People have gotten a lot more health conscious these days. The rise of organic and all-natural products, various health diet plans and gyms are a reflection of the increasing demand to live healthier lifestyles. Connectedly, there's a lot of hype surrounding detox as well, and for good reason. Everyday life exposes you to toxins that are not all that great for the body, and your body absorbs it. Although the human body has a natural detoxification process, with the bombardment of toxins that are present in the environment these days, it doesn't hurt to aid that process a little bit.
There is no shortage of detoxification methods to choose from. You can find juice cleanses, diet plans, detox pills, spa treatments. Take your pick. But detoxing does not need to be a complicated process or a full-time commitment, nor does it have to be expensive. There are many simple methods to help the body detoxify, most of which you can do in the comforts of your own home.
Here are some very simple ways to cleanse your body right now!
15 Drink a glass of lemon water a day
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As far as natural home detox methods go, drinking lemon water is probably the most popular advice you will get and for good reason. Each morning squeeze a half a lemon into a glass of room temperature water. There are countless benefits of drinking lemon water from better skin to weight loss and even cleansing your liver. It’s also loaded with vitamin C, so this is a good way to boost your immune system. With the added benefit of keeping you hydrated, lemon water is also great for workout recovery and easing muscle and joint pain.
14 Have a plant rich diet
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“An apple a day keeps the doctor away” has a lot of truth to it. Fruits and vegetables are vital to good health, and that’s not a secret. The US Department of Health’s new guideline suggests that the average person should be eating 5 to 13 servings of fruits and vegetables. Aside from the fact that different kinds of fruits and vegetables are really good sources of a variety of nutrients, there are many studies saying that increasing your intake decreases the risk of cancer and other diseases. Fruits and vegetables also have a lot of fibre which would help flush your body of unwanted toxins.
13 Drink more tea
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Many cultures around the world traditionally drink tea because of the many benefits associated with it. There is more scientific research backing up these claims recently as well. There are many types of tea that offer various health benefits. Two of the most popular types, green tea and black tea, are packed full of antioxidants helping you rid your system of toxins. White tea and rooibos tea have an even higher level of antioxidants. A good option for a night time tea is chamomile. Not only does it detoxify, it relaxes and reduces stress as well.
12 Drink fresh juice everyday
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Juices and smoothies are great supplements to a healthy diet. You don’t have to go on a full-on seven day juice cleanse plan to enjoy the health benefits of juices and smoothies. Simply having a fresh glass of juice every day is a great way to get a concentrated dose of nutrients. Fresh juice also gives you important enzymes found in fruits and vegetables that help increase your metabolism and flush out toxins. Produce that are typically used for juicing are celery, kale, carrots, apples, spinach, beets and other leafy greens. You have a little bit more freedom with smoothies and you can add fruits like avocado that don’t juice very well. Just hold the dairy and you got yourself a healthy and refreshing drink.
11 Substitute bad oils with good oils
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Everyone knows that oil is not the best for your body and it is best to avoid it, however, sometimes it just cannot be helped. The good news is that not all oils are created equal, and there are some types of oil that are better for you than others. Avoid oils that are high in saturated fat like coconut and palm oil. Plant-based and seed/nut based oil are better options to go with, such as olive, avocado, almond, sesame oil, etc. Try to use oil as lightly as you can, and find alternatives to make recipes as oil free as possible. Some alternatives for using oil would be to steam your food as opposed to frying or to use a spray to coat your pan rather than adding liquid oil.
10 Take a probiotic supplement
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Probiotics are “good bacteria” that are similar to bacteria already found in the human digestive system. They are regarded as “good” and “helpful” because they help keep your gut clean and healthy. They help move food along your system. Probiotics work a number of ways such as restoring the good bacteria in your system, lowering bad bacteria levels, and keeping the balance between the bad and good bacteria at optimum levels to keep your system functioning well. You can find probiotics in yogurt or there are also probiotic supplements you can purchase. Probiotics would even help with conditions like Irritable Bowel Syndrome or Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
9 Ditch the white flour or bread
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Cutting the carbohydrates is one of the most popular advices for weight-loss, and the same will ring true for detox. But like oils, not all kinds of bread are created equal. If you do choose to eat bread, it is better to opt for whole grain than white bread. Why is refined flour so bad? The “refining” process strips the flour of all its beneficial nutrients including most of its vitamins and fiber. The lack of fiber makes this type of bread nutritionally useless to your detox or weight-loss plans. Fiber helps your digestive system process carbohydrates. A better option is to avoid refined carbohydrates and just switch to complex carbohydrates such as sweet potatoes, brown rice, legumes and vegetables.
