Is it time to Spring Clean your Body?
Forget the fad diets - Claire Amos, a registered chiropractor working in Crowborough, says real detox is about making simple lifestyle changes that will rejuvenate your whole body.
Detox is short for detoxification, which means the removal of toxic (a poison that destroys living organisms) substances from the body. The body can become unwell when there is a build up of toxins; getting rid of them will benefit your health.
Detoxing is not just about flushing the toxins out of our bodies, it is equally important to make changes to the way we live to limit the amount of toxins that accumulate.
As a practitioner in natural therapies I know that allowing the body to work naturally and holistically helps achieve balance and health. Complementary medicines including chiropractic care can strengthen and protect the body, aiding detoxification and fighting the daily consumptions of toxins.
Naturopaths and practitioners of other traditional medicines believe that the root cause of disease is the accumulation of waste products and toxins due to poor, modern, unhealthy lifestyles. The body becomes poisoned, creating symptoms including joint and muscle pain, headaches, fatigue, skin problems, recurrent infections, nausea, vomiting and feeling bloated.
Cells are the building blocks of the body, like bricks are the building blocks of houses, we have millions and millions of them. When toxic material is allowed to build up, cells start to get stressed and fail to function properly, which is why people feel so bad the morning after the night before.
Toxins can be endogenous - inside our bodies - or exogenous - outside our bodies:
Endogenous toxins: Every second of the day our cells are working to keep our body in balance and maintain its functions. Cells metabolise (create energy) from the broken down food and drink that we consume and the oxygen that we supply through breathing. Waste products are produced from this process, which our bodies then eliminate.
Chemical reactions are constantly taking place in our body's internal environment, creating new substances, some of which are toxic. Obviously the body needs to get rid of these substances.
Exogenous toxins: These may be naturally occurring hazardous substances, such as radon gas, but are much more likely to be man-made synthetic compounds. Modern life puts us into contact with many more products than humans dealt with in past centuries. We have difficulty in processing many of these chemicals so they are stored away in our bodies, potentially causing damage.
Even the air that we breathe is polluted. Chemical fumes from cars, aeroplanes, cigarette smoke...it's all going into our bodies via our lungs.
Food and drink are full of toxins - alcohol and caffeine are the most obvious, but pesticides, herbicides, sweeteners and other additives all find their way into our food.
And take a moment to think about what you put on your skin every day. The skin is the body's largest organ and absorbs chemicals through its surface. Read the labels on the lotions and potions on your bathroom shelves as carefully as you scrutinise those packets in the supermarket. Do you really want to roll aluminium under your armpits everyday? Chances are, if you use a conventional deodorant, that's exactly what you are doing. Be wary of chemicals such as isopropyl, alcohol, propylene glycol, sodium laureth sulfate, sodium benzoate and sodium lauroamphoacetate. Read the small print or Google them!!
Household cleaning products often contain chemical nasties, as do paints, fire retardants, non-stick surfaces on pans and tins, mercury fillings...the list is endless!
The body will attempt to eliminate excess toxins found in the blood, or failing that, store them. They have the potential to damage tissues in all parts of the body before being eliminated or ‘tucked away'. These toxins can, among other things, impair the nervous system (brain, spinal cord and nerves), which the body depends on to regulate its function.
We need to eliminate these toxins from our bodies efficiently to help us stay well - and that means helping our eliminatory organs to stay strong and healthy.
Ways the body helps itself
The liver is the body's primary detoxification organ. Our liver processes everything, identifies potentially harmful products and does its best to make them safe. It cleans out drugs, alcohol, poisons, bacteria and various waste products including worn out red blood cells and excess amino acids (broken down proteins).
The kidneys filter and cleanse the blood, producing and excreting urine (the waste product) through the bladder and urinary tract.
