[vc_row][vc_column width="1/1"][vc_column_text]By Melanie Mathews CHN Holistic Nutritional Consultant
With spring around the corner comes a sense of renewal. It’s also a great time to detox your body from the winter blues. While I’m sure you are aware, there are many approaches to detoxification yet most of them are extreme at best and dangerous at worst. The good news is that the body is designed to detox itself naturally! The bad news is that we do encounter a massive amount of toxins in our world today. Therefore, sometimes our bodies can use a little help.
By incorporating specific foods, herbs and self-care remedies, I have created a short guide to safe cleansing and detoxification.
Start by cleaning up your diet, set dietary goals and cleanse the cupboards:
- Eliminate saturated, hydrogenated, and Trans fats. These are found in processed foods, fried and greasy foods
- Reduce consumption of sugar, caffeine, alcohol and nicotine as these are the most stimulating habits for much of the world
- Clean house (get rid of any unwanted or unused items that are causing clutter)
- Minimize exposure to environmental chemicals and household chemicals (detergents, dryer sheets, body lotions, perfumes, air fresheners, scented candles, exhaust, smoke)
- Set aside time to commit to 3 goals that will improve your diet and lifestyle
Introduce these powerful elements to boost elimination, detoxification and renewal:
- Water is the most important detoxifier. Drink 2 litres of water daily, adding a cup per hour of exercise-water helps flush toxins and promotes detoxification through elimination
- Increase fibre to also promote detoxification through elimination (30grams per day) Flax seed, oat bran, buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa, spelt, teff, kamut, fruit and vegetables with skin, beans, legumes, sprouted grains
- Anti-Oxidant rich foods create a balance between damaging free radicals and protective effects of antioxidants. These include dark leafy vegetables, brightly colored vegetables, eat a rainbow of colors, onions, garlic, brazil nuts
- Important liver detox and blood purifying nutrients such as beets, carrots, radish, dandelion root tea, chlorophyll, lemon, lime, grapefruit, celery and ginger
- Exercise regularly to promote perspiration and toxin removal and relax in an Epsom salt bath to help draw out impurities
Here’s a link to a clean and yummy detox recipe for you to try!
http://www.eatyourselfskinny.com/my-favorite-detox-salad/[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
