Detoxing is getting a lot of hype at the moment. If you do a simple search for detox, you will receive an overwhelming amount of results; juice detox, sugar detox, coffee detox, meat detox and even digital detox. There is a detox out there for just about every area of your life. However, a detox isn’t just a popular hype and is more than reducing your screen time on social media. It can affect your health, diet and overall well being and so it’s important to read a little more and find out exactly what it means and how you can do it without getting lost in an online storm.

WHAT IS DETOXIFICATION?

Put simply, detoxification means cleansing the blood. The liver processes toxins for elimination and impurities are removed from the blood. Toxins are also eliminated by the kidneys, intestines, lungs, lymphatic system and the skin. The foods in the latest fads will not flush your system. It is your liver, kidneys and other organs that do the work, not the food itself. It’s important to know and understand how it works in order to healthily detox your body.

‘Your body needs to flush out the toxins’ – BUT WHAT ARE TOXINS?

Toxins are potentially harmful substances that are all around us and that we come into contact with  every day. Processed foods, heavy metals like lead and mercury which can be found in make-up, nail varnish and whitening toothpaste. Chemicals in cleaning and beauty products, pesticides in produce, pollutants in the air … the list continues! Now we don’t mean for you to have no fun and not slap on your fave lippy, or eat your fave biscuits, but it’s important to look at what you could do to reduce the impact of toxins in your life.

HOW DID PEOPLE SURVIVE BEFORE DETOXES WERE A THING??

Shock horror !! Your liver and kidneys have been flushing toxins out long before detoxes come about. Your body has the ability to cope with most toxins that you inhale, ingest or absorb. However, if you’re constantly being toxified, skimping on exercise, nutrition and hydration then your body’s own natural detoxification system can be damaged.

Your body wants to get rid of the bad stuff, but if your feeding it more bad stuff, you won’t ever be able to get the other bad stuff out.

It’s an ongoing cycle that puts your liver and kidneys under a lot of pressure and so that’s where detoxing comes in – and we don’t mean one green juice once a week !!

Detoxing can be fun if you do it properly.

EXERCISE

Moving your body is an incredible form of detoxification. There is so much that goes on inside you whilst you’re in that AAA class. Exercise gives a boost to the kidneys’ when you hydrate with water. If you drink plenty before, during and after a class it will assist the body in detoxing even more efficiently because the liquid present lets the kidneys filter toxins easily. Your blood is pumped faster around the body which flushes out the lungs, helps food pass through the gut quicker and opens up the sweat glands to cleanse the skin through getting SWEATY. It promotes circulation of blood and lymph (white blood cells) flow around the body which means lymph nodes and liver can cleanse the body. You might not like to think about food in the middle of a hardcore class but digestion is improved with exercise and we all want a health waste removal site within us !! Yoga poses are especially known to promote blood flow to bowels and strengthen intestines. Other exercises that target your core are particularly beneficial as your core is where all of your vital eliminating organs are located – colon, kidneys and liver. Doing crunches and abdominal twists stimulate those organs and helps you past waste quicker.

What’s that?? You’re working on your 6 pack – i’m working on my bowel habits’

NUTRITION

We hate all of these restrictive detox diets that tell you can’t have this or you can’t have that. Restricting something that you actually really want to eat just leads you to feel quite miserable and also obsess over food and in most cases crash and binge at it. A healthy detox and cleanse means that you eliminate junk and harmful foods from your diet and replace it with nutrient-rich foods that help and encourage your bodies natural detoxification process. Unless you’re at a detox centre in Thailand, don’t think too much into it and just lighten your toxin load. Eliminate alcohol, coffee, cigarettes, refined sugars, and saturated fats, all of which act as toxins in the body and are obstacles to your healing process. A few foods that are great support to the liver and excellent source of fibre are: dark leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, garlic, artichokes, seaweed, beetroot, avocado, citrus fruits and walnuts.

A short fast is also beneficial to the body as it allows the organs to take a rest from their constant hard work.

REMOVE HARMFUL SUBSTANCES.

Your make up, cream, nail varnish, shampoo and conditioner. When you slap it on your skin, it makes its way straight into your bloodstream which then means your liver has to jump into action and work really hard in removing these from your body. The same with cleaning products at home, they also enter through your skin or particles are inhaled into your lungs. Yes – the liver and your body needs a job to do, it needs to work, but you can give it some slack by making little changes to your everyday routine. Use products that are paraben free, natural and organic. You can even make home cleaning products with simple ingredients like apple cider vinegar, lemon and your favourite essential oils.

CLEANSING HERBS AND TEA

Dandelion root, burdock, green tea and milk thistle

BREATHE DEEPLY

This allows oxygen to circulate more completely through your system

Get yourself to one of our meditation classes !!

GET SWEATY!!

We need to sweat, it’s good to sweat – we even think it’s a little bit sexy !! This will really help your body to eliminate waste through perspiration.

You will not have trouble finding a class where to sweat with us – hands up if you’ve been to one of Darren’s classes ????