I recently gave a workshop on the elements of detoxifying for better health and wellness. Here are some of the highlights.
Detoxification is a natural part of your body’s activities. Supporting the different pathways can achieve increased well being by safely removing toxins from the body.
The goal of detoxifying is four-fold:
- Remove the toxins
- Repair the cells
- Revitalize those cells
- Reintroduce new, healthier choices
There is no secret to detoxifying. It’s a process of eliminating the irritants and stressors that the body encounters or has stored. Irritants can be a variety of foods, for example wheat, soy, corn, dairy, chocolate, eggs, nuts, citrus or nightshade vegetables (potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant).
Stessors might be caffeine, lack of movement, not enough sleep, high-stress situations, impinged nerves, inflammation, etc.
An elimination diet will remove the possible irritating foods, allow the body to heal, and then with good food choices the cells will become healthy and revitalized. After a few weeks on an elimination diet, slowly add back the foods that have been eliminated to see which ones were causing any reactivity.
By doing this in a methodical way inflammation can be eliminated from various areas of the body, especially the entire intestinal tract. This will allow better absorption of nutrients from foods and additional healing will take place. Stressors may also be decreased as sleep improves, more movement is added, and caffeine is eliminated. Consider adding in a visit to a chiropractor, massage therapist or other wellness practitioners.
What are the pathways of elimination? There are seven and they all respond to a detoxification program.
- Liver – eliminate harmful substances and support with nutrients that aide detoxification such as milk thistle and sulfur compounds from garlic, for example
- Lungs – avoid high traffic areas whenever possible, use air filters if necessary and practice deep breathing exercises to clear the lungs
- Skin – eliminate harsh chemicals on your skin, unnatural ingredients that are absorbed through the skin and may clog pores. Support with skin brushing, salt scrubs and naturally derived skincare products
- Kidneys – eliminate dehydrating beverages such as soda pop, fruit juice, caffeine drinks, alcohol and instead drink plenty of pure, clean filtered water or tested and approved well water
- Bowel – remove foods that might irritate the lining of the bowel. The most common are listed above. Replace with plenty of dark green leafy vegetables, grass-fed protein sources if you eat meat, organic foods whenever possible and try some aloe vera juice if you have severely irritated bowels
- Blood – keep the blood from becoming overloaded with sugar and then insulin by regulating the amount that you eat. Instead of reaching for a sugary snack take a walk. Blood circulation will improve the detoxifying effects of the other organs of elimination
- Lymphatic – move more, since the lymphatic system does not have valves and relies on muscle movements to circulate throughout the body. Also use skin brushing and lymphatic massage
Next post I will expand on some dependable detox methods to use to enhance your body’s natural elimination pathways.
Great article Sandi. I see several areas I want to “clean up”. What do you suggest for cleansing the liver?
Thanks for the question Pamela. Many people want to detoxify their liver. I suggest gentle herbal and nutritional support such as:
Milk thistle, dandelion, garlic, lemon, ginger, burdock root,artichoke, cilantro and even asparagus.
Didn’t think about the lymphatic system needing movement to help it, I have been sitting a lot. Will get up and move!
I know, right? If we don’t move, the lymph doesn’t move, which leads to all sorts of problems. Walking and strength training, or in our case this time of year, wood chopping, are all great ways to get the lymphatic system to do it’s job of picking up cellular debris and moving it out of the body.