Detox your System – A Beginner’s Guide

Detoxification – it happens all the time in our body, no matter if we are going through our day as always or started a juice cleanse a few days ago. It basically means to remove useless or harmful substances from our system to give space for natural healing. In our modern life, our body has to face traffic exhaust, processed foods, toxins in our water, chemicals in our clothes, mental stress and more. Therefore our body can’t keep up with a proper detox of all these influences and gets overburdened. 

Principle of Self-Recovery

At the core of detoxification stands the principle of self-recovery. Our body has the innate ability to heal itself if we provide it with the proper environment. Arnold Ehret put down the equation of vitality = power – obstruction meaning that we simply need to remove any obstacles to naturally increase our vitality. Depending on our current eating habits, avoiding meat can already be a trigger for great detox. It gives the body time and energy to get rid of some of the excessive mucus, stored acids, harmful chemicals and hormones. On the other hand, when you are already following a whole food plant-based diet, including more raw fruits and veggies can be the key to increase your vitality even further. 

If we constantly allow more obstructions into our body through our diet, air, environment, water, thoughts,  we greatly reduce our ability to heal and regenerate. So, how can we tackle any health conditions? Detoxifying our body to eliminate the root causes of our ailments and to make room for natural healing. 

Detox channels in our body

There are many organs involved in detoxification. The most important ones are our digestive tract, liver, kidneys, lymphatic system, respiratory system and the skin. You might have seen some pimples showing up after eating a lot of junk food the other day. This is your body getting rid of excessive mucus by eliminating it through your skin – a classic detoxification process. 

Our lymphatic system is like the sewage system of our body. Its lymph fluid moves toxins as well as metabolic waste out of our body and is vital for keeping us healthy. Different than our heart, our lymph system doesn’t have a muscle as pump to circulate the lymph fluid. The NASA found out that rebounding is the most efficient way of moving our lymph. Nevertheless, we have endless other options like yoga, running, brisk walking and any other physical exercises. In addition, we can support our lymph system with hot-cold showers, dry brushing or with astringent foods like lemons.

Cleansing and detox with foods

Detox doesn’t have to be complicated and certainly doesn’t have to involve extensive juice cleanses or prolonged fasting. It can be part of our day-to-day life without being too much of a challenge. If you want to go into a deeper detoxification of your organs, take one step at a time. The simplest start would be to begin eliminating foods that hinder a proper detoxification or further burden your body. Take a look at the list below by Anthony William (Medical Medium), pick one that still finds its way onto your plate and avoid it for a certain time. As soon as you feel comfortable with that shift, you can pick another one to eliminate and go deeper with every step. 

– Processed foods

– Meat, especially pork

– Fish

– Eggs

– Dairy products (cheese, butter, milk,…)

– Gluten

– Soy

– Corn (GMO)

– Canola oil

– Alcohol

– Coffee

Instead of those harmful foods, you can then invite more and more fruits and vegetables into your life and embrace the power of such healing foods. And you don’t have to overhaul all your meals right away. Avoiding some dangers from above, having some lemon juice in the morning and increasing your fruit intake can already work wonders. Your first results will then give you the motivation and confidence to move to the next level. Here are some foods that are especially great to enhance your detoxification.

– Citrus fruits (e.g. lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit)

– Watermelons

– Grapes

– Pineapple

– Berries

– Celery juice

– Spinach 

– Kale

Reducing fat, healing the liver

The liver is one of the major organs taking care of proper detoxification of our systems. Toxic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, acid-forming foods, alcohol, viruses and harmful bacteria – the liver takes care of such intruders as good as it can. Nevertheless, through today’s lifestyle we often allow much more harmful substances into our body that out liver could handle. And without ever giving it proper rest, it stands no chance to get on top of its tasks.

Of course, reducing such negative impacts certainly makes a difference, but for sufficient healing our fat intake also plays a major role. Since the liver also takes part in fat metabolism, a diet high in fatty foods overburdens the liver and decreases its functioning. Deep healing can take place if we turn to a high-carb, low fat diet instead and minimise our fat intake. Along with a reduced exposure to toxins, we give it the proper rest it needs to take care of its healing and proper detoxification. 

Quick fixes vs. consistent healthy habits

If we jump too quickly into a more detoxifying diet, our body might not be able to eliminate all the toxins that are released from our tissues. We then might experience symptoms of detoxification that can range from general weakness, digestive issues or nausea to more serious conditions. Therefore it is always a good idea to take it slow and maybe take one step back if you feel too uncomfortable with a certain regime. It is much more powerful if we include small changes throughout the year instead of eating any junk food that lands in front of us and then doing a two-week juice cleanse to counter the impact. No to say, that juice cleanses can not be a great tool for detox, but more consistent healthy habits are necessary for longterm health and vitality. 

Fully hydrating our cells

We consist over 80% of water which is essential for optimal functioning of our body, including proper elimination of waste, toxins and other useless substances. Neverthless, many of us are chronically dehydrated and suffer the effects without knowing its causes. When we look at our diet, animal protein, processed foods, refined sugar and salt, coffee as well as a high amounts of cooked foods lead to dehydration. Consequently, our tissues and organs loose their functionality. Our blood also thickens and puts a strain on our heart that now has to work harder to supply our organs with adequate oxygen. Dive deeper into proper hydration this blog post by Medical Medium.

Nevertheless, you find it difficult to drink enough water throughout the day? No worries, you can support proper hydration with the foods you eat. Boosting your intake of raw fruits and vegetables can greatly improve hydration and help in your body’s detox. Enough hydration supports our eliminative system to get rid of all the harmful substances and lets our cells function at their best. 

Sustainable detox lifestyle

Since it is not only our food that introduces harmful substances into our system, we can also take a look at other parts of our life if we want to heal properly. Organic clothing, natural household products, enough exercise, sufficient time in the sun, fresh air, clean water, encouraging thoughts, balanced emotions and more. There is much to explore, but don’t get overwhelmed by this. Be good to yourself and see detox more like a longterm adventure instead of a short, exhausting sprint. Nourishing your body to heal can be fun and blissful – one step at a time.

The world of detoxification can be very simple, but yet vast. In future blog posts we will go deeper into the different ways of cleansing to set you up for success on your own journey. 

Melbourne, Australia