The Most Effective Detox For January 2020

With the holidays upon us and impending New Year resolutions, I figured it would be a good time to talk about the most effective detox for January 2020.

As a former personal trainer, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked about detoxing products, and the answer is always simple–no. No, you do not need tea, juices, colon cleanses, food restriction or any other quick fix or fad cleanse. Besides the fact that there’s no evidence that these types of detoxes work, they can be so restrictive that they actually cause more harm than good.

The most effective way to detox is to reduce your body’s toxic burden by knowing what to put IN and how to get it OUT.

If you haven’t read my post on how to remove toxins from your home, read it now. That’s a great place to start when you’re wanting to decrease your body’s toxic burden.

The next step is to start by reducing the toxins that you put into your mouth. If you don’t know what that means, here’s a list of toxic and inflammatory food and beverages you should avoid for at least 30 days when you begin your detox.

1. refined sugar
2. cow’s dairy
3. anything from a can, bag, or jar–nothing processed
4. gluten
5. hydrogenated oils and partially hydrogenated oils
6. corn and corn products
7. soy
8. caffeine
9. soda or any other sugary beverages
10. alcohol

Some of you may click off of this article immediately after reading that list and that’s fine. I know it’s not a quick fix. If that’s what you’re looking for then look no further–but, if you’re looking for REAL change and how to get the weight off and KEEP it off, please keep reading.

By removing the BAD and replacing with GOOD–whole foods–there won’t be a need for any of those fad detox products as your liver’s primary function is to do that for you already.

Reducing your body’s burden of toxins and inflammatory foods will help experience better sleep, less joint pain, reduced brain fog, elevated mood, increased energy, clearer skin, and less bloat.

Now let’s talk about a detoxing process that you may have never heard about: cellular detoxification. This is exactly what it sounds like, removing toxins at a cellular level.

So what does that mean?

Toxins can accumulate in the body but aren’t necessarily a result of ingested food. Since the food we eat is broken down and eventually passes through our liver, which filters blood, removes toxins, and sends it to our intestines where we can eventually rid it from our bodies, cleaning up our diet and making sure our digestive system works properly is a major key to proper detoxification. Cutting out junky processed foods and replacing them with a nutritious diet with both fiber and insoluble fiber is the best way to get everything moving properly.

But what about toxins such as environmental chemicals, hormones, and pesticides, that can be stored in our bloodstream, bones, and fat cells?

There are a few supplements that do help aid in the detoxification on a cellular level. My personal favorite is Liposomal Glutathione because I have 2 variants of the MTHFR gene mutation which makes it difficult for me to methylate (aka detoxify) heavy metals out of my system. I know this because I’ve had genetic testing, but you don’t necessarily have to have genetic testing to figure out which genes aren’t working properly. If you’d like to know more about this and how to get your body functioning at an optimum level then I highly recommend Dirty Genes by Dr. Ben Lynch. I refer to this book again and again because he lays it out in such an easy to understand way.

I take Dr. Lynch’s brand of Liposomal Glutathione but another trusted and respected brand is Quicksilver.

Glutathione is a master antioxidant and most people are low in this nutrient. It’s found in almost every cell of your body but it’s most highly concentrated in your liver. It helps bind to free radicals and carry toxins out of your body. Plenty of garlic, onions, and cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, kale, cauliflower, and cabbage also help your body make its own glutathione.

Be sure you’re taking a multivitamin with it though as the nutrients will help you use the glutathione. I take mine alongside Dr. Lynch’s Optimal Prenatal which I absolutely love because it contains folate (please avoid folic acid!) and a hefty dose of B vitamins which I need to methylate properly with MTHFR! The gene mutation MTHFR can also make fertility difficult. After 8 months of trying for baby #2, I decided to try these 2 supplements together and I was pregnant the very next month. Coincidence? Totally possible, but I know I trust these vitamins 110%.

It is not recommended to buy glutathione in cheap forms as it gets broken down in the gut before it can penetrate your cells making it a waste of your time and money as it’s virtually ineffective. The liposomal and acetylated forms are the most easily absorbed and helps deliver glutathione directly to your cells.

A few other supplements that need an honorable mention are chlorella, MSM, reishi mushroom, and Shisandra.

Chlorella should be a regular part of everyone’s diet. This sea vegetable packs tremendous nutrient power and also helps you detox naturally as it is a chelator, meaning it can wrap itself around heavy metal toxins in the body and keep them from being reabsorbed while they are expelled. Heavy metals can come from vaccinations, eating fish regularly, and mercury fillings in your mouth.

