5 Ways to Detox Your Body Safely & Gently

With so many posts about the danger of toxins, you may be wondering if you need to detox your body. Over the years I’ve read a lot of information about diets, procedures, and other common approaches to detoxification. The truth is, however, that many of these practices are extreme at best and dangerous at worst.
Keep this in mind: The body is designed to detox naturally.
In fact, the human body defends itself very well against most environmental insults and occasional indulgences. This means most people don’t need crazy tonics, flushes, or extreme “lemonade only” diets. Unfortunately, there are countless detox diets being marketed even though studies have shown that fasting and extremely low calorie intake — common elements of detox diets — cause a slowdown of metabolism and an increase in weight after the dieter returns to normal eating. (source)
Of course we do have a massive amount of toxins in our world today that previous generations never had to deal with. So while I don’t support most extreme detox practices, the truth is that sometimes our body could use a little help.

Help detox your body, naturally.

The first step to detox your body is to ensure that you are not overburdening your body with toxins. Removing processed foods, GMOs, pesticide-laden foods, and toxic products from your home is the best way to ensure your body stays healthy and can do its job.
Beyond keeping the bad stuff to a minimum, here are five simple, safe, and gentle ways to help you detox your body. