Spring comes with the excitement of detox in readiness for the summer. It wouldn't be considered a successful spring if you don't shift the winter blues detox.
Clearing out the winter cobwebs makes you feel lighter and brighter, and so does detox. The key is finding a way to detox that works for you, as some are quite restrictive, and most people find them hard to do. In this article, we'll share our top detox tips and look at the best ways to cleanse your organs gently to minimize unpleasant side effects.
Why Detox
Our bodies are constantly exposed to toxins through drinking water, the air we breathe, foods, skin products, and habits such as smoking and taking alcohol. This exposure puts our bodies under a huge amount of pressure leading to fatigue, headaches, and digestive issues.
Detoxing is a great way of cleansing the body and reducing your toxic load. This will allow body organs to recover and regenerate, promoting healing to the entire body.
Types of Spring Detox
There are many types of detoxes out there, ranging from juice cleanses, water fasts, and lemon detoxes. However, the main question is how safe and effective they are. If done properly, a detox can leave you feeling great and healthy.
An Effective and Safe Spring Detox
The detox process should be easier than most people think. It's better to be gentle and support the body to expel toxins comfortably, rather than overloading it. To complete a safe and effective detox, here are some tips you can employ.
1. Stay Hydrated
Staying hydrated at all times keeps you from overeating. One sign of dehydration is feeling hungry most of the time. Taking eight glasses of water per day, more if you're exercising, will help you flush your kidneys and digestive system. However, avoid taking too much water during meals, and instead sip on water throughout the day, that is, before and after meals.
You can also use warm water to detox. If you find it hard to take still water, add some lemon to your warm water in a thermos and sip it throughout the day. This will help you to stay dehydrated and cleanse internal body organs.
2. Choose Fiber-rich Foods
High-fiber foods enable the body to stay full. Additionally, fiber increases the number of calories used to break down food, thus getting rid of the excess.It also binds to toxins in the digestive system and helps the body to excrete them effectively. This means that the digestive tract remains healthy and can absorb nutrients properly into the body.
During spring, increase your intake of fiber-rich foods such as beans, grapefruits, broccoli, and lentils. Also, consider soluble fibers such as linseeds to encourage bowel activity.
3. Exercise Regularly
When detoxing during spring, try to incorporate exercise into your daily routine. Physical exercise improves digestive function and boosts the metabolic rate. It also stimulates elimination channels through breath, sweat, and circulation. Besides, spring is the best time of the year to take your fitness regimen outside due to the favorable weather.
However, reduce the intensity, since a detox diet reduces your kilojoule intake. This may lead to dizziness during the vigorous exercise you would do when on a normal diet. Moreover, shorter workouts during a detox lessen the demand on your body. Keep your workouts regular and in a range of 20-30 minutes according to the intensity. For example, a run should take less time than a walk since it requires more energy and high intensity. Lastly, stay well-dehydrated and include protein-rich foods in your diet to boost recovery and prevent muscle loss.
4. Skin Brushing
Daily dry skin brushing improves circulation, energizes the body, and gets rid of dead skin cells. Before taking a bath, brush your dry skin for five minutes using a damp cloth with bicarbonate and salt or a natural bristle body brush. You can start with the lower body before moving to the upper parts. Avoid tender, irritated, or wounded areas and start gently as you build up soft but firm pressure. This exercise stimulates lymph flow around the body and promotes circulation.
5. Protein Intake
Eating healthy proteins has proven to increase the levels of satiation during a detox. When cleansing and trying to lose weight, vegetarian options such as almonds, kale, raw sunflower seeds, and sprouted legumes are ideal, especially if you exercise a lot.
Have two or three daily servings of deep-water fish, organic eggs, and hormone-free chicken to step up your protein intake. Furthermore, you can incorporate some brazil nuts in salads, as they contain vital detox amino acids and make for great snacks according to your diet. However, avoid peanuts as much as you can during detox, unless you're sure you have no sensitivities to them.
6. Skin Detox
As the summer approaches, we are all eager to improve the health and appearance of our skin. A detox can help you with that in the following ways.
- Taking a salt bath with Epsom or Himalayan salts draws acidic toxins from the skin and into the water. This bath alkalizes the body and leaves you feeling more organized. For an effective one, use a kg of water and stay in the bath for 30 minutes. Afterward, you can replenish with a fair amount of filtered water.
- Steam rooms and saunas are effective ways of cleansing and detoxing your skin. Steam rooms provide moist heat while saunas give out dry heat. The heat opens up millions of sweat glands under the skin to eliminate waste and toxins that build up due to stress, poor diet, and other external factors. Visiting a sauna more often or following up a workout with a session in the steam room will help relax your muscles and maximize the detoxifying effect. Lastly, steam room heat dilates blood vessels and improves blood circulation, which allows oxygen and nutrients to flow to all parts where they are needed.
7. Replace Alcohol and Caffeine
If the focus of your detox is to lose weight and stay healthy, avoid taking alcohol and caffeine, as they offer many unnecessary ingredients. Moreover, alcohol puts extra stress on the liver, making it hard to detox. One of the best alternatives to alcohol and caffeine is fruits and vegetable juices.
Fruit and vegetable juices are high in nutrients and can play a crucial role in detox. Juice cleanse involves taking consuming only juice for a particular period, usually around two weeks. It is a popular way of cleansing the digestive tract to improve digestion and absorption of nutrients into the body. Moreover, most fruit and vegetable juices are rich in nutrients that help cleanse kidneys and improve how they work. The increase in fluid consumption is beneficial for kidney function.
Invest in a good-quality juicer and enjoy nourishing fruit and vegetable juices whenever you can. After all, it's spring, and fruits and vegetables come in plenty during the season. However, if you can't avoid alcohol, cut down your intake by diluting or drinking two glasses of water or fruit juice for every glass of alcohol you take.
Bottom line
Doing a detox is a great way to clear out toxins and waste from your body and help cells to regenerate and heal. It can take you anywhere between a few days and several weeks long. If done correctly, a gentle detox can boost your immune system, increase energy levels, and brighten your complexion. However, you could experience some symptoms such as bloating and fatigue which is normal as your body excretes toxins. Put the spring back in your step and sparkle in and out by doing a detox during the spring.