Body cleansing and detoxification:
Why do it?
How is body cleansing and detoxification
related to health? Is it just another "health
fad"
or is it something essential to improve health and energy?
Well, considering that the body
naturally eliminates waste and toxins and continually
cleans itself, it's just common sense that body cleansing
and detoxification is an important part of good health!
How does the body cleanse and detoxify
itself?
In brief:
- The respiratory system helps
in detoxification of the body by the hair in
your nose filtering the air coming in when you breathe,
and by the elimination of toxins when you exhale air from
your lungs.
*Note: Carbon dioxide is also exhaled, but it is not toxic.
See this article on "What
is carbon dioxide?"
- In the digestive (gastrointestinal)
system, the wall of the small intestine filters toxins
from nutrients that are being absorbed with an army of
"friendly" bacteria that nuke toxins before they can be
absorbed into the bloodstream.
- The liver is like "command central"
for the digestive system. The liver has numerous
cleansing and purifying functions, including
clearing the blood of drugs and other poisonous substances.
It also converts toxins produced through metabolism into
a non-poisonous form that is then eliminated through the
urine.
- Detoxification of the body
occurs in the large intestine, also called the
colon, when waste material from the body is eliminated.
- The kidneys filter toxins and
impurities from the blood and eliminate them
through urine.
- The skin's sweat glands and sweat have
a major role in eliminating toxic substances from the
body.
We sweat constantly
for several reasons, and body cleansing and detoxification
is one of them.
- The lymphatic system assists
the detoxification of the body of viruses and
other disease-causing substances.
It is also called the immune system because it carries
virus nuking white blood cells throughout the body.
All that just gives you a little
hint of everything that the body does to cleanse
and detoxify itself, so yeah, it's important.
What is "detoxification?"
To detoxify something means to
either:
- Remove a harmful substance from it
or
- Neutralize, or make harmless, such
a substance.
One reason that you hear so much
now about antioxidants
and health is that antioxidants neutralize toxins
called free radicals, thus they assist the body in its detoxification
function.
What exactly is a toxin? What does body
cleansing and detoxification handle?
Anything that is poisonous or
harmful to the body is considered a toxin. Toxins
don't just come from outside sources, such as pollution
or cleaning chemicals. Toxins are also produced inside the
body by such things as:
- The metabolism of proteins
- Infections and inflammation
- Fermentation and decay of food that
has been consumed
In addition, the level of toxins
in the environment is increasing at an amazing rate.
These toxins are assimilated into our bodies by breathing,
consumption of food and drinks and skin exposure.
To give you a clue as to just how much
"unwanted stuff" gets into our bodies, here are a few sources
of environmental toxins:
- Air pollution
- Water supply
- Processed food (pesticides and additives
are toxic)
- Artificial sweeteners (they are synthetic
[man-made] chemicals and are harmful to the body)
- Household cleaning products such as
dishwashing soap, laundry soap, air fresheners
- Drugs, including over-the-counter and
prescription drugs
- Personal products such as commercial
deodorant, soap, lotions, cosmetics, colognes and perfumes
I grew up in a time when the levels of
these things in the environment were barely making an impact.
"Pollution" was a fairly new buzzword. There weren't health
epidemics like we're experiencing now either. Body cleansing
and detoxification as a normal function of the body was
effective for the most part.
Toxic overload!
It may seem unreal to many of
us, going about our lives, that these things could really
have such an impact on our health. Our bodies could
probably handle a couple of these sources just fine - but
the list above isn't nearly complete, so get the picture
of an overwhelming amount of toxins bombarding your body!
The point is that there are significantly
more environmental toxins than we were exposed to even 20
- 30 years ago. In addition, being subjected to
more "outside toxins" causes more internal toxins
to be generated through the immune response (inflammation,
for example).
Our bodies can no longer get rid of all
that crud by itself, so we need to help it!
Health effects of toxins in the body
Body cleansing and detoxification are
definitely normal functions of the body. But when there
are too many toxins for the body to process and eliminate,
a toxic "pile-up" occurs and causes health problems.
