Detoxify your life
Detoxifying your body isn’t the same thing as a juice cleanse, not even close. Detoxifying your body is a way of life. Many people have this common misconception that when you detox you’re supposed to heavily restrict calories and only drink green juice for one week, however this idea couldn’t be farther from the truth. Detoxifying your life doesn’t mean restricting calories, if anything it means increasing your calorie intake by nourishing your body through consuming nutrient-rich whole-foods. You can’t detox over a single weekend, instead detoxing should be an ongoing process that becomes a daily routine. It’s important to gradually eliminate toxins from your body, starting with nutrition, then body care, and finally your environment. Since eliminating every toxin out of your life is impossible, you can start by simply reducing the number of toxins in your life by gradually implementing new habits every single day.
I’ve compiled an easy to follow guide over the many ways you can detoxify your life, including nutrition, body care, and how to detoxify your environment in order to live at an optimal level of health. This process may seem overwhelming at first, but it’s a gradual process that takes daily practice and effort.
Detox isn’t just a juice cleanse, it’s a way of life.
Detox your diet
Detox is a way of life
I hate to break it to you, but there’s no shortcut or quick fix to detoxing. Sure you can go on a juice cleanse for a few days and rid your body of toxins that way, but is that truly sustainable? No. In order to live at an optimal level of health and well-being we must implement detoxification into our lives every single day. This means eliminating conventional/processed foods and opting for organic whole-foods, ditching the sulfates & parabens and switching to coconut oil and rose water, or eliminating synthetic fragrance in your home and choosing aromatherapy and essential oils, or even swapping the chemical cleaners for apple cider vinegar and baking soda. Detoxifying your life goes far beyond nutrition and is something that can be implemented throughout every aspect of your life.
Why detox?
Every day we’re exposed to environmental pollutants, preservatives, heavy metals, pesticides, cancer-causing chemicals, and most of the time these toxins get stored in our tissues and cells. Many of these toxins have demonstrated harmful cancerous, reproductive, metabolic and mental health effects. Detoxing your body will help you avoid toxic overload, before it becomes a major health problem. Signs you need to begin your detox journey:
Digestive issues
Headaches/fatigue/low energy + aches & pains
Skin problems: Acne, Eczema, or Psoriasis
Food cravings (especially sugary foods)
Mood swings
Bad breathe & white coating on tongue (could be a sign of candida yeast overgrowth)
How to detox your body through nutrition
When you begin detoxing, it’s important to feed your body and not just your stomach. You shouldn’t rely on calories alone to feed you, instead you need a wide range of nutrients & vitamins to feed your body on a cellular level. foods have so much more to them than just calories and the number of calories a food has is merely just information. For an example a hundred calories of chips is no comparison to a hundred calories of an avocado. Counting calories is the last thing you should worry about when starting your eat-clean journey. A handful of nuts may be calorically dense, but there’s a lot of essential nutrients packed in nuts that you can’t get anywhere else. When detoxing your body it’s also important to choose foods based on how they nourish every cell in your body, because when you eat a clean & nutrient-rich diet your body will naturally detoxify itself.
How to detox Your body without fasting or juicing
Consume whole foods as close to their natural state as possible. By choosing whole foods, your body will be able to digest and metabolize your food with ease, leaving more time for natural detoxification to take place. Consume fresh fruits and veggies that are in season, naturally gluten-free whole grains, beans, nuts & seeds.
Hydrate: Can’t stress this enough! Start hydrating the moment you wake up, and continue to stay hydrated so your body can cleanse itself of toxins, boost your metabolism, and keep your skin clear.
Rest & sleep well: Try taking a detox bath with Epsom/magnesium salt to help you fall asleep faster, and turn off technology an hour before you go to bed to aid in quality sleep.
Break a sweat: Eliminate stress, and get rid of toxins through sweat. Plan a trip to the gym or your local yoga studio a couple times a week to get rid of the toxin buildup in your body.
Detox your thoughts: Create a gratitude journal to clear out any mental toxins or negativity that may be present in the back of your mind. At the end of each day write everything your grateful for into your journal, so you can bring in more positivity and eliminate the negativity and stress buildup in your life.
The only way to deal with toxic overload is to help with your body’s natural self-cleaning process through detoxing
Choose organic
The point of choosing organic isn’t to gain more nutrients from the food, instead you should choose organic to avoid toxic, cancer-causing pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics, and herbicides that make you sick. Choosing organic also promotes a more sustainable and ethical method of farming and a less damaging environmental impact.
