You may have heard a lot about detoxing or detox diets. In fact, many celebrities swear by detox diets to lose weight. However, detoxing provides many more benefits besides losing weight.
Eradicating toxins could be a key factor in restoring your body’s overall health. Detoxification has been known to help many people reach their health goals – even some that evaded them for years. Whether it’s weight loss, longevity, a higher level of wellness, or recovery from illness, removing toxins can help your body reclaim the balance it needs.
To be fully effective, a detox program has to address both internal and external toxins. An all-inclusive detox program must supply the appropriate nutrients to do this – and should contain nutrients explicitly to support the 2 most central detoxification organ systems, the liver and gastrointestinal tract. Granting there are additional ways to boost a detox, these should be the key modules of any detox.
Many alternative medical doctors and practitioners stress a natural, full body detox because a natural detox of ALL major organs is vital to retaining health. It is simple: you can down all the vitamins, herbs, and antioxidants, but you won’t see your health turn around if your colon is jam-packed with putrid fecal matter or if your liver can’t clean toxins out of your blood and execute its intended daily functions.
Although general juice fasting certainly delivers overall benefits, targeted detoxing takes advantage of certain herbs, nutraceuticals, or alternative health protocols to significantly quicken the process chiefly in regards to specific body systems and/or organs.
The joint juice fast with an organ-specific natural detox offers the most potent cleansing program for general health.
How Do I Decide What Kind Of Detox To Do?
This is an excellent question to ask, especially if cleanses are novel to you. There are many “off the shelf” cleanses that are available in stores. Some of these are comparatively good at moderately increasing waste output through the colon (often using herbs with a mild laxative effect), and/or the kidneys (through herbs with a diuretic effect). Many include bitters, other herbs, and nutrients that are anticipated to upkeep the liver’s detoxification functions.
These are some questions you should focus on when choosing the right detoxification program:
Consider the motives you have for detoxing and what you ultimately want to achieve from the process…
What is your aim in doing a detox?
“Why“? Why do you want to detox? Some potential reasons or goals may be:
To improve my health
To gain more energy
To eliminate my addiction to ________ (fill in the blank with your own food addiction. It might be sugar, white flour, caffeine, diet soda, etc…)
To lose weight
To reduce inflammation
To improve my complexion
To stop recurring Candida infections
To improve my immune function
Detoxification, when done carefully and properly, can also help lessen chronic pain, mend sleep and ease you into shedding unwanted weight.
Choose a program that fits your distinctive lifestyle…
Next, look at how the detox program is designed and see if it meets your benefit objectives. Consider how restraining you are ready and willing to be during a detox.
For instance if you are considering a raw detox you would want to be sure this is a realistic change you’d be able to make. Consider the planning time involved in shopping and preparing raw foods. Are you going to need to acquire special kitchen equipment? And if you are living in a colder climate this type of program might be easier to maintain during the warmer months of the year.
If you’re considering a juice or liquid based detox, will what you consume be satisfying and comprise of the right balance of nutrients for you?
Are you looking to change your lifestyle? Are you ready for that?
Some diets and detox programs just don’t function as expected in the real world. It’s very difficult to give up eating for several days and still feel up to standards. Ensure any detox program you choose is something that you can fit into your life. A two or three day detox/cleanse plan is often the greatest because you can cleanse on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. During the weekend you can take it easy, relax and manage your detox side effects. And detox programs that permit you to ease into them can be advantageous. Going cold turkey on any food or eating habit can be tremendously challenging. If you have trouble sticking to any type of diet, contemplate a detox program that allows you to ease into it by gradually reducing your bad food habits until you naturally stop missing them.
Detoxing can be a great way to attain a number of health benefits and goals. Be truthful with yourself about your goals and your lifestyle. Pick a safe program that will help you gain better health. And it’s always best to talk to your doctor about detoxing – it’s not true for everyone.
The dietary change question…
Just taking any kind of detox product without altering your diet is counter-productive to health. It simply makes no sense to even start a detox if you continue to eat the same way as before! Dietary changes are critical. What this means is that you should be removing un-supportive and non-food from your diet and adding invigorating, whole foods that support your health during the detox process.
How much time and effort are you willing to put into a detox program? Consider the duration of the detox program wisely….
Some detoxes assert you’ll only need 3 days, other 14 or 30 days. Determining which length is best for you is also part of what you want to achieve.
For example, if your goal is fast weight loss for a party you might be tempted to go for a brief 3 day program. We caution against these types of programs for a few reasons. First, is safety; because they are so short, this kind of detox presents innate dangers for most people. Our bodies are simply too bogged down with toxins to be able to handle forcing them through the liver so quickly. The vast majority of people simply do not do well on these short programs and many feel much worse than before they started. This kind of detox can even be dangerous.
