How To Eliminate Toxins From Your Body & Why You Should

What are toxins?

Toxins are all around us and we unknowingly ingest them all the time. They are chemicals and impurities in the air, in our food and water; even in the products we use every day.

At home: Some of our clothing fabrics, carpeting and upholstered furniture are treated with chemical-laden flame retardants that are hazardous to our bodies. Air fresheners and candles can contain toxic chemicals too. Many common household cleaners and pesticides are loaded with petrochemicals. Since they were meant to kill mold, mildew and bugs, it is no surprise that these products that are extremely harmful to our bodies. And speaking of pesticides, even if we eliminate them from our homes some cities are now spraying from above to kill mosquitoes, ironically to reduce the spread of viruses.

In our food: Ingredients such as hydrogenated oils and other additives such as: MSG, aspartame, sucralose, dyes and hydrolyzed yeast extract are in the foods we purchase at the supermarket. The containers holding some of the foods we purchase and store food in contain harmful BPA. Additionally, when we cook with or eat at a restaurant which uses non-stick pans, there dangerous chemicals going right into our meals. (Lovely, isn’t it?)

On our skin: Synthetic ingredients used in fragrances can cause respiratory issues, allergic reactions and skin infections. Sodium laurel sulfates, which are commonly used to clean car engines, are also found in soaps and shampoos. Many toothpastes contain both SLS and aspartame. (Can I get an “EWW”??)

In the water: As if all that were not scary enough, our water systems contain lead and have been treated with chlorine, fluoride and over hundreds of other chemicals that can be harmful when ingested at certain high levels.

So, what is detoxification and it be helpful?

Detoxification is about cleansing and restoring the body to a natural state by eliminating toxins. While most of the body’s impurities are removed through the liver, toxins are also found in (and can be removed from) the kidneys, lungs, lymph nodes, intestines and skin. There are several ways to give your body the cleansing, nutrients and restoration it needs. Experts say that a detox can help with a variety of symptoms, such as: lack of energy, headaches, acne, brittle hair or nails, minor aches, restlessness, weight loss, hair falling out, digestive issues and some allergies. Some believe in detoxifying the body once a year, while others recommend ongoing methods of eliminating toxins. Pregnant women, nursing moms as well as people with certain conditions and diseases should consult a doctor before doing any kind of detox program.

What are the easiest ways to detoxify the body?

Read labels. You can start to eliminate toxins from your body by switching to foods and household products that do not contain harmful additives, chemicals and hormones. Personally, I would recommend eliminating any food that is not made from organic ingredients. Also consider reducing your intake of: caffeine, saturated fats, alcohol, nicotine, refined sugars and saturated fats. Watch out for other household products too, as well as personal care items, which are typically loaded with synthetic ingredients.

Drink more filtered water. Consume enough filtered water daily to flush out your system. Water is vital to our systems functioning properly.

Drink green tea, it is a natural purifier.

Eat right: In addition to eliminating foods that are harmful, you can add foods that are helpful. Foods high in fiber and those rich in vitamin C are purifying to the body. In fact, many of the natural detox supplements available in health food stores are made up of foods rich in fiber and vitamin C.

If you love garlic or cilantro in your dinners, keep on eating them! Garlic and cilantro are two of the best natural body detoxifiers available. Garlic helps your body fight the effects of toxins while cilantro has antifungal properties and the ability to remove toxins quickly. So that pesto sauce you love is healthy for you too!

Use your juicer. If you want to get in those purifying foods, juicing is a terrific option.Mix up a variety of ingredients until you find the combination that works best for you. Juicing is especially helpful for those who don’t like certain healthy foods because they can be masked by other flavors.

Consider including wheat grass or barley grass, which are both rich in vitamins and nutrients. Chlorella is a vegetable that can also be added to juices and is highly recommended for its ability to eliminate toxins quickly from the body.

Fruit pectin is also very popular for detox juices because if its ability to flush out the body. Pectins are commonly found in the pith of limes, lemons and other citrus fruit as well as in apples, bananas, grapes, carrots and cabbage.

Take care of your body. Here are some additional suggestions for easy, natural detoxification:
# Exercise! Eliminate toxins through perspiration.