You think you’re detoxing your body by putting a big bunch of conventional kale in a blender and drinking it up, however you’re just delivering your body with an easier-faster way of absorbing toxins. This is why it’s crucial to choose organic produce and foods whenever possible, especially if you plan to make juices or smoothies. When you remove conventional produce & food from your diet you can remove any of the toxic exposures that make you sick and bloated.
Top 10 must buy organic Ingredients for cooking:
Leafy greens (kale,spinach,rainbow chard,romaine lettuce)
Detox veggies (arugula, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts)
Fresh herbs (basil,parsley,cilantro,mint)
Lemons
Unsalted raw-nuts
Teas
Grans (quinoa, brown/wild rice, lentils)
Nutritional yeast
Cooking oils (coconut, olive, avocado)
Seasonings & spices (Himalayan salt, turmeric, black pepper)
Simple detox strategies for everyday
Reduce your chemical intake by eating certified organic
Drink an alkalizing green juice or Spirulina water
Take a high quality probiotc supplement
Eat more probiotic-rich foods + fermented foods
Drink hot lemon water with apple cider vinegar in the morning
Eat more fiber from whole foods like fresh fruits and veggies
Pay attention to your eating habits + eat in season as best as you can
Create a sustainable eating routine for yourself
Try intermittent fasting for 16 hours each night to aid in proper cellular healing & digestion
Try out a restorative exercise routine such as yoga, to sweat out all the toxins from your body
Use all natural body care + beauty products, such as rose water, coconut oil, and essential oils to nourish your body & skin.
Alkalizing Spirulina water
Every time we eat we’re either helping or hurting our body
We’ve gotten the idea that food shouldn’t cost us anything, however this couldn’t be farther from the truth. So many of us are so focused on getting a good deal that we begin bargaining with our health. You have one body and one body only, so before you try and save a few bucks by opting for conventional food instead of organic, think about what you’re worth. I promise you that good quality organic healthy food is one of the greatest investments you can make on yourself and your future.
When you choose organic food think about the benefits you’ll gain not only from eliminating the toxins from your body, but the many farmers that helped cultivate your food in a safer less harmful way. A healthy world makes for happier + healthier people!
Detoxing & eating clean isn’t restricted eating, instead it’s a new grand adventure where you’re able to experiment with every kind of vibrant health food imaginable. Once you decide to see food in a new light you’ll soon realize the infinite possibilities to nourishing your body.
Top 12 toxic foods to eliminate when detoxing:
Gluten
Dairy
Soy
Caffeine
Conventional eggs (opt for organic/cage free)
Refined sugar
Shellfish
Conventional meat products (opt for organic-grass fed/pasture raised)
Peanuts
White potatoes (potato starch) + Corn starch
White flour
Processed foods!!
Major Benefits of detoxing
Detoxing goes far beyond the benefits I’ve mentioned below, and it’s a lifelong practice that takes time and effort. Overall detoxing increases longevity, improves your lifelong health, and your bodies ability to fight off + prevent disease. I’ve compiled a list of the immediate effects & benefits you’ll likely experience once you begin your detox journey:
Cleanses your liver
Reduces inflammation throughout your entire body
Promotes healthy hair, skin, and nails
Promotes mental clarity & boosts your overall mental state
Promotes longevity & a happier, healthier body
Transforms the way you view & consume food
Reduces the risk of developing chronic diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and many types of autoimmune disease.
Detox your digestion
Once you’ve detoxed your nutrition, it’s time to detox your digestive system and reset your body for optimal health. Let’s start by taking out the toxic buildup from your body and cleanse it from the inside out, through intermittent fasting. You may have heard the hype around intermittent fasting, but if not I will explain in-depth, the effects of intermittent fasting, how it works, and of course the many benefits you can gain from this century old technique. Intermittent fasting is much easier than it sounds, and will help you cleanse your body and eliminate toxins through daily practice.
Digestion:
First things first, you must know how your digestive system works in order to understand why intermittent fasting will help you detox.
The basics: Once your food enters your stomach, your stomach acids break down the food into smaller compounds. Once broken down, those compounds then travel to your small intestine, and then their secreted as waste. This process may seem simple, however each food you consume takes a different amount of time for your body to digest & complete this cycle. For an example, fruit takes around three hours to completely digest in your body, (about one hour in your stomach, one hour in your small intestine, and one hour in your large intestine.) Veggies take a little longer, around six hours and grains take about eighteen hours. Meat & animal products take the longest to digest, at a rate of around thirty hours or more.