The colon. When you eat, food is partially digested in your stomach and continues downwards through the gastro-intestinal tract until it is ejected via the colon. It is a fantastically efficient structure, able to process food and drink into usable compounds and remove substances that are not needed or that are potentially harmful. Waste moves down the colon by contraction of the intestinal muscles; ‘fibre' is needed to bulk out the matter and keep the waste moving along. When something poisonous gets into the stomach the body is intelligent enough to eject it by vomiting.
The lymphatic system works as a garbage collector, transferring ‘rubbish' from the tissues to the eliminatory organs. The spleen and lymph nodes drain and filter blood and lymphatic fluid.
The lungs oxygenate blood and eliminate carbon dioxide. They are also involved in regulating temperature, the acid/ alkaline balance and lymph movement.
The skin's function is to protect the body from the environment and eliminate some toxins.
If the eliminatory organs are not working properly, you will get a build up of toxins in your body.
So, how we can help our bodies to stay cleaner and help our eliminatory organs to work more efficiently? We must keep elimination channels open in order to stay healthy.
Ways to protect yourself from toxins:
Breathing: taking at least 10 deep breaths every day will help our lungs to exchange all the air in them, getting rid of carbon dioxide, particles and mucous (a lovely breeding environment for micro-organisms). Exercising the lungs will also stimulate the lymphatic system to work more efficiently. Worried about how to exercise your lungs? Have a laugh! Laughing is a great way to give your lungs a workout and makes you feel good at the same time. Attending a yoga class will enable you to learn different breathing techniques.
Exercise: improves circulation, lymphatic drainage and gets rid of tired old air, drawing in fresh supplies of oxygen to replenish hard-working muscles. You'll also sweat toxins out when you exercise. Give yoga a try; this ancient form of exercise not only stretches our bodies' muscles, spine and skeleton, improving posture and balance, it stimulates all the systems in our bodies, including the eliminatory organs.
The skin: skin brushing stimulates the lymphatic system and blood vessels under the skin. Saunas and steam rooms help the skin to eliminate toxins.
Positive thoughts: These help our bodies to work more efficiently. Try to limit your negative thoughts and worries, find an outlet for your emotions, through laughter, through exercise, through music. Meditation and relaxation have a positive effect on our health and wellbeing.
Therapies: Chiropractic and osteopathic treatments, massage, reflexology and other complementary therapies will all help to stimulate and balance your eliminatory organs, they are also very enjoyable!
Ways to help yourself avoid toxins
Household cleaning products: switch to environmentally friendly ones so that you don't breath in poisonous fumes, or absorb the chemicals from your washing powder through your skin.
Eating and drinking: a healthy, balanced diet including lots of antioxidants found in coloured fruit and vegetables. Antioxidants are a natural compound helping to protect us from harmful substances. Eat lots of fibre to help keep toxins moving out of your colon. You should limit and reduce your intake of alcohol and caffeine. Avoid sweeteners in drinks and food. Avoid the hydrogenated fats and other chemicals found in processed foods. Look at the labels when buying and limit the amount of synthetic or chemical subtances that you use.
Do not cook processed foods in their plastic packaging.
Drink two litres of filtered water a day. Try and avoid water in plastic bottles as there is no telling how long it has been stored in them and the plastic may leach chemicals.
Toiletries /Cosmetics: read the labels - there are lots of great affordable products that avoid the use of synthetic chemicals. Remember that your deodorant is put right next to major lymph glands under your armpit.
Our organs are extremely strong, resilient and diligent: they do their best not to fail us. Yet, daily we fail our hearts, liver and kidneys when we abuse them through unhealthy eating and unhealthy living. Our grandmothers were right: prevention is better than cure and a few simple changes to the way we live can make a huge difference to how we live.
Article written for Spring 2008 issue by
Claire Amos - Claire is a registered chiropractor working in Crowborough using the McTimoney chiropractic technique. If you would like to discuss anything in this article or find out more about the chiropractic care she offers, please contact her on: 01892 668852
