding to undergo the process of detoxing or cleansing is a fantastic way to help your body improve physically and mentally. We deal with so many toxins in our world that our human bodies haven’t had the chance to evolve to deal with them. Keeping toxins from your body can help reduce symptoms of arthritis, gastrointestinal issues, anxiety, depression, and many more.

Your health and safety is the most important thing to keep in mind when you are deciding on a detox program so it’s always best to consult your doctor prior to starting.