MSM, or Methylsulfonylmethane, contains biologically active sulfur, which is a plentiful mineral in the human body that is necessary for critical body functions including detoxification and the production of glutathione. By making cells more permeable, it helps release built-up toxins, waste, and heavy metals while making it easier for water and nutrients to enter the cell and finish the cleansing process.

Reishi is an ancient Chinese medicine going back thousands of years. It assists the process of circulating healthy blood and nutrients by strengthening the digestive system, where nutrients are broken down and absorbed, and supporting liver function by allowing waste and toxins to be flushed from the body more efficiently. If you want a really delicious way to get your reishi then you should try this mushroom hot cacao.

Shisandra is also used in ancient Chinese medicine. It’s a medicinal berry that is known best for its impact on liver and adrenal function by producing various detoxifying enzymes while also balancing hormones naturally. Shisanda is also a potent digestive aid with the ability to improve circulation, digestion, and waste removal.

If you’re still having trouble coming to terms with the word “toxin” being thrown around I’m going to share an excerpt from Dr. Amy Myers book The Autoimmune Solution. And although I do not have an autoimmune disorder I found a TON of great information in this book and highly recommend it to anyone who is wanting to clean up their diet and lifestyle.

“Toxins” literally means poisons, so let me tell you exactly what I mean by the term: I mean any substance that is significantly dangerous to the human body and is inappropriately finding its way into our bodies in large amounts (it does not need to be large amounts–small amounts can be very harmful to people; it depends on the substance and the person). Toxins include heavy metals (such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury), mycotoxins (the poisons released by certain molds that can be found in homes, offices, and schools), and the hundreds of thousands of industrial chemicals used in just about every manufacturing process and found in just about every industrially manufactured item, from hormone-disrupting plastic food containers in your fridge to the carcinogenic heavy metals in your water.”

80,000 chemicals are registered for use in the United States, and every year 1,700 are added to the list. If you think it isn’t affecting you, you’re wrong. If you think it doesn’t have anything to do with your weight or health, you’re very wrong.

People that hear this information and start to say “I know, but–” are immediately preventing themselves from moving forward and seeing real change. Until you can accept the fact that every system in your entire body is intertwined, you’ll be stuck in the same yo-yo-ing diet that you’ve been on for the last 18 years. You’ll continue to work towards a goal that you’ll never reach and if you do reach it you’ll eventually rebound because it was most likely done by restricting calories and increasing exercise. We know so much more now than we did 10, 15, 20 years ago. It is NOT simply calories in vs. calories out. It is not drinking an all juice diet and eliminating food. Sure, you’ll see the scale go down after those few days but it’s nothing but water weight and you won’t see any more lost after you’ve reintroduce food.

This information is hard to accept but until the population decides to start changing its habits then we’ll still continue to see a rise in obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

If you’re mad at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), good, so am I, but roughly 2,000 to 2,500 applications a year flood the EPA for permission to use new industrial chemicals and 80 percent of those are approved in three weeks or less.

“What this means, though, is that most of the decisions regarding industrial chemicals, food additives, and the like aren’t made by the government officials hired to protect us. The real decisions are made by industry lobbyists, whose main interest is in helping the corporations who hired them make money. Our protections comes second, if it counts at all.”

Dr. Amy Myers The Autoimmune Solution

Support your body’s ability to detoxify by eating the right foods, grass-fed, pasture-raised, organic food (where you can), and by taking the right high quality supplements to help aid in cellular detoxification.

I know eating organically can be expensive but if you have to compromise from a fully organic diet, focus on the meats first, then look up the Dirty Dozen Plus and the Clean Fifteen to finish your shopping. Keep in mind that when you stop buying boxed, processed, already prepared food items your grocery bill decreases making it easier to spend the extra money on clean, organic foods.

So if you’re ready for a real change in your health in 2020 commit to a new way of thinking. Take the steps necessary to get your systems back on track and working in unison. Stop saying “but,” and try a new way that you haven’t tried before. Like I’ve said, this isn’t meant to be easy and if that’s what you’re looking for then this way is definitely not for you but surely you can do anything you set your mind to for 30 days, after all, it is a New Year Resolution.

Just remember not everything healthy costs money. Identify the most harmful thing in your life and eliminate it now. See, free! It cost nothing to do this detox, in fact, it should SAVE you money since you’ll be buying less junk and riding your life of toxic junk. No fancy pills, no gimmicks, no expensive supplements–unless you choose to order every single supplement I recommended all at one time, which I advise against. A good rule of thumb when choosing supplements is to start with one and slowly add in others over time. This way you know exactly how your body responds to each instead of taking a bunch of new things at once and not knowing which is doing what for you.

If you have any questions please feel free to comment or even send me a private email, I’m always willing to help where I can!

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