Spring is in full bloom, summer is on the horizon and it’s time to give your body the boost it needs to once again feel vibrant, enthusiastic and energized!
Living through more than a year of a global pandemic has taken a toll — whether you’ve suffered with being sick from COVID, the chronic elevated stress and anxiety of living through the pandemic and how it’s affected your family, or poor food choices from the altered reality that you’ve been living — you are left in need of a serious reboot.
This is the perfect time to give your body the nourishment it needs to support its innate ability to regenerate and thrive. To help you feel like you again.
If you’re like me, you might be feeling any of the following symptoms: sluggish, lack of clarity, chronic headaches, poor sleep, constipation, undesired weight gain. If you do, your body is yelling out to you…it’s time to detox!
Even without COVID, most people encounter many toxins every day and these toxins are undermining their health and they don’t realize it! Where do toxins come from? Here are some examples:
- chemicals in the air
- mercury in fish
- medications and bacteria in the water supply
- pesticides and herbicides in food
- Hormones, antibiotics and herbicides in the animals we eat
- even plastics from water bottles
- And now let’s add hand sanitizers and antiviral cleaning chemicals to the list
Normally, your liver is in charge of helping rid the body of most toxins. Here’s what happens when your body becomes overburdened with too many toxins for your liver to handle:
- Your immune system becomes compromised and your liver uses up your glutathione supply, not to mention many other nutrients, to process these toxins out. (FYI Glutathione is the mother of all detoxifying antioxidants, and helps prevent damage to your cells).
- Next, you get run down and become susceptible to infections and are at risk for developing disease, including viruses, like COVID.
- And if that’s not enough, your fat cells do a great job of storing toxins (ewww!) which results in excess weight.
Supporting your liver with targeted nutrients so that it can do an amazing job lowering your toxin load is what detox is all about! And then you feel better! And the best way to begin is to focus on eating lots of liver loving food.
Detoxing is also about lifestyle — from what you eat (and don’t eat) to chemicals found in your home, hydration, sleep and self-care. It is synergistic, working together to reduce your toxin load. And, spring is the perfect time to detox!
10 Ways to Help Your Body Detox Right Now:
Eat only whole foods, avoiding food that is highly processed, void of essential nutrients and generally full of unwanted additives and chemicals. The Spring is here! Look for fresh produce at local farmers markets where food was recently harvested. It contains more nutrients and tastes delicious! Liver loving food is rich in antioxidants, colorful whole foods, lots of fiber, dark leafy greens and cruciferous veggies!
Remove sugar from your diet. One of the most important things you can do for your health is to stop eating sugar. Sugar suppresses your immune system! And, sugar in all forms can be toxic for the body, putting you at risk for fatty liver, heart disease, obesity and diabetes. Stick with natural sugars found in fresh fruits or other whole foods, such as raw honey or pure maple syrup added in small quantities to a recipe.
Pay attention to your body and how it feels after eating certain foods. Consider a 3-week elimination diet from common allergens and/or inflammatory foods such as dairy, gluten, soy, sugar, alcohol. Each person responds differently to foods and not all foods that are considered “healthy” are right YOUR body.
Eat an abundance of seasonal vegetables in your diet each day including a variety of colors. Best picks for the Spring include cabbage, bok choy, broccoli, asparagus, collard greens, garlic, onions, and Swiss chard. Also, vegetables and fibrous fruits, such as berries, provide beneficial fiber, an important part of the elimination of excess waste in your body.
Hydrate! Drinking adequate water ensures good filtration of the kidneys, digestion, and bowel regularity. Eliminating waste in your body is vital to preventing toxic overload in your body. As a general rule, drink half your body weight (in pounds) as ounces. When exercising and in the warmer months, add more! Add fresh lemon and receive even more benefits for your liver. Consider a good water filtration system that uses a carbon filter.
Purge your home from harmful chemicals and environmental pollutants. Dump the harsh chemical cleaners and opt for a simple but effective solution of equal parts of water and vinegar. Be aware of harmful substances in your cosmetics and toiletries such as oxybenzone, parabens, and phthalates. Add an air purifier and/or a green plant.
Make time to unwind. Making time to rest in today’s fast paced world we often need to be reminded to do. Incorporate stress reduction each day, such as mindfulness, taking a 10-minute walk, reading, writing, listening to music — anything that slows you down and brings you into the here and now.
Consider intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting is generally considered a time period of caloric restriction such as 14-16 hours a day. When you “fast” it gives your body time to digest and ultimately deplete our glycogen stores (stored liver glucose). When this happens, your body looks for another source of energy to function. It turns to using your fat stores. This state, known as ketosis, results in the generation of new mitochondria, reduced insulin resistance and weight loss.
Sleep! Sleep! Sleep! Studies confirm that a lack of sleep correlates with a lack of concentration, weight gain, poor eating habits, as well as puts stress on your immune system. The best way to make sure you include adequate sleep each day is to plan it. Set a bedtime each day by shutting your electronics off at a certain hour while setting up a bedtime routine to help you unwind at the end of the day. Shoot for a minimum of 7-9 hours a night.
Be positive! Ever spend time around someone who’s energy is addictive? Being pessimistic is nonproductive, and bad for your health. Just be kind … to yourself, and others.
If you’re ready to jump into summer full of energy and optimism, if you want to recover from COVID — whether you had the virus, It’s time to detox! Consider joining me for our 14-Day Whole Life Detox. Two LIVE workshops, a private Facebook Group, all the materials and supplements you need plus me at your side every step of the way. We begin soon! Learn More
Meet Melissa: Melissa Rapoport is the Manager of Health Coaching and Lifestyle Programming at Blum Center for Health in Rye Brook, NY. She combines her graduate work in Developmental Psychology with her education in nutrition, health and coaching to create highly individualized programs that result in lifetime change. A contributing author to three international bestselling books, Melissa’s greatest joy is her relationship with her two daughters. To learn more about Melissa’s coaching practice at Blum Center for Health, click here.