DETOXIFICATION - five simple rules

This is the time of year when newspapers and magazines are full of advice on detoxification. After the onslaught of the Christmas holiday season - too much food, too little exercise, and too many late nights - you may well feel the need for a little rejuvenation. But where can you begin amidst all the contradictory advice and product promotions?

It’s best to keep it simple and, below, we give five recommendations based on sound naturopathic commonsense that almost anyone in reasonable health can follow without too much difficulty. But first, it may help to explain the science behind detoxification.

A cleansing and filtering process is going on all the time in our bodies. The main organ of detoxification is the liver which is constantly processing residues from our food, chemicals that have found their way into our bodies, and damaged cells. These are broken down into a form that can be eliminated through the skin, lungs, bowels, and kidneys.

When these systems are overworked, toxins, mainly in the form of chemicals known as free radicals, build up in the body and can make us feel sluggish, contribute to a wide range of chronic diseases, and hasten the aging process. So, a simple detoxification programme removes the challenges to the liver and other organs while supporting and promoting the eliminative functions.

The following programme can be followed without causing any major disruption of your daily routine. There is no need to use special preparations - just good food, exercise, and rest.

The Five-Step Detox Plan

1. Food
Avoid sugar, salt, refined carbohydrates, meat, alcohol, tea, and coffee.
Use plenty of fresh fruit, salads, vegetables, brown rice, millet, couscous. Use fish, eggs, and dairy products in moderation.

Obtain organic ingredients whenever possible to minimise your intake of toxic residues from sprays and fertilisers.

If you want to speed up the cleansing process, you could undertake the following three-day programme.

Three day cleansing programme Day One Fresh fruit as appetite demands at each meal. Drinks should be fruit or vegetable juices or herb teas. Day Two Breakfast - Fresh fruit made into a fruit salad if desired and topped with live goat’s or sheep’s yoghourt. Lunch - A large mixed salad, including garlic and onions. Add a dressing of extra virgin olive oil (or mix a tablespoon of the oil with a teaspoonful of apple cider-vinegar). Dinner - As for lunch or a vegetable stew made with a selection of three or four vegetables. Include brassicas such as cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts in your recipes to support liver detoxification. Day Three Breakfast - As for day two but you may add some nuts, sunflower or pumpkin seeds, and raisins to the fruit salad. Lunch - As for day two or transpose with the evening meal. Dinner - Vegetable stew or two or three steamed vegetables served with brown rice, millet, or couscous. Then return to a fuller menu continuing to avoid the exclusions listed above for a further one or two weeks.

2. Fluids
Our kidneys are not like drains; it is not necessary to drink litres of water every day. You will get plenty of fluid from fruit and salad ingredients. Otherwise a drink of herb tea or fruit or vegetable juice on rising and retiring and between the main meals will be sufficient in cooler weather.

3. Exercise
Try to take a brisk walk or other activity such as swimming or cycling which makes you pant and perspire a little for twenty to thirty minutes every day.

4. Physical therapy
Promote better skin activity with a cold friction-rub. After your bath or shower rinse the arms, legs, and trunk with cold water whilst scrubbing with a loofah or friction mitt.

5. Rest
Our bodies replenish dead cells and repair damaged tissues during sleep. Ensure that you get a good night’s sleep and when possible take a siesta for twenty to thirty minutes during the day.

For individual nutritional guidance and management of specific health problems you should consult a registered naturopath.

R Newman Turner
ND, DO, BAc
January 2006

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