Do You Really Need to Detox?
Detox cleansing is a method of eliminating excess toxic waste stored in the body. This means of cleaning is an action that occurs regularly and naturally in the body. Generally the body will cleanse itself sufficiently, but our repeated exposure to environmental toxins, chemically based products and processed foods will interfere with the body's regular cleansing function. A wide variety of detoxification methods can be used in order to activate the body's self-cleaning function. An extremely influential and often missed element of keeping the body clean and healthy is prevention -- establishing a way of living that as much as possible limits your exposure to toxins.
A detox program should only be carried out if the body's normal detox functions are overwhelmed and not working properly. Such intense levels of toxic overload is typically caused by an improper diet, stress, overeating, sedentary lifestyle, illness, and poor health habits in general. When the accumulation of toxins in the body leads to disease, the body has developed what is known as toxemia. When toxemia occurs, some people's digestive tracts become incapable of breaking down and digest food normally. When the digestive system is impaired in this way, food does not move efficiently through the digestive tract. Rather than being digested normally, food will rot and create toxic by-products. This condition is known as intestinal toxemia or toxic colon syndrome.
Detox Programs: Body Systems
A detox program provides support for the body's natural detox functions. The purpose of a body detox is not forcing the body to unload toxins rapidly or miraculously. A detox "quick fix" will typically only result in further compromise of the body's health and natural self-cleaning function. Real and lasting body cleansing does not come in a pill or a foot pad; real and lasting detoxification is the result of a long term change in awareness, choices and lifestyle.
We can think of body cleansing as both short-term and long-term processes. In the short term, we periodically implement a healthy detox diet or juice fasting program to help flush toxins that have accumulated in the body. Long term, we make changes in our daily habits and lifestyle. This can occur gradually over time. You can choose to change 2 or 4 habits a year, for example. Eliminate coffee, get more excercise, do deep breathing exercises in the morning, eat more vegetables and fresh fruit.
A healthy and responsible detox program helps the body detox naturally by:
• resting the digestive organs through juice fasting or minimal eating of whole foods
• improving circulation of the blood and lymph systems
• stimulating the liver to filter toxins from the body
• moving the bowels and cleansing the colon
• nourishing the body with essential nutrients
If the cleansing program you are considering does not provide for all of these listed actions, you may want to consider a different detox program. Take a little more time to educate yourself about natural detox methods.
