General Detoxification

I am often asked by clients and people I meet every day if I think detoxification programs and diets are necessary for improving overall health and my answer is yes. Your body naturally detoxifies itself every day through your digestive tract, liver and immune system but it can become overloaded with toxins and therefore unable to complete the process. 

It can be difficult as a consumer when there are so many, seemingly convenient “detox in a box” options out there, to know what really is the best for them. Everyone is bio-chemically different and using a one size fits all detox kit isn’t always the right choice. There are different levels to detoxification and I believe it is important to start out slowly so as to not overwhelm the body systems. 

Some Signs of Toxicity

·         Fatigue

·         Body odor

·         Constipation

·         Skin problems

·         Headaches

·         Depression

·         Infections

·         Weight gain/loss

·         Mucous/congestion

·         Gas/bloating

·         Allergies/sensitivities

·         And many more…….

Exogenous Toxins: Coming from outside of our bodies. Ex. Air pollution, drugs, pesticides (which kill life), preservatives, artificial sweeteners, artificial food colouring, cosmetics, alcohol, poor quality oils, smoking, tap water, paints, mouth fillings, perfumes, Teflon cookware, etc.

Endogenous Toxins: Created inside the body. Ex. Our own metabolism, improper food combining, overeating, constipation (reabsorbing toxins), parasites, fungus, etc.

Detoxifying:

The first thing to do when starting to detoxify is to reduce the amount of toxins you exposed to. Clean up the diet, consume organic fruits and vegetables as much as possible, and avoid congesting, inflammatory foods.

The second thing is to improve your body’s ability to detoxify itself with the use of nutrients and superfoods. 

Anything that supports our elimination will assist us in detoxifying, such as: drinking more water, eating more fruits and vegetables, and eating less meat and dairy products, which create congestion. There are many levels of detox from simple everyday changes to complete fasting. Dietary changes is the most gentle way to detox and cleanse.

These are the different levels of general dietary detoxification:

1.      General Detox Diet- Whole foods, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts/seeds and legumes (Nothing processed or refined).

2.     General Detox Diet Level 2- 80% vegetables (raw or steamed) and fruit, 20% gluten free grains (quinoa, brown rice, buckwheat, and amaranth), legumes, sprouts, nuts and seeds. With fresh juices and superfoods.                  

3.      Raw foods (100%) - 80% raw fruits and vegetables, 20% nuts/seeds and sprouts.

4.      Juice Fast- raw fruits and vegetables juiced through a good juicer. Can also boil veggies softly for 2-3 hrs, strain out veggies and drink to help with grounding. Herbal teas are also great for grounding as well.

5.      Water Fast- This is the most difficult fast to take on that is why it is a good idea to work yourself up to it by following the diets above first. I do not recommend this for everyone.

Fasting Setting: set aside as much time as possible for the fast, slow life down. Meditate and simplify life.

The Hering's Law of Cure states that there is an order in which the body will heal itself, so it is important to take that into consideration when detoxifying.

The Law states that healing should go:

·         From the most important organ to the least

·         From within-outwards

·         From above to downward

·         Symptoms of a chronic disease disappear in a definite order, going in reverse and taking about one month for every year the symptoms have been present.

The body can do some very weird things when detoxifying, some may experience a bowel purging, some may get headaches and others may go through an emotionally purging, dealing with long buried issues and problems. Often the symptoms experienced will get worse before they get better.  

Some Signs and Symptoms of Detoxification:

·         Headaches

·         Body odor

·         Skin eruptions

·         Abdominal “distress”

·         Fatigue/weakness

·         Fever

·         Return of previously experienced symptoms

·         Coated tongue

·         Dark urine

·         Also, an Emotional detox- need grounding activities to help get through it. 

After completing a detox you will experience a boost in energy levels, improved digestion, better sleep patterns, less water retention, fewer aches and pains and less infections.

It is important to talk to a professional before starting a detox program so that you know what would work best for you and to not overwhelm your body systems from something too aggressive. Detoxing should improve the bodily functions and not overwhelm. 

For more information about detoxification programs and nutritional consultations provided by Michelle contact The Lakeside Clinic in Barrie Ontario by email, info@thelakesideclinic.com or by phone 705-726-0923.