Body Detox - How To Safely Detoxify Using The Seven Pathways to Health

Are you thinking about a spring cleanse or detox? Detoxification is a natural part of your body's activities. Supporting these different pathways can help to achieve increased well being by safely removing toxins from your body.

The overall goals of detoxifying and cleansing are four-fold:

1. Remove the toxins


2. Repair the cells


3. Revitalize those cells


4. Reintroduce new, healthier choices

There really are no secrets to detoxifying. It's simply a process of eliminating the irritants and stressors that the body encounters or has stored. Irritants can be a variety of foods, for example wheat, soy, corn, dairy, chocolate, eggs, nuts, citrus or nightshade vegetables (potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant).

Stessors might be caffeine, lack of movement, not enough sleep, high-stress situations, impinged nerves, inflammation, etc.

An elimination diet will remove many, if not all of the irritating foods. That allows the body to heal. You then replace with good food choices so the cells will become healthy and revitalized. After a few weeks on an elimination diet, slowly add back the foods that have been eliminated to see which ones were causing any reactivity.

By doing this in a methodical way inflammation can be eliminated from various areas of the body, particularly the entire intestinal tract. This will allow better absorption of nutrients from foods and additional healing will take place. It works much better than a one to three day fast and is gentler on the body.

Your stressors may also be decreased as your sleep improves, you add more movement, and caffeine is eliminated. Consider adding in a visit to a chiropractor, massage therapist or other wellness practitioners.

There are seven pathways of elimination and they all respond to a detoxification program.

1. Liver - eliminate harmful, toxic substances and support the liver with nutrients that aide detoxification. You can do this with milk thistle and sulfur compounds from garlic, for example.


2. Lungs - start by avoiding high road-traffic areas whenever possible. Use air filters if necessary in your home or office and practice deep breathing exercises to clear the lungs


3. Skin - first eliminate harsh chemicals on your skin. These substances and any unnatural ingredients are absorbed through the skin and may clog your pores. Support the health of your skin with skin brushing, salt scrubs and naturally derived skincare products.


4. Kidneys - eliminate dehydrating beverages. They are soda pop, fruit juice, caffeine drinks and alcohol. Instead drink plenty of pure, clean filtered water. If you drink well water, be sure it is tested often and approved.


5. Bowel - remove any foods that might irritate the lining of the bowel. The most common foods that can irritate the bowel are wheat, soy, corn, dairy, chocolate, eggs, nuts, citrus or nightshade vegetables (potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant). Replace these foods with plenty of dark green leafy vegetables, grass-fed protein sources if you eat meat, organic foods whenever possible and try some aloe vera juice if you have severely irritated bowels


6. Blood - first, keep the blood from becoming overloaded with sugar and then insulin. Blood circulation will improve the detoxifying effects of the other organs of elimination. So instead of reaching for a sugary snack take a walk.


7. Lymphatic - move more, because the lymphatic system does not have valves and relies on muscle movements to circulate the lymph throughout the body. Also, when you practice skin brushing or enjoy salt scrubs this helps move the lymph while detoxifying the skin. Consider lymphatic massage, sometimes called lymphatic drainage.

These are simple ways to support detoxification for better health and wellness.