Rejuvenate your body

Detoxification or detox is a popular buzzword, especially at the beginning of a New Year. It typically implies following a specific diet or using a health product that claims to rid the body of accumulated toxins, thereby improving health and often promotes weight loss.

In functional medicine, detoxification is used to describe the physiological processes of rendering chemicals, compounds, and hormones less harmful. Scientists estimate that an average adult carries within his/her body around 700 toxins and that a new born babies body can contain over 200 toxins.

There are well defined metabolic pathways in the body and the process is ongoing. Everyday our body is working to eliminate contaminants from the environment we live in bacteria, pollutants, plastics, heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, and fertilisers.

The body has the capacity to neutralise and overcome the toxin burner that builds up. The main organs involved in this constant elimination process are:

Digestive system with the liver as its main biochemical laboratory.
Kidneys with excretion of urine.
Skin with sweating through the pores of the skin

Toxic symptoms may occur when we get to our personal limit of accumulated toxins and are not able to clear them fast or efficiently enough.

Medical researchers are recognising more symptoms related to the build-up of toxins, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cancer, fatigue, infertility, allergies, behaviour, mood disorders, and neurological conditions such as tremors, headaches, and cognitive difficulties, along with several other diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

One of the biggest reasons for a detoxification program is when a person experiences a lack of energy. Fatigue is one of the primary reasons people make changes to their lifestyle. Other reasons to try a metabolic detox include to lose weight, to improve overall health, or to reduce frequent or severe symptoms of certain diseases associated with toxicity.

5 simple ways to enhance detoxification

1. Limiting or abstaining entirely from alcohol is one of the best ways to keep your body’s detoxification system running strong. Better known as “ dry January for this reason”

2. It is not calorie specific: Detoxification requires energy. Calories are needed to fuel the pathways to move toxins through the system. Extending overnight fasting is very helpful to balance sugar levels

3. Encourage healthy elimination of toxins through the organs of elimination through the stool and urine. Effective excretion through the stool and urine is essential, through integrating high-fiber foods and adequate liquids to ensure healthy elimination of transformed toxins.

4. Reduce the intake of sugar and processed foods: Research links high consumption of sugary and highly processed foods to obesity and other chronic diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. These diseases hinder the body’s ability to naturally detoxify by harming organs that play an important role, such as your liver and kidneys.
   For example, high consumption of sugary drinks can cause fatty liver, a condition that negatively impacts liver function.

5. Eat antioxidant-rich foods: Antioxidants protect the cells from damage caused by harmful molecules, called free radicals. Oxidative stress is a condition that results from the excessive production of free radicals. Berries, fruits, nuts, cocoa, vegetables, spices, and beverages like coffee and green tea have some of the highest amounts of antioxidants.