3 Things to Know Before Starting a Detox (And How to Survive It)

Excerpt:

So, you’ve been hearing about detoxing – but you kind of wonder, “Meh? Is it that big a deal? I mean, is it that good for me?”

The answer is yes. Think of your body like a house. Now, suppose the there’s a garbage strike in your neighborhood. Not only are you stuck with the garbage, you’re not even allowed to place it on the curb.

Which means that you have to stack it up in the garage. It’s fine for a couple of days, maybe even up to a week. But by the second month, the garage smells horrible and you have creepy crawly critters that are loving the refuse. They’re thriving in it.

The same thing happens to our body. We need to get rid of the garbage. Think of the air pollution, pesticides and environmental poisons around us. It’s important to get rid the body of as many of those toxins as possible, for overall health.

And that’s where detoxing comes in.

It’s difficult to know how toxic your body is without pricey hair or stool sample tests. However, there are basic indicators that can serve as a green light to start a cleanse. If you’re overweight, you’re toxic. If you’re constipated, you’ve got some toxins. If you’re diabetic, you’re toxic.

Great tips from Yuri Elkaim

Cleanse Your System with a Watermelon Detox

Courtesy Aimee Broussard

Excerpt:

Too busy or cannot be bothered to perform a whole cleanse or detox?  It’s summer, so no problem! Try a 3-day watermelon cleanse.  Watermelon is delicious and cooling so this will be easy to do and you will feel great.

Watermelon is a whole body cleanser and effectively will help to detox the kidneys, bladder, heart, stomach, colon and liver!

This can be as simple as just eating an organic watermelon for 3 days or you can toss the melon in a blender and make a smoothie adding ginger, lemon, parsley, mint or other detoxifying herbs.

It has been said that menopausal women can use this cleanse to relieve hot flashes.  Also this cleanse is great to cleanse and regenerate the circulatory system.

This is a safe and healthy way to shed a few unwanted pounds in a pinch.

View the video at wotv4women

What Is The Clay Diet? Benefits And Risks Of The Newest Detox Trend

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If you thought clay was best used to build houses or make pottery, think again. It turns out that it is also being used in detox diets. Yes, really.

The Clay Diet involves stirring edible clay, such as Bentonite, into a glass of water to drink. It isn't a food replacement, but is designed to accompany your regular diet.

The clay is supposed to absorb and remove toxins, impurities and chemicals from the body.

The diet's biggest cheerleader is 'Divergent' actress Shailene Woodley, but other clay users include Zoe Kravitz and Elle Macpherson, according to the MailOnline.

In an interview with Into The Gloss, Shailene explained her penchant for clay: "I've discovered that clay is great for you because your body doesn’t absorb it, and it apparently provides a negative charge, so it bonds to negative isotopes. And, this is crazy: it also helps clean heavy metals out of your body."

Devotees defend their clay choices by saying that it has been ingested by people from across the world for hundreds of years (Shailene first learnt of eating clay from her African taxi driver), but experts say this doesn't necessarily make it advisable.

Read more at Huffington Post UK

Can a Detox Retreat Work for You?

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It’s hard to change habits when you are running your normal life and trying to balance work, family and friends, so when I was invited to detox/de-stress with Northumbria Retreats I jumped at the chance. However, I really had no idea what I was letting myself in for.

Recently founded by London PR guru Bianca Bonomi, the aim of the retreats are not just to increase fitness and lose weight, but to make permanent changes to the participants diet and lifestyle.

A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE

When I arrived I was greeted with a fresh kale and pear juice, and the retreat regime was explained to me. We would rise at 7am, start the day with warm water and lemon, and then walk a few miles across fields to an outdoor fitness class. After walking back, we would have a fresh juice, and attend a yoga class, and/or go for a long walk through the countryside. A lunch of salad would follow, with more water, then in the afternoon we would be whisked off to the spa for massage (hooray!) returning in the evening for vegetable soup and a talk on subjects such as mediation and positive thinking. There would be no coffee, no tea, no meat or fish or dairy produce and strictly no alcohol! This certainly wasn’t the diet I was following at home, but I was keen to give it a go.

Read the rest at Psychologies

How To Make The Perfect Detox Juice For Summer

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Whenever we get the chance to learn about a new healthy drink that actually tastes good, we feel like it's our journalistic duty to share the wealth and spread the word!

Chef Candice Kumai, author of Clean Green Drinks, stopped by our office to share her secrets to clearer skin and a flatter tummy. Basically, the best remedies we could ask for over the summer! Luckily for us, she re-created two of her all-time favorite drinks to help us achieve the last minute detox we've been looking for! Check out the video above to see how to make The Ginger Peach and The Green Goddess on your own.

