Detoxing

Eliminating toxins and having clean and healthy blood is so vital that your body has several ways of doing it. Toxins are removed through the kidneys, lungs, skin, liver, lymphatic system, and intestines.

If we have all these ways of detoxing, why do we need to do a special detox? These systems sort of get gunked up or sludgy and weak and tired and become inefficient at their job. When we have toxins coming into the body faster than we can eliminate them we have toxic overload.

Think of a person drinking wine. After the first glass they are fine because the liver was able to process and remove enough of the alcohol that very little was able to enter the blood. If they continue drinking, by the third glass they may feel tipsy because the liver had more alcohol going through it than it could process.

If the person continuously overloads their liver with toxins they will eventually have liver damage. The liver is one organ that was designed to regenerate itself because it takes lots of abuse, but it wasn't designed to take so much abuse that it can't keep up with the repairs.

So it is with our other systems of elimination. In today's world we are bombarded with toxins. Some toxins are out of our control, but we have the power to eliminate many of them from our lives, or at least reduce them.

Eliminating the toxins we can is a good place to start.

Keep your eye on the prize. It can be difficult, but also exciting. In the coming weeks, maybe even days, you will begin feeling improvements. A healthy, strong and vibrant body is the goal. When you clean up your body and supply it with the right tools you are creating the atmosphere your body needs to heal and regenerate.

Processed food is toxic. Processed meats and refined sugar are toxic and need to be eliminated if you are serious about getting healthy. Also, eliminate packaged products. They tend to have toxic fillers, flavorings, colorings, and preservatives that are difficult to pronounce and are not meant for human consumption.

Now that you know what to eliminate, what do you include?

A good detox diet includes real, organic food. Fruits and vegetables are high in phytonutrients that are essential for good health. They contain fiber. And there are so many to choose from.

Include nuts and seeds, beans and lentils. Include good fats and oils like extra virgin olive oil, organic coconut oil, and avocado oil. Good fats give your organs clean energy to help them detoxify.

If you're detoxing to rid your body of cancer it may be wise to not include meat at this time, until your body has rid itself of the cancer. Meat is harder to break down and process, and you want all of your body's energy going to healing. Protein is important, but if you are eating a balanced variety of plant foods you will get plenty of protein.

There are plenty of other ways to help you detox. I've heard wonderful reviews about the Red Tea Detox Program. Many teas such as dandelion root and green tea are also cleansing.

You can do a juice cleanse. You'll need a juicer to get the most benefit. Enzymes and vitamins begin dying soon after the fruits and vegetables are juiced. You want to get all you can, so you don't want reconstituted juices or juices that have preservatives in them.

You can juice the produce together or separately. I enjoy plain carrot juice, but sometimes I may put an apple with it. It's very refreshing, cleansing, and full of antioxidants.

Use things like cucumber, spinach, kale, celery, oranges, carrots, apples, and berries. Many great recipes are online or you can experiment and make your own.

Maybe add some fresh and powerful spices like ginger, cinnamon, or turmeric. These spices are loaded with health benefits.

There are ready made detox products you can buy. Some are better than others, so be sure to research the product to make sure it's a good one. You can find reviews for almost any product.



The least expensive, yet possibly the most powerful way to detox is through water fasting. It's also the most difficult, but not impossible.

Water fasting lets your body rest from digestion and focus it's energy on cleaning unwanted particles from your body. The water flushes them out. Your organs and arteries especially benefit. It helps your intestines to flush out unwanted material that has possibly been there for years, which in turn will help your intestines to better absorb nutrients.

If you fast long enough you will go into a deep cleaning in the cells of your body. A process called autophagy is induced once you have gone without food between 18 and 24 hours. The longer you fast, the more autophagy you will get.

During autophagy the body will go trash picking within itself to find nutrition. It will seek out old, weakened, and damaged cells. The cells are broken down. Whatever is good is kept and recycled. Whatever is bad is removed and discarded.

Fasting also promotes stem cell growth. Stem cells are cells that are on standby until they are needed. When there is an injury or damage somewhere in the body stem cells are summoned to the place of injury and begin repairing the damaged tissue.

As we age we make less stem cells, but fasting promotes stem cell growth. Researchers at MIT conducted a study and found that stem cells drastically increased their rate of regeneration after only 24 hours of fasting. The study was done on both old and young people and found the rates of regeneration to be the same.

Warning: Fasting should not be done by women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, or people with certain chronic conditions, or very underweight. Consult your doctor.

My strong advice for those who want to do a water fast is to first do some detoxing with some of the detox ideas above, however you want. Maybe eat only whole organic foods for four or five days, then do a juice fast for a couple days. Or purchase a good detox product and follow their instructions. Then start the water only fast.

I say this because water fasting causes your body to do such an effective and extreme cleansing down to the very cells of your body. Removing so much debris, damaged cells, and parasites that are dying and letting off their own toxins, that you may feel quite ill, depending on your level of toxicity, if it's done too quickly. So to avoid the fasting flu, as it's called, you'll want some of the toxins removed before doing an extreme cleaning.

Dr. Mindy Pelz is an expert on fasting and discusses different ways to fast on her YouTube channel. She suggests a 3-5 day fast for most situations. She also suggests doing a 24 hour fast once or twice a week, every week, for maintenance.

Dr. Jason Fung is another expert on fasting and has safely fasted over 5,000 patients. He discusses how fasting strengthens and resets mitochondria, which are the powerhouses of our cells.

Dr. Alan Goldhamer is the founder of TrueNorth Health Center. It is a state-of-the-art facility that provides medical services and oversees extended fasts from 5 to 40 days for people with all kinds of chronic issues.

These doctors have seen cancer tumors shrink, hypertension disappear, diabetes reversed, migraines disappear, cholesterol return to normal, and the list goes on.

Whichever form of detoxing you choose, it is an important step toward healing.