Why detox?
Many people believe they eat healthily. They squeeze healthy juices, have the odd cleansing tea, they follow healthy diet recipes, maybe even a vegetarian diet plan. And yet ….. they still don’t feel right! But once you know what’s happening, it is little wonder.
The modern world has generated a rapid increase in toxins and while it isn’t always easy to establish a direct connection between a specific cause and an effect, the link between increased toxicity and a range of diseases is now becoming well recognized.
Your body has many internal systems to eliminate toxins including the digestive tract, lymphatic system, liver and gall bladder, kidneys, lungs and your skin. A healthy body is very resilient and when it’s working well it is in a state of ‘homoeostasis’. However, this homoeostatic balance can be upset when you take in more toxins than your body can deal with.
Your age and overall health are key factors in how well your body can deal with toxins. Generally speaking the younger and healthier can more effectively eliminate toxins and minimize the damage they can cause. But even for the young and healthy there are no guarantees in the face of these increasing toxic burdens which can lead to health problems.
As toxic stress increases, our systems are unable to compete and instead of being flushed out of our system, the toxins end up lodged within our internal organs, skin, body cells, and unwanted fat. This could result in symptoms including stress and fatigue, mild to severe headaches, pains and aches, coughs, congestion, and intestinal complications, all of which are on the increase.
Toxins disrupt normal metabolic functioning within the body, which, eventually, could lead to conditions such as fibromyalgia, asthma, chronic fatigue, infertility, inflammatory
disease, neurological disorders, obesity, and cancer and cardiovascular disease, allergies, arthritis, and a number of skin problems which can considered to be toxicity-related diseases.
Record numbers of people experience a range of diseases including cancer, heart and skin disease, as well as allergies, arthritis and obesity. Similarly, stress, anxiety and depression are all linked to, or can be the cause of toxic overload.
All of us are the guardians our health and wellbeing – it really is our most valuable gift. And it is up to all of us to treasure this and take responsibility for it.
Some extra help for our organs
To survive and thrive in this increasingly contaminated environment our bodies need extra help, and detoxing, cleansing and balancing the body to restore health is a very good way to give it that assistance. When you accept the challenge to pursue the best possible health, and therefore the highest quality of life for you and your family, you enter a new world filled with fun learning experiences, and even adventure. You get the chance to reinvent yourself!
Accepting this responsibility and taking that first step is an integral part of any program to restore your body to optimum health and vitality, and this website has an abundance of ways to help you on this fabulous journey. Over time it could become one of the very best tools you are going to possess with regards to your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.
There are many and wide ranging benefits associated with detoxing, and eliminating as much as possible any toxic substances from your body and our living environment can seriously enhance virtually every facet of your life.
A properly implemented and completed detoxification and toxic cleanse program can result in great improvements, especially when your body’s own internal organs of elimination (ie liver and gallbladder, digestive tract, kidneys, lungs, skin and lymph system) are overloaded.
While these organs individually and combined accomplish an exceptionally good job detoxifying and protecting the body from toxins and free radicals, the rising quantities of toxic compounds we daily breathe in, ingest or absorb will impede their optimal performance.
Irrespective of which detox programs you prefer to use, (eg detox naturally, a home detox programme, or you go to one of the many excellent detox retreats), typically they use a combination of methods and detox product to help rid the body of accumulated toxic substances, repair any damage they may have done to your organs and help restore your health. With lower toxicity levels the body’s disease fighting capability are going to be strengthened, allowing it to deal better with new toxins as they inevitably enter the body.
As your body is cleansed, you can anticipate your digestive system to improve, nasal congestion to clear, blood pressure levels to stabilize, mental clarity and memory to improve, and emotional and hormonal fluctuations to return to normal. Cleansing can also boost the effectiveness of any other subsequent restorative healing treatments.
In the long run, those who take care of the equilibrium of their body should expect to live longer and healthier, encounter fewer degenerative health conditions and persistent medical problems such as all forms of diabetes, joint disease, and many forms of cancer, recuperate more quickly from sickness and injury, and in some cases some of these conditions may actually disappear entirely.
By using a bio detox you’re getting rid of toxic substances and toxic ways of thinking, and you’re providing an abundance of nutrients to your body so it goes into homeostasis and you’re enabling it to do what it is supposed to do, heal and stay healthy. When the body is cleansed, it becomes more efficient at digestion, assimilation, and elimination, you build up your immune system and you’ll have more energy.
Benefits to your cardiovascular system
Detox can assist in lowering your blood pressure and the associated dietary changes that you will make as part of the detox program may also reduce your blood fat levels. As your liver health improves, this may also have a beneficial influence on lowering your blood cholesterol level, which is one of the key predictors connected with heart attacks, strokes and premature death.
• lowering blood pressure levels
• reduce blood fat levels
• improved liver organ function
For more information on the cardiovascular system, click here
Improved digestive functions
Detoxification re-establishes flavor appreciation of healthy and balanced natural food products, with many people saying their tastebuds sparkle again and that food never tasted so good. The additional advantages in making healthy food choices (eg eating low sugar foods) are reduced cravings, reduced bowel problems (eg bloating, constipation or Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and it will help you clean your liver.
