There are claims everywhere about how amazing doing a detox is for your health and well-being, and people everywhere swear by the amazing benefits that doing a detox does for mind, body, and soul. There’s a ton of different types of detoxes, all claiming to have benefits for one thing or another. The question is, do these health detoxes really work?
Detoxification has actually been practiced for thousands of years. Ayurvedic and Chinese Medicine is some of the oldest in the world, and both contain many practices of detoxifying the body. Detoxing is all about getting rid of the harmful toxins in your body that you’re exposed to every day through cleansing from the inside and out. After proper detoxification it is said that you will feel refreshed and feeling your very best.
Health detoxes hold great promise, but do they really work?
Why Detox?
5 Reasons You Need to Detox
- You Feel Like Sh*t
Maybe you’re tired and wake up every day in dread of facing the next 24 hours of your life. You might feel tired all the time and find no joy in doing the things that make up your one, beautiful life. Perhaps you suffer from headaches, digestive issues, or body aches. If you feel like crap, it’s pretty likely that your body is full of crap, and doing a detox may be just what you need to regain energy and leave you feeling vibrant and alive again. - You Crave Unhealthy Foods
Cravings for unhealthy foods are a sure indication that you’re more than likely suffering from food addiction. It’s so easy to do, and craving things like sugar and carbs is a sign that you’ve become victim to the food industry’s game. The big wigs in the food industry knowingly create these foods to keep you hooked. Sugar is one of the most addictive substances known to man (like 8 times more addictive than cocaine), and it happens to be in practically everything. It’s also the leading cause of many diseases including cancer, obesity, and diabetes. - You Can’t Lose Weight
Having a hard time losing weight and keeping it off? There are certain foods (think sugar and carbs) that trigger overeating and the accumulation of fat in your body. If you’re having a hard time losing weight or keeping the weight off, it could be because there is too much of an accumulation of these nasty things in your system. They tend to store up in the body and are absolutely responsible for making it impossible to lose that extra weight. - Your Body is Full of Toxins
Aaaah toxins. You’ve undoubtedly heard of them. Your body is full of them and a detox is literally designed to remove these harmful toxins from your body (hence the word detox). Toxins accumulate in the system and are everywhere. Air pollution, cigarette smoke, processed foods, cleaning products, and beauty products are all full of them. Doing a detox is a way to help move these toxins out of your system so you feel the way you’re actually supposed to. - You Want to Improve the Quality of your Life
Speaking of feeling the way you’re supposed to, you probably don’t. A detox can help with that by removing whatever’s making you feel like that and replacing it with what you need to look and feel your best. Detoxing is reported to vastly improve your health and ultimately lead to a better quality of life in the process.
Benefits of Doing a Detox
There are tons of different benefits a health detox reportedly offers. Some of the major advantages of a detox include:
· Enhanced Energy
· Increased Immune Strength
· Elimination of Excess Waste
· Healthy, Younger Looking Skin
· Increased Well-Being
How Does a Detox Work?
A detox literally cleans out the system through helping to eliminate toxins from the body where they’re stored the most. The blood, liver, kidneys, spleen, skin, and lungs all hold onto harmful environmental toxins that a detox helps to eradicate. When toxins accumulate in these different areas throughout the body, the entire cell structure of the system is compromised and greatly affects the whole. A detox works to flush these out and bring balance back to the body at a cellular level.
How to Start a Detox
You’ll want to start a detox by eliminating those foods and habits that are causing a build-up of toxins in the body. This is definitely not as easy as you might think, but it will make all the difference as you prepare your system for an entirely new way of being. Cut out all the sugar, processed foods, coffee, and cigarettes. Get rid of the toxic cleaning agents you use (there are natural alternatives that work), throw away beauty products with words you can’t pronounce (these too can be replaced with natural alternatives), and take the time to rest your body. Meditation and yoga are amazing ways to prepare for a detox.
What’s the Right Way to Detox?
There really isn’t one “right” way to detox, but there certainly are things that you should consider before seeing if a detox is going to work for you. Most detox programs last about 7 days, because that’s how much time is needed to clean the blood. If you’ve never detoxed before, you might want to take things easy and start with a 3-5 day detox. There are also detoxes that last up to 14 days (the “Master Cleanse” is pretty popular), but if you’re just beginning its wise to take things slow.
Most detoxes involve a lot of water so be prepared to hydrate! Water is one of the best ways to flush the system and helps prepare the body for elimination. There are also fruit and vegetable detoxes, fruit juice cleanses, sugar detoxes, colon cleanses, and more. You may want to start with a simple detox of plenty of water and vowing to eat only fruits and vegetables for a few days. Maybe you want to go big and do few days of fasting to start. If this is the case, be sure to drink plenty of water and herbal tea, and when you do resume eating, make sure to start simple with brown rice and steamed vegetables.
The Bottom Line
You’re the one who’s ultimately going to decide if a health detox works or not. There’s no reason not to try it, and if it doesn’t work for you, well, then you’ll know. However, there is the possibility that a detox may totally transform your life, making you feel more alive and radiant. If possibility to feel your best is worth a try, go ahead and try it to see what impact detox has on you and your body.