Get the recipe at AllMediaNY

Detox with Broccoli Tea

Excerpt:

The impact of air pollution on health is undeniable. It's linked to diseases such as cancer and heart disease, and the World Health Organization estimates it kills 7 million people yearly across the globe.1,2

Although the United States has pretty good air quality compared to other countries, experts think it’s only a matter of time before conditions get worse here and around the world.

With environmental toxins constantly on the rise, it makes a lot of sense to implement ways to protect yourself. And according to a recent study, a tea composed of broccoli sprouts - believe it or not - may do that and more.

Read more from Life Extension

Belly-Blasting Cardio and a Delicious Detox Salad

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Welcome to our Flat-Belly Challenge: 21 days of workouts, belly-blasting tips, and fat-burning recipes to help you feel slimmer and more confident all Summer. Day 17's challenge is a belly-blasting cardio workout followed by a delicious tropical detox salad, plus a bonus boost to help you reach your flat-belly goals.

Pineapple Arugula Salad

Relieve digestion woes and help shrink your belly with a tropical pineapple arugula salad. Pineapple contains enzymes that help you debloat and ease digestion, while avocado contains fiber and MUFAs (monounsaturated fatty acids) to fight belly fat. Plus, this salad is bursting with fresh flavor, so all your taste buds will be satisfied.

Get the recipe at PopSugar

What I Learned from My 48-Hour Cleanse

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My lunch this past Friday was a strange, blue-grey liquid that had the consistency of watered-down prison gruel. If I had to give it a name, I would have called it the Bruised Puke.

Why was I subjecting myself to this so-called banana-blueberry “smoothie?” Like a lot of people, I decided to start the new year off by detoxifying, but not with the ridiculous Master Cleanse – where water is pretty much all you consume – or some bizarro, ultra-organic Goop diet prescribed by the ever-perfect and equally condescending Gwyneth Paltrow.

I went for a more accessible option: Dr. Oz’s 48-hour weekend cleanse. A few things attracted me to this cleanse: 1) It had solid food. I’m not a fan of juice on the best of days. 2) It was only 48 hours. Being hungry makes me cranky and for my friends’ and family’s sake, I wanted to minimize their exposure to a monster Maddie. 3) Oprah did it.

Despite these bonuses, however, the cleanse had one major drawback: It lacked protein.

Read more from The Globe and Mail

How to Detox Without Starving Yourself

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Earlier this year my husband and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary. If you were following along, you might remember that we didn’t get to have much of a honeymoon after our wedding since my book was scheduled to launch just four weeks later. (Yes, I regret these events being so close together. C’est la vie.)

So for our first anniversary we felt we deserved a real break, a relaxing trip with no friends, family or even Toaster. We took five glorious days off and chilled on a beach in Mexico, making a point to spend more time in the spa than in the gym.

As you might expect we felt a little doughy when we got home, so we immediately called our local juice company and ordered a 7 day detox cleanse to make up for it.

JUST KIDDING.

I know the temptation is there to combat what feels like extreme “bad” behavior with extreme “good” behavior. I get emails nearly every week from someone slyly asking me if it’s cool to try something intense like a juice cleanse or fasting to “get back on track” after a particularly decadent holiday.

Read more from Darya at Summer Tomato

I Survived Dr. Hyman's 10-Day Detox

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So why did we decide to detox?

For me, it was all about my blood glucose, specifically my fasting numbers. I’ve been suffering from the dawn effect for quite a while and nothing seemed to consistently bring my fasting numbers down. After more than a decade of following the American Diabetes Association’s dietary guidelines, I found they just didn’t work for me anymore. I didn’t want to add another medication unless absolutely necessary so I tried giving up wheat and going vegan. While that regimen may work perfectly well for some, it didn’t work for me since most vegan sources of protein also contain carbohydrates. My post-meal BG numbers were controlled, but my fasting numbers were not. I decided the diet recommended in the detox was going to be my last attempt at controlling my BG with diet and metformin only.

For the CompostMaster, although he’s amazingly healthy, he has been having trouble losing weight, specifically around his middle. After reading the book, we became convinced the detox would work for both of us.

Read more from Diabetic Foodie

Detox Bath: Why and How

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A detox bath is one of the easiest healing therapies that can be done to facilitate and enhance our body’s natural detoxification process.

