7 Ways to Detox

Here are some non dietary practices that you can incorporate into your life to help your body detox. While I believe limiting intake of toxins through food and environment is the best way to keep our bodies running smoothly, we are still exposed to toxins through modern life that we can assist our bodies in eliminating. Maybe you are not ready to change your diet, maybe you have and you still have some lingering symptom you’d like to rid your body of, maybe you’re exposed to people that have received certain medical treatments that you feel are kicking your body into a detox state, or maybe you just want to make sure you stay in great health! Toxins are cumulative, not an all or nothing game, so every bit that we avoid and any help we give our eliminatory organs contributes to overall health.

Oil Pulling

Did you know that our teeth are actually part of our lymphatic system? There are a lot of studies showing the benefits of oil pulling from teeth whitening, reversing cavities, improving the microbiome in the mouth (and therefore the rest of the body) to activating the lymphatic system.

It is an easy habit to make part of your morning routine. Simply put about a tablespoon of cold pressed virgin coconut oil in your mouth and swish it around for 5 to 20 min. This pulls toxins from your teeth, so you do not want to swallow it. It is a little tiring on the muscles of your mouth, so you may you want to work your way up to 20 min. Make sure you spit it out somewhere that it won’t clog your pipes like outside, a garbage container, or wherever you discard cooking oil. I like to rinse my mouth out afterwards to get rid of any remaining oil.

Castor Oil Packs

Castor oil is one of those miracle natural substances that just seems to keep on giving. You can use it on toothaches, kidney infections, gallstones/gallbladder pain, skin issues/cancer, hair loss, hormonal/menstrual imbalance, and in this case, to improve liver function. Castor oil has been shown to improve levels of the ever important cleansing molecule glutathione. This is a major player in moving toxins out of the body. It stimulates the production of nitric oxide, a natural anti-aging and health promoting molecule that inhibits yeast overgrowth. Castor oil also helps flush excess estrogen and phytoestrogens out which improves many hormonal disorders.

You will need Cold Pressed Castor Oil in a dark glass bottle, a piece of wool flannel, and a heating pad or hot water bottle.

I find this to be a great practice to do in bed at night as I’m winding down, because it is also very relaxing. You’ll want to saturate the flannel in castor oil and put it on your right side under your ribcage over your liver. If you are worried about oil dripping on your sheets, you can put a towel down or wear an old tshirt. Cover that with a heating pad or hot water bottle and keep it on for at least an hour. Some people leave it on up to overnight for more liver cleansing benefits. If you are having acute issues you can also use this on your kidneys (put it under your back), directly on areas with lymph blockages (stomach, neck, polycystic breasts), or on injuries since it reduces inflammation.

If you want to try keeping the pack on all night or are concerned with oil dripping, you can also get a wrap like this. I just put a pillow case over my heating pad and use that as a barrier, but this would be useful for longer stints. Some people have seen great results in liver enzymes and the healing of reproductive issues like uterine fibroids from using the packs overnight.

Fasting

I guess this is technically a dietary intervention, but sometimes it’s easier to fast for a period than to get your diet in order. Fasting has many health benefits since your body can go into a healing mode instead of using it’s energy to constantly digest food. It activates adaptive cellular stress response signaling pathways that enhance mitochondrial health, DNA repair and autophagy. An easy way to implement it is Intermittent Fasting where you just fast on water for part of the day. You can do this by not eating after dinner (sleeping counts as fasting) and then pushing your first meal back until lunch or dinner the next day.

Earthing/Grounding

When you put your bare feet on the earth, your body is flooded with electrons. These act as a sort of antioxidant in the body. I wrote an in depth article about the science of earthing here. Getting outside and putting your feet on the ground even for a few minutes per day can assist your body in neutralizing free radicals.

Detox Baths

Take a nice hot bath and add 1-2 cups of organic apple cider vinegar (with the mother) and soak for at least 20 minutes. This will help you sweat out plenty of nasty stuff. I like to use about 1 cup of epsom or sea salt, 1 cup apple cider vinegar, and about 3/4 of a cup of bentonite clay powder.

Bentonite clay reduces inflammation and binds to toxins to pull them out of your body. Calcium bentonite is more negatively charged, so it will absorb the most toxins. If you use bentonite, mix it with water in a bowl to make a paste, then add that to your bath. Don’t use any metal utensils/bowls. You can also add grated ginger for a thermogenic effect. I’d start slow with this if you have sensitive skin. Most people are fine, but it’s a bit much for some. I would only recommend baths for detox purposes if you have well water, a whole house water filter, or a shower filter you can fill the tub up with.

Deep Breathing

Deep breathing increases circulation, oxygenation of the blood, activates the sympathetic nervous system, and increases lymph flow. You can practice deep breathing while just sitting and relaxing for a few minutes, meditating, or during yoga or other exercise. My favourite is Ujjayi Breathing (Ocean Breathing) in yoga. This article explains it and some other deep breathing techniques.

Coffee Enemas

Coffee Enemas were popularized by the Gerson Therapy, a natural cancer treatment, but they have been used to treat many disorders and for general detoxing. They can increase the level of glutathione in the intestines and the liver. Glutathione is a vital detoxification antioxidant that helps prevent damage from reactive oxygen species and heavy metals. It breaks apart chemical carcinogens so our body can remove them.

Here is a good guide on how to do a coffee enema. Make sure you prepare the coffee in a way that doesn’t add toxins to it. This means using a glass french press, a stainless steel pot, or cold brewing in a glass jar. You don’t want to strain it through a paper coffee filter, because this filters out some of the most beneficial compounds. I also don’t personally think coffee pots with a bunch of plastic are ever really safe.

I’d suggest 2 TBS of coffee for a quart of water in the french press. Once it’s brewed, pour 2 cups into a quart mason jar with measurements on it and fill the other half up with water to cool the coffee down. You want the temperature to be a little above body temperature. You’ll notice if you use coffee that is too hot or cold, you won’t be able to retain it. I’d aim for retaining it for 15-20 minutes if possible as this is what most recommendations say.

Drink More Water

This may seem like an obvious one, but you can help flush additional toxins out of your body by drinking up to a gallon of water a day. Around the holidays especially, when people aren’t as diligent about their diets or are drinking alcohol, this can help your body detox. I drink reverse osmosis water and use these trace mineral drops to add minerals back to it.

Implementing any of these things as part of your routine or as even as a once per week self care ritual will help keep your filtering organs clear and vital! Remember holding onto negative thoughts can be as hard on your your body as outside factors. Don’t forget to relax and show yourself the love you deserve. Grant yourself the time you need to care for yourself, whatever that means for you!