There are a lot of misconceptions out there about detoxification.
The most common being that you have to force your body to detox using extreme measures. The opposite is true actually – your body detoxes naturally each and every day through breathing, sweating, and bowel movements.
While you don’t have to go to extreme measures for this to happen, it is helpful for your liver, kidneys, and gallbladder if you do what you can to support this process. The best way to do this is by using the following naturopathic detoxification therapies:
1. Diet
What you eat is really important for detoxification. It’s so important, in fact, that I wrote all about it in a separate blog post. You can get all the details for my naturopathic cleanse, here.
2. Colon Hydrotherapy
Colon hydrotherapy is the gentle cleansing of the colon with warm water. This is one of my favorite naturopathic detoxification therapies because it allows you to remove toxins, like encrusted fecal matter, gas, and mucus that may have been accumulating in the colon for years.
If you dive into this detoxification therapy a bit more, you may see information stating that colon hydrotherapy destroys gut flora. This information is false – you have trillions of flora in your colon and your body can and will replenish that flora. You can support your body in its effort by taking a high-quality probiotic after your colon hydrotherapy session.
I recommend getting a colonic once a month t keep your body clear of toxins.
3. Supplements
During a cleansing period, I recommend taking the following supplements:
- Gentle Fiber
- Chlorella
- Glutathione
- Activated Charcoal
- Bentonite Clay
Activated charcoal and bentonite clay are especially important if you’ve been exposed to heavy metals or mold as they will absorb some of the toxins as they exit your body.
4. Sauna
This is one of the naturopathic detoxification therapies that I mention most frequently. I love this therapy so much that I purchased a sauna for my home and use it 2-3 times each week.
That’s because saunas encourage sweating, which is very important for the body’s natural detoxification process.
Studies have found that our sweat contains 2-10 times more toxins than blood or urine. If we don’t sweat, these toxins get stored in our fat cells. This is why people who have more body fat tend to be more toxic, age faster, and have more chronic diseases.
When you sweat, you’re releasing all the toxins that have been stored in your fat cells – heavy metals, pesticides, chlorine, parabens, and phthalates from beauty products, as well as solvents.
I recommend incorporating saunas into your health and wellness routine 2-3 times each week for 20 minutes, at a temperature of 120-130 degrees (or as tolerated) – you should be drenched by the time you walk out!
After you sauna, take 2 capsules of activated charcoal with 1 Tablespoon of food grade bentonite clay in water. Drinking this will help bind all the toxins in your body for safe removal.
5. Dry Skin Brushing
This is one of the simplest of the naturopathic detoxification therapies that I recommend to patients. It’s a great way to stimulate the lymphatic system, which helps your lymph nodes release toxins and infectious bacteria and viruses. It also helps to break up fatty tissue and remove excess water from your cells.
Not sure how to do it?
There’s a step by step tutorial here.
6. Hydrotherapy
This is different from colon hydrotherapy and involves applying hot and cold water to your body in a shower, pool, jacuzzi, or under supervision in a clinic.
You can take advantage of the benefits of hydrotherapy in the comfort of your own home by spending 2 minutes in a hot shower, then switching to 30 seconds of cold water – repeat this cycle 3 times, ending with cold water.
This naturopathic detoxification therapy dilates and contracts the body, gently shocking your organs, so they are encouraged to begin the cleansing process and remove toxins from your body.
As I mentioned in the first blog post in this series on detoxification, I recommend cleansing at the start of each new season for optimal health and wellness. These naturopathic detoxification therapies are gentle and safe enough, however, to do on a regular basis to encourage vitality.
In the next blog post if this series, I’ll be revisiting the food component of detoxification with some of my favorite recipes. I can’t wait to share them with you!
xo,