Essentially, the less water there is in a substance, the harder it is for our bodies to digest & foods higher in water content enable better digestion.
So, if you consume grains or meat for an example, three-four times a day…Then before the last meal was digested, naturally the last meal you consumed was left undigested. If it doesn’t exit our body as waste than it ends up rotting or fermenting inside our body. Which then grows molds, viruses, and fungus inside our intestines. When we eat processed or unnatural foods, they stick inside our intestines in the form of waste. Over the years, this waste forms a thick coating on the walls of our intestines, and the villi on our small intestines absorb whatever sticks to them and transports it to our blood stream & from there is delivered to every cell in our body.
If there’s rotting dead waste sticking to our intestines, then automatically that’s what the villi absorb & transport to every cell. Naturally this waste surrounds our organs + blocks their functioning and we call this a disease, or if it sticks to the layers of our skin, we call it acne, eczema, or psoriasis. Or if it forms a stone in the kidney we call it a “Stone.” And of course there’s weight. IF you want to lose weight, you have to lose waste, simple as that.
What I’m trying to emphasize, is that by taking out this waste and these toxins, disease will automatically be cured. No disease can survive in a body that is internally clean, and it’s our duty to keep our body clean & buzzing with energy. Your first step to cleaning your body is to take out the bad stuff, the waste and then you must put in the good stuff, the right food.
INTERMITTENT fasting: The one step cure
The doctor that cures you is already inside your body, and by intermittent fasting you let the healing power do its work. Our bodies healing power is enormous. It can allow your body to heal broken bones, remove toxins, reverse diabetes, lower blood pressure, cure arthritis, and stop obesity. Once the healing power in your body starts fixing , it fixes everything, no matter where it’s located or how long it’s been there. However, there’s a slight problem with our self healing mechanism and that is we don’t actually give our bodies the opportunity to heal on their own. We constantly interrupt it and disturbing it, by constantly eating! As soon as we eat something, this healing power leaves whatever it was doing before and instead starts digesting our food. So the healing stops and the process of digestion begins. If you want your bodies healing power to do its work you must, from time to time give digestion a break.
Step 1: Give digestion a break
Give a sixteen hour break every night. Say you have dinner at six, then your next meal wouldn’t be until ten the next morning. Essentially you’re fasting for sixteen hours and eating in an eight hour window each day. This allows your body to have a full sixteen hour break from digesting, so it can fully heal. This method of fasting is much easier than it sounds, since when you’re fasting you’ll be asleep. The hours you wish to fast are totally up to you, whatever fits your schedule. Fasting from time to time is actually more natural than constantly eating, and through sixteen hour fasts your body gets a chance to do a little healing everyday.
The healing process:
If you eat a healthy dinner at six, it should take around six hours to digest, so from around six to twelve your body will go through it’s digestion cycle. As soon as your digestion is done, the healing process begins. This is when your body begins rebuilding tissue, fades away scars, replaces old or damaged cells in your skin, removes extra fat from your cells, regulates hormones, cleans your intestines, and clears possible plaque in your arteries. Your healing power goes in depth of every organ and pulls out the toxins lying there and pushes them out of your body, through stool, urine, sweat, and your breath.
Tips for intermittent fasting:
Your dinner should be a light meal, I recommend a salad and/or a soup. If you eat a heavy meal full or grains or meat, it will take up more digestion hours, leaving you with little or no healing hours. So keep dinner time your lightest meal and breakfast & lunch your largest.
limit your grains to one time a day. If you have quinoa at lunch with black beans and kale, then don’t have quinoa for dinner, since this will only slow your digestion even more. Plus it’s important to get a variety of nutrients into your diet, rather than just relying on one food group.
Don’t overeat! And always leave your stomach a little empty. Too much of a good thing is never a good thing, especially for your digestion.
“If your food is wrong, medicine is of no use. If you’re food is right, medicine is of no need. ”
Feed your skin like you would your body
Detox your beauty products
Detox your personal care
Your skin is the largest organ in your body and absorbs every toxin you put on top of it. Most drugstore and conventional products contain heavy metals, toxic chemicals, and other toxins that seep through your skin. A product might only contain a small amount of toxic ingredients, so we aren’t likely to notice the affects right away. But after we use that same product a couple times a day, over the course of a few years, the toxins build up in our bodies and cause problems. Chemicals such as parabens, phthalates, and sulfates, are ingredients present in most body care products and are linked to health problems such as infertility, hormone disruption, and asthma.
