We know how toxins have accumulated on our planet. We have become aware of how our food supply can be tainted with unnatural additives and we try to eat organic and natural foods. It’s not just about diet or any one thing, but many things. It’s also about what you’re putting on your body and how you care for your home. The fewer chemicals you have on and around you, the better you can detox your body and home.
And this also helps your brain. So if you focus on detoxing your entire body, you’re also helping your brain.
Toxins are from natural plants and animals. Things that contain poisons to help them protect themselves from their predators.
Poisons are often man-made. Chemicals. If you look at it that way, many of the products we use to clean our homes are poisons. Even our personal care products and makeup have chemicals in them
For the purposes of this discussion, I’ll just refer to all of them as toxins.
Related Article: Detox Your Brain Naturally
Really, the best way to detox is remove toxins from our bodies but also not add more to it. And let our bodies natural detox system work better. Our lymphatic system, gut, liver, lungs and kidneys are a natural detox system. There are ways to help them work better. Let’s talk about it.
Water
Drink plenty of water. It is recommended to drink about two quarts of water per day. This helps flush toxins out of your body. It just makes sense, right? You can add lemon to your water for a refreshing twist. The jury is out on whether lemon water is really a good detox agent. Some scientists say that just plain water will do the trick (Heitz and Abate, 2018).
Exercise
Exercise is a big one. And according to Chau Nguyen (2018), it’s not just about sweating. Exercise helps to:
- Clear the lungs
- Open up the sweat glands
- Help blood and lymph flow, helping our organs clear out toxins
- Jump-start the kidneys
- Improve digestion and bowel movement
Yoga is a great way to help your body detox. There are poses designed to help stimulate your organs.
You might also check out my article on low impact exercise equipment > Best Low Impact Exercise Equipment
Diet
I think most people are familiar with organic and natural food sources and realize it’s a healthier option than processed, highly refined foods. They are! But the standard fruits and vegetables we buy in the grocery store, if not organic, are often genetically modified to look better, taste sweeter and be more attractive to us consumers (Franco, Navarro, and Martinez-Pinilla, 2019).They can be modified to have more sucrose in them as well. And they may not have some of the fiber and phytochemicals that are important for our health.
We should really start thinking of sugar as a toxin as well. Not only does it stress our body and insulin/glucose balance, but even fructose causes fatty liver, insulin resistance and dyslipidemia, a disorder that causes total cholesterol to be high, bad cholesterol to be high and good cholesterol to be low. Moderation is the key here.
On the topic of diet and sugar, gluten should also be considered a toxin. The wheat we consume today is nothing like the wheat of 10,000 years ago when we first started cultivating it. It’s been so genetically modified that our bodies can’t even handle it anymore.
And I don’t mean just celiac disease. I mean for everyone. Dr David Perlmutter, a world-renowned neurologist, wrote a book called Grain Brain. He explains why gluten is bad for our bodies and brains. It’s a good read and an important one. And it’s actually not hard to reduce or eliminate gluten from your diet.
Related Article: Does Gluten Cause inflammation? The Good and Bad News
Gluten turns into sugar in your body. And it causes leaky gut, allowing food and bacteria into your blood stream. It’s a huge problem for your natural detox systems and can cause chronic inflammation. Inflammation is a big cause of many chronic illnesses. And that brings us to…
Sleep
Sleep is one of the best ways to detox your body. And especially your brain. Sleep turns on your cleaning systems. It turns on the ‘glymphatic system’ in the brain so the brain can detox. But it’s similar in the rest of the body too. It even helps your gut function better. Read the related article for some great tips on sleep.
Related Article: Sleep – Tips To Help You Get To Sleep
Short Fast
It’s really easy to have a short fast for 12-16 hours. Just simply don’t eat after your evening meal and then have a healthy late breakfast. This resets your system and gives your gut a little break. It also resets your appetite, helping to not overeat. You know how the more you eat, the hungrier you seem to be.
Probiotics
The gut is a huge player in your body’s natural defense system. Obviously, that’s a big part of how the body gets rid of those toxins and waste. So it pays to do everything possible to keep it working well. Probiotics help add back the good gut bacteria that allows it to do its job. And they help eliminate bad bacteria. For more on this, read What Is the Gut and Brain Connection?
Personal Care and Cleaning
I found a few companies that have really good natural products from makeup to cleaning products. I use their products. Detox Market has some wonderful organic makeup, skin care and home cleaning products. I’ve been very pleased with the shopping experience and products. I don’t mind sharing them with you.
Ecooking is another discovery I found not long ago. No, it’s not about cooking. It’s about a chemist who started making skin care products in her kitchen for family and friends. And it caught on. I love how honest these products are. Guys, there are products for you too! And they offer free shipping from Denmark! Check it out today.
And remember, the keys to disinfecting right now are to clean a surface or item first, then disinfect. Hydrogen Peroxide or alcohol solutions (at least 70% alcohol) are a great way to disinfect without adding a lot of chemicals into your home. The CDC states that both kill the novel coronavirus.
Where We Are Now
So you’ve learned some ways to detox your body and home through drinking plenty of water, exercise, diet, sleep, probiotics and also some products that don’t add additional chemicals into your body and home.
I hope you found this helpful in promoting your health and well-being. If you have any comments or questions, please leave them in the Comments section below. Thank you for reading!
Resources:
Franco R, Navarro G, Martínez-Pinilla E. Hormetic and mitochondria-Related Mechanisms of antioxidant Action of Phytochemicals. Antioxidants (Basel). 2019;8(9):373. Published 2019 Sep 4. doi:10.3390/antiox8090373
Heitz, D. and Abate, C. (2018). The Truth About the Lemon Water Detox. Retrieved May 31, 2020 from Healthline.com. https://www.healthline.com/health/lemon-water-detox-the-truth
Nguyen, C. (2018). 4 Best Exercises for Detoxification. Retrieved May 31, 2020 from https://thedetoxspecialist.com/blog/4-best-exercises-for-detoxification/
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How are you Paula? I want to thank you for the educative post here. I am just stepping foot in this whole detox thing and I am trying to gather as much information as possible. Your post was really helpful in helping me understand more about detoxing and I will be giving a go most of your tips to see how they will benefit me. I also think I will come back to learn more about this topic. You seem to have a lot of knowledge on the topic under your belt. 🙂
Thanks, Dave. Thanks so much for reading and stopping by. I’m glad you learned some things. It’s an important subject.
Hello there, This is an amazing article that you have got here. I didn’t know that sleep helps with detox. It’s not just that he got all of it but it’s good to know there is always a way to take care of this. I learned a lot here.
Thanks for sharing this with me.
Thanks for visiting and reading today. Thank you!
Hi Paula,
This is a very informative article! I’ve read it with great interest.
I liked the information about gluten and the book: Grain Brain. It was just the kind of book I was looking for.
Thanks so much!
Thanks for reading and commenting, Petra. Yes, I think you’ll enjoy the book and learning about gluten. It’s definitely a great way to help detox.