If your aim is to shift to a healthier lifestyle and mend your digestion, increase energy and have less inflammation, you will need to be on a detox for 9 days, or 14 to 30 days.
Safety and Right Supplementation considerations…
Assessing the safety (and potential effectiveness) needs to be done by bearing in mind all of the above plus your current health status. If you possess a compromised immune system or are in an exceedingly stressed or otherwise weakened state of health doing a detox has the potential to be hazardous to your health.
Supportive supplements for both the liver and gall bladder are very essential whenever you are asking your body to eliminate toxins. Sustenance can come from herbs or specific nutrients or a combination of both.
When done correctly a detoxification program can help maintain good health by improving digestion and strengthening your immune system. If done inadequately, a detox can actually make an already weakened body worse. That’s why it is so important to choose your detox program wisely.
How does a multi-component detox sound to you?
This is where we perceive detoxing not just through nutrition and diet, but also through exercise and movement, heating therapies, herbs, physical activity, meditation, relationship, and routines.
When should I start a detox diet or cleanse?
Once it has been decided that a detox is the right thing for you, the next step is timing. Popular times to detox include after the holidays, after a vacation, or after other periods of overindulgence in items such as rich foods, alcohol, and party snacks. Springtime is also a popular time of year for a cleanse. What better time for a little spring cleaning?
Less suitable times for a cleanse include before a period of increased physical demand or emotional stress, soon after an illness, or at other times when the body is more susceptible to nutrient exhaustion, illness, or injury. If someone is feeling principally weak or unwell, we also recommend against detoxes until fundamental causes of these complaints are properly investigated.
Will I lose weight during a cleanse or detox?
People normally do lose weight during a cleanse. Much of this is due to a reduction in water retention that can occur once sugar, food intolerances, and extra carbohydrates are removed from the diet. This type of weight loss is especially noticeable around the face and tummy. When a cleanse is done correctly, the vast amount of toxins is removed from cells and tissues around the cells. You can expect to lose a considerable amount of weight. You can learn more about the role cleanses play in weight reduction here.
But even if there is not a significant loss of weight, it is common to notice a reduction in bloating and an improvement in the way clothes fit, especially around the middle.
What should I go with now: a Detox program or a Cleanse?
As well, if you are in search of a right detox and cleansing process, then initially it is crucial to know about the detox and cleanse processes in detail and what the difference is between them.
“Detox” and “Cleanse” are the two words which are most of the time used interchangeably. These may seem to be same for many of us but the fact is, these are both very different concepts and impact the body system by providing different results. Thus it becomes necessary for us to know more about both of these processes before trying them out. Read HERE
What is your current health state?
Anyone considering a detox diet should consult a qualified health professional and/or their medical doctor first. Pregnant or nursing women or children should not go on a detox diet. Persons with anemia, eating disorder, diabetes, kidney disease, thyroid disease, autoimmune disease, cancer, terminal illness, certain genetic diseases, and other chronic conditions shouldn’t try this diet or should do so only under the supervision of their primary care provider. It is not meant for alcohol or drug detoxification.
Have you done your research?
There are many— thousands, actually— detox programs to choose from. Some are safe. Some aren’t. Some are proven to work. Some are a bunch of nonsense. It’s important to make sure you’re electing a program that is:
Safe – Make sure it doesn’t ask you do take nor do anything that is chancy to your health. Detoxing is about improving your health, not taking risks with it.
Proven – Look for reviews, testimonials and endorsements by respected medical and health professionals.
Realistic – If a diet asks you to drink nothing but a laxative tea for ten days that’s simply not realistic. You’ll be cranky, irritable, stressed and probably unable to fast for ten days.
You also want to make sure the program backs your goals. It should be intended specifically for your needs.
Regardless of which detox programs you desire to use, (e.g. detox naturally, a home detox program, or you go to one of the many outstanding detox retreats), typically they use a mixture of methods and detox products to help rid the body of amassed toxic substances, repair any harm they may have done to your organs and help restore your wellbeing.
With lesser toxicity levels the body’s disease fighting competency is going to be reinforced, allowing it to deal better with new toxins as they inexorably enter the body.
As your body is cleansed, you can expect your digestive system to progress, nasal congestion to clear, blood pressure levels to stabilize, mental clarity and memory to improve, and emotional and hormonal fluctuations to return to normal. Cleansing can also boost the effectiveness of any other ensuing recuperative healing treatments.
Toxicity may be related to many health concerns.
Proper assessment is important to optimize your health.
You can use this QUESTIONNAIRE
You may also like:
12 Health Benefits Of Detoxing The Body
What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Toxicity?
Understanding Toxins and Toxicity
