Scroll through Facebook or do a Google search and you will find countless detox diet products and cleanses being sold. They make a really good case for why your body needs a detox. But do we really need that magic tea or $12 bottle of juice to get results?
Fortunately, we don’t need to shell out a bunch of cash or restrict our diet to only celery because our body has a natural detox system. Mother nature’s detox uses the skin, respiratory system, kidney, and liver to rid the body of toxins.
Dangerous compounds enter our bodies through our food, the air we breath, products we put on our skin, and heavy metals and chemicals we are exposed to in various ways. When these things are consumed, our body uses its natural detox pathways to remove them from the blood and excrete them so they don’t cause damage to our bodies.
The main player here is the liver – one of the hardest working organs in the body. In addition to filtering toxins out of the blood, it also produces bile needed to digest fat, breaks down hormones, and stores essential vitamins, minerals, and iron. With all this on it’s to do list, the liver can become overworked when too many toxins over time have to be processed.
Inherently, our current environment causes us to come in contact with more toxins in our day to day life than our parents or grandparents did causing an increased workload for the system. Additional factors like chronic stress, lack of sleep, physical inactivity, prescription and over the counter medications, and a diet of highly processed foods can tank your system making it hard for the liver to remove toxins from the blood stream efficiently.
How do you know if your natural detox systems are being overworked?
If you are frustrated by any of the symptoms listed below, without a clear reason, your liver and detox pathways could benefit from some extra care:
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Gas and Bloating
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Acid Reflux and Heartburn
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Constipation
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Weight Gain
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Increasing Anxiety or Depression
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Dark Urine
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Chronic Fatigue
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Rosacea
The good news is, if you have these risk factors or symptoms, you still don’t need those fancy teas. You can support your liver and other detox systems by making some changes to your diet and lifestyle. There are really simple ways to maximize your body’s toxin-removing potential.
Top on the list is making sure you are properly eliminating waste products (and toxins along with it) by drinking plenty of water and getting enough fiber in your diet. If you are seriously feeling the effects of toxin overload, you may need to make a few more tweaks and changes – at least for a period of time – to allow your body to heal and catch up.
If this is you . . . stay tuned for next weeks blog when we dive deeper into 10 additional things you can add into your self healing protocol.
If you want some specific suggestions for your specific concerns – individualized to your medical history, medications, and even genetics – head over to our IDLife Website and Take Our Free Health Assessment. You will get a detailed report of the areas of health that you need to focus on first. Click the link below to get started.
