Are you the type of person who has issues with a lot of medications? How about digestive problems when eating fats? Any nausea? Do you have trouble even processing a single alcoholic beverage? How about reactions to vaccines (non-anaphylactic)?
If you have answered yes to these things your accessory organs to digestion are in need of some detox. This set of symptoms are plaguing MOST people who come to me. This is a sign that you are missing key nutrients to make these processes run smoothly, have processed or poor foods contributing to the dysfunction with the system, and are in need of detox (EVERYONE needs this really).
I often hear – “well that is just how it is for me” or “that is because of … fill in the blank.” No the reality is that it is TOTALLY related to poor fats, processing, heavy medications not properly detoxed over the years, additives and chemicals in foods, processed foods and more!
With that said – this is also COMPLETELY in your control to fix with food and supplements to help your body release the toxins safely and effectively at the right time.
Supplement Support – do you need it?
The other thing that often happens is that people get very nervous about using a supplement to support medications or detox needs because “they have such trouble with so many medications.” The reason why you have that trouble is BECAUSE of those meds combined with other things in life not being detoxed properly or MISSING nutrients. So yes do we always have to be conscious of what we take during detox, sure, but if they are nutrient SUPPORTS for missing nutrients CAUSING the symptoms, in addition to supports that make it easier for your body to detox and function, by taking a support supplement you are helping ELIMINATE the problem that you started with.
So what is the deal with the liver?
The liver has over 500 known functions. It is involved with digestion, the endocrine system, controlling blood sugar, and protein and fat metabolism.
Chemical exposure in this part of the century is unprecedented in history. The average American consumes 10 pounds of chemical food additives each year. Add to that the chemical burden caused by food sprayed with pesticides and from air and water pollution, you can see that our chemical burden is considerable.
The body has systems designed to eliminate waste and to detoxify poisons. The liver chemically converts toxins to be easily eliminated by the kidneys. Detoxification is an ongoing process. The sheer volume of chemicals in the environment and in the diet has caused many people to reach their threshold of tolerance, which has adversely affected their health.
What types of problems can you have if you aren’t properly detoxing?
When the body is burdened with more chemicals than it can efficiently detoxify, chronic health problems can occur.
Problems like allergies, skin problems, digestive problems, headaches, fatigue, joint pain and a variety of ailments can be caused by chemical exposure. In addition, you may have digestive dysfunction from poor fats that include nausea, poor bowel movements (too loose, or too little, or greasy or unusual in color or look), and pain.
So what can we do to get a better daily function and detox?
Ditch Processed Foods
YES you should be able to guess this now in every post I make. What does that mean? You can read more about it here. But simply think like this – NO MORE BOXES AND BAGS. That’s not whole or real food. You want to eat from nature and as close to the source and naturally prepared and raised as possible. Even if you think you have found a really loved bagged or pouched item, and you check the ingredients and it’s whole foods, I can tell you this does NOT equal the eating of those whole foods for nutrient content or fibers. I will be showing examples of this next week on the blog to explain how this works in the body.
Eat Whole Foods
Some really great foods to eat to help this process include
Beets and beet juice • Dark green leafy vegetables, beets, endive, cucumbers, garlic, onions, artichoke, sprouted seeds, grains, vegetable products (raw or juiced only). • Plenty of fiber rich foods
Really truly, if you start to eat better sourced food (learn more here), and you eat Whole Foods, combined with this better sourcing you will naturally begin detox and will continue on that path. You may need some additional supplement supports to feel comfortable as your body lets go of toxins. If that happens, you can always reach out to myself for a consult.
Drink Water (with lemon and citrus)
Adding fresh citrus to water is a great way to add some flavor but it’s also digestive supportive which will help in this process. Water in general is necessary for strong detox and digestive function. You need it to make many components of a healthy body and system and to run optimally daily. You should always have 50% of your weight in ounces daily as a BASELINE. But if you consume caffeine, other diuretic beverages, alcohol etc you will need more to compensate for the loss of water to process those beverages.
Some people feel much better just in getting in the water intake they need daily and not depriving their body systems of this simple thing.
Is it this simple?
If you are thinking to yourself that it isn’t that simple… that your symptoms and problems go far beyond this. Perhaps, but that is why it’s time to do a consult then because all these things are fixable with food! But the reality is that these simple concepts are EXACTLY what helps my clients and frees them from the health issues they come in with. Is that just as simple as the words, no it involves behavior change, habit change, food changes, budget adjustments (sometimes), and rearranging of schedules to plan a bit differently. Do you often need support knowing what to buy or look for in food? Yes! But the concept is simple it’s just these three things that help EVERYONE feel better. The steps are more involved, but that’s what I am here for. Reach out let’s consult.
What Plant Based Eating Means (to Me as an NTP)