What Does It Mean to Detox Your Body?

Have you heard of people recommending going on a cleanse to detoxify your body?

If you’ve ever wondered what it is and what it does and how it can help your body, read on.

What Is Detoxing?

For the purposes of this blog article, I’m only going to focus on body detoxing.

You can detox your life to end toxic relationships or a digital detox to get free of the social media addiction.

When you detox, you’re working to get rid of toxins like heavy metals (no, I promise not to make you stop playing Metallica) like mercury and arsenic. You can also detox pollutants, plastics, and pesticides.

Toxins are the harmful particles that can stay in your body causing inflammation and interfering with your body’s normal functions.

How do I know I need to detox?

Common signs of the need to detox or cleanse include

• Frequent headaches
• Joint pain
• Depression
• Constipation
• Poor skin
• Allergies
• Infections
• Under-eye puffiness or circles
• Anxiety
• Unexplained bloating
• and Fatigue

How Is It Different Than A Cleanse?

While detoxing is a way of removing toxins from your body, a cleanse is a way of cleaning up what’s there.

Often a cleanse uses supplements to eliminate substances directly. But a detox works with your body’s natural toxin-eliminating abilities in the liver and kidneys.

There are supplements to support your kidneys and liver during a detox as well as a cleanse.

Generally speaking, most people seem to agree that a detox eliminates junk from your diet and requires a super-restrictive way of eating for a short period of time…usually about 3 days.

A cleanse also eliminates the junk from your diet and replaces it with nutrient-rich foods that help your body naturally detoxify.

But honestly?

You’ll see them used interchangeably. What I recommend is reading it through carefully and deciding if it aligns with your goals.

So I’m going to use the terms interchangeably for the rest of the article.

Why Would You Choose to Do Them?

If you’ve just been through a very stressful time where you may not have eaten as well as you would have liked, or if you had to visit an area that was polluted, you may want to do a detox or a cleanse to help your body get back to balance.

Some people do them as way of kick starting weigh loss or improve mental clarity.

Detoxes often leave people feeling like they have increased energy and an improved immune system afterwards. Others use them to help with skin problems, and others feel it improves their hair.

A cleanse can also feel like a total body reset. If you’re interested in leaving some old habits behind, you may find it easier to make healthier choices after detoxing.

What Are Good (and Safe) Ways to Detox?

Fluids, fiber and phytonutrients from vegetables and fruits is one of the simplest ways to detox your body.

I know some people swear by cayenne in lemonade or cabbage soup for a fortnight, but honestly, is that what you want? And would I really help?

I don’t think it’s providing the proper support for your kidneys and liver.

Water Fast

I’ll bring this up only to mention I don’t think it’s a great way. It’s simple as you only drink water for three days, but it isn’t really supporting your kidneys or liver.

Also, it’s unclear if this really detoxes or supports your body with detoxifying.

Juice Cleanse

Joe Cross made juice cleanses popular with his film Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. He was able to cure himself of a lot of problems he was having including an autoimmune condition for which he was taking prednisone for years.

Joe has said this is only a short term solution to reset your body. And then you need to evaluate what you’re eating, and how you’re living your life.

This cleanse provides the fluids and the phytonutrients that help support your body with a lot of the cleansing. It doesn’t provide the fiber, so you may want to look into a fiber supplement for that.

Intrametica ‘Glow from Within’ Detox Program

The link won’t go directly there since sometimes things get moved around.

There are three supplements used with the Intrametica cleanse. The first packet supports your skin with collagen. Collagen is the lovely substance that provides firmness and bounce to our skin.

As we age, the collagen levels disappear, but if we supplement with it, our skin looks rejuvenated.

The next supplement focuses on protein that improves your metabolism from within.

Organic Whole Food Diet

An easy way to cleanse your body is by slowly replacing processed foods with organic whole foods. And you should ensure you drink 8 to 10 glasses of water every day.

This is a gentle way to do a full body detox as you’re eating normal food at normal times.

You should reduce the amount of sugar you eat. Sugar substitutes aren’t necessarily a good idea initially. When your body receives a sweet signal, it thinks it really received sugar and sends out the insulin.

When you flood your body with insulin and there’s no sugar to process, your body becomes insulin resistant. So if you must have that diet soda, save it for your meals.

What Supplements Should I Take?

Taking supplements is a great way to help support your body during a detox.

You want to provide additional nutrients like a good multi-vitamin. And you want to provide additional supplements like milk thistle that supports your liver.

What Else Should I Do?

Intervals are when you walk fast, or jog or run for a time, and then slow down and recover your heart rate for a time. It’s sometimes called HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training, and is one of the best ways to get your body into shape.

You should come up with a strategy for when you have to eat out. If possible, you may want to find a time where you know you’ll be able to provide your own meals while you’re doing the cleanse.

If someone brings a cake to work, you can always take a piece and then quietly throw it out when no one is looking.

If you are going to a potluck, bring something that you know you can eat. And hopefully you’ll get to it first before everyone finds out how delicious whole foods can be.

For a restaurant, you may be able to see the menu online and try to find a dish that’s close, and the you can ask for some adjustments to how it’s cooked. Rest assured you probably won’t have to live on lettuce.

Finally, it’s perfectly fine to find something close and then get back on track for the next few meals. You won’t undo everything with only one meal. Just try and make it as close to your plan as possible.

And if someone says something, just thank them for their concern, tell them they’re sweet, and then change the topic by asking them a question about themselves. You don’t owe anyone an explanation.

My Final Thoughts

The good news is our bodies are naturally equipped to flush many of the common toxins out provided your liver and kidneys are healthy and happy.

Foot cannot detoxify your body. Eating healthy foods will help your liver and kidneys do their job better flushing out the toxins.

Find a healthy diet that you will want to choose 80% of the time. Then look into supplements that support your liver and kidneys. Drink lots of water, exercise regularly, get good fiber, and reduce your stress.

Where to Learn More

Ask me!  InnerOrigin has a wonderful line of essential oils and I love helping others learn more.