Do I need a detox?

My short, not exciting answer is “no.” Listen, I know it’s easy to be seduced by Instagram influencers promoting a new year, new you cleanse. It’s hard not to fall down the rabbit holes that promise’ fast weight loss!’, ‘glowing skin!’ and ‘radiate with energy!’ Trust me; I get it. But you know that short term fixes are just that, short term. Weight lost too quickly is because of low calorie/low carbohydrate deprivation. That lost weight will come back and sometimes more so hence the term yo-yo dieting.

In general, most people don’t need extreme toxin detox. Our bodies have a way of naturally eliminating toxins that involve the liver, kidneys, digestive system, skin, and lungs. (Some people have genetic variants that may impair their ability to detox appropriately).

That said, these organs need to be healthy, so they effectively eliminate unwanted substances. We live in a world which taxes our toxin burden. Our daily exposure to chemicals, environmental pollutants, and toxins in the environment have significantly increased. Quarantine and the holidays mean many of us have overeaten and overdone it with sugar, flour, and alcohol. So, in short, while detox diets don’t do anything magical that your body does on its own, you certainly can optimize your body’s natural detoxification system.

Tips to Enhance Your Body’s Natural Ability to Detox

Stay Hydrated Hydration is such a basic yet powerful way to keep your hard-working liver detoxing. Water flushes out harmful environmental pollutants from your system. Water transports waste products, efficiently removing them through urination, breathing, or sweating. So staying hydrated is vital for detoxification.

Reduce Sugar and Processed Foods By merely consuming less junk food, you can keep your body’s detoxification system healthy. High consumption of sugary and processed foods cause inflammation that has been linked to chronic diseases. These diseases hinder the body’s ability to naturally detoxify itself by harming organs like the liver that play an essential detox role. A good example, high consumption of sugary beverages can cause fatty liver, which negatively impacts liver function.

Eat lots of Antioxidant-Rich Foods

Consume a diet rich in antioxidants to help your body reduce damage caused by free radicals and lowers the risk of diseases that can impact detoxification. Berries, nuts, cocoa, vegetables, spices, and green tea have some of the highest amounts of antioxidants. Eating sulfur-rich foods such as eggs, broccoli, and garlic helps optimize glutathione’s function. Glutathione is an antioxidant produced by your body that is one of the heavy hitters in detoxification.

Eat Detox-Promoting Vegetables Vegetables are critical for detoxing because it is a very nutrient-dependent process to detox. Include the cruciferous vegetable family such as broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, mustard greens, kale, cabbage, brussels sprouts, arugula, watercress, daikon radishes, and garlic and onion. Cruciferous vegetables have metabolites that break down into compounds that up regulate the liver’s detoxification enzymes. By up regulating enzymatic activity, the body’s natural detoxification pathways are supported.

Aim for 30-40 Grams of Fiber Daily

Detoxes and cleanses usually involve eliminating most foods and replacing them with mostly juices. The problem with juicing is that it can spike your blood sugar because the natural sugars in juice are stripped away from the fiber found in fruit and vegetables. Fiber slows digestion, helps with nutrient absorption, and removes toxins via stool. Your digestive tract uses probiotics from fiber to nourish your intestines with beneficial bacteria, helping maintain immune health.

Fiber not only binds to cholesterol and removes it from your body, but it also does a similar thing with contaminants and hormones that would otherwise be stored in your fat cells. Eating adequate fiber is vital for proper elimination, which is an essential part of detoxing.

Eat More Omega 3s and Fewer Omega 6s.

Research suggests eating more omega 3s (found in low mercury fish such as wild salmon, sardines, cod, anchovies, and scallops) and fewer omega 6s (found in vegetable oils) can decrease the inflammatory response that happens from exposure to PCBs.

Limit Alcohol

More than 90% of alcohol is metabolized in your liver. Give it a break.

Focus on Sleep

Ensuring quality sleep is a must to support your body’s detoxification system. Sleeping allows your brain to remove toxic waste byproducts that have accumulated throughout the day. One of these waste products is a protein called beta-amyloid, which contributes to Alzheimer’s disease.

Eat Foods High in Prebiotics

Gut health is essential for keeping your detoxification system healthy. The intestinal cells have a detoxification system that protects your gut and body from harmful toxins, such as chemicals. The good bacteria in your gut can become unbalanced in ratio to harmful bacteria from the use of antibiotics, poor dental hygiene, and diet quality. Good gut health starts with prebiotics, a fiber that feeds the good bacteria in your gut called probiotics. With prebiotics, your good bacteria produce nutrients called short-chain fatty acids that are beneficial for health. This unhealthy shift in bacteria ratio can weaken detoxification systems. Eating foods rich in prebiotics can keep your detoxification and immune systems healthy. Good food sources of prebiotics include artichokes, unripe bananas, asparagus, onions, and garlic.

Decrease Your Salt Intake

Consuming excess salt and not enough water causes your body to release an antidiuretic hormone that prevents you from urinating — and, therefore, detoxifying. Eliminate puffiness — and waste — by increasing your intake of water and cutting out processed foods.

Move

Exercise lowers inflammation and allows your body’s detoxification system to work correctly.

Take Away

A plan that does work; is a plan that gently reduces or eliminates junk foods and increases the amount of plant-based foods, water, and exercise. There is no need to put a ‘detox’ label on it. It doesn’t hurt to bump up additional detoxification to assist the liver in doing its job. Go ahead and put some lemon in your water. But it’s important to note that you should not trust all ‘detoxes’ and ‘cleanses’ out there that over-promise results and tend to lack scientific evidence.