The liver removes toxins and metabolic waste from the body by converting them to water-soluble compounds. Once water-soluble they can be eliminated from the body through urine. Some waste products are not water-soluble and are transformed by the liver and excreted in the bile. The bile is then transported to the intestines where it exits the body through our bowels. Toxins not eliminated or completely removed by either of these processes may be eliminated through our skin via our sweat.

Typically, a detox bath is made with epsom salt also known as magnesium sulfate, which not only draws out toxins, but has health benefits of its own:

• Ease stress and improves sleep and concentration
• Help muscles and nerves function properly
• Regulate activity of 325+ enzymes
• Help prevent artery hardening and blood clots
• Make insulin more effective
• Reduce inflammation to relieve pain and muscle cramps
• Improve oxygen use
• Flush toxins
• Improve absorption of nutrients
• Help form joint proteins, brain tissue and mucin proteins
• Help prevent or ease migraine headaches

Read more at Healthy Living How To

Reset the Clock with a Full Body Detox

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The point of detoxing is to clean your blood. It’s about resting, cleaning and nourishing the body from the inside out. A detox programme helps the body’s natural cleansing process by resting the organs through fasting; stimulating the liver to drive toxins from the body; promoting elimination through the intestines, kidneys and skin; improving circulation of the blood; and refuelling the body with healthy nutrients.

Surrounded daily by pollutants and toxins in the air we breathe; the processed foods we eat; the medicines we’re prescribed; the perfumes, shampoos, soaps and creams we use; and the chemicals we clean our houses with, we all stand to benefit not just physically but mentally from a detox.

That said, front shop assistant Emmanuel Ndlovu (Clicks Boskruin) advises that children, pregnant and nursing mothers, and individuals suffering from chronic medical conditions should not even contemplate a detox without consulting their physician. “It is also important to check the ingredients of any supplements to ensure they don’t contain anything that the customer may be allergic to and make them aware of any possible side effects to look out for.”

Symptoms that may be alleviated by detoxification include allergies, unexplained fatigue, bloating, irritated skin, menstrual problems, mental confusion, constant hunger, irritability, anxiety, bad breath or body odour, chronic postnasal drip, achy muscles, trouble sleeping, puffy eyes, and bags under the eyes.

Read more from Front Shop

Best Ways to Detox

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The best ways to detox are those tried and true methods to get rid of whatever toxins you may have in your body and increase your overall health. While these tips can all be used on a daily basis for overall increased wellbeing, as with any health advice you find on the Internet, be sure to consult your doctor before taking our word for it.

1. Stop Exposure to Toxins 

If you need to detox, the best first step is to discontinue using or consuming whatever toxins you are trying to get rid of in the first place. Stop smoking, drinking, consuming caffeine, eating fatty foods, and indulging in refined sugars. Limit your access to chemicals, such as those in cleaners and health and beauty products.

2. Exercise 

Among many other great health benefits, regular exercise is a terrific way to de-stress, sweat out toxins, and live an overall healthier life. Exercise for at least one hour every day for better health, a better mood, and a better body. Find a fitness routine that you enjoy and stick to it.

Read more from Ranker

Green Beauty Smoothie: Detox and Cleanse

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Green smoothies are a refreshing and delicious way to detoxify the liver and cleanse the body while still enjoying a delicious treat. A cleaned-up liver can process nasty toxins more efficiently which leads to clear, radiant and younger-looking skin. Blending fruits and vegetables in a smoothie versus juicing, boosts the absorption of all the beneficial vitamins and nutrients by keeping the fiber in the mix. This aids in cleansing and gets the body back into balance resulting in more energy and a natural glow.

Remember to choose organic when possible to avoid heavily pesticide-sprayed produce. Pesticides are toxic to the body, far from beautiful and defeat the purpose of detoxification.

Filled to the brim with purifying ingredients, this revitalizing smoothie is best enjoyed soaking up the spring sunshine!

Get the recipe at Organic Beauty Talk

How to Detox for Summer the Healthy (and Easy!) Way

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With summer in full swing, many of us are inspired to clean up our acts internally. However, a drastic cleanse isn't always the answer. Fortunately, there are many gentler, more accessible ways to help our bodies detox on a daily basis, such as natural approaches to food that can easily fit into our lifestyles for a week, a month or even forever. 

For an easy, safe, gentle and healthy detox that does not require a full-on cleanse, we asked mom, physician and self-proclaimed health fanatic Dr. Amy Shah for some tips. Now based in Arizona, the NYC expat suggests a simple adjustment: eliminate wheat, dairy, soy, processed foods, sugar (fruit is allowed) and artificial sweeteners from your diet. As for what you should eat, think about upping your intake of fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables, for starters.

