Detox, shortcut for detoxification, is an ongoing natural process of getting rid of toxins, which the body keeps performing. Due to nutritional deficiency in our body, the system gets impaired to perform this function, leading to accumulation of unwanted substances. These unwanted substances when left in the body release toxins in our blood streams.
Toxins could be dietary and environmental wastes. They are ingested or inhaled through drugs, smoke, pollutants, metals like lead, chemicals like pesticides, food additives, and household cleansers. If these toxins are left in the body, they lead to a number of minor or major illnesses ranging from recurring headache, indigestion, muscle pain, fatigue, poor skin, regular cough, to heart disorders and cancer.
Most of us relate detox to treatment of drug or alcohol dependency. However there is much more to detox, on visiting a chemist, one can spot an entire section - full of detox products like colon cleaning, weight loss, liver and lung detox, blood cleansing, the list is endless. There are various ways to detox your body - like food, lungs, physical exercise, and emotional detox. It is wise to know the investment of time and the time it takes to show the results.
The most common way is the Detox diet - that varies from person to person depending upon the requirement and their body system. They are usually short term diet plans, in which complex foods (which are difficult to break into digestible form) are refrained, while water and high fiber products are consumed. This eliminates toxins by increasing the frequency of bowel movements and urination. Detox diets available on shelves in form of capsules are rich in vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants that the body needs for detoxification. The common ingredients are omega oils, amino acids, fennel, ginger, parsley, red clover, mango, and other medicinal barks and roots. Naturally one can opt for the various foods that help in detoxification like cabbage, beetroot, green tea, green leafy vegetables, broccoli, avocado, lemon and garlic.
During detox diet, one needs to keep away from animal products specifically red meat, refined sugar, refined carbohydrates and drinks like tea, coffee, soda and other aerated drinks. Detox diets are considered to improve health, body immunity, regulates blood sugar, stimulates metabolism, liver and gall bladder, reduces constipation, and water retention. It also reduces high blood pressure and high cholesterol, promotes cardiovascular and digestive health, cleans intestines, enhances mental state and aids in weight loss.
For good intestinal health, anyone can opt for a light detox diet in which one needs to avoid heavy complex foods from animal products like meat, poultry, eggs, dairy products like cheese, pulses, pickles and aerated drinks. Instead have fruits, vegetable juices, soups, porridge. Consumption of lukewarm water is encouraged.
There will not be much advantage of the above, if one is not able to detoxify the stress factor from their lives. When we are stressed, certain hormones are released, which secrete toxins in huge quantities and slow down the detoxifying enzymes in the body. Hence one needs to detoxify their mind along with the body. This can be practiced through yoga and meditation.