Common harmful ingredients found in beauty + personal care products include: Sulfates, parabens, phthalates, fluoride, Aluminum, lead, dioxins, formaldehyde, mercury, retinyl, benzene, dioxane and amine. You can avoid these harmful chemicals in your products by detoxifying your sunscreen, shampoo, mouth care, deodorant, lip care, hand-sanitizer, and moisturizing products, by switching to cleaner-simpler organic ingredients. Look for all-natural plant-based ingredients to nourish your hair, skin & nails.
My toxic-free personal care list: A minimalist’s guide to beauty
Coconut oil- A must have product in every home! Coconut oil is extremely versatile and can be used from head to toe in the bathroom or in the kitchen when cooking. Coconut oil helps nourish and moisturize your hair and skin, enhances a clearer complexion, and can be used as a lip balm, or mixed with toothpaste as a teeth whitener, a hair/nail growth simulator, a hair de-frizzer, and a soothing balm for dry skin. I’ve been using coconut oil on my entire body every day for the past five years, & I’ve noticed nothing but well nourished skin. When choosing the right coconut oil, make sure you purchase organic extra virgin coconut oil, to ensure it’s gone through the least amount of processing. Once you incorporate coconut oil into your beauty ritual, you won’t want to be without it!
Rose water- My all time favorite toner. Pure organic rose water is one of the simplest ingredients you can use on your face and has a wide range of nourishing qualities. Rose water helps balance and even your skins ph level, and leaves you with a youthful glow. It can also be used as a makeup setting spray or a post workout toning spray. When you’re at your local health food store, remember to purchase an organic rose water with only one ingredient to ensure it’s in the purest form possible.
Castor oil- A great eyelash serum! Castor oil is an ultra rich oil from the tropical areas of Africa and Asia and has long been used both topically and orally. Castor oil is a safe plant-based ingredient in a lot of natural beauty care items, and when used in it’s purist form offers intense nourishment and hydration. I use castor oil on my eyelashes every night before bed since it promotes hair growth and nourishes my eyelashes. Castor oil is super versatile and can be used on your scalp as a hair oil treatment, an eyelash simulator, and can even reduce pain & inflammation when applied to your skin.
Castile soap- The only soap you’ll ever need. Castile soap is a vegetable oil based soap, made with olive and coconut oil as the base. Castile soap has antibacterial properties, and can be used from the kitchen to the bath. Since castile soap is so gentle and versatile, it can be used as a shampoo, body wash (most common), face wash, dish soap, laundry soap, and even as a house cleaner. I typically use castile soap as my body wash and hand soap, since it’s gentle yet really nourishing.
Bentonite clay- The most powerful at-home facial you’ll use. Aztec clay is one of my staple beauty products, and has been used for centuries. Aztec clay deep cleans your skin while still leaving it soft and supple. It comes in a powder form and can be mixed with water or rose water for a nourishing mask, and even apple cider vinegar for blemish prone-skin. Once you have your mask mixed up, you can apply it directly to your face and let it sit for 15-20 minutes, then rinse gently with cool water. Afterwards, make sure to always use a toner, followed by a moisturizer. Most health food stores sell the powder form and typically comes in a small tub.
Apple cider vinegar- The holy grail vinegar. I’ve talked a lot about apple cider vinegar, from it’s healing gut properties, to it’s powerful digestion relief, and now it’s time to look at the beauty side of it. Don’t let the pungent smell fool you, because apple cider vinegar can work wonders on your skin. It’s often used as a powerful astringent to help fade scars and blemishes on your face, while also acting as an antibacterial toner to help eliminate bacteria on your face. When diluted with water, you can create your own toner with apple cider vinegar to help smooth skin, reduce fine lines, brighten your skin tone, and reduce blemishes. Make sure when you purchase your apple cider vinegar, that it’s organic and has the “Mother” culture in it, so you can ensure you’re getting all the beneficial bacteria you need.
Fresh aloe vera- The healing & beauty plant. Whenever my skin is feeling a little dry, I always rely on fresh aloe-vera to save my skin. Aloe vera helps soothe and moisturize your skin without clogging pores, and is often a key ingredient in most plant-based moisturizers. I keep a small aloe plant in my house, so whenever I need some fresh aloe I always have it on hand. You can also buy aloe-vera gel in the beauty isle at your local health food store.
