Going on a detox can restore your body’s balance and flush out toxins, but sometimes detox diets can be unsafe. If the ones you’ve tried in the past have made you feel sick, you’ve been doing the detox wrong. There are more natural detox tips to choose that will boost your health and make you feel great.
Eat Detoxifying Foods
Some foods are natural detoxifiers. Adding these to your diet encourages the body to eliminate toxins on its own, bearing in mind that organs such as our kidneys and livers are designed to clean our bodies. Detox foods include cruciferous vegetables (such as broccoli and cauliflower). Since they contain high amounts of fibre, these veggies help waste move through your body more efficiently. Citrus foods also boast detox prowess: their Vitamin C content helps to produce a compound called glutathione, which detoxes the liver.
Brush Your Skin
You can help your body detox by dry brushing your skin. It makes sense since the skin is the body’s largest organ and it achieves up to 15 per cent of your body’s toxin elimination. When you dry brush your skin you boost your body’s circulation and lymphatic system, which rids the body of waste items. The bonus is that better blood circulation will also make your skin look healthier.
Sweat it out
Working up a sweat is a great way to clean your body. Studies have found that many toxic substances can be released from the body through sweat. Amazingly, this can even be the case for BPA, the petrochemical that is found in plastic, as well as heavy metals. Research has found that sweat can contain greater quantities of arsenic and mercury than what is found in blood! Besides for getting that gym session in, you can also sweat out your body’s toxins by heading to the sauna regularly.
Cleanse with a Clean Diet
Health expert Samantha Heller has written a book called ‘The Only Cleanse: A 14-day Natural Detox Plan to Jump-Start a Lifetime of Health’ that features advice on how to cleanse your body for two weeks with vegan, unprocessed foods. By skipping animal products, you decrease your risk of illnesses such as cancer and heart disease, while being more eco-friendly. Anything that’s highly processed is also off the table, including artificial sweeteners. By giving foods with lots of ingredients a skip in favour of simple, clean ones, your body is able to produce loads more energy.
The focus of natural detoxes is to eat a cleaner, healthier diet so that you can feel better, glow and avoid illness. Think of it as spring-cleaning your body! Best of all, what’s healthy also feels good.
Image credit: Syda Productions / Dollar Photo Club