The body responds to "toxic overload"
by developing problems and illnesses. Here is a
small list of some conditions that can be aggravated, if
not caused, by the effect of unhandled toxins in the body:
- Neurological disorders
- Cancer
- Altered metabolism
- Reproductive disorders
- Fatigue
- Headaches
- Obesity
- Muscle and vision problems
- Immune system depression
- Allergies/Asthma
- Endocrine disorders
- Chronic viral infections
- Less ability to tolerate/handle
stress
- Nutritional
deficiencies
- Hormonal imbalances
Yow... so what can we do to handle this?
There are two main prongs of attack that will assist body
cleansing and detoxification!
Ways to handle toxic overload
We can easily start by minimizing
the amount of toxins that get into the body, which
decreases the "toxic load" and assists the body in cleansing
and detoxification better.
Some examples of things you can
do to reduce your toxin intake would be:
- Using quality air purification systems
- Using effective water purification
for drinking, bathing, cooking, dishwashing and laundry
- Choosing organic food as much as possible,
minimizing processed food and fast
food
- Replacing artificial sweeteners and
food containing them with healthy alternatives, such as
honey or stevia
- Finding and using cleaning and personal
products that are non-toxic, such as using
hydrogen peroxide for cleaning, both personal and
home cleaning, or certified organic
body care products (not the same as "natural).
And for some wonderful natural
skin care recipes, please check out Sue Dolan's "Anti-Aging
Skin Care for Facial Rejuvenation site! I love her skin
care recipes, they're so good I want to eat them! (And
I could!)
Information about "green living" is an excellent
source of these types of products that not only assist
the environment, but improve your personal health and
sense of wellness. This
article will give you a definition of green living
and how it benefits your health.
The second prong of attack is
doing things that actually help the body in cleansing and
detoxification of excess junk that is already in it.
This includes things such as:
- Drinking
more water
- Enjoying steam and sauna baths to promote
health by really sweating, which detoxifies the body
- Engaging
in more physical activity and exercise which assists
the whole body in functioning better as well as eliminating
toxins through sweat
and improving circulation of the
lymph (immune) system
- Engaging in specific body cleansing
and detoxification programs, of which there are many.
- Adding rebounding, (mini-trampoline
exercise) to your life. Rebounding is fun
and effective and is fantastic for its immune-boosting,
toxin-flushing action.
Going to a health spa may seem like a luxury to
some, but they aren't called "health" spas for
no reason! Massage and other treatments at spas
totally help the body in cleansing and detoxification.
So it's a fantastic way to help your body, improve your
health and relieve stress... a worthwhile investment I
say!
I've personally incorporated many of the
above preventative measures gradually into my life that
assist in body cleansing and detoxification.
Although I haven't converted my whole
house to purified water, I do drink and cook in filtered
water and have a filter on my shower head.
I've replaced all artificial sweeteners
with stevia
(a no-carbohydrate sweetener that comes directly from a
plant) and have found better alternatives to products "made
with Nutrasweet®." (Nutrasweet is the company and
brand name of the artificial sweetener aspartame.)
Considering that I grew up using artificial
sweeteners due to diabetes, it actually wasn't difficult
at all to stop using them and I can say that I honestly
feel better, less "toxic" for sure! If I sip
on a diet soda now, my nose scrunches up with distaste
because it really does taste "chemically!"
Another activity that I've found that
helps body cleansing and detoxification, as well as other
benefits (like it feels really good!) is "skin
brushing."
So far, I've also done a 2-week herbal
colon cleanse and was extremely pleased with the results.
Did you know that you should have a bowel movement for every
meal you've eaten the previous day? Yeah! So if you had
3 meals yesterday, ideally you will be reading the newspaper
in the bathroom 3 times today!
Well, I don't know about you, but I snorted
when I first read that and thought, "Yeah right!"
Then I looked at it and it actually made sense.
The point of my little story here is that
after I did the colon cleanse, I actually did have that
many. And I definitely felt better!
I've also recently done an "ionic foot
spa detox" - holy moly! I'll be continuing to do that and
will have an article about it in the future...
In summary, if you want to feel
better physically and improve your health, improving
the ability of your body for cleansing and detoxification,
in addition to the health basics of nutrition,
physical activity,
sleep and stress
management is something you just might want to consider!
Cheers!
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