Which means more than lettuce! While Dr. Shah stresses the importance of eating "three cups of leafy greens and also three cups of cruciferous vegetables, which includes broccoli, kale and cauliflower" daily, you can also enjoy foods such as avocado, sweet potato, kale chips, lentils and chickpeas. She recommends following this easy detox for 21 to 24 days, if not longer, since it's healthy and consistent with long-term goals of wellness and longevity.

Read more from StyleBistro

Optimal Health for a Vibrant Life Detox: Day 13, 14 & 15

Excerpt:

The recommendations for Day 13 of the Optimal Health for a Vibrant Life Detox by Tiffany Cruikshank included considering adding new supplements to my diet and applying a castor oil pack. I ended up coming to the conclusion that given this is my first round of detox, I would leave out these steps for the time being. I will certainly consider the supplements recommended in the future, but for now I would like to keep supplements to the minimum and focus on whole foods instead.

I did end drink my liver detox tea and admired my beautiful flowers! I made myself clean protein pancakes using gluten free oat flour, egg whites, hemp protein powder and milled flaxseed with an organic honey drizzle. Yum!

I focused on eating clean foods for the rest of the day and relaxing when I could!

On Day 14, I met my requirement of spending time in nature when I went on a long walk with Zeke and later went to a potluck dinner that was entirely outdoors!

I went to the local farmer's market and picked up an entire fridge full of organic and mostly local foods--eggs, carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, broccoli, onions, sweet potatoes, ginger, pineapple and bread.

Read more from Bee Goes Bananas

Infrared Saunas And Swedish Massages: 12 Simple Ways To Detox Your Body

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Detoxing your body isn't just about juicing and going hungry for days on end. It's about getting your body back into working order and helping to eliminate the harmful toxins that we come across day in, day out - but don't worry. From sauna induced-sweating, to deep-tissue massages there are tons of different ways to help flush out those nasty toxins! Check out these 12 effective ways to detox your body...

If you think juicing clean greens is enough to help detox your body completely, not ​so fast - eighty thousand chemicals a year is what we're up against here.

So to make sure we're doing everything to help our bods the natural way, we teamed up with Miss Eco Glam and author of Toxic World, Toxic People, Anna Rodgers who gave us the low down on how to effectively detox your body.

Want to know how to flush out those nasties? Try these tried and tested ways to get your body back into shape...

Read more from SoFeminine.co.uk

Flat-Belly Challenge Day 7: Detoxing Yoga and a Fat-Burning Dinner

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If your body could use some fine-tuning, hop on your yoga mat and do these eight poses designed to detox the body. You have your circulatory, digestive, and lymphatic systems to thank for getting rid of toxins and waste, and these poses stimulate those systems. Pick out the poses your body needs or practice them all, and you'll be on your way to feeling like a new you.

Fat-Burning Dinner: Zucchini Noodles With a Flat-Belly Salad

Since wheat can cause bloating for many, make these low-carb, paleo-friendly noodles made from zucchini. Lightly cooked until tender and flavored with garlic and red pepper flakes, this grain-free pasta alternative is perfectly filling, but won't leave you feeling stuffed.

Get the recipe at PopSugar!

Chef Wendell: Liver Detox with Food

Excerpt:

The liver is the hardest working organ in the body, but it needs your help. You already know what your furnace filter looks like right before it’s changed. It’s overwhelmed with crud and struggles mightily. The whole idea of a healthy liver is to filter your blood and contain snarky contaminants so they won’t become a health hazard.

Your liver continuously filters your blood of Pharmaceutical drug residue and snarky agrichemicals added to the food we eat and expel them via elimination.

That’s how your liver works. It’s your body’s filter that traps toxins that enter the body through digestion, skin, or breathing. The liver detoxifies the body by filtering the blood, producing bile, and breaking down toxins and waste.

If your liver is over-taxed, it can’t process toxins efficiently. There are many foods that can help cleanse the liver naturally by stimulating its natural ability to clean toxic waste from the body.. Those with toxic livers often suffer from acne, eczema, psoriasis, bloating, headaches, and more, from carrying around an excessive toxic burden.

Read more from WishTV.com

Ways to Detox After a Splurge

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Celebrating holidays with close friends and fabulous food is key to a happy lifestyle. With all the temptations from drinks, to rich dishes and desserts, it’s easy to overdo it.

But there’s no reason you have to slip into bad habits throughout the week or worry that you’ve wrecked your healthy eating routine for good. Try some of these easy and tasty detox tips to get yourself back on track, in a hurry.

