Top Ten Free Ways to Detox

 

  1. Get 8-10 hours of sleep, ideally by 10:00pm.

    Sleep is the foundation of any successful protocol and studies are continuing to show how a lack of sleep for one night, impacts your hormones for the next 24 hours. Individuals who get 6 hours of sleep or less, have cravings for high calorie foods and are more likely to make unhealthy choices than those who get a full night sleep (1). The easiest thing you can do for your health is getting a full night of beauty sleep! New studies also demonstrate that individuals who sleep less than 6 hours a night for prolonged time periods have high risk of developing Alzheimers. This is because when we sleep, our brain performs it detox utilizing the Glymphatic system (2.)

  2. Drink 8-32oz filtered, room temperature lemon water upon waking.

    Hydration is critical for all body functions and to assist with removal of toxins from the cells. It is estimated that approximately 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. Dehydration puts a strain on all body organs including the heart, kidneys and brain. Adding lemon to your water helps alkalize the body and helps stimulate the gallbladder to produce bile which is often sluggish in those with digestive complaints including slow transit time and constipation (3).

  3. Try dry brushing and/or rebounding to assist your lymphatic system to perform drainage of toxins.

    Dry brushing and/or rebounding are easy and free ways to improve lymph circulation, improve cognitive function and improve energy by facilitating circulation. This is especially helpful for those undergoing detox protocols or those with autoimmune disease who may have poor circulation (4).

  4. Try intermittent fasting.

    The easiest way to get started is trying Circadian fasting which means you stop eating three hours before bed, and then eat upon waking. This typically amounts to a 12 hour fast. The benefits on fasting are endless and this is a great way to allow your body to perform a function called “Autophagy” which means cell eating. This is when your body is able to do self-repair and get rid of dead, senescent cells, remove tangled proteins and help stimulate stem cell production (5). This is essentially the only true fountain of youth scientists have discovered. Try starting with 12 hour fast and increase every other day by one hour to increase the benefits. Stop if you feel exceptionally hungry/hangry, notice fluctuations in your hormones or feel lightheaded.

  5. Cut out the junk.

    Trying an elimination diet with the top offenders including: soy, gluten, dairy, corn, canola/cottonseed oil, white flour, white sugar and eggs (for some people). If you can’t read the ingredients on the label it’s a pretty safe bet you shouldn’t be consuming it.

  6. Get some sunlight.

    The list of benefits for vitamin D are endless and one of the most significant include helping to reduce development of all cancers by 25% (6.) For optimal disease protection, you need a vitamin D blood level between 60 and 80 ng/mL. A simple at home blood test can be completed to learn your levels.

  7. Take an Epsom salt bath.

    Not only is this relaxing and great for stress, but it is an easy way to pull toxins from the body while also supplying a healthy dose of magnesium. Magnesium is estimated to be essential for up to 800 metabolic processes in the body!

  8. Get sweaty!

    When we sweat, it helps release stored toxins like parabens and phylates that we get from many sources including plastic bottles, unnatural personal care products such as shampoo or laundry detergent. Sweating is also an excellent way to excrete stored heavy metals which are typically more difficult to detox (7).

  9. Get grounded!

    Grounding is when we engage in activities like walking barefoot through the grass, take a walk through the forest or take a walk on the beach. The earth has a magnetic charge of 7.83 hertz and we absorb that charge when we connect to the Earth with our feet. This is important as it helps to re-calibrate our cells and helps to combat the constant EMF (Electromagnetic Fields) which we are continually bombarded with from multiple sources. In addition, grounding reduces pain and influences the numbers of circulating neutrophils and lymphocytes, and also affects circulating chemical factors which affect affect inflammation (8).

  10. Hang out with a friend.

    This may be the best one of all! Studies show how socialization is critical for longevity and how the impacts of isolation are worse than smoking a pack of cigarettes daily! (9) How we think and feel about ourselves and the world has a direct impact on our cells so make sure you laugh daily to keep the doctor away!

 
 
 
  1. Knutson KL, Van Cauter E. Associations between sleep loss and increased risk of obesity and diabetes. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2008;1129:287‐304. doi:10.1196/annals.1417.033
  2. Tarasoff-Conway JM, Carare RO, Osorio RS, et al. Clearance systems in the brain-implications for Alzheimer disease [published correction appears in Nat Rev Neurol. 2016 Apr;12(4):248]. Nat Rev Neurol. 2015;11(8):457‐470. doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2015.119
  3. Cherng SC, Chen YH, Lee MS, Yang SP, Huang WS, Cheng CY. Acceleration of hepatobiliary excretion by lemon juice on 99mTc-tetrofosmin cardiac SPECT. Nucl Med Commun. 2006;27(11):859‐864. doi:10.1097/01.mnm.0000243377.57001.33
  4. Schwartz N, Chalasani MLS, Li TM, Feng Z, Shipman WD, Lu TT. Lymphatic Function in Autoimmune Diseases. Front Immunol. 2019;10:519. Published 2019 Mar 20. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2019.00519
  5. Mattson MP, Longo VD, Harvie M. Impact of intermittent fasting on health and disease processes. Ageing Res Rev. 2017;39:46‐58. doi:10.1016/j.arr.2016.10.005
  6. Jeon SM, Shin EA. Exploring vitamin D metabolism and function in cancer. Exp Mol Med. 2018;50(4):20. Published 2018 Apr 16. doi:10.1038/s12276-018-0038-9
  7. Sears ME, Kerr KJ, Bray RI. Arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury in sweat: a systematic review. J Environ Public Health. 2012;2012:184745. doi:10.1155/2012/184745
  8. Oschman JL, Chevalier G, Brown R. The effects of grounding (earthing) on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. J Inflamm Res. 2015;8:83‐96. Published 2015 Mar 24. doi:10.2147/JIR.S69656
  9. https://www.webmd.com/balance/news/20180504/loneliness-rivals-obesity-smoking-as-health-risk
 
Heather Oricchio