I love a good detox. So much so I do it 24/7 – haha!

Well my liver, kidneys, skin, breath and urine and poop are detoxing 24/7 but that doesn’t mean we should use and abuse that system. We need to support our own natural detox pathways.

Thankfully there are simple things you can do EVERYday to help your body detox. We often think of a detox as a faddy extreme diet (like only eating cabbage for a month!) however there are some simple things you can do today to support your body’s natural detoxification process.

For a long time, I had a strong reaction to the word ‘detox’ because it just sounded like a trendy extreme diet type thing. However detoxing is something your body is doing all the time, that is why you are alive. There are organs whose main function is based around helping rid the body of toxins.

You don’t need to buy anything to detox, our job is to support those natural detoxification pathways and systems that already exist within the body. Our job is not to ‘put’ you on a detox but rather to optimise the way your body deals with toxins (although I find it helps to designate period of time that are dedicated to doing a ‘deep’ detox, normally x4 a year to align with the seasons). Your liver,  skin (sweating), urine and poop are all systems your body uses to expel toxins for the body and there are certain things we can do to support them so that you can get your energy back and feel amazing.

 

Need a good RESET?
Then why not complete my 10-day Green Smoothie Challenge – a gentle but effective way to detox and hit the reset button that 100+ people have done!

 

The Stages of Detoxification:

Your liver has two stages of detoxification;

• Stage one is where your body takes its toxins and converts them into something your body can excrete. Often (but not always) this leads to making them more harmful.
• Stage two is really about taking those converted toxins out of the body ASAP (think poo, pee, sweat). However, in lots of us, those pathways can be hindered because of genetics, lack of nutrients, poor diet, stress etc. These things can all affect one or both of those pathways.

But – huzzah – we can support these detoxification pathways with diet, supplementation, or lifestyle. Yay!!

 

Why Bother? Do We Need to Detox?

Yes and also no.

You are already detoxing, the question is how well are you doing it and if we optimised would you feel better? (probably)

Healthy detox pathways are ESSENTIAL for the following:

• pain-free healthy periods
• endometriosis and other womb issues
• mood and mental health
• for gut issues
• stop recurring thrush and yeast infections
• supporting the immune system
• for healthy glowing skin
• to ditch brain fog

In our stressful, fume-filled, modern lives, we are faced with so many different toxins all the time they are in our furniture, our dental fillings, our water, food, atmosphere, drugs and the modern toxins of stress.

Heavy metals, mold, VOC’s, plastic, hormones in our water, and parasites are all issues I work on with my clients.

Detoxing is essential but it doesn’t need to be extreme or overly weird.

Here are my top favorite, easy-ish ways to support my liver

 

Water with lemon on waking

The citronella found in lemons are excellent at supporting the liver’s detoxification pathways. Your liver works super hard whilst you are asleep to rid the body of toxins so when you wake your body is ready to get rid of these (via pee and poop) and start eating again. The lemon plus lots of water first thing helps to activate your digestive system, activate your bowls and liver and the water helps to flush out all the toxins your liver has been converting whilst you sleep. I have the juice of half a lemon in a pint of water first thing and if the rest of your diet is healthy this should cause no problems for your teeth.

>> Action – upon waking drink 300-1000ml of water with juice of 1/2 lemon. (OR have a large nettle or ginger tea if lemon is an issue)

Movement

This doesn’t need to be hitting the gym or hard-core exercise. Your lymphatic system (this move lymph an important part of the immune system) is an important part of detoxing and the way this circulates is via movement as it doesn’t have a pumping system like your blood. So walking, jumping on the trampoline, and stretching all help to move the lymph around the body.

>> Action – walk, bounce, dance, swim, run or jump in some way daily for 10 mins

Tea drinking

Slurping 2-3 cups of organic herbal tea daily is another super simple way to support your detoxification pathways. My favourite super detoxifying teas are :

– nettle
– ginger
– dandelion

Really any organic herbal blend will do, and ideally, you use a medicinal brand of tea like Pukka or  Heath & Heather and leave the tea bag in to stew. Or find a local herbalist who might grow and create their own blends.

>> Action – drink 2-3 cups of an organic herbal tea daily

Vegetables

Vegetables are essential for the liver, gut and detoxing.

Onions, beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli sprouts, pak choy, kale, garlic, chives, leek, radishes, and garlic are some examples – but all seatbelts are AMAZING.

Even just adding in one extra carrot a day can really help!

I recommend eating these daily. We want to be aiming to be 5+ servings of vegetables DAILY and a great way to boost the amount of vegetables you eat in a day is to throw them into a smoothie. I often make a Functional Smoothie which is not that tasty but I treat it like a multivitamin or medicine and just chug it down as often as I can.

Basic Functional Smoothie Recipe:

• 1/4 stick of cucumber
• a slice of raw beetroot
• x1 stick celery
• handful of lettuce/spinach
• x1 frozen cauliflower floret
• juice of 1/2 lemon and slices of lemon peel (size of pinky finger)
• 300ml water
• 1-2 tsp of chia seeds – optional
  BLEND.
  Drink.

Other ideas are buying premade quality soup, having crudites chopped in the fridge, daily smoothie with fruit and veg (if you want a smoothie that tastes delicious then head to my green smoothie challenge!)

> Action –  add 1 more portion of veg each day…even if it’s just a carrot or stick fo celery!

Protein

Most people know that eating more fruit and veg will help there liver and health, but protein?

Amino acids are crucial for our detox pathways and amino acids come from protein (and the body makes some too). So yes you need vegetables daily but you also need quality sources of PROTEIN.

This can be as simple as eating protein with each meal. The best sources are egg (egg yolk especially), oily fish, and unprocessed meat or tempeh or organic tofu. Personally, I take collagen daily and make sure I eat protein with every meal to support my mood, weight and insulin management.

>> Action – eat protein with every meal.

Epsom Salt Baths

I love this habit! It is so powerful and I tell all my clients to do this.

Simple, low cost and VERY effective.

Adding Epsom Salts – AKA Magnesium sulphate – to your hot baths can help with:

• Hormones balance – it helps support the sulphation detox pathways which plays a role in balancing out androgen hormones like testosterone
• Sleep quality – for many women increasing your core temperature before bed can help deepen their sleep also the magnesium absorbed through the skin can support this
• Magnesium – is essential for energy, sleep, hormones an so much more
• Nervous system regulation – warm baths have a very healing, comforting and regulating impact on your brain and nervous system…meaning it is hard to stress out in a bath!
• Detoxing – a hot bath that gets you sweating can have a similar therapeutic impact as a sauna. So if safe for you, aim to have a HOT bath that makes you sweat and relax and drink some water!
  Note if you have broken skin like in eczema this is not recommended as it may sting your skin.

>> Action – take a1-5 Epsom salt baths a week with 1-3 cups of salt (start with x1 cup and build up)

 

These are 6 super simple things that over time you can add to your daily habits and life and THIS will do wonders for your health.

For your skin, for your hormones, fertility, energy and SO much more.

 

Want more detoxing support?
Then why not complete my 10-day Green Smoothie Challenge – a gentle but effective way to detox and hit the reset button that 100+ people have done!