Clean Start: How to Detox Your Body

Every now and then, every machine requires maintenance. The body is no different. When waste and toxins accumulate in your body, you may experience various unexplained health complaints such as fatigue, headaches, skin problems, or weak digestion. Curious about how this works and how you can detox your body? Read on!

Toxins

The body is exposed to toxins on a daily basis. These are poisonous substances that are harmful to the body and can be categorised into endogenous and exogenous toxins. Endogenous toxins are burdensome waste or residual substances produced during digestion and various other metabolic processes at the cellular level by your body. Additionally, lifestyle factors contribute to a greater burden on the body, such as stress, irregular eating habits, excessive exercise, and medication use. 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 body 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 pesticides, 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 remove the toxins. This process primarily occurs through the liver and kidneys. The liver contributes to the excretion of toxins by secreting certain waste products via bile into the small intestine, from where they are eventually expelled from the body through stool. The liver can also convert certain toxins into water-soluble substances, which then enter the bloodstream and can be filtered out by the kidneys. The kidneys remove, among other things, the waste products converted by the liver, from the blood. The blood flows through the kidneys more than two hundred times a day via the renal artery. In the renal cortex and medulla, there are small filters that allow water, salts, and waste products to pass through, but retain blood cells and proteins (these are not meant to be excreted by the body). The purified blood then flows back into the renal vein and thus into the bloodstream. The remaining fluids, salts, acids, and waste products are collected in the renal pelvis, from where they travel to the bladder via the ureter and are eventually excreted as urine.

Although the kidneys and liver are the main excretory organs, they receive help from additional excretory organs such as the skin, intestines, lungs, and lymphatic system. When these organs are overburdened, 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, for example, subcutaneous connective tissue or fat tissue.

Physical Complaints from Excess Toxins in the Body:

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

6 Tips to Limit 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 opt for organic (pesticide-free) vegetables and fruits as much as possible. Ensure you also consume enough fibre. Legumes, whole grains and seeds, vegetables, and fruits contain a lot of fibre that promotes your intestinal peristalsis. This helps your body remove waste products.

2. Drink Enough Water

Make sure you drink at least 1.5 to 2 litres of water daily. Tea is obviously a good alternative as well.

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 cleaning process during sleep. Throughout the day, the brain produces waste products with every neural activity. These waste products disappear when they are washed away with cerebrospinal fluid that flows through the brain tissue. The waste products then enter the bloodstream, where the liver processes them. The research showed that brain cells shrink by up to sixty percent during sleep, creating more space between the brain cells, allowing the brain fluid to flow more easily through the tissue. 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 aged sixty-five and older need about seven to eight hours.

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 don't overdo it! With excessive exercise and overworked muscles, the body produces a lot of lactic acids, which acidifies 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 agents. 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 the liver, kidneys, and digestion, among other things, so your body can rid itself of accumulated waste products. There are many options in this, from mild to rigorous approaches. However, there is not one correct method. It is important that the method suits you.

Juice Cleanse

You may be familiar with juice cleanses? In this method, you replace some of your meals with vegetable and fruit juices for several consecutive days. This is a well-known way of detoxing.

Alkalising

Acidic waste products left in your body can affect your acidity level, or pH value. This can cause your body to become acidic. This is mainly the case as you age. When you are born, the body consists of 0% acidic waste products. By the time you are thirty to fifty years old, this percentage has already increased to 25%. By your seventies, the body consists of up to 40% acidic waste products. Fortunately, you can restore your acid-base balance. You do this by eating alkaline foods, among other things.

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 products to be better expelled, and helps to excrete waste products. 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.

Author: Nicole Langedijk