How to Safety Help Your Body Naturally Detoxify
Our bodies are pretty amazing. On their own they are very capable of detoxifying from different environmental toxins. Unfortunately, our bodies today are literally bombarded with dozens of toxins every single day: in our water, air, homes, food, products, cleaners, inside the cars, at school etc. This toxin swamp many of us swim in daily can lead to toxin overload; when our body’s natural detox mechanisms just cant keep up and so toxins start to accumulate inside of us. When this happens any and/or every system in the human body can become affected - sometimes in very obvious ways, sometimes silently - but often with serious long term consequences.
Toxin overload can be the root cause for tons of modern day maladies including (but certainly not limited to): autoimmune diseases, ADHD, asthma, allergies and other chronic health issues.
If you know you or your child have been exposed to a specific toxin, it is important to work closely with a functional medicine doctor who can test for different toxins and supervise a stronger, deeper detox process (glutathione, chelators etc) - the last thing you want are to ‘release’ harmful toxins and have them hanging out throughout your body without properly eliminating them… especially for children or if pregnant or trying to become pregnant.
But there are things we can all do to help boost our body’s natural detoxifying mechanisms
REDUCE EVERYDAY TOXINS: Continue to do your part to reduce your exposure to everyday toxins. If you are here and part of this community I know you are working on that!
DRINK TONS OF WATER: Drink plenty of filtered water: so important to choose a high quality filter to assure you are drinking the cleanest water possible. Teach kids to drink water! At home all we drink on a daily basis is water (fresh juice homemade juice might be aweekend treat) I like
Pure Effects Under Sink triple Stage Filter
Aquasana under sink reverse osmosis filter
3. Epsom salt bath: 1/2 cup of Epsom salt for kids, If your child is over 60 pounds, use 1 cup
4. Exercise and SWEAT daily
5. Shower as soon as you are done sweating- allowing the sweat to dry on your body could cause your skin to reabsorb some of the toxins it just released in the sweat
6. Take care of your gut:
7. Eat more:
crucifers veggies (bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage (both red and green, cauliflower, kale, collard greens, turnips)
Avocados
Spinach
Tomato
Beetroot (Source: NCBI).
cilantro
Asparagus
Apples
One Brazil nut/day
7. Eat (significantly) less: junk food (high sugar, highly processed, non organic) and careful with potential sources of mycotoxins in nuts, coffee, cereals, grains
8. Sleep!!! Adults should be getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep a night and kids much more depending on their age.
9. Vitamin D via sunlight: I am all about sunblock but make sure you allow you and your family to absorb some sunlight without blocking it with sunblock….. - its the best type of vitamin D. Early morning or late afternoon sun is best
10. Infrared saunas: totally safe for adults- talk to you your doctor for kids or if pregnant
Want to take it a bit further? Consider working with a functional medicine practitioner and testing for:
MTHFR genetic mutation: Individuals with an MTHFR mutation may have challenges detoxifying. Studies show that with the right diet and sufficient nutrients like folate and vitamin B12, people with MTHFR mutations can ‘override’ this risk (Source: NCBI). Its a gene that is also good to know if you have before you get pregnant
Test for mycotoxins: this can alert you to exposure to molds that you might be unaware of
Test for specific toxin exposures including: pesticides, flame retardants, heavy metals, Bisphenols and more etc