If you're constantly feeling bloated or haven't been watching what you're eating, a detox is a great way to start fresh.
Detoxing can help you feel refreshed, boost your energy and help your digestive system get back on track.
A detox can last for short or long periods of time and is the process of ridding your body of toxic or unhealthy substances. During the detox, your organs work together to help bind and eliminate the toxins in your body that may have come from food, the toxins in your environment and water.
But, instead of putting a time frame on your detox, you may want to consider doing something every day that naturally detoxes both your body and mind.
What are some ways you can detox daily and naturally?
Dr. Holly shares why detoxes are a great way to refresh, as well as how you can naturally (and safely) detox every day.
Selected Podcast
How to Detox Daily & Naturally
Transcription:
RadioMD Presents: The Dr. Holly Lucille Show | Original Air Date: April 1, 2015
Host: Holly Lucile, ND, RN
It's time to separate fact from fiction and health fads. It's time for the Dr. Holly Lucille show. Here's Dr. Holly:
DR. HOLLY: Hey, folks. Thanks so much for being here and coming back. So, I want to talk about detoxing daily and naturally because here's my experience. I actually kind of came up with this idea when I was reading an article in Alternative Medicine because I have seen people sort of be afraid of detoxing where they have tried detoxes and they drop off because it's too hard or it's too intense or they don't understand it and they're feeling things like headaches and they're nauseous and they're irritable. Believe me. Those things. Forget about it. They're incentives to stop doing what you're doing, right?
Sometimes, if somebody is going through a detox and I'm going to explain what I think that is and they're having those symptoms. I'm like, "That's just a sign that you need to keep going." I've always said sometimes about forgiveness and detox. There's a little link there. That forgiveness is sort of like a detox. That you're not going to really, really enjoy it until you're through it. Okay. Or, that detoxing is kind of like a slingshot. There's a little bit of a pulling back, pulling back, pulling back . This doesn't feel so great and then, ah! You release and fly. It feels so good. But, I think that from what I've learned, is that there are ways to simply do this whole detoxification or let's say, assist your detoxification, naturally and daily. That's one of the things that I've decided to do because I used to hunker in two times a year. I would just like button down and I'd go through some crazy process and it would be a life changer and, certainly, after it was over, I was happy.
But, going through it, I was just like, "Oh, my gosh. This is really quite intense." It's a lot of effort and I can see why people fall off. That's one of the reasons why I want to talk about this daily detoxing naturally because I don't want people to fall off when it comes to cleaning their body. Here's the cool thing. Detoxification is something that we have absolutely naturally in our body. There are all sorts of ways that our body treats toxins that it comes into contact with. I saw a great bumper sticker. My parents live in a small lake community in Michigan and there was a bumper sticker at the local grocery store which is about, I think, I don't know, maybe 2000 square feet and that's about it. Everybody goes there and they've got little trinkets and hats and groceries and all sorts of stuff. I love it. It's so cool.
But, you're checking out, this bumper sticker says, it was by a local brewery and said that, "If our beer needed to be filtered, God wouldn't have given us livers." I thought, "Well, that's a really good bumper sticker and it's a good point for their case for not filtering their beer because our livers could do it." But, that's exactly what happens. We've got blood and lymph and all sorts of things. Our liver, especially, to manage our white blood cells, all sorts of things to manage these toxins we come into contact with and get them out of our body. I've got all sorts of processes. What happens in our modern day, quite honestly, is that we've got an overall body burden because we think about plastics and pesticides and car exhaust and soaps and emulsifiers and household cleaning products.
I had taken a lovely vacation weekend up to the sort of central coast in California and was driving back and I got "Oh!" a little picture of the air we breathe all the time. I was like, "Wow! I think I actually need to be sort of helping restore myself on a daily basis." So, the idea is just the assistance. We want to...Sometimes our body gets so burdened by the multitude of toxins in our modern day and certainly chemically dependent society that we are in contact with that we just need to help it out. A little assistance there, right?
