Diets that Naturally Detox
Now that it’s Spring, you might find yourself spending more time researching diets and cleanses in an effort to purge your body of toxins and anything else that may discourage the reduction of body fat.
These “detox diets” often claim to eliminate toxins from your body, improve health, and promote weight loss. They can also involve the use of laxatives, diuretics, vitamins, minerals, teas, and other foods thought to have detoxing properties.
But does this stuff actually work?
The term “toxin” in the context of detox diets is not well defined and typically is used to refer to a variety of pollutants, synthetic chemicals, heavy metals, and/or processed foods — which negatively impact health and wellness.
Many of these detoxing methods are not actually healthy and can carry with them certain health risks. Additionally, any evidence to support the use of these diets for toxin elimination or sustainable weight loss is severely lacking.
The reality is that your body has its own natural detox system that eliminates toxins efficiently via the liver, kidneys, digestive system, skin, and lungs.
However if these organs or systems are not healthy their efficacy can be severely hampered.
So, below we have listed some foods and/or nutrients that will help (or hinder) your body’s functionality and consequently increase (or decrease) its ability to remove toxins from its system.
1. Drink more water.
Water is more than a thirst quencher. It regulates body temperature, lubricates joints, aids digestion, and helps remove waste products.
As your body breaks down nutrients for energy use, it also releases waste into the bloodstream.
Water helps transport these waste products out of the body through urination, sweating, and breathing (respiration). Therefore, water intake is key to detoxing.
The adequate amount of water intake can vary from person to person, so there’s no “one size fits all” goal for daily water consumption. You’ve probably heard of the 8×8 rule before – that you should drink eight eight-ounce glasses of water per day – and this is a good starting goal. However, generally between 80-120 ounces a day is where you want to land.
2. Eat antioxidant-rich foods.
Antioxidants protect cells against damage done by molecules called “free radicals.”
These molecules are naturally produced as part of cellular processes like digestion. However, free radicals have been linked to such things as dementia, heart disease, liver disease, asthma, and cancer.
Eating an antioxidant rich diet (berries, nuts, cocoa, spices, coffee, and green tea) can help counteract the impact of free radicals and other toxins that increase your risk of disease.
3. Eat foods high in prebiotics and probiotics.
The value of good “gut health” is something that more and more of us are learning to appreciate and value. And good gut health starts with probiotics, the good bacteria in your gut.
When good bacteria in your gut becomes unbalanced with bad bacteria it can weaken your immune and detoxification systems and increase your risk of disease and inflammation.
Consequently, eating foods rich in prebiotics can help keep your immune and detoxification systems healthy. Some good sources of prebiotics include tomatoes, artichokes, bananas, asparagus, onions, garlic, and oats.
4. Eat sulfur-containing foods.
Foods high in sulfur such as eggs, broccoli, onions, and garlic help enhance the function of glutathione, a naturally produced antioxidant that is heavily involved in detoxification.
Additionally, these sulfur rich foods improve the excretion of heavy metals like cadmium.
5. Limit or reduce the intake of alcohol, sugar, processed foods, and saturated fats.
This should be of no surprise, but a good diet is just as much about the foods you should eat as the foods you should stay away from.
Alcohol, sugars, processed foods, and saturated fats all contribute to poor health and are linked to a variety of health problems and diseases such as inflammation, fat buildup, obesity, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
These diseases hamper your body’s ability to naturally detoxify itself by damaging organs that play a crucial role in that process such as the liver and kidneys.
The bottom line is this: removing toxins is something that your body already has the ability to do on its own without a bunch of shakes, special juices, and high-priced supplements.
Like anything else, the systems your body utilizes for these processes will not function well if you are not giving it the right fuel.
Make sure you are feeding your body the right nutrients and foods to ensure it runs at peak efficiency and has the capacity to cleanse itself in a safe and proven manner.
Do you need help kickstarting your weight loss process? Reach out to us at your nearest Bee Healthy Clinics location.