Give Your Liver Some Love

When you splurge on cocktails and sweets, it’s bad news for your liver since it has to work extra hard to process both (think of your liver being at the office on a sunny Saturday afternoon, while you’re sunning at the beach). So if you’re feeling drained or fatigued you can bet your liver has some beef with you! Base your meals for the next three days on these core foods that your liver will love: kale, spinach, watercress, broccoli and asparagus while passing on sweets and booze.

Read more from Skinny Chef

49 Detox Recipes (That Actually Contain Food)

Excerpt:

New year, new you — at least, that’s what all the magazines say. If, like many of us, you’ve indulged just a bit too much over the holiday season (what, cookies and eggnog aren’t a balanced meal?), it might be a good time to detox (but don’t run away just yet).

The word “detox” tends to bring to mind scary-intense juice cleanses or a gluten- dairy-meat-grain-sugar-caffeine-free diet that will make you run away screaming (and hungry). But never fear — when we say “detox,” we’re talking about refocusing the mind, body, and palate on healthy, tasty, and nutritious foods. Instead of going crazy-restrictive and nixing all food groups except kale and steamed fish (not exactly a sustainable diet), let’s use the first weeks of 2014 to explore new tastes, textures, ingredients, and cooking techniques. Most of these recipes are based on healthy staples like whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, and both vegetarian and meat protein sources.

The following collection of recipes will get you psyched about eating well again (and might even help kick that cookie-a-day habit you picked up over the past two weeks). For a super-easy meal plan, just pick one recipe from each category per day.

Read more at Greatist

5 Instant Daily Detox Solutions

Excerpt:

Anytime is a great time to detox. It’s not just for post-holiday binge relief. Experts believe that trying to eat as cleanly as possible – as often as possible – will help your body function the way it’s supposed to.

The good news? Effective daily detoxing doesn’t necessarily require strange ingredients or starvation.

Whole Foods

People in general should opt for whole, unprocessed foods and control their portion sizes. So throw out anything that is processed and has refined sugar (an easy guideline to follow – if you can’t pronounce it, don’t buy it).

The Power Of Lemons

Start the day with half a fresh lemon squeezed into a glass of warm water, which is believed to cleanse the organs and give your body a nice boost of vitamin c.

Read more at News92FM

The Big Summer Juice Detox

Exercise for the Bikini Holiday Detox

Excerpt:

Exercise will not only help you tone up but will boost your weight loss, allowing you to see results more quickly.

Each day you need to do a short yoga routine as well as three abdominal exercises.

Then up to three times a week do the high-intensity interval training workout. It will boost your metabolism and get your heart pumping.

These postures will help with strength, flexibility and toning. Do them every day.

YOGA

1. Upward facing dog

Lying on your front, take your hands under your shoulders. Push up, straightening your arms and lifting the tops of your thighs off the floor at the same time.

Pulling the shoulders down your back, keep the tops of your feet on the floor. If this is too deep a stretch try cobra, keeping your legs on the ground and bending your elbows.

Hold for three breaths.

Read more from Express.co.uk

Ashley Roberts Reveals Pre-Holiday Detox

Excerpt:

Ashley Roberts makes sure she cuts back on food and ups her exercise regime before she goes away on vacation.

Ashley Roberts ramps up her diet and workout routine two weeks before she goes on holiday.

The former Pussycat Doll has a background in dance, so has a naturally slim build. While she's not one to deprive herself of anything, Ashley does cut back on certain foods before she jets away.

"At least two weeks before a holiday I make sure I'm really strict on my diet. Working out four times a week pre-holiday is a must but diet is almost 80 per cent of it," Ashley told British magazine Now.

"I'll eat really clean and I'll avoid refined sugar and dairy and I don't eat a huge amount of meat any more - that's my choice. I get a lot of my protein from spirulina. You can pour a little bit in some orange juice."

Read more from Xpose Entertainment

My Seven Day Cleanse Experience

Excerpt:

Like a gazelle sensing a predator among the herd, my husband becomes still and unblinking after I mention my plans to try a diet detox.

Though he feigns interest, I smell his fear and imagine one of those red weather tickers scrolling behind his eyes as he awaits further instructions on whether to head for the basement or simply evacuate.

Despite the fact that I'm not a detox sort of person, the popularity is undeniable. From celebrities like Beyoncé and Gwyneth Paltrow, to my own friends and acquaintances, everyone seems to be doing them.

With the arrival of clothes-too-small-for-me season, I decide to embark on a detox of my own that promises to remove toxins, cleanse my system (though I could argue that one serving of edamame does roughly the same thing in a lot less time), and help shed a few pounds.

Read more from Hartford Magazine