Diet & Nutrition

7 Simple Ways to Detox Your Body Naturally

‘Detoxing’ has become the latest health and wellness trend, but, unlike most trends, there’s actual scientific substance behind the benefits of detoxification. The nice thing about this is that you can often detox your body naturally on your own without even thinking about it.

Detoxification is necessary and your body has built-in processes that do a good job of this on their own.

The immune system, liver, kidneys, skin, respiratory system, and the intestines work together to rid your body of dangerous toxins and chemicals. (1)

But, sometimes, you may need to give your body a little boost and help with the detoxing.

→Here's What You Need to Repair Your Gut and Get the Digestive Relief You Deserve←

Every day, your body comes into contact with chemicals, toxins, and parasites through your surrounding environment. The deodorant you use every morning, the cleaners you use to scrub your toilets and shine your floors, the air you breathe in your home, and the additives in the food you eat are vital factors forming the environment around you.

And it’s your environment that can cause kinks to form in the natural detoxification processes of the human body, leading these systems to get overloaded and struggle to keep up with removing toxic substances from your body.

If you’re wondering if you need a detox, here are a few signs to watch out for:

  • You’re struggling to lose weight
  • You feel more exhausted and have less energy than usual
  • You’re experiencing rashes or other break-outs on your skin
  • Your ability to concentrate is worsening
  • You feel excessively bloated
  • You’re experiencing headaches that seemed to come out of nowhere
  • You’ve noticed changes in your bowel movements, such as feeling more constipated or experiencing regular bouts of diarrhoea

A few easy ways to detox your body naturally include eating foods rich in specific nutrients and vitamins, maintaining healthy sleep and exercise habits, and taking certain supplements.

Let’s discover 7 simple ways to detox your body naturally so you’re feeling in tip-top shape again in no time!

Contents:

#1 - Drink More Water to Beat the Bloat

#2 - Increase Prebiotic/Probiotic Intake to Support Digestive Detoxification

#3- Detox Your Body Naturally With Diatomaceous Earth (DE)

#4 - Eat a Cleaner Diet to Help You Detox

#5- Increase Sulphur Intake to Support Detoxification

#6- Sweat Those Toxins Goodbye

#7- Go All-Natural With Personal and Household Items

Following Steps

#1 - Drink More Water to Beat the Bloat

If you’re tired of feeling bloated or have had enough and want to lose a few pounds, maybe a tall glass of water (or a few) could make all the difference!

Within the first hour of drinking, a half-litre of water has been shown to improve your metabolism by up to 30%, which can be a bonus when it comes to trying to lose weight. (2)(3)

Numerous studies have shown that an increase in water intake leads to a significant increase in weight- and fat-loss in overweight, dieting women. However, it’s important to note that the women in these studies increased their water intake by 0.5-1.5 litres over their daily water intake.

So, if you’re trying to do this at home, you’ll want to make sure you’re drinking the proper amount of water per day and then drink 0.5- 1.5 litres on top of that. One strategy in particular that was successful in the study was directing the women to drink 500 mL of water 30 minutes to 1 hour before each meal. (4)(5)(6)(7)

Simply not getting enough water, or being dehydrated, can contribute to bloating and even constipation.

Did you know drinking water has benefits that extend to your energy levels and mood, too?

Dehydration has also been linked to changes in how you feel mentally, like how alert you are, how tired and sluggish you feel, and even your ability to concentrate and remember things. (8)(9)(10)

#2 - Increase Prebiotic/Probiotic Intake to Support Digestive Detoxification

Taking prebiotics and probiotics is a great way to boost your gut health and encourage the natural detoxification already taking place inside your digestive tract.

Probiotics work by injecting good bacteria into the gut, helping to maintain a healthy balance of bacteria within the gastrointestinal system. If this balance gets disturbed, bad bacteria can overrun the good bacteria, and processes like detoxification can become compromised in the process (or as a result) of this imbalance.

The good news is that probiotics come in many easily accessible forms, such as a capsule that you can purchase at your local market or through an online health store, in yoghurt, or in many fermented foods items, such as kefir or kimchi.

Prebiotics are the food that feeds the bacteria in your gut. Prebiotic-rich foods include berries, bananas, and even oats, which sounds like a delicious bowl of oatmeal if you ask me! (11)(12)

#3- Detox Your Body Naturally With Diatomaceous Earth (DE)

Diatomaceous Earth is essentially fossilised algae skeleton powder that has been proven to have valuable detoxification properties, especially when it comes to getting rid of heavy metals like aluminium, mercury, and lead. (13)(14)(15)(16)

Researchers have found DE to be useful in cleansing the digestive system of not only heavy metals, but toxins, parasites, and worms. Studies have also shown Diatomaceous Earth to be effective in improving symptoms of gastrointestinal disorders, such as GERD (​​Gastroesophageal reflux disease) and IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). (17)(18)

While it may sound a little out-of-the-ordinary and hard to swallow (pun intended), Food-Grade DE is perfectly safe for you to take and can be taken topically or ingested as a powder mixed into water. If you’re still unsure where to start, we’ve even got 15 detox smoothie recipes for you to try using Diatomaceous Earth.

#4 - Eat a Cleaner Diet to Help You Detox

I know your fast food favs are hard to pass up but hear me out!

Avoiding highly processed foods and foods high in sugar is an awesome way to set the natural ‘reset’ button on your body.