8 Watch out for hidden sugars
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Sugar has a bad reputation and for good reason. It does not have any nutritional value, and in fact, brings with it a load of disadvantages and terrible health consequences. Sugar is highly addictive and is one of the leading causes of obesity. Sugar consumption can also lead to diabetes, metabolism disorders and liver problems. Although it is best to avoid sugar altogether, the best thing you can do right now is at least cut out sugar in non-dessert foods and drinks. Cut out soda and juices. Check your meal’s nutritional information. You will be surprised at how much sugar you will find in food you don’t expect will have that much.
7 Do more yoga
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The main systems in your body are all engaged in the detox process, and these systems are made of layers upon layers of muscles and tissue that make-up your organs and all the other essential parts in the circulatory, respiratory and digestive system. Like any other muscle, you need to exercise, stretch and make sure they are well maintained. Yoga helps in the maintenance of your internal organs and muscle. When you are doing a yoga twist, you are massaging the digestive organs. There are a variety of yoga poses that are intended to stimulate, stretch and contract specific muscles and organs. Plus, it has the added benefit of meditation and exercise.
6 Exfoliate your skin
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One of the ways that the body gets rid of toxins is through sweating, and in order for that system to work efficiently, you want to make sure that your pores are not clogged. Environmental pollutants and cosmetic products can sometimes block your pores and prevent the toxins from coming out. Exfoliating helps unclog these pores and strips the skin of dead cells, which allows new skin cells to grow. You can also complement an exfoliating bath with an epsom salt soak, which is believed to seep into your skin and help relax your muscles.
5 Sweat it out in the sauna
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Saunas and steam rooms are beneficial because they trigger profuse sweating, which is one of the body’s natural ways of excreting toxins. When you use a sauna, you elevate your body’s core temperature. As the heat travels internally to the surface of the skin, deep sweating occurs which can help reduce levels of common toxins absorbed from the environment. There are many studies that back up the detoxifying benefits of using a sauna. But beyond those benefits, saunas also help relieve stress, relax muscles, cleanse the skin, and some proponents would even claim that the intense heat burns calories.
4 Go outside
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Go for a hike or a walk outside. Not only does it relieve stress and connect you to nature, it also gives you a dose of Vitamin D. The sunlight helps convert cholesterol in the skin into Vitamin D. Although there are other foods and supplements that can be good sources of Vitamin D, such as eggs and fish, those sources cannot substitute the health benefits of going for a daily walk outdoors. Studies have shown that people feel generally happier when they are connected with nature, and happier people are less prone to eating junk comfort food that is bad for the body.
3 Exercise daily
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Exercise is a no brainer when it comes to staying healthy. The human body needs it. It is especially useful for detoxifying your body because it not only stimulates and works your muscles out helping it release unwanted toxins, it also helps you get rid of these toxins through sweating and heavy breathing. When you are engaged in cardiovascular activities, you are moving more air through the system and helps filter unwanted toxins and pollutants we breathe in the air. Exercise also makes you sweat, which is the skin’s way of releasing toxins from the body.
2 Drink more water
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Water is vital to life, and it is all too easy to forget how necessary it is to keep hydrated when life gets busy. The human body is actually able to detoxify itself, and one of the ways it does is through urination and bowel movement. Modern diets and processed foods has increased people’s intake of bad toxins in the system, which means the body is working harder to cleanse itself of those toxins. Water helps the process. When you are dehydrated, your system cannot function well. Toxins can get stuck in your digestive tract or colon, drinking water helps flush out these toxins off your system. The recommended daily water intake is 2.7L of water.
1 Say "no" to toxic friends
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A healthy body is a healthy mind, and vice versa. Your emotional stability has a direct effect on your well being, and unfortunately, sometimes other people can affect your emotions. It would be a good idea to reevaluate your relationships from time to time. Sometimes you have people around you that just don’t bring anything positive in your life, and worse, they bring you down. Whether it is an overly and unnecessarily competitive “friend,” or a boyfriend that treats you terribly, there is nothing wrong with distancing yourself from people that are making you unhappy. Remember, a healthier you is a happier you.
Sources: huffingtonpost.ca, everydayhealth.com, webmd.com, mindbodygreen.com