These types of ailments generally stem from a build-up toxins and/or a poor diet, and the cleansing and detox processes allow these toxins to be eliminated (and can even show an immediate weight loss – the toxins-up in the colon can weigh up to two and a half to nine kilos (five to twenty pounds)).
• reduced fluid retention, bloatedness and discomfort
• improved intestinal health and wellbeing
• reduced cravings along with healthier bodyweight
For more information on the digestive system, click here
Increased vitality
Whenever your body systems are inundated with toxic compounds and chemical substances, you will begin to feel lethargic and cranky. Eliminating these waste materials, parasitic infections and built-up contaminants enables your body to properly digest your the food you eat and absorb the nutrients.
By cleansing your bodily organs you’ll also help eliminate excessive sleeping and boost your energy, develop flexibility by reducing inflammation of the joints and muscles and enhance your sensory faculties. Lights may seem brighter, colors extra intense, sounds crisper, and odours more appealing.
• increased feelings of vitality
• improved overall flexibility
• assist with natural migraine relief
Balance your hormones
Much of the food we consume is “enhanced” with a wide range of agrichemicals. They are typically used in order to reduce the cost of food production, increase the amount of time food can be put into long-term storage (this offers a year-around supply as opposed to fresher seasonal foodstuff), attempts to improve the appearance when you buy it, just to mention a few.
Along with fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides, insecticides and antibiotics, farmers make use of hormones, notably growth hormones. This use has nothing to do with improving nutritional quality of the food, yet these artificial hormones end up in our bodies where may have a range of deleterious and possibly damaging consequences.
• maintain a healthy libido and improve fertility
• less PMS, menstrual cramps and an easier menopause
• assist with hormonal symptoms (eg adrenal fatigue treatment)
For more information on the endocrine system, click here
Improved immunity
There exists a correlation between a lower immune system and the level of toxins in your body. Detoxification is aimed at strengthening your body’s immune system so it functions better. Immunity and allergic reactions are improved as your body doesn’t have to invest a lot of energy in combating toxic compounds. It also enables much easier and much better balanced nutritional absorption.
When there are toxic compounds in your system your body will find it much harder to fight-off allergic reactions such as asthma and hay fever and other ailments such as colds and the flu. A build-up of toxins will over time cause muscle aches and pains and possibly lead to inflamed joints, or perhaps rather more serious health conditions including osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
• reduced hypersensitive reactions
• inhibits inflamation related ailments
• promotes better balanced nutrition
For more information, please read our page about the immune system.
Improved state of mind
When toxins circulate through your body they inevitably reach the brain and your central nervous system. That may leave you feeling lethargic, put you in a mood, affect your ability to concentrate, give you poor sleeping patterns, cause anxiety or even depression – well-known examples of such toxins include nicotine, alcohol and other recreational drugs. Detoxing is known to assist in developing coping strategies for stress.
• improve your sleeping patterns
• improved mental clarity and memory
• give yourself that sense of inner peace and calmness
Skin and anti-ageing
Last but not certainly least are the detox benefits on the skin, including anti-ageing benefits. When your body is subjected to a toxin overload that can’t be taken care of by the other internal organs of elimination, these toxins try to escape through the skin pores where they can cause, among other things, body odor. However, quite often these toxins get trapped which can result in a poor complexion, or worse, in premature ageing.
• clears the skin
• helps reduce bad body odor
• avoid premature ageing
Detox as a way of life
Ideally detoxing should become a way of life instead of regarding detox just an occasional health-boosting plan. It can range from making better choices of what you eat and drink all the way to a rigorous program for those who opt for that. For most it’s actually a fun journey and for a few it can become an obsession that they can’t do without. Wherever you fit on this scale, you will benefit greatly.
There is a broad range of information and other products on this website that can assist you in your detoxification journey. Just a word of caution. Aside from choosing a healthy diet, detoxing isn’t for everyone. You should seek medical advice before you start a detox program even if you attempt detox when you’re feeling relatively fit and well. But if you’re ill, convalescing, taking prescribed medications, pregnant or breast-feeding, or you’re simply not confident deciding, seeking medical advice is an absolute must.
Here’s to your body, mind and soul!!!
This original content was created by Detox and Body Cleanse
© DetoxAndBodyCleanse.com – All rights reserved
Further reading
Brewer, S, The Total Detox Plan, Carlton Books, London, 2000, page 10
eMedTV, bipolar-disorder.emedtv.com/lithium/lithium-uses.html
Harper, J, Natural Care Detox Handbook, Doring Kindersley Limited London, 2002
Krohn J, & Taylor F, Natural Detoxification, Hartley & Marks Publishers Inc. Vancouver, 2000
Kyssa N, The Simply Raw Living Foods Detox Manual, Arsenal Pulp Press, Vancouver, 2009
Quigley, D, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Detoxing Your Body, The Penguin Group, 2008
