Detox Do's and Don'ts

Posted: Tue 6 Jul, 2010

An annual detox is much more than just a trendy new age fad. It should be an essential part of everyone's wellness program... well everyone who wants to live a long, healthy and vigorous life.

We're exposed to an ever increasing list of nasty toxins and chemicals in our homes, water, food, air and cosmetics. Add to that the hormones, chemicals and waste products that your body creates that must also be detoxified and eliminated and you can easily see how our toxic burden is much higher than our great grandparents.

We can become stressed and distressed by this or take action to reduce our toxin exposure and give our body a helping hand with a regular rest and detox.

One of the biggest sources of toxins for many of us is our digestive tracts. Certain bacteria, yeasts and parasites inside of us can produce a range of incredibly nasty and inflammatory toxic chemicals. These chemicals are absorbed and go straight to your liver, an amazing chemical processing plant, to be dealt with and detoxified. If your toxic burden is high and your liver can't keep up, your immune system is your next line of defense against toxins. When your immune system becomes involved, serious ill health and disease will be experienced. This why every detox should start with a good gut detoxification and cleanse.

The following recommendations will help to ensure that you get the most out of your annual detox:

Detox Do's:

• Start your detox with a gut cleanse and detoxification to eradicate any yeasts or bad bacterial overgrowth followed by a good probiotic (good bacteria) supplement.
• The herbs St Mary's Thistle, Turmeric, Rosemary and Dandelion root will help to improve your liver's ability to detoxify most chemicals, hormones and toxins.
• Drink plenty of pure filtered water.
• Eat sufficient protein as protein is essential for detoxification and repair.
• Eat plenty of sulphur containing foods such as broccoli, cabbage, onion and garlic. The mineral sulphur is important for detoxification.
• Regular use of a far infra-red sauna will help to increase your skin’s detoxification, reducing the burden upon your liver, kidneys and immune system.
• Avoid all refined sugars and white flour – if sugar cravings are sabotaging your detox, take a chromium supplement.
• Get plenty of sleep as your liver builds all of its detoxifying compounds while you’re sleeping.
• Be prepared with plenty of detox friendly foods at home and work.
• Eating out is possible but it helps to have a snack beforehand making it easier to choose healthy, appropriate foods from the menu.
• If you suspect your toxic burden is high, a Functional Liver Detoxification Test is recommended. This saliva and urine test measures each key detoxification pathway in your liver. This test differs from a Liver Function blood test which measures enzymes released from damaged liver cells into your blood and is really more of a "liver dysfunction" or "destruction" test and tells you nothing about how well your liver is coping with different chemicals and toxins - only how damaged it already is!. This test can be organized through either Sarah Luck or Dr Richard Moore.

Detox Don'ts:

• Avoid fasting (unless medically supervised) and NEVER do a juice fast.
• Fasting breaks down precious muscle and can liberate toxins too quickly for your body to deal with. Juice fasting is not recommended as it places a huge strain upon digestive enzymes to digest the fructose in fruits and root vegetables and places your body in a state of stress due to erratic blood sugar levels. Many people report feeling fantastic after a juice fast but this false sense of energy and well-being is due to the huge surge in stress hormones (exactly like someone you would call an "adrenalin junkie" or "thrill seeker"). Stress hormones make you feel like you can run a marathon as they literally prepare your body to fight or run for its life. They also shut down your digestive system, immune system and reproductive system to conserve energy to fight or flee.
• Don't engage in overly vigorous exercise while detoxing. The ultimate purpose of a detox is to allow your body to heal on a deeper level.  Vigorous exercise uses up nutrients and also creates free radicals that must be dealt with.

About the Author

Sarah Luck uses a combination of food, homoeopathic remedies, specific nutrients and herbal medicine. She has also practiced pregnancy massage for the last 10 years. She is passionate about using food as medicine wherever possible and specialises in PCOS, Fertility and Hormonal Problems (men and wemon). For more information on this article or to make an appointment with Sarah, contact Levity Health (02 9389 0278) or email Sarah directly at sarah@levityhealth.com.au.