Fresh Start: How to Detox Your Body

Every so often, every machine needs a service. The body is no different. When waste and toxins accumulate in your body, you may experience various inexplicable health issues such as fatigue, headaches, skin problems, or poor digestion. Curious about how this works and how you can detox your body? Read on!

Toxins

The body is exposed to toxins daily. These are harmful substances that can be categorised into endogenous and exogenous toxins. Endogenous toxins are burdensome waste or by-products produced during digestion and various other metabolic processes at the cellular level by your body. Additionally, lifestyle factors such as stress, irregular eating patterns, excessive exercise, and medication use can further burden the body. As long as the body has sufficient proteins, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, and trace elements, the liver should be able to eliminate these substances.

Exogenous toxins, also known as EDCs (Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals), are harmful substances that enter our bodies from external sources. This occurs through the intake of unhealthy foods (additives) such as sugar, alcohol, E-numbers, coffee, and refined foods, but also through air pollution, UV radiation, cleaning and pest control products, synthetic cosmetics, (micro) plastics, heavy metals, exhaust fumes, and cigarette smoke.

Detoxification System

When EDCs enter your body, it works hard to break down and eliminate these toxins. This process primarily occurs via the liver and kidneys. The liver contributes to the excretion of toxins by secreting certain waste products through bile into the small intestine, from where they leave the body through the stool. The liver can also convert certain toxins into water-soluble substances, which then enter the bloodstream and are filtered out by the kidneys. The kidneys extract, among other things, the waste products converted by the liver from the blood. More than two hundred times a day, blood flows through the kidneys via the renal artery. In the renal cortex and medulla, small filters allow water, salts, and waste products to pass through, but retain blood cells and proteins (which the body obviously does not want to excrete). The purified blood then flows back into the renal vein and thus into the bloodstream. The remaining fluid, salts, acids, and waste products are collected in the renal pelvis, from where it travels via the ureter to the bladder and is eventually excreted as urine.

Although the kidneys and liver are the main excretory organs, they receive assistance from additional excretory organs such as the skin, intestines, lungs, and lymphatic system. When these organs are overloaded, the body has several 'emergency valves' to rid itself of waste products. These include earwax, tears, vaginal discharge, menstruation, mucus, ejaculation, and tongue coating. When the body can no longer handle the amount of toxins, the waste is stored in subcutaneous connective tissue or fat tissue.

Physical Complaints Due to Excess Toxins in the Body:

• Headaches
• Fatigue
• Hormonal disruptions
• Reduced fertility in both men and women
• Weakened immune system
• Metabolic problems
• Mental health issues
• Skin problems
• Accelerated or slowed thyroid function

6 Tips to Minimise Toxic Substances in Your Body

1. Healthy Diet

The fewer toxic substances you consume, the fewer waste products need to be filtered out of your body. Therefore, try to eat as purely as possible and choose organic (unsprayed) vegetables and fruit whenever possible. Ensure you also get enough fibre. Legumes, whole grains and seeds, vegetables, and fruits contain a lot of fibre that promotes your intestinal peristalsis, helping your body to remove waste products.

2. Drink Enough Water

Make sure you drink at least 1.5 to 2 litres of water daily. Tea is also a good alternative. You might choose a tea that supports your body in the removal of waste products, such as Pukka Cleanse tea.

3. Avoid Stress

Hormones released during stressful situations, such as adrenaline and cortisol, create toxins that make detoxification less efficient and slower.

4. Good Night's Sleep

Neurological research shows that the brain undergoes a cleansing process during sleep. Throughout the day, the brain produces waste products with every neural activity. These waste products disappear when they are flushed away with the cerebrospinal fluid flowing through the brain tissue. The waste then enters the bloodstream, where the liver processes it. Research has shown that brain cells shrink by up to sixty per cent during sleep, creating more space between the brain cells, allowing the cerebrospinal fluid to flush through the tissue more easily. If you do not get enough sleep, a larger amount of toxins remains in the brain. The guideline for adults is at least seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Those over sixty-five need about seven to eight hours. If you do not achieve this and have trouble falling asleep, herbs such as valerian and hops can help. You can find these in the Sleep Complex from Vitaminstore.

5. Exercise

The lymphatic system, part of the excretory system, can only function with sufficient movement. A good guideline is to exercise for at least half an hour every day. But do not overdo it! Excessive exercise and overstrained muscles produce a lot of lactic acids, which acidify the body.

6. Use Natural (Beauty) Products

Use as many natural products as possible without microplastics and chemicals. Think of natural washing, cleaning, and pest control products. Also, replace your synthetic care products with a natural variant. Everything you apply to your skin can penetrate it and enter the body via the bloodstream.

What Detox Methods Are There?

Detoxing is temporarily relieving organs like the liver, kidneys, and digestive system, allowing your body to rid itself of accumulated waste. There are many options, from mild to rigorous approaches. However, there is no one right way. It is important that the method suits you.

Juice Cleanse

Perhaps you are familiar with juice cleanses? In this method, you replace some or all of your meals for several days with vegetable and fruit juices. This is a well-known way of detoxing.

Alkalising

Acidic waste that remains in your body can affect your acidity level, or pH value. This can lead to acidosis, especially as you age. When you are born, the body contains 0% acidic waste. By the time you are thirty to fifty years old, this percentage has increased to 25%. By seventy, the body comprises up to 40% acidic waste. Fortunately, you can restore your acid-base balance. You can do this by eating alkaline foods and using alkalising products from Alka.

Dry Brushing

Dry brushing originates from Ayurveda, where it has been used for centuries to prevent physical discomforts. Daily brushing of your skin with a soft brush stimulates blood circulation, removes dead skin cells allowing waste to be better eliminated, and helps to excrete waste. By brushing, you activate your lymphatic system, one of the excretory organs.

Important During Detoxing

When you detox, you essentially press a reset button in your body. Your liver has to work hard to excrete all the excessive toxins. It is recommended to drink enough water during the detox and support your liver with milk thistle supplements such as Milk Thistle Complex from Vitaminstore or Bioradix syrup. Milk thistle supports the liver's cleansing function.

Author: Nicole Langedijk