Does detox work?

Many argue that our bodies were designed to detox and that facilitating it is a fool’s. That is correct, our bodies have amazing natural detox abilities. Many of our major organs, most notably our liver, are designed to cleanse us of impurities. But our systems are not prepared for the processed  toxins that we ingest, breathe, and absorb on a daily basis.

So we need to take special precautions to avoid certain products and we must do all that we can to support our natural detox abilities

What are the simplest things we can do?

A detox lifestyle is a healthy lifestyle. The things that enhance our general well-being are happily the same things that help our bodies detox. Here are some things to keep in mind.

• Eat plenty of fiber, including brown rice and organically-grown fresh fruits and vegetables. Beets, radishes, artichokes, cabbage, broccoli, spirulina, chlorella, and seaweed are excellent detoxifying foods.
• Cleanse and protect the liver by taking herbs such as dandelion root, burdock and milk thistle, and drinking green tea.
• Be diligent about knowing which organic foods really count, reading labels, and staying away from foods that could harm you. Making healthy choices like this will really help you to get rid of toxins that you were previously ingesting, and get your body to a much cleaner and healthier point.
• Take vitamin C, which helps the body produce glutathione, a liver compound that drives away toxins.
• Water can help to flush out your system naturally, and if you drink enough if it then this happens routinely. Proper water intake can contribute to clearer skin, properly functioning organs, and a more effective circulatory, respiratory, and digestive system. So this one simple substance can offer great help to our entire body and the way that it functions.
• We already know that exercise is good for our health and for our ability to cleanse naturally. Taking it one step further, yoga can be one of the most helpful types of exercise out there when it comes to the body’s natural ability to cleanse and get rid of toxins that have built up over time.
• Sweat in a sauna so your body can eliminate wastes through perspiration.

Learn to incorporate super-foods into each meal:

The great thing about superfoods is that they contain important nutrients and antioxidants which our bodies need to fight off infections. The presence of these antioxidants and nutrients in the body help to fight off harmful toxins and substances that may compromise our immune system and our overall health—so the inclusion of them in our diets is critical.

Superfoods are a delicious and nutritious group of foods including foods rich in Omega 3 fatty acids like:

*Salmon
*Tuna
*Avocado
*Walnuts
*Almonds
*Olive Oil
*Flax Seeds

You can also turn to fruits and vegetables that are bright in color as that means that their dark hue contains plenty of antioxidants. Options such as these make great choices for this reason:

*Blueberries
*Raspberries
*Spinach
*Kale
*Eggplant
*Tomatoes
*Carrots
*Sweet Potatoes
*Apples
*Oranges
*Butternut Squash

Try to incorporate super foods into every meal and enjoy how beneficial they are. They not only make for healthy and low fat food choices, but they also help you to boost your antioxidant intake

A good recipe follows that incorporates natural and healthy ingredients that will promote digestion, introduce fiber, and help you to perform a cleanse in a regular and natural way.

Green Smoothie

• 1 cup kale or collard greens firmly packed, stems removed, coarsely chopped (4 ounces)
• 1 Granny Smith apple, coarsely chopped
• 1 ripe banana.
• 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves.

Combine kale, apple, banana, parsley, and 2 1/4 cups water in a blender; blend until smooth. If the mixture is too thick, add a little more water.

If you do these things on a weekly basis you are guaranteed to have fewer toxins in your body while enhancing overall health. We need to turn the short-term cleanse idea on its head. 

Cleanses can be helpful but they are often presented as binges. Binge cleansing is no better than binge dieting.

We basically go crazy for 48 hours doing something that we couldn't possibly sustain on a regular basis, then go back to our unhealthy lifestyle. We must turn this thinking around and adopt a detox lifestyle, where we are living in a healthy and reasonable way most of the time, so that we are constantly detoxing (because we are constantly exposed to unwanted chemicals). And save the binging for the bad stuff.

Break down and have some yummy barbecue ribs and fries if you must. But make that the exception. Or maybe a cheese platter is your big weakness. As long as it isn’t a daily cheese platter.