What Is Detoxing, and Why Would You Want to Try it?

Have you heard of people “detoxing”, but aren’t sure what that really means? Detoxification is the active purifying of the body, performed as an internal cleanse. After a detox effort, people say they feel cleansed, restored, stripped free of excess weight, and more energetic.

Why do you need to detox? You come in contact with all kinds of toxins as you go about your regular routine. Think about it: depending on where you live, you may have to deal with smoke, smog, chemicals, pesticides, alcohol, preservatives, and a variety of body-function clogging foods. Our bodies end up stressed as they try to filter these contaminants through our kidneys and liver, and then try to eliminate excess waste products. Detox programs help you remove excess waste so your body can recover from this stress.

Now that you're interested in detoxing, you're probably wondering what a detox program entails. It's best to try to improve your external environment by getting away from smoke, renting or buying an air purifier for your home, drinking purified water,  and limiting alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and fat consumption. You’ll want to switch to an oragnic fruit and vegetable diet for a while, allowing your body a break from processing meat, dairy, preservatives, and chemicals. You'll need to fill up on water, tea, and fresh produce, all of which will promote good elimination.

What can you do to encourage regularity? Try drinking a lot of water and senna tea, which will help your kidneys filter out waste products and will move your bowels. Try to focus on eating raw fruit and vegetables as much as possible. Many people choose to juice during a detox session, or to live on the Master Cleanse lemonade concoction of lemon juice, water, pure maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. Set a period of time for your cleanse so you will have the self control to finish out the commitment.

Once you are done detoxing, gradually reintroduce foods one by one. Detox whenever you start to feel sluggish or weighed down.