I think Robert Sapolski who wrote the book, "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers," he talks about this detoxification process. Hey, if it's functional. It's kind of like two kids on a seesaw, on the recess place where you go up and down; up and down. Then, when it becomes dysfunctional or dysregulated—this detoxification process—with too many toxins, it's kind of like two hippopotamuses being on a seesaw. It could kind of still work, but it's like baboom and then it's like, baboom. There's just so much going on. So, how can we detox naturally and daily? A couple different things. Listen, anything that gets stuff out.
There's an old medical term called emunctories. So, emunctories. So, think about it. So, through defecation, right? Because we all know stool. Moving our bowels, we get out waste products. Urination. Emoting, perspiration. There are so many things that we can do on a daily basis to facilitate this process. A couple things that I absolutely, 100% love. So, every single day. Even though our liver, kidneys, intestines, lungs, skin are at work, there are tips that you can do every single day. I love dry skin brushing. So, taking a loofah—organic loofah if you can get it—dry, and five minutes, twice a day towards your heart. So, start at your ankles. Come on up through your trunk towards your heart. Other side and then down from your neck, your arms, towards your heart once again, turning over those dead skin cells and opening up your pores to get things out.
Epsom salt baths, salt purges, are incredible to get things out. Eating organic fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, lean proteins, unprocessed foods. It's one of the best things to do because you're not contributing to the harm. Right? Do no harm. Reduce your exposure when you can. You've got to be able to sweat every day and that means exercise, folks. Move. Move. Move. This helps facilitate the detox process naturally and daily. Staying hydrated. A lot of times people are tired. Guess what? Nope. They're thirsty. A lot of times people think that they're hungry. Nope. They're thirsty. I promise you. I promise you this is what's going on. Stay hydrated. I say, at least 10 eight ounce cups of water a day.
If you're dealing with chronic fatigue, adrenal dysregulation, I like to push that up to a gallon and so does my next guest, Jacob Teitelbaum. Eliminate. Try to reduce exposure, once again. Beverages like caffeine and soda, coffee absolutely 100% and alcohol. These things that you can drink in, right? Or try and sort of quench our thirst, but it's kind of working against us. Caffeine breaks down ADH. That's our antidiuretic hormone. It makes us more thirsty, makes us more dehydrated. Alcohol does the same thing. We think we want to settle down at night having a glass of wine. But, guess what? It's going to disrupt our sleep and that's not great for detoxification. Try also adding a wedge of lemon or lime to your water, preferable in the morning, room temperature or warm. Get those digestive juices flowing. The lemon peel, the lime peel, actually assists the liver processes of detoxifying. All of these things that we come into contact with that are passive sometimes, right? That's another tip.
You've seen it all over the place, but I've seen it work. Have a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar a day to improve digestion and promote alkalinity. Our bodies work better when our blood is like 7.34, 7.45 right in there. That more alkaline. A lot of times, in our modern day, once again, we have acidic thoughts, we have acidic foods that we're eating and this can really help. Fiber. Fiber binds to toxins and pulls it out, so 28 grams a day for women, 35 grams a day for men. Sure, there are supplements out there, but, gosh, there are so many great, fresh, organic fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes that you can take in, have flavor, have great meals and fill your fiber, trap those toxins, get them out of your body.
Add such great detox, fine foods such as spinach, kale, parsley, cilantro, Swiss chard, dark leafy greens. You can get them, put them in your smoothie in the morning. Throw them in that blender. Sauté them up. Do a steam fry. Whatever you want. Get them in and not just a little sprinkle. I saw, "The more the merrier" with these. A lot of times I say, "Everything in moderation including moderation." But, not when it comes to leafy greens. Drink herbal teas. Decaf green tea is great. I also love dandelion and burdock root tea if you like that sort of chicory, strong aroma like coffee, that's going to be great and help your liver.
