Detoxes are very popular right now. Most involve drinking a series of juices and while you may temporarily feel better, it is very important to understand that you may not have accomplished as much as you think you have.
It is important to understand what the goal of detoxing is supposed to be. The idea is that by severely reducing your food intake and existing on raw juices, the energy that is not being used for digestion, can be used to remove toxins a person may have been storing in their fat cells.
The nutrients in the juices may also support the detoxification processes of the liver. However, there is a flaw in this scenario. Juice does not contain fiber, which is essential for toxins that have been prepared, by the liver, to actually leave the body. No fiber, toxins do not leave, they will get stored in your body.
Good gut health is also essential for successful detoxification. Before anyone undertakes a liver cleanse of any kind, they should be sure their gut is in a state to handle the toxins that will be coming its way, on their way out of the body. Even toxins that leave via the urinary system must travel through the small intestines on their way to the kidneys.
If there are not sufficient good bacteria, the toxins that are bound to a liver conjugate can detach and go back into the body. They will just head back to the liver but this just puts more pressure on the liver, which is already overworked, or you would not have so many stored toxins in the first place.
In a perfect world, your liver would remove all toxins and any excess hormones immediately. If we feed our liver correctly, it will have all the nutrients and energy to do the work daily.
The following are some key liver foods you should consume frequently to keep your liver happy: Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage or kale, Calcium d’glurcurate foods such as apples and grapefruit, bitter foods like dandelion or collard greens, sulfur-rich foods such as garlic and onions, and high antioxidant foods like berries, carrots, tomatoes, asparagus and other fruits and vegetables. Jerusalem artichokes are extremely good for the liver. Milk thistle tea is also very beneficial.
Another easy way to help you detox is to do what is known as daily detox. This requires that you do not eat anything for 14 hours between your last meal in the evening and your first one in the morning. Again, liver foods are needed to be consumed daily in order to support the detox function during the night.
A safe detox option is the 7-Day Hormone Reboot Challenge. It is designed with a combination of fiber-filled raw foods, gut health foods, and some cooked foods to keep you grounded and satisfied for the first fours days, then three days of healthy eating. This is a very responsible way to do a detox. Food amounts are not limited in order to make sure participants are not to hungry. Detox reactions may occur but they should not be too severe unless you are really toxic and you have been eating virtually no liver foods.
Give it a try – by supporting your liver with this challenge, you will feel better and it gives you foods that are good for all hormones so it will be a great start to re-balancing your system.