10 Ways to Actually Detox

A Quick Word on Cleanses

It is almost 2022 and you might have plans next week to start a juice cleanse, start a Whole 30, go on a fast, or whatever else it is to try to help you reset from a tasty and indulgent holiday season. I’m not here to totally rain on your health parade but I do want to give you some info on why cleanses and short-term detoxes aren’t all they crack up to be, and how to actually support your detox pathways. You might be thinking, but Vanessa, juice cleanses make me feel so good! If they do, you do you, friend!  The reason many people feel initially refreshed and more energized is because a cleanse can give your digestive system a break and reduce burden on the liver by eliminating things like alcohol, sugar, and processed ingredients. Cleanses can also be a way to increase vegetable intake, thereby giving you some of the essential nutrients your body is probably asking for.

The issues with these detox cleanses are that for one, they are short-term and often just bring you right back to where you were before, with no real sustainable change. Additionally, if your body has been under a lot of stress which may be manifesting itself through fatigue, irregular periods, anxiety, brain fog, skin issues, gut issues, etc., not eating enough will crank up your stress hormone, cortisol, which can affect your metabolism and your hormones, leading to even more symptoms. But mostly, cleanses just miss the point. The point being that our bodies have built-in detoxification systems that we can support year-round to improve energy, immune function, hormone balancing, digestive function, etc.

Your Natural Detox Pathways

Supporting your detox pathways means supporting a variety of tissues and organs that are involved in removing toxins from your body. The liver is a big one but the gallbladder, kidneys, gut, skin, and lymphatic system are all involved as well. Nutrients play a v big role in your detox pathways by participating in different phases of detoxification in these various organs. Without the essential nutrients, your body cannot detox effectively or efficiently. It is also important to note that your toxin load (how much and from where) can also impact how you detox.

The main nutrients your body needs to detox include:

• Antioxidants and flavonoids such as glutathione and sulforaphane

• B vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin C, choline, magnesium

• Amino acids like cysteine, methionine, taurine,  and glycine

After seeing this nutrient list, you see why a juice cleanse just doesn’t cut it? Sure, it might give you a few of these nutrients, but protein, fiber, and other nutrients are essential!

Who Needs to Support their Detox Pathways?

Truly, everyone does! Most of us, even if we try to do our best, are exposed to chemicals and toxins through processed food, cleaning products, candles, perfume, smoke, personal care products, hair dye, medications, contaminated water and air, fireplaces, etc. If you don’t practice detox-supportive lifestyle habits or consistently eat a nutrient-dense diet, your body may also need support (more on ways to support in a second). Making sure our bodies get rid of this junk is so important, and luckily, we can do something about it.

When Extra Support is Needed

Before we jump in on how to support your detox pathways naturally, I will say that sometimes there is a place for extra detox support that involve eliminating certain foods, supplements that bind to toxins to get them out of the body, and higher doses of nutrients like the ones listed above. This can be particularly helpful when our toxin load becomes too much for our bodies or our bodies just don’t have what they need to work well. That’s when the body starts to give us symptoms and signs such as fatigue, headaches, high estrogen, low progesterone, brain fog, skin issues like acne, and eczema, joint/muscle pain, etc.  If you resonate with this and want some extra support, I would love to set up a free 20-minute strategy call. Personalized functional nutritional counseling is a great setting to figure out what is going on and get you the healing you need. 

So, let’s get to it! Here are 10 ways to support your detox pathways, not just in January but long term:

1.     Poop every day. (1-3x, banana-like).

2.     Sweat often via exercise/sauna

3.     Drink filtered water. I like Clearly Filtered and Berkey.

4.     Minimize toxin exposure by switching to cleaner household products, personal care products, and buying organic (at least for the Dirty Dozen and meats), etc.

5.     Eat cruciferous veggies daily. Broccoli sprouts are super high in sulforaphane and are the detox veggie queens. This category also includes broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, bok choy, asparagus, kale, arugula, cauliflower.

6.     Eat bitter foods to stimulate bile flow (apple cider vinegar, dandelion greens, citrus peel, milk thistle, arugula, bitters).

7.     Sufficient high-quality protein. Your bodyweight x 0.45= grams of protein needed. For example, a 120 lb person needs about 54g of protein daily. More if you’re very active.

8.     Eat the rainbow. Colorful fruit, veggies, herbs, and spices are rich in antioxidants.

9.     Other foods: egg yolk (high in choline), beef liver, green tea/matcha, fiber.

10.  Support lymph flow with dry brushing, gua sha, massage, hot/cold bath/shower, etc.