Unfortunately, many of the additives found in junk foods can hinder our body from doing its normal detoxification duties and even add unwanted problems to the party. Obesity, one major consequence of long-term unhealthy eating, can have devastating effects on your liver and kidneys, both of which play major roles in how your body detoxes on its own. (19)(20)

Replacing these foods with healthy alternatives like fruits and vegetables, 100% fruit juices, and whole grains is an easy way to take the first step toward detoxing your body naturally.

It’s also worth considering lowering your alcohol intake as part of your detox. It’s no secret that alcohol is hard on the liver and drinking too much regularly can cause liver damage and even liver failure in some cases. (21)

As mentioned previously, the liver is vital in the natural detoxification processes in your body. If it can’t do its job then toxins are going to pile up and your other organs are going to feel the added pressure of having to compensate for your bad liver.

A good general rule to live by is the less alcohol you drink, the better for your body.

#5- Increase Sulphur Intake to Support Detoxification

Sulphur has been found to improve the function of one of the body’s most important antioxidants, called glutathione, which is highly involved in the detoxification process of your liver.

If your body is deficient in sulphur, your liver is going to be on the struggle bus when it comes to keeping up with the demand of toxins and its job of removing them efficiently. (22)

The see the detoxification benefits of sulphur for yourself, consider adding these sulphur-rich foods to your diet (23)(24):

  • Onions
  • Garlic
  • Mushrooms
  • Eggs
  • Broccoli
  • Tomatoes
  • Beets
  • Avocados
  • Spinach
  • Asparagus

#6- Sweat Those Toxins Goodbye

Eating healthy and staying active are two of the best ways to keep your body at top-of-the-line functioning. After all, your body already does its own detoxification, we just need to make sure our organs and systems are healthy enough to get the job done right.

Exercising is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think about how to break a sweat. And that’s a great way to detox your body naturally!

Besides the numerous health benefits associated with exercise, there are also detoxification benefits that go along with the sweating you do during your exercise routine. When you sweat, your body is ridding itself of harmful chemicals (like BPA), heavy metals, and even certain types of bacteria. (25)

In China, heavy metal contamination is a very serious problem and a 2016 study showed that levels of heavy metals were generally lower in individuals who exercise. This same study also found that higher levels of heavy metals were found in sweat than in excreted urine. (26)

Keep in mind that exercising isn’t the only way to break a sweat, though. You could look up the sauna nearest to you and sweat away those toxins and heavy metals that way! (25)

#7- Go All-Natural With Personal and Household Items

Would it surprise you to know that most of us spend about 90% of our time indoors—children spending even more time inside than that? (27)

This means our indoor environment is where we come into contact with toxins the most frequently. There are many dangerous chemicals in the products found in the average home that can enter your body through the air that you inhale and, in some cases, even absorb through your skin. (27)

For example, 16.4% of Australians suffer from air freshener-related health problems. Air fresheners have been proven in numerous studies to have devastating effects on your liver. Even scarier than that is the fact the companies who produce these air fresheners won’t disclose about 90% of the ingredients in the product. (28)(29)

According to the Cleveland Clinic, some of the worst household products for your health include (30):

  • Bleach
  • Drain cleaners
  • Laundry detergents
  • Fabric softeners
  • Toilet cleaners
  • Disinfectants
  • Air fresheners
  • Furniture polish
  • All-Purpose cleaners
  • Pesticides
  • Dishwashing detergents

Some other items to be wary of include plastic water bottles and antiperspirants.

Phthalates and BPA (Bisphenol A) are chemicals often found in plastics that have been scientifically linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and endocrine diseases such as diabetes. (31)

Additionally, many antiperspirants actually have aluminium, a heavy metal, in them, putting those who use these products (especially younger women) at increased risk for developing Alzheimer's Disease and even breast cancer. (32)(33)

If giving up these products entirely feels overwhelming, try to take it in baby steps.

You could pick a few household items (say it’s laundry detergent, all-purpose cleaner, and air freshener) to switch to a natural alternative each month. I’ll even give you a tip! A great option to take the place of your air freshener is using a diffuser with essential oils.

You don’t have to make these changes forever unless you’re all about that chemical-free life, but taking a break from these personal and household items that include toxic chemicals for a few months could be beneficial and give your body the chance it needs to flush out those toxins and get back into a healthy functioning flow once again.

Following Steps

At the end of the day, if you’re healthy, your body is probably doing a good job keeping up with its detoxification duties. So, all that’s needed from you is to do your part to keep yourself healthy.

Maintaining proper sleep habits, eating a clean diet, getting regular exercise, and drinking plenty of water help your body thrive and allow your body to detox easily and naturally.

But if you struggle with your health and are starting to feel the effects of a toxin build-up, your body may need a little help detoxing. To help, consider swapping out your personal and household items with more ‘clean’ or ‘all-natural’ alternatives, try adding more sulphur to your diet, or consider taking Diatomaceous Earth or probiotics/prebiotics.

One prebiotic supplement, in particular, Prebiotic Collagen Protein, was formulated to support digestive detox to maintain bowel movement regularity. The collagen peptides in this formula act as a natural glue for the gut lining, promoting regular bowel movements and detoxification by sealing cracks that may cause long-lasting digestive issues.

No one likes feeling low on energy, getting skin rashes, experiencing an upset tummy—the list goes on and on. But the good news is that today you learned 7 simple ways to detox your body naturally and put you on a path toward feeling better, lighter, and healthier!

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