# Practice Yoga or Quigong (martial-arts based exercises with tremendous health benefits). Stretch your limbs, releasing toxins stored in your muscles and tissue so they can be eliminated.

# Practice deep breathing techniques which allow oxygen to circulate.

# Take a shower of hot water followed by cold water.

# Dry brush your skin with a loofa sponge or natural bristle brush. Experts suggest brushing in a motion that moves towards the heart.

What are other ways to detoxify the body?

Take herbs. Many people prefer to take herbs as part of their daily vitamin and nutrient routine. Herbs are effective for eliminating toxins from the body, though experts recommend telling your doctor and pharmacist before taking herbs to make sure that they do not interfere with traditional medicines. Herbs that are commonly used for detoxifying the body include: Alfalfa, Aloe Leaf, Burdock Root, Dandelion Root, Cascara Sagrada Bark, Marshmallow Root, Milk Thistle, Rhubarb Root, Sarsaparilla and Slippery Elm bark. Many of these herbs can also be found in teas which you can drink on a regular basis.

Activated Charcoal is also used for removing toxins and purifying the body. For more information on how to use it, ask an expert at your local health food store.

Use essential oils. Look for pure, therapeutic grade essential oils such as the ones made by Young Living. Essential oils can also be applied to the skin, and as such, they are commonly used in detox massages in spas and salons. Essential oils can also be used as aromatherapy, and many of them can be ingested.

Head to the spa. Get a massage (told you so) or hit the sauna. Some spas now have Far Infrared Saunas, which use harmless rays to increase sweat production for releasing toxins through the skin. Try a body wrap, a technique that has been used for centuries for detoxifying the body. Get an iconic foot bath, which eliminates toxins through your feet by soaking them in a tub of water which contains currents that attract metals. After any of these spa treatments, make sure you drink lots of water to rehydrate your body.

Use a detox supplement packet. While this was not the right method for me, many people choose to cleanse using supplement packs. They can be purchased at health food stores, pharmacies and even in many supermarkets. These cleansing packets typically include a three day, seven day or fourteen day schedule. They usually contain pills made of detoxifying nutrients and ingredients. The vast majority of detoxification kits are safe to use, though they may contain herbs and you should notify your doctor before taking them.

There are other methods for detoxifying the body, but these are some of the most commonly used and simplest to follow methods. The best methods are the ones that are right for you, because those are the ones you will follow.

What you need to know about detoxing

Understand that some detox methods can have minimal side effects. For instance, when I did an ionic foot bath a few years ago, my feet were uncomfortably itchy for a day afterwards though my friend had no side effects at all. Remember that the substances being eliminated from your body are quite harsh and can include everything from metals to chemicals to dyes and radiation and side effects should be temporary until the toxins are gone. As with any treatment for any condition, consult your doctor if symptoms persist.

Succeed in Physical Fitness

Physical fitness means different things to different people. Your physical fitness success will be determined by your definition of the type of fitness you are wanting to achieve, so take some time to make sure you have a clear fitness definition. If you ask yourself this question, "Fit for what?" then you are asking the right question.

There are two types of fitness:

Health-related fitness is linked to fitness components that affect an individual's quality of life and may lower risks such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or low back pain. Health-related physical fitness includes the following components:

Aerobic fitness (Cardiovascular endurance) - the ability of the heart and lungs to deliver blood to muscles
Muscular strength and endurance - enough to do normal activities easily and protect the low back
Flexibility - the ability to move your many joints through their proper range of motion, and
Body composition - the ratio of lean body mass to fat...particularly important around the waist.

Performance-related fitness is linked to an individual's athletic performance (for example: a 50-yard dash time or the ability to maneuver around obstacles quickly.) A marathon runner will define fitness differently than a bodybuilder. A long distance runner will define fitness by muscular and cardiorespiratory endurance; a bodybuilder will define fitness by muscle size and definition. Performance-related fitness is linked to the following components, none of which have any affect on the health aspect of an individual's life:

Speed - relates to the ability to perform a movement within a short period of time
Reaction time - relates to the time elapsed between stimulation and the beginning of the reaction to it
Agility - ability to rapidly change the position of the entire body in space with speed and accuracy
Power - the ability to exert maximum force in minimum time...considered to be a combination of strength and speed
Coordination - relates to the ability to use the senses, such as sight and hearing, together with body parts in performing motor tasks smoothly and accurately i.e. hand-eye coordination or foot-eye coordination, and
Balance - relates to the maintenance of equilibrium while stationary or moving. (Although some fitness experts are now including Balance with health-related fitness.)

