Detox diets and juice cleanses are commonly advertised on social media platforms. These diets and cleanses have promised excessive weight loss leading to a new, sexier looking you.
Some of those juice cleanses and detox diets out there set you up for failure because you’re starving your body of essential nutrients that you need for proper functioning. Most of all these fad diets leave you hungry and humans are built to eat.
It’s okay to detox. You should actually consider doing it as a routine lifestyle change. From the air we breathe, to the food we eat, and even the cleaning and beauty supplies we use, it’s quite impossible to avoid toxins.
Why You Should Detox
Why should you be worried about toxins? Toxins can wreak havoc on your body’s health and immune system leading to:
- Imbalanced hormones
- Cancer
- Weight gain or obesity
- Decreased fertility
- Neurological effects such as Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease
- Low energy levels
The good thing about the human body is that it has a natural detoxification process which normally rids your body of these toxins. If your toxic burden becomes too much, it can damage the function of certain organs such as your brain, lungs, kidney, liver and blood composition ultimately affecting your natural detoxification process.
Your liver and kidney are the main organs in which toxins get filtered and eliminated from your body and bloodstream. Your bowel and urinary tract are how the toxins are eliminated from your body.
5 Natural and Healthy Detox Methods
Whether you’re trying to detox for weight loss, to have better-looking skin, boost your energy, or rid your body of environmental toxins, there’s a natural and healthy way to do it. Try these 5 natural and healthy detox methods to support your body’s detoxification process.
1. Boost Glutathione Levels
The most powerful and most important antioxidant in your body, glutathione, is necessary for every cell and biochemical reaction in your cells. Glutathione concentrations are found to be 7-10 times higher in liver cells, which show why it’s so important in detoxification. It helps neutralize toxins in your body to reduce your toxic burden.
Because of our everyday stress of environmental toxins, you can easily become deficient in glutathione. To naturally boost this magic antioxidant try eating or drinking the following:
- Milk thistle
- Whey protein powder
- N-acetyl cysteine (NAC)
- Sulfur-rich foods (cruciferous vegetables)
- Foods rich in vitamins B6, B9, B12
- Food rich in vitamins C and E
- Vitamin D foods and sunshine
Glutathione is also available as a supplement.
2. Calcium-D-Glucarate for Liver Detox
Another major antioxidant essential for detoxing your body from toxins is calcium D-glucarate. Calcium D-glucarate converts to glucaric acid in your body to promote detoxification and helps protect your cells from carcinogens to prevent multiple cancers.
It’s easy to eat foods rich in calcium D-glucarate such as broccoli, cabbage, kale, apples and grapefruit, or you can supplement with calcium D-glucarate.
3. Cryotherapy and Infrared Sauna Therapy
Dating back for centuries, our ancestors used heat and cold therapy for healing. Recently we’ve improved the technology of cold therapy with cryotherapy and heat therapy with infrared saunas. Both of these have different benefits but essentially help rid your body of all the environmental intruders we have assaulting us daily.
Cold therapy with cryotherapy stimulates the cells sending them into a fight-or-flight response which releases anti-inflammatory proteins and antioxidants. Like exercise, heat therapy with infrared saunas helps you sweat out toxic metals such as mercury, arsenic, cadmium and lead.
4. Eliminate Environmental Toxins
Whatever you’re putting in or on your body affects your toxic burden—food, alcohol, beauty products, water. Try to aim for organic foods and drinks and limit your alcohol consumption.
