Why Cleanse? 4 Tips for Daily Detox
By Julie Peláez and Jo Schaalman
It’s hard to believe that people change the oil in their cars more than they cleanse their bodies to keep them running better and longer. Your everyday aches and pains, sluggishness, allergies, breakouts, digestive woes, and anxiety bouts are all “check engine” lights going off and signaling it’s time for a tune-up.
Cleansing will help you feel better, sleep better, look better, and have more energy to perform better. The good news is that you don’t have to follow a fasting cleanse to benefit from a detox. Our bodies are designed to “always be cleansing.” At the Conscious Cleanse, we call this “doing your ABCs,” which means tuning into how food makes you feel so you eat in a way that supports your body’s well-oiled toxin-flushing, detoxifying machine.
Here are 4 easy tips for detoxing daily—without following a strict regimen or completely boring food existence. Just by following these healthy, sustainable habits, you’ll see a difference in how you feel immediately. And there will be a compound effect over time if you stick with it.
1. BE A GREEN MACHINE: Dark leafy greens are packed with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. They’re alkalizing so they help our bodies balance acidic conditions caused by poor food choices and environmental toxins. Leafy greens improve our circulation and are high in fiber, which increases elimination, aka moving toxins out of the body. They also help keep our immune system strong. Try ‘em all: kale, arugula, romaine, Swiss chard, collard greens, and spinach in salads, lightly steamed, or in a green smoothie.
If you’re thinking “yuck,” hold on a sec. If you haven’t tried a green smoothie yet, it’s time to bust out your blender and discover how delicious they can be. Your favorite fruit like bananas, apples, pears, peaches, mangoes, or blueberries will add sweetness, fiber, and nutrients. Check out our green smoothie guide today and start experimenting yourself.
2. PASS ON NOT-SO-GOOD FOOD: Eat less sugar, processed foods, and alcohol, which create an acidic environment, compromise immunity, and lead to inflammation, which in turn, leads to many health problems. We know this can sound hard to do, but try keeping these foods off your plate for two weeks and see if you don’t notice a difference in how you feel after you add these foods back in. You may be surprised at how tired and moody sugar makes you feel.
3. DRINK MORE WATER WITH A TWIST. This is your secret weapon for daily detoxing and vibrant health. Your body needs water—half your body weight in ounces daily—to move toxins out and to thrive. Start the day withwarm lemon water (juice half a lemon into a quart of almost boiled warm water). Drinking warm lemon water first thing in the morning will gently wake up your digestive and lymphatic systems, which helps flush out toxins and improve elimination.
4. DITCH ALLERGENS: Did you know that many health challenges—weight gain, mood swings, PMS, depression, anxiety, irritability, headaches, skin issues, pain, brain fog, asthma … the list goes on—can be linked to the food you’re eating? To identify potential food sensitivities, eliminate the most common allergens: dairy, gluten, soy, and eggs. Look at foods that you crave and eat the most—they just might be the foods you’re most sensitive to. Keep these foods out of your diet for at least five days and then one by one slowly reintroduce them and watch for any of your common symptoms to re-appear.
You might be thinking, “If I don’t eat fill in the blank (cheese, bread, pasta), what will I eat?” Take one item at a time and focus on what you can add to your diet in place of these foods. Try homemade hummus with celery instead of cheese and crackers. Use a collard green to make a wrap instead of a tortilla. Find more detoxifying dishes in our book The Conscious Cleanse: Lose Weight, Heal Your Body and Transform Your Life in 14 Days. Or sign up for our weekly email updates and get our free e-cookbook for 10 fresh and fabulously simple detox recipes.
Nutrition Therapist Jo Schaalman and Certified Health Coach Julie Peláez are coauthors of The Conscious Cleanse: Lose Weight, Heal Your Body and Transform Your Life in 14 Days, a best-selling, step-by-step guide to feeling vibrant with a 14-daywhole foods-based cleanse that teaches you how to tune into your body. Learn more at consciouscleanse.com.
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