Not everyone can be a good athlete...but everyone can be fit.

Purifying Your Body of Toxins Can Lead to Optimum Health and Vitality

How do you feel when you wake up in the morning? Do you wish you had restored vitality, a strong libido, more mental clarity, clearer skin, reduced weight, a stronger immune system and looked and felt healthier in every aspect of your being? Do you have symptoms such as unexplained fatigue, depression, lack of libido, sluggish elimination, irritated skin, allergies or low-grade infections, a distended stomach, menstrual difficulties and mental confusion? Have you ever considered that with a little effort you could reverse the signs of ageing?

Total body purification is a process that assists the body with battling the build up of toxins and poisons and helping it create a balance. Purification can open a door to optimal health and vitality, one which is oriented toward maximizing one's individual potential. First and foremost its a choice that allows us an opportunity to assume responsibility for the quality of our own "wellness" and make the conscious decision to accept a healthy lifestyle.

In addition to encountering highly stressful lives, our bodies are continually bombarded with over-processed foods and unhealthy fats that many of us eat, sugary and caffeinated liquids we drink and polluted air that we breathe. These poor habits can easily abuse the delicate working systems of our bodies and inhibit our systems' purification and evacuation pathways. This can then lead to the development of symptoms, such as hormonal problems, depression, fatigue, headaches, infections, digestive problems, loss of libido, allergies and muscular aches and pains. There is also overwhelming evidence that internal toxins and poisons, left to their own devices, can initiate cancer and other serious terminal and debilitating diseases that plague our 'modern' society.

Toxins and poisons can undermine our health and weaken our body's immune system, leaving us defenceless. At some point -- let's call it the "saturation point" -- our bodies begin to outwardly show the effects. It's usually at this time that we seek medical advice so we can label what's happening to us by giving our malady a name. We are generally prescribed drugs which have been tried and tested to cure our symptoms, but not the underlining cause of our ill health.

Purification is the natural process of neutralising and eliminating toxins and poisons from our bodies, which is essential for the maintenance of optimum health and vitality. Purification is therefore the single most powerful tool we can use to prevent and reverse ill health and disease. Along with personally-empowered wellness, you can provide yourself with an alternative to dependency on doctors and drugs, to complacency, to mediocrity, to self-pity, to boredom and to slothfulness.

Many wellness promoters see wellness as a philosophy that embraces many principles for good health and long life. To be well is to have empowerment, to take control of one's life and to walk the middle line; balance in all things in life is the key to contentment. Personal wellbeing is a mindset, a predisposition to adopting a series of key principles in various aspects of life that lead to high levels of optimal health and vitality in all areas of life. Personally-empowered wellness, however, is multidimensional, centred on personal responsibility and environmental awareness.

So how do we even begin to think about personal wellness amidst all the demands of our modern day lifestyles? We all know where to go if we are sick, but where do we go to get well? These days the "educated wellness seeker" is searching for luxury spa destinations that are able to offer wellness programs, which educate, motive and facilitate their purification journey.

Such is the power of purification that when combined with simple healthy dietary changes, exercise, spa treatments, yoga, meditation and a desire to achieve better health the opportunity to find optimum health and vitality is overwhelming. Many things that were previously thought to be impossible have recently become possible.

During a purification program, you can produce quite dramatic results. Given the opportunity, our bodies can develop new found energy levels, improved sleep patterns, a sense of peace and decreased bloating or fluid retention. We also have the opportunity to shed excess weight, leaving us with fewer aches and pains, more mental clarity and a real boost for our libidos.

The purification process leaves one feeling rejuvenated on all levels; it's a re-programming of our mental and physical systems. The beauty of a contemporary purification program is that it addresses the very core of our health problems, rather than just suppressing our symptoms.

If you elect to start today and empower yourself to make healthy lifestyle changes, you'll find yourself on the pathway to optimum health and vitality which lasts well into your autumn years. It's never too late to start a wellness lifestyle; it is open to all ages, all religions, people across the globe and it truly is a multicultural experience.