Rosemary hair oil- Rosemary helps stimulate hair growth from the roots and helps promote shiny healthy hair. You can combine rosemary oil with coconut oil to create a strengthening and revitalizing hair oil mask. I love the smell of rosemary and I often use a few drops of my favorite rosemary hair oil blend a couple times a week, to nourish my hair and stimulate growth.
Magnesium bath salt- Calling all athletes! Magnesium bath salt is one of the best soaking salts for muscle recovery or sore muscles from sports and injuries. Most people don’t get enough magnesium in their diets, and this may result in frequent headaches or slower muscle recovery. It’s crucial for athletes to get plenty of magnesium, since when you sweat you’re also sweating out magnesium. It’s common to get a headache every once in a while, however if you’re getting them constantly without knowing why, then it could be a sign that you’re deficient in magnesium. If this is the case, I would talk you your doctor so you can get your magnesium levels tested and see if you may be deficient in this vital mineral. Magnesium bath salts will help with any deficiencies, since when you soak in the bath your skin absorbs the salts which helps balance your bodies magnesium levels. It also helps relieve sore and overworked muscles, especially for athletes. During my cross country seasons I would soak in a magnesium bath before and after each race to help with muscle recovery after practice.
A few of my other favorite Eco-friendly beauty products:
Organic essential oils- I enjoy lavender, frankincense, rosemary, and peppermint oils for my diffuser.
Peppermint + coconut oil toothpaste- A less abrasive alternative to other chemical filled & harsh toothpastes.
Bamboo tooth brush + hair brush- A sustainable and ethical alternative to brushing without the use of plastic products.
Detox your environment
After you’ve detoxed your food and beauty products, it’s now time to take a closer look at how your environment may be impacting your health. Have you ever thought about the many toxins that surround you? Well the bad news is, is you can’t quite see them. Most of the toxins that fill are environment are invisible and we’ll never be able to eliminate all of them. With that being said though, we can still do our best to minimize them. Most of the products we use are filled with toxins, and we end up breathing in most of these toxins. This is why it’s so important that we find alternative solutions to cleaning our environment, so we can breathe in fresh air. Down below I’ve listed a few of the ways I help clean the air I breath & how I eliminate the toxins in my environment.
Himalayan salt lamp- Salt lamps emit negative ions, which work like natural ionizers keeping the air clean. Negative ions attach themselves to dust, pollen, mold, fungus and odors, and are known to be very beneficial for repository health. They also help to minimize the effects of positive ions that are emitted from electronic devices. Your Himalayan salt lamp should be placed in an area where you spend most of your time, or near your electronic devices. You should also make sure to keep your lamp on as much as possible, so you can help clean the air and balance ions all day.
Essential oils- Oils are a great way to freshen up the air around you, and help soothe your mind, body, and spirit. Essential oils such as eucalyptus, lavender, and sandalwood help eliminate odors in your home, while offering an aromatherapy effect. I recommend investing in a few high quality-pure essential oils that you can use as staple scents throughout your home.
Houseplants- Plants are a great way to bring life into your home, and take minimal effort to keep alive. Houseplants are great toxin fighters and help absorb the toxins in the air. I recommend investing in a few quality houseplants such as a bamboo plant, spider plant, English ivy, or even an Aloe Vera plant to help eliminate toxins.
Beeswax candles- Ditch the synthetic candles and opt for authentic all-natural beeswax or soy candles. Candles can offer a peaceful warming affect in your home and create a calming atmosphere. Instead of infusing your home with toxic-synthetic fumes, I suggest investing in a few good quality wax or soy candle to bring peace & light into your home.
Nourish your body & skin with simple INGREDIENTS.
References:
Campbell, T. Colin, and Howard Jacobson. Whole: Rethinking the science of nutrition. Dallas, Texas: BenBella Books, 2013. Print.
Campbell, T. Colin, and Dan Woren. The China Study: The most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted and startling implications for diet, weight loss, and long-term health. BenBella Books, 2004. Print.
Greger, Michael, and Gene Stone. How Not to Die: Discover the foods scientifically proven to prevent and reverse disease. London, England: Pan Books, 2018. Print.
Valpone, Amie, Mark Hyman, and Lauren Volo. Eating Clean: Detox, fight inflammation, reset your body, and get to the root cause of illness. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016. Print.