Do you know how to help your body deal with toxins? Have you been thinking about trying to detox? One of the biggest reasons that people look to detox involves toxins. We’re all exposed to toxins regularly, and your body can find it challenging to deal with them. Toxins can affect lots of aspects of your health and wellbeing. Toxins can also build up in your body and be stored in tissues and cells. Scary stuff, right? Detoxing your body is a great way to reduce your toxic burden and help your body function at its best.
Drink plenty of water
Water helps to flush waste products out of your body, so it’s super important from a detox perspective. Starting the day with a glass of warm water and lemon is an easy way to help your body detox. Then, sipping water through the rest of the day will support your body’s detox efforts.
Apple cider vinegar is another option if you want to mix things up or don’t enjoy the taste of lemon. It has antiseptic properties and can help to fight germs and other nasties.
Mix things up a bit with herbal teas. These also help you to stay hydrated and flush toxins. Some herbal teas are perfect for detoxing, especially nettle and dandelion.
Do you know one thing you don’t want to be drinking a lot? Alcohol. It’s a toxin, which makes your body work hard to break it down.
Load up on veggies (and fiber generally)
Vegetables are an excellent choice for detoxing, especially beets, kale, spinach, and cilantro. If you struggle to get plenty in your diet, try making a veggie smoothie or juice. Adding apple, carrot, and ginger helps to make it taste delicious – perfect even if you’re not a big fan of greens!
It’ll also aid your digestion and support regular bowel movements to remove waste products from your body. Good digestion is vital as toxins can build up in your digestive tract if you’re not eliminating them regularly. This can make you feel sluggish, tired, and generally not your best. Getting plenty of fiber means that everything moves through your system more quickly. Veggies and fruits aside, good fiber sources include beans, legumes, nuts, and whole grains.
A word of caution here: go organic as much as you can when picking veggies (and fruits!). This is particularly true for the “Dirty Dozen,” which are more likely to have pesticides and preservatives built up on them. If you’re not eating organic varieties of these, the toxins are passed onto you. The Dirty Dozen for 2018 included strawberries, spinach, nectarines, apples, grapes, peaches, cherries, pears, tomatoes, celery, potato, hot peppers, and sweet bell peppers. If your budget doesn’t stretch to buying organic across the board, prioritize these.
There is also a Clean Fifteen group, which has fewer pesticides on average. Avocado and sweet corn tops this group, and other fruits and veggies with low pesticide residue include pineapple, cantaloupe honeydew, papaya, asparagus, onions, cabbages, mangoes, eggplants, kiwi, cauliflower, and broccoli.
Cut back on sugar
Sugar is essentially a toxin, and as most of us eat far too much of it, it’s having a significant effect on health and wellbeing. So deciding to detox from sugar is a definite must-do when you’re looking to detox. It’s not easy, but you’ll likely feel much better!
Eating plenty of protein at breakfast is crucial to sugar detox. Non-starchy veggies are another significant move, along with healthy fats.
Reduce stress
When you’re stressed, your body isn’t working as efficiently as it could, and that’s not great news for detox. Being able to manage stress more effectively helps your body to get rid of toxins more efficiently.
Meditation, mindfulness, and journaling are just a few tactics that will help keep emotional toxins to a minimum.
Exercise regularly
Exercise helps to boost your circulation and support your lymph system. Working up a sweat helps to release toxins and is also a good move for better digestion.
Yoga can serve a dual purpose in your exercise routine as it aids meditation and relaxation, which is also essential for detoxing.
Making time to stretch throughout the day is also a great move. Stretching gets the blood moving and gives a quick and easy energy boost. Try to pull for around 5 minutes every hour, where possible.
Get plenty of sleep
A good night’s sleep is super important for helping your body reset itself, which extends to detoxing. Unfortunately, you’re also more likely to make poor food choices when you’re sleep-deprived, which can mean more toxins.
Try deep tissue massage.
Because toxins can build up in tissues, deep tissue massages can help to get rid of them. In addition, Swedish massage and sports massages target pressure points, which can release toxins.
Brush Your Skin
Gently brushing the skin helps to bring toxins out so that you can eliminate them. In addition, it boosts circulation and aids detoxification. Brushing your skin a couple of times per week is essential and very rewarding.