Did you know if you live in a big city you are bombarded with more than 2million different types of toxins every day?
From polluted air to the water in our taps, we are in constant contact with toxins that attack our body on a regular basis.
Many of the toxins build up in your body and wreak havoc until they are removed. A large amount of energy is required to rid yourself of these toxins and therefore your body is constantly pulling resources from elsewhere to combat them.
Negative emotions can also cause the body to over-produce stress hormones & other compounds to fight these conditions. This is dangerous because the body can damage itself in the process.
However, our body is designed to detox naturally.
In fact, the human body defends itself very well against most pollutants and occasional overindulgences. This means most of us don’t need to go on crazy tonics, flushes, or extreme “lemonade only” diets certain skinny models like to rave about on their Instagram accounts.
Unfortunately, there are countless detox diets being marketed even though studies have shown that fasting and extremely low calorie intake — common elements of detox diets — cause a slowdown of metabolism and an increase in weight gain after the dieter returns to normal eating.
Of course we do have a massive amount of toxins in our world today that previous generations never had to deal with. So while I don’t support most extreme detox practices, the truth is that sometimes our body could use a little help.
Now that you understand what happens to your body every day, what can you do to help your body naturally detox?
Healthy living is a matter of eating a green, organic diet and having a toxin free environment. When you consider how long you could live, don't you want to be at your healthiest?
The first step to detox your body is to ensure that you are not overburdening your body with toxins.
Removing processed foods, GMOs, pesticide-laden foods and toxic products from your home is the best way to ensure your body stays healthy and can do its job.
Thousands of 'diets' claim they can pave the way to a miraculous detoxification, but truthfully there is only really one successful way to detox your body naturally:
Add naturally detoxing foods to your (real foods) eating habits
You will never see me promoting crazy fasts or fad-diets to detox your body, it's not the way!
Adding foods however, that naturally detox can be extremely beneficial. Here are just a few of the best detoxing foods in my opinion:
Citric fruits
In particular, things like oranges, lemons, and limes aid the body in flushing out toxins and jump starting the digestive tract with enzymatic processes. Lemon juice aids the liver in its cleansing processes.
Start each morning with a warm glass of lemon water and a pinch of salt. Some of my best body transformations occurred when clients adapted this simple habit first thing in the morning
Vegetables
Green plants will help give a chlorophyll boost to your digestive tract and are very cleansing to your system. Other foods like: Onions, carrots, artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, kale, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, beetroots, turmeric, and oregano are great to help cleanse the body. These are high in naturally occurring sulphur and glutathione. Sulphur helps the liver detox harmful chemicals. It’s important to add raw veggies to your diet, as the digestive enzymes are very beneficial to the natural detox process.
Garlic
This little food is one of the best detoxing foods there is. It helps stimulate the liver into producing detoxification enzymes that help filter toxic residues from the digestive system.
Fruits
High in liquid-content, fruits help the body wash out toxins. They are also very easy to digest and full of nutrients, an added bonus in the detox process.
Meditation
Meditation is connecting to the wisdom within. When you meditate, you cultivate the ability to be tuned-in all day long to your body’s messages, helping you make healthy choices moment-to-moment.
The choices you make about what to think, what to eat, when to take breaks, and whom to spend time with, all affect your physical and mental health immediately and significantly.
While in meditation, you receive direct feedback about how you are feeling and what you need. To achieve the best practice when meditating try:
· focusing on a physical action (usually your breathing)
· observing thoughts and the sensations of the body, without getting caught up in resistance to the experience or misinterpreting emotions; engaging compassionate awareness
· gently returning your awareness to the focal point (usually the breath) anytime the mind wanders
· incorporating restorative, relaxation techniques, mantras, and visualizations to spur on the natural processes of deep healing, at the cellular level
Over time, you create new neural pathways in the brain, making it easier to access healing states of rest, restoration, and bliss.
Breathe
Oxygen is pivotal to the body’s process of absorbing vitamins and nutrients. Deep breathing allows you to absorb these good things more efficiently. Deep breathing also super-charges your lymphatic system by increasing oxygen levels, and this naturally leads to detoxification of the body.
Even though breathing is an automatic process, most of us are under-utilizing this amazing built-in “detox your body naturally” system. Taking a few minutes throughout the day to focus on deep breathing is essential to good health.
Exercise
No brainer! Not only does exercise make you feel better, but it’s an easy way to help your body in its natural detoxification process.
Exercise promotes the detoxification process giving all systems of the body a boost. As you exercise, the blood circulates throughout the body, bringing nutrients to all the organs and muscles. As you do aerobic exercise you build up a sweat and toxins are released through the pores of the skin. It’s important to rinse off after heavy sweating to help rid the body of those toxins.
Part of living a healthy life is about finding joy in living. Going to extremes in diet, fitness, or detox practices strip us of the healthy life we are aiming for. So if you want to detox your body, first start by giving it what it needs to do the job it was designed to do. Balance is key for a healthy living life.