So You’re Thinking About A Detox?

 

For those of you who didn’t know, February has become known as ‘detox month’. Detoxing in February has evolved because the holiday and party season has come to a grinding halt and we head back to the daily grind. If you’re like most, it’s very likely your liver and digestion copped a fairly good pummelling over the holiday, party season, so this is the time to give your liver a well deserved reboot!

Living in today’s fast paced world, seems to be synonymous with clutter and overload. Our minds have become over exposed to constant stimulation from technology, the internet, and our digestive systems are overworked and overloaded thanks to eating too many of the wrong foods, excess coffee and alcohol. Throw in a good dose of common toxins, from simple day to day living and you have a pretty valid reason to DETOX!

Over time, excess toxins and undigested food can accumulate within our body. The impact, be it mental or physical, will inevitably influence our body’s ability to function as efficiently and eventually increase our risk factor for common lifestyle diseases further down the track.

So where do all these toxins come from and what can we do about minimising our exposure and the impact they have on our health?

Well let me start with this line of questioning……. do you drink coffee every day, regularly consume alcohol, smoke, consume fast food or processed foods high in sugar, or artificial ingredients –‘hello aspartame’, lather your skin with chemical based cosmetics and beauty products, eat like it’s your last meal whilst multi-tasking 5 things at once, drink water with your meals, or live in a busy city? If you answered YES to at least 2 of these then congratulations you qualify for a detox! It’s enough to make you feel overloaded just reading about it!

But for those of you who are watching what you eat, are using organic natural skin products and go easy on the coffee and alcohol, what you may not realise is that much of your toxicity could be generating from within.

Let me ask you this…… do you regularly experience bloating, flatulence, reflux or heart burn? Do you feel tired and sluggish after meals or experience constipation or lose bowels? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then chances are you are struggling to digest your food effectively, which in turn accumulates and ferments within the intestine – hence the bloating and flatulence.

This nicely accumulated mass of undigested food can lead to a rather congested bowel, blocking the passage for easy elimination. Digestive issues such as constipation, are the underlying cause for some of the most common health problems, including fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, Candida / thrush, bad skin and breath, PMT, poor cognitive function – including grumpy moods and poor immune defences.

But it’s not just our intestines that become over loaded when we accumulate too much ‘junk in our trunk’, our liver will also be asked to up the ante, in order to process excess toxins. It’s a sad situation that has evolved from living in a modern day society, where we can no longer rely on our body’s natural ability to process & eliminate toxins efficiently. The reality is so many of us eat, drink and breath too many toxins and often without even knowing it, that we weren’t exposed to when the human body evolved. This is one of the greatest contributing factors to our digestive system struggling to function the way it was intended.

So when you wake up in the morning feeling like a lead balloon is tying you to the bed, or find yourself firmly clenching your buttocks all too regularly following a meal for fear of killing those around you with a leaking gas, you’ve inherited the nick name “cranky pants” from your friends and family, or you’re having to apply foundation like paint to cover up those blotches and dark circles under your eyes, you know it’s time to give your long suffering body a clean out with an effective detox program. I say effective because not all detox programs were created equal.

By doing so you’ll feel more energised, you’ll think clearer, your skin will glow, your bowels will flow and your moods will be more balanced!

So what are you waiting for?! Hop on board the February detox and get ready to look and feel good every day and experience the difference detox can make to your health!

For more health tips and delicious recipes, checkout my e-book, Eat Yourself Healthy. It's not just a healthy diet, but a way of life, so you can feel better than you have ever felt before .