
It’s a New Year! Are you feeling the need to reset and cleanse your system after the indulgences of the festive season? Time for a New Year Cleanse?
Too much alcohol, too many sugary foods or just eating too much in general can slow down our detoxification pathways and make us feel bloated, sluggish and increase pain levels in the body.
The GOOD NEWS is that the warmer weather is the best time to start a cleansing program. Whilst some of us are able to launch straight into a hard core detox program of drinking nothing but vegetable juices and the tears of Tibetan yaks, the rest of us mere mortals need an easier way to ease into a program.
There has never been a better time for a cleanse, so here are my top 8 tips to get you started:
8 tips to help you begin a New Year Cleanse
The following tips may seem very obvious and basic; however incorporating these into your life can have a HUGE positive impact on your overall health.
1. Avoid Sugar – (aka Satan’s Crystals)
Apart from sending your blood sugar skyrocketing and potentially causing insulin resistance, sugar is the fuel that feeds disruptive gut bacteria and affects the hormones that keep you feeling full and satisfied, and generally raising inflammation levels in the body. After your sugar detox, the addition of a low GI organic natural sugar such as Stevia or Monk fruit is a better choice than processed white sugar.
2. Hydrate – drink 2 litres of water a day
Drinking water allows the kidneys to flush out the toxins from the body. If you are exercising or sweating a lot, try adding some extra hydrating minerals such as the natural magnesium, potassium, calcium and sodium found in coconut water. These electrolytes allow your body to absorb water more effectively and stay hydrated.
3. Stop eating processed foods
Do you even know what you are eating? What sort of food is the number on the back of a package? Worse still is what might it be doing to your body? Our bodies are marvellous machines; they need the best fuel to keep them running well. Avoid processed foods like the plague; buy whole, fresh food that you can recognize. TIP: When in the supermarket, just circle the perimeter – this is where most of the fresh foods are and go organic if you can.
4. A poo a day keeps the toxins at bay
There’s only one simple way to say this…. if you do not poo regularly, you are generally recycling your own toxic garbage. If you are constipated and not completely emptying your bowels every day, chances are the toxins are staying in your colon or are being re-absorbed by the body, when your poo leaves your body it takes with it inflammatory toxins. Fibre and adequate fluid are key in preventing constipation so add plenty of fibrous vegetables and fruit to your diet. Also consider chia seeds – a 28g serve contains 11g of fibre – about 1/3 of an adult daily fibre requirement. Try my Chia Pudding recipe.
6. Cut the Booze!
For a lot of people this is the BIG ONE! I can hear your groans of dismay! “But red wine contains antioxidant benefits!” “It calms my nerves and keeps me sane!” I hear these comments all of the time and whilst not totally wrong, it’s much better to get your antioxidants and stress relieving energy from other sources. When your liver breaks down alcohol it causes oxidative stress which can damage the cells of the liver and considering our liver is our major organ of elimination, we need to reduce unnecessary stress so it can do its job. If you are looking for extra antioxidants vegetables, fruits, especially berries are full of antioxidants .
7. Don’t forget to add protein
Eliminating toxins through detox requires amino acids, which come from protein. Amino acids bind to toxic molecules and eliminate them from the body. Without a good amount of protein in the diet your body will not detoxify effectively. Your best sources of clean protein are organic eggs, chicken, fish, legumes and nuts.
8. Exercise
Regular exercise has been shown to help increase the body’s circulation of blood and lymph fluid helping you to flush out toxins and bacteria more effectively. The lungs help the body detox with every breath by expelling carbon dioxide. Sweating also helps the body remove toxins. Exercise can decrease stress , anxiety & depression, it also improves mental clarity. Walking is the best exercise to begin with but any exercise you enjoy will help as it’s more likely you will continue.
If you would like help in resetting your body for optimal health and wellbeing, please book here for a Free 15 minute call to discuss how I can help get you back on track. Whether you choose a long term or express reset, a well-executed program can leave you feeling younger, more energetic, motivated and can often reduce or resolve long standing imbalances and disease in the body.
Use these tips to help you begin your cleansing journey. Let me know how you go with your New Year cleanse!