How do I choose a detox method?
If you are trying a detox for the first time, it is best to take a gentle, gradual approach. The detox diet plan is a basic detox diet that many people recommend.
Detox diets can target the different organ systems involved in detoxification: the skin, liver, kidneys, colon, lungs and lymph system. A natural health care practitioner can design a program that suits your needs by targeting specific organ systems. For example, a person with a skin condition may benefit from a program that addresses the liver, intestines, and skin.
Other forms of detox include juice fasts, macrobiotic diet, colon cleanse, and liver flush. If you can’t go without meat, at least avoid red meat, and consider steering clear of dairy and wheat for maximum benefits.
If you are a heavy smoker or take drugs regularly, it will be a huge shock to the system to give up at the same time as detoxing. Take one step at a time – giving up your particular vice will be a detox in itself.
Headaches?
Food additives, sugar, alcohol, caffeine withdrawal, constipation, hormonal imbalance and exposure to irritants such as pollution, perfume or after-shaves are all causes of headaches that can often be relieved by detoxification.
Sauna
Saunas enhance circulation and oxygenate the tissues. They open the nasal passages and assist the sinuses to drain. A major eliminative organ, most people’s skin is very inactive. Many do not sweat. This may be due to synthetic or tight clothing that does not breathe. Sedentary living and sun damage also inactivate the skin. Hundreds of chemicals affect the skin from lotions, soaps, and creams to deodorants. Others are cleaning solvents, detergent residues and chemicals from bathing water.
There are tons of detox diets out there. Typically they involve 1 or 2 days on a completely liquid diet and another 4 or 5 days adding brown rice, fruit, and steamed vegetables (all organic) to the diet. After a week of eating only these foods, you gradually reintroduce other foods – except for red meat, wheat, sugar, eggs, and all prepackaged or junk foods – into your diet. If you don’t happen to have a sauna in your home then why not…
Have a detox bath
Dealing with all of the environmental toxins today, can be quite a load on the body. A simple way to help combat these toxins is to take a detoxification bath. In spas today, the use of water therapy is very popular. Bathing in waters containing various healing ingredients can help to release toxins and promote energy, circulation and well being.
This bath can be done in your very own bathtub and does not require special equipment. Hot water helps draw toxins out of the body to the skin’s surface. When the water cools, it pulls toxins from the skin. The ocean, mineral, hot springs and herbal baths have been used for centuries worldwide, for their therapeutic effects.
This is the simple recipe that I regularly use to help combat toxins and detoxify my body:
1 cup Epsom salts
1/2 cup Baking Soda
About 1/2 cup Powdered Ginger
Pour Epsom salt or Baking Soda, and ginger into a warm bath and soak for 15 to 20 minutes. After soaking, scrub the skin gently with a natural fibre like a cotton washcloth or a loofah sponge for 5 minutes. Do not remain in the tub for more than 30 minutes. Note the “murky” appearance of the water, this is due to the toxins released in your bathwater. Wrap yourself in a large towel or bathrobe and then cover up with a warm blanket. You will sweat for about an hour. The next morning you will feel fantastic!
You can take a detoxification bath often, or at least once a month. In addition to detoxifying the body, this bath also helps relieve pain.
