When people hear the word “DETOX” they usually think drinking only only lemon juice and cayenne or picking up a pack of juice from a local store and gulping down some green stuff.
I wanna be clear that that’s NOT what I’m talking about. I’m talking about GENTLY INTENTIONALLY detoxing.
I wanted to talk about the BENEFITS that a detox does for the health of your body, mind and emotions.
#1. alkaline vs acidic
There are different pH’s around the body. The skin is at a certain pH, the stomach is at a certain pH, the vagina is at a certain pH, and they all vary depending on the job of that organ.
The stomach should be more acidic to break down proteins where as the blood is more alkaline to support health and balance.
So what’s the issue?
With what we are DOING, EATING, and THINKING we can either send our body to a more ALKALINE state (where it wants to be) or to a more ACIDIC state where then chronic disease can prevail.
All chronic disease is a result of chronic inflammation and the body being too acidic.
What to do?
The number one way to alkalinize the body is to add minerals like magnesium and antioxidants like vitamin E.
Aka.
Eat whole foods. Avoid foods that are devoid in these nutrients like processed foods, foods high in sugar, foods coming from a box or through a window of your car.
#2. what about fasting?
This might be one of the most wildly misunderstood and misused words in the health world. Fasting means not eating for more than eighteen hours.
It gives the gut a break from foods, can be super beneficial and a way to add health to your body and life.
In the Christian culture, fasting is a prayer accelerant! Abstain from food for spiritual reasons. Daniel 6:3 (KJV) And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes
The thing that people forget is that fasting ALSO means:
Not answering the door
Not going to your stressful job
Not answering your phone
Drinking lots of water
Sleeping a lot
Taking a break from life
Giving the body and spirt an opportunity to fully rest, heal and rebuild
Please realize that when you’re JUST fasting from food it takes a toll on your adrenal glands, so when you’re still running around like a crazy person and not eating it creates a massive stress.
So please, if you are going to take a day and fast…do just that, take the DAY.
You’ll feel like a million bucks on the other end.
#3. it creates lifestyle shifts
A gentle 30-90 day detox from processed foods and processed life is such an incredible way to create a lifestyle transformation. When you choose to avoid foods that trigger inflammation like gluten, dairy, soy, sugar, alcohol and caffeine, it allows the body to press pause on the stress that those foods were creating in the body.
It also allows you to then pay attention to how AMAZING you feel when you’re not eating them.
It also allows you to then have CHOICE around what foods you then choose to reintroduce as part of your daily intake.
Most people who do a 30-90 detox feel so amazing that they then only OCCASIONALLY eat breads, pastas, pizza, cookies, crackers, cereal, cakes etc and they are no longer a staple in the pantry…they are an occasion.
And its only because your body told ya so.
#4. you get to rewrite your cells
Cellular turnover varies for each organ. One of the coolest things about doing a gentle detox, like Arbonne’s 28 Day Clean Eating Challenge /30 Days To Fit (
see here), it allows your body’s cellular turnover to happen WITHOUT a whole bunch of junk floating around and under chronic inflammation and old patterning.
Example?
Your taste buds for one.
Your taste buds turn over about every 10 days to 2 weeks. Foods that you might have disliked before will have an opportunity to show up a bit differently. You may find you become more sensitive to sugars or salt. You may find that the donut no longer even looks good (yes, its possible).
Your GI track turns over about every 3-5 days. You can rewrite the health of your GUT, and as many of you know 80% of our immune system sits in our gastrointestinal track.
Your immune cells live for around 90-120 days. With a detox program that you do over a 3-4 month time you can start to recreate your immune system.
So, those of you who are doing the 28 day thing?
You might want to reconsider and tack on an extra 60 days or so.
Your body will thank you.
#5. the importance of sleep
Again, many people who dive into a detox program will notice the first few days as not feeling awesome. That’s usually reflective of toxins being released from organs and affecting sleep, energy, or your mood.
Often people are addicted to sugar or caffeine and didn’t realize it so there may be a period of withdraw.
Pushing through the first few days will be the best thing you could do for yourself. Because when the body isn’t preoccupied with addictions and sugar cravings, and inflammation, it can focus on HEALING and REPAIRING.
When does this happen you ask?
When you sleep.
So avoiding all the foods that are triggering inflammation and addiction is JUST as important as giving your body the time to sleep.
The only thing that sleeps at night is your brain. Everything else is healing, repairing, and regenerating like mad (hence #4 above).
Ideally?
7-9 hours a night in TOTAL darkness.
Please.
Heal baby heal.
Here
let the detoxing begin!
adapted from Dr. Tanda Cook