Alright. The other thing and my last thing is, reduce sodium. Okay. Especially in just regular table salt. Think about going to something more that looks like the bottom of a salt bed. That Himalayan crystal salt. Things where you get more minerals, nutrients to support the detoxification process.
Thank you so much for listening folks. Detox naturally and daily. I am Dr. Holly Lucille. This is Mindful Medicine and I thank you so much for being here. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook at YourRadioMD.
RadioMD Presents: The Dr. Holly Lucille Show | Original Air Date: April 1, 2015
Host: Holly Lucile, ND, RN
It's time to separate fact from fiction and health fads. It's time for the Dr. Holly Lucille show. Here's Dr. Holly:
DR. HOLLY: Hey, folks. Thanks so much for being here and coming back. So, I want to talk about detoxing daily and naturally because here's my experience. I actually kind of came up with this idea when I was reading an article in Alternative Medicine because I have seen people sort of be afraid of detoxing where they have tried detoxes and they drop off because it's too hard or it's too intense or they don't understand it and they're feeling things like headaches and they're nauseous and they're irritable. Believe me. Those things. Forget about it. They're incentives to stop doing what you're doing, right?
Sometimes, if somebody is going through a detox and I'm going to explain what I think that is and they're having those symptoms. I'm like, "That's just a sign that you need to keep going." I've always said sometimes about forgiveness and detox. There's a little link there. That forgiveness is sort of like a detox. That you're not going to really, really enjoy it until you're through it. Okay. Or, that detoxing is kind of like a slingshot. There's a little bit of a pulling back, pulling back, pulling back . This doesn't feel so great and then, ah! You release and fly. It feels so good. But, I think that from what I've learned, is that there are ways to simply do this whole detoxification or let's say, assist your detoxification, naturally and daily. That's one of the things that I've decided to do because I used to hunker in two times a year. I would just like button down and I'd go through some crazy process and it would be a life changer and, certainly, after it was over, I was happy.
But, going through it, I was just like, "Oh, my gosh. This is really quite intense." It's a lot of effort and I can see why people fall off. That's one of the reasons why I want to talk about this daily detoxing naturally because I don't want people to fall off when it comes to cleaning their body. Here's the cool thing. Detoxification is something that we have absolutely naturally in our body. There are all sorts of ways that our body treats toxins that it comes into contact with. I saw a great bumper sticker. My parents live in a small lake community in Michigan and there was a bumper sticker at the local grocery store which is about, I think, I don't know, maybe 2000 square feet and that's about it. Everybody goes there and they've got little trinkets and hats and groceries and all sorts of stuff. I love it. It's so cool.
But, you're checking out, this bumper sticker says, it was by a local brewery and said that, "If our beer needed to be filtered, God wouldn't have given us livers." I thought, "Well, that's a really good bumper sticker and it's a good point for their case for not filtering their beer because our livers could do it." But, that's exactly what happens. We've got blood and lymph and all sorts of things. Our liver, especially, to manage our white blood cells, all sorts of things to manage these toxins we come into contact with and get them out of our body. I've got all sorts of processes. What happens in our modern day, quite honestly, is that we've got an overall body burden because we think about plastics and pesticides and car exhaust and soaps and emulsifiers and household cleaning products.
I had taken a lovely vacation weekend up to the sort of central coast in California and was driving back and I got "Oh!" a little picture of the air we breathe all the time. I was like, "Wow! I think I actually need to be sort of helping restore myself on a daily basis." So, the idea is just the assistance. We want to...Sometimes our body gets so burdened by the multitude of toxins in our modern day and certainly chemically dependent society that we are in contact with that we just need to help it out. A little assistance there, right?
I think Robert Sapolski who wrote the book, "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers," he talks about this detoxification process. Hey, if it's functional. It's kind of like two kids on a seesaw, on the recess place where you go up and down; up and down. Then, when it becomes dysfunctional or dysregulated—this detoxification process—with too many toxins, it's kind of like two hippopotamuses being on a seesaw. It could kind of still work, but it's like baboom and then it's like, baboom. There's just so much going on. So, how can we detox naturally and daily? A couple different things. Listen, anything that gets stuff out.
There's an old medical term called emunctories. So, emunctories. So, think about it. So, through defecation, right? Because we all know stool. Moving our bowels, we get out waste products. Urination. Emoting, perspiration. There are so many things that we can do on a daily basis to facilitate this process. A couple things that I absolutely, 100% love. So, every single day. Even though our liver, kidneys, intestines, lungs, skin are at work, there are tips that you can do every single day. I love dry skin brushing. So, taking a loofah—organic loofah if you can get it—dry, and five minutes, twice a day towards your heart. So, start at your ankles. Come on up through your trunk towards your heart. Other side and then down from your neck, your arms, towards your heart once again, turning over those dead skin cells and opening up your pores to get things out.
Epsom salt baths, salt purges, are incredible to get things out. Eating organic fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, lean proteins, unprocessed foods. It's one of the best things to do because you're not contributing to the harm. Right? Do no harm. Reduce your exposure when you can. You've got to be able to sweat every day and that means exercise, folks. Move. Move. Move. This helps facilitate the detox process naturally and daily. Staying hydrated. A lot of times people are tired. Guess what? Nope. They're thirsty. A lot of times people think that they're hungry. Nope. They're thirsty. I promise you. I promise you this is what's going on. Stay hydrated. I say, at least 10 eight ounce cups of water a day.
If you're dealing with chronic fatigue, adrenal dysregulation, I like to push that up to a gallon and so does my next guest, Jacob Teitelbaum. Eliminate. Try to reduce exposure, once again. Beverages like caffeine and soda, coffee absolutely 100% and alcohol. These things that you can drink in, right? Or try and sort of quench our thirst, but it's kind of working against us. Caffeine breaks down ADH. That's our antidiuretic hormone. It makes us more thirsty, makes us more dehydrated. Alcohol does the same thing. We think we want to settle down at night having a glass of wine. But, guess what? It's going to disrupt our sleep and that's not great for detoxification. Try also adding a wedge of lemon or lime to your water, preferable in the morning, room temperature or warm. Get those digestive juices flowing. The lemon peel, the lime peel, actually assists the liver processes of detoxifying. All of these things that we come into contact with that are passive sometimes, right? That's another tip.
You've seen it all over the place, but I've seen it work. Have a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar a day to improve digestion and promote alkalinity. Our bodies work better when our blood is like 7.34, 7.45 right in there. That more alkaline. A lot of times, in our modern day, once again, we have acidic thoughts, we have acidic foods that we're eating and this can really help. Fiber. Fiber binds to toxins and pulls it out, so 28 grams a day for women, 35 grams a day for men. Sure, there are supplements out there, but, gosh, there are so many great, fresh, organic fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes that you can take in, have flavor, have great meals and fill your fiber, trap those toxins, get them out of your body.
Add such great detox, fine foods such as spinach, kale, parsley, cilantro, Swiss chard, dark leafy greens. You can get them, put them in your smoothie in the morning. Throw them in that blender. Sauté them up. Do a steam fry. Whatever you want. Get them in and not just a little sprinkle. I saw, "The more the merrier" with these. A lot of times I say, "Everything in moderation including moderation." But, not when it comes to leafy greens. Drink herbal teas. Decaf green tea is great. I also love dandelion and burdock root tea if you like that sort of chicory, strong aroma like coffee, that's going to be great and help your liver.
Alright. The other thing and my last thing is, reduce sodium. Okay. Especially in just regular table salt. Think about going to something more that looks like the bottom of a salt bed. That Himalayan crystal salt. Things where you get more minerals, nutrients to support the detoxification process.
Thank you so much for listening folks. Detox naturally and daily. I am Dr. Holly Lucille. This is Mindful Medicine and I thank you so much for being here. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook at YourRadioMD.