Detox Programs That Actually Work.

The word detox carries a lot of meaning. To a health practitioner, it’s an intervention much more complicated then a 5-day juice cleanse. The hardcore practitioner will scoff at the idea of a juice cleanse and say that detox protocols are much more intense and calculated.

For the purposes of this blog post, let's just use the word detox and reset interchangeably and not get into the debate about what is a true detox. Alright, let's go…The body has 6 organs of elimination. These organs include the bowel, liver, gallbladder, kidneys, skin and the lymphatic system. Whatever we can do to upregulate and strengthen these organs should be the aim of any introductory cleanse or detox. 

With this being said, I’m going to outline some recommendations that will press the reset button and strengthen these organs.

1.     Open the doors. If we sweep a house, let us open the doors so that we’re not just recirculating the dust. In this case, toxins. Make sure you have enough fiber. 

2.     Make sure antioxidant intake is high. When mobilizing toxins, we need antioxidants to combat circulating free radicals. Antioxidants that I’ve used include spirulina and chlorella. A quality greens powder will do. 

3.     Drink plenty of water. If we want to take it to the next level, invest in some clean filtered water. High-end grocery stores like Whole Foods Market carry filtration systems that allow you to take home filtered water. Drinking contaminated tap water contradicts the idea of a detox. 

4.     Cut out stimulants like caffeine and alcohol (sorry wine and coffee drinkers). The word here is reset/detox. Let’s not build on dysfunction and allow our body’s signaling pathways to get a break.

5.     Get plenty of sleep. People often believe that since they are doing one thing right, they can afford to neglect another. Sleep will always be important regardless of you doing a detox or not.

6.     Utilize whole foods to reset. The explanation is easy. Without fibre, were not able to mobilize and excrete excess toxins and hormones. Quality and moderate protein is needed for most detoxification pathways.

If I was to invest in something buzz-worthy at the moment, it would be a meal plan service that would set me on the right track. Recently I utilized Living Kitchen, a collective of holistic nutritionists, chefs, and cooks that specialize in making people feel their best.

Not only did they save me the time of preparing my food, but they also offered a detox aimed at jumpstarting the body into a healthier lifestyle. Pssst. In case you didn't know, You can meet your macros with high quality/nutrient-dense foods too. 

Here's a picture of last weeks meal plan from Living Kitchen

"Another One" **Dj Khaled voice**

Things to consider when attempting a detox

Did I ever tell you of the time I attempted to do a green juice detox in the middle of December?

It wasn’t good news. I should’ve made a rap song and dedicate the song around my experience with the detox. It would be a remix to Drake’s “0 to 100” except my song would be called “100 to 0” because that was basically what happened to my body temperature at the time. Boom! Who ever said Drake and the world of nutrition wouldn’t meet?

Jokes aside, my body fat percentage dropped, which many may believe, is indicative of health, but with all things, we have to look at the body in its entirety. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a firm believer of detoxification but I strongly advise against prolonged detoxes, especially in the winter.

Today, many people get caught up in the idea of detoxification and elimination, but forget about the tonification and rejuvenation that needs to happen after the detox. Think of it as “over-cleaning” your room.

Picture this…

Once you’ve finished cleaning your room, you start scrubbing the floors. Once you’ve finished scrubbing the floors, you look around, then you start scrubbing the walls. You look at the walls and say “I think there’s mold, let me bleach this rag and start wiping a little more. Eventually you start peeling the paint off the wall and what was once a fresh clean room, becomes a bare stripped down space of nothing. A little extreme, but you get the picture.

I remember in my undergrad, my cousin was getting ready for a trip to the West Coast. In her attempts to lose weight, she started a 1 week cleanse consisting primarily of cayenne, lemon, maple syrup, and water (known as the master cleanse). Once she completed her cleanse, the first introductory meal she had was at an Indian restaurant where she indulged in everything the menu had to offer. To say her body was shocked, was an understatement. She broke out in hives and she felt pretty bad for the next 3 days. The takeaway here is that the tonification stage in which you introduce foods that you were off of during your detox should be calculated and concise.

Here’s your most basic and/or reasonable detox:

• Detoxification happens on a daily basis. Understand that your body (particularly your lungs, liver and kidneys) is constantly working at detoxifying your body from toxins that you’re exposed to on a daily basis. Providing your body with the antioxidants and nutrients needed to support these organs is your best method of supporting detoxification.

• Support gut health with plenty of vegetables and fruits. A diet higher in fibre will facilitate the excretion of toxins while providing supporting nutrients to your liver and kidneys. Ideally, we should look to eat more seasonally. This means we shouldn’t be knocking back kale and spinach smoothies 4 times a day, 7 days a week. If anyone has tried a detox in the middle of the winter, they can back me up when I say, YOU WILL BE COLD.

• Reduce toxic exposure when possible. Reducing your toxic exposure allows your body to properly detox on a daily basis. If our body was a barrel, then look at toxic load as something that overfills our barrel.

• Don’t forget about tonification. Once you’ve completed a detox protocol, listen to your body. If you start to feel overly tired, try adding more healthy fats (avocado, olive oil, fish oil) back into your diet.