I am among those who believe a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and, “the devil lies in the details.”
As speed of life increases along with our stress levels; our patience goes the other way. We don’t take the necessary time to gather enough information about the solutions we use. We only glance over the key details that may change the proposed solution to a disaster.
Detox diet plans in general miss a few steps. When it comes to juicing to detox we really get into the area of the speculation.
Reviewing some of the terminologies around detoxification helps focus the attention on what works without getting caught up in the scientific jargon and marketing propaganda.
What is detoxification?
The process of eliminating toxins, metabolic byproducts and unused material within the body is detoxification.
Some of the detoxification happens through elimination. Urination and defecation are two ways that we eliminate toxins from our body. Sweating is another way.
When the body works well, and you provide enough volume without slowing down the movements of your intestines, you remove most of the waste products naturally. When you drink enough water without too much salt or sugar, you will remove toxins and metabolic waste products through your urine.
Can you effectively detox without a sufficient amount in your food? Not really.
Can you effectively detox without enough water in your diet? Again, you can’t.
Body is an efficient system. Every part of your body works in an ongoing basis. Your heart doesn’t beat once in a while. It beats every second or so. Your brain doesn’t process information once a week. It processes information all the time, even when you sleep. And the detoxification does not wait for you to prepare. It happens all the time. Your plan could make it more efficient and less stressful.
Detoxification is a natural and continuous process for the body. Its two basic components of detoxification are water and fiber volume.
Another process of detoxification happens through extraneous physical activities. When you increase the physical activities, the natural motions and contractions of your muscles along with your increased in breathing volume and sweating move the toxins out of your system.
If you maintain a physically active lifestyle which keeps the fat percentage of your body down, you are eliminating the storage of many toxins begin your body. Fat in many cases serves as a toxin storage within your body. The less fat you carry, the less storage you have for the toxins. Your would not store toxins because it doesn’t have a place to store it. Instead it eliminates the toxins.
What I just described is a natural process that happens all the time within both the natural environment that is now an imaginary one and the artificial environment that is more real to us.
Our environment today contains thousands of chemicals that are known to the body. Your body does not recognize these chemicals and has no way of effectively dealing with them.
This fact is the basis of most detoxification plan including those related to drugs. The claim is that your body cannot, on its own eliminate the number and variety of toxins we are exposed to.
Since your liver is the primary filtering system of your body, those who believe in detoxification focus on removing the toxic material from your liver. Their hope is once the liver is cleanse the from the toxins it can work efficiently removing the toxins that you’re exposed to on a daily basis.
Substantial scientific support lacks in this hypothesis as Andrew Weil, MD, host of drweil.com and director of integrative medicine at the University of Arizona in Tucson tells WebMD “There’s no scientific evidence to support the claims made for [detox diets]. But there are things you can do to rev up the body’s elimination systems,” he tells WebMD.
So where does this leave you when it comes to detoxification?
Reduce your exposure to toxins as much as you can.
Look for natural alternatives to the products you use at home. For example bleach and ammonia.
Look for organically grown fruits and vegetables that are not contaminated with a lot of toxins.
Check the ingredients you use as toothpaste soap and shampoo. In the hot steamy shower, your lungs and skin are complete the open to these ingredients. If the toxic, they don’t go through the normal digestive track that is designed to remove some of the toxins. The good deal directly through your skin and your lungs and enter your system.
What else can you do?
Increase your intake of natural antioxidants that are plants and vegetables. You can recognize antioxidants, but it color they represent in herbs, fruits and vegetables assuming that these are organically grown. If preparation time or the taste are challenges for you, you can use raw food recipes that take minimal amount of time to prepare and and healthy juicing recipes that you can mix and match to give you the health benefits and taste. The Juice Lady’s Guide To Juicing for Health: Unleashing the Healing Power of Whole Fruits and Vegetables Revised Edition is an excellent reference.
Increase your water intake and reduce the amount of drinks that contain sugars and drinks that dehydrate our body as well as drinks that accumulate fat your system like alcohol.
Gets regular checkups to make sure that a healthcare professional can find dangerous conditions that may or may not be related to toxins.
Looking to alternative therapies that include the use of herbs to increase the efficiency of your system in eliminating toxins. Alternative treatments, the same as traditional medicines should be supported by scientific evidence as well as common sense.
Before you follow an instruction, you need to know how the solution works to help you get where you want to go.
For example, in detoxification juicing diet the use of leafy greens increases the antioxidants in your body. If you substitute a juice with high calorie low nutrient foods, you will lose weight and through weight loss you eliminate the fat that stores toxins.
This process has scientific support, and it makes sense assuming that you continue to process until your body reaches a state of nutrient balance, hydration and healthy muscle to fat ratio.
These benefits do not happen within a day or two or even a week or two. It’s a lifestyle change that helps the continuance natural process of detoxification.