Well, here it is, Day 5 of the step-by-step Guide to Detox Series. I hope you are all hanging in there and starting to experience more energy.
If you’ve been practicing clean eating and supporting your body’s detoxification efforts, you may have noticed some weight loss by now. See what all of that healthy eating and clean drinking can do! All kidding aside, weight loss is a great side benefit of the detox process.
Dr. Mark Hyman recently said it well:
Scientists recently uncovered a surprising and disturbing fact: environmental toxins make you fat and cause diabetes(1). Inside the body, these chemicals monkey with our ability to balance blood sugar and metabolize cholesterol. Over time, the changes can lead to insulin resistance. This discovery should be headline news but no one is talking about it. Why? Because there are no drugs to treat it. In the quest to conquer the two biggest epidemics of our time diabetes and obesity we’ve got to turn our attention to the heavy burden environmental toxins put on our bodies.
Now you might wonder why that is. The body is an amazing machine – it is really a machine with precise fine tuning and auto controls. If you haven’t heard the term homeostasis in a long time, I’ll bring it out and dust it off. Homeostasis could be defined as the body’s ability to maintain an internal equilibrium – no matter what.
As Carrie Louise Daenell, ND, said in a publication, “You reach a threshold, at some point, where your biochemistry begins to drive toward fat production as a protective mechanism against those noxious accumulations. Now where to put it? It has to be somewhere safe, where you won’t burn it during everyday activity. The belly. Perfect.
So your body creates fat to store and isolate those toxins, as much as possible, in a protective effort to achieve stability.
You read that right; toxins may make you fat! But luckily, the reverse is true as well. The elimination of toxins can also drive DNA reprogramming back to normal and away from fat production.Â
Keep in mind, however, that the weight loss you experience over the seven days of this detox may be partly from fluid and muscle loss. In order to keep the weight off and possibly lose more, you should continue with the healthier lifestyle choices you’ve been making lately. Try to be mindful of everything discussed in this series and avoid coming in contact with all of the toxins you can.
To increase your removal of toxins (and potential weight loss), try these 3 simple things you can add to your detox program:
- Take a nice hot sauna – long, hot saunas are thought to increase the removal of fatty acids along with fat-soluble toxins through the skin. Drink plenty of pure water afterwards.
- Get a lymphatic or deep tissue massage – this may stimulate the release of toxins. Heather Wibbels explains how to do self lymphatic massage on your legs here. Drink plenty of pure water afterwards to remove toxins released into the blood stream.
- Try hydrotherapy – the application of hot and/or cold water to various parts of the body. This article from Bastyr University tells more about how it works.
For more tips on how detoxing may help you lose weight, check out this article and this reminder of healthy foods to include:
Follow these Tips:
- Eat clean raw, natural and organic food, or as close to nature as possible.
- Check labels the fewer ingredients, the better; and they must be recognizable! If you can’t pronounce it, you should seriously think twice about ingesting it or using it on your body.
- Get excited about exercise find a few things you really like to do and work up a sweat. Sweat is good for you!
- Choose in-season foods especially those you grow yourself or that were grown locally. They will offer the most nutrition and you’ll save money, too!
- Check the filters be sure your air and furnace filters are working properly and are not in need of replacement.
- Wash your food before it’s consumed to avoid herbicide and pesticide residue.
- Try container gardening grow your own healthy food indoors during the winter.
- Get grass-fed, organic meat and dairy products if possible. A local farmer may be a good source for products from animals that were grass fed at least.
- Buy local check out LocalHarvest.org to find organic food close to you.
- Eat less watch your portion sizes; it’s easy to overindulge.
- If you can’t get in all of your veggies and fruits, consider supplementing with a daily greens drink for alkalizing and detoxifying nutritional support.
- Avoid toxins outdoors, too. Go with a green lawn use an organic lawn service.
- Indoors, use natural cleaning products, as well as natural skin care and personal care products.
- Cook safely avoid nonstick cookware. If you must use non-stick, try some of the ceramic options now available.
- Hydrate yourself get enough pure water every day!
Take advantage of this jump start in weight loss! Keep eliminating toxins and lose the fat stored up to protect your body. This could be a life-changing detox for you!
Tomorrow I will touch on more of the benefits you’ll start to experience as you continue with your detox process.
Here’s wishing you healthy thoughts and continued motivation today.
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featured image courtesy of Tanvir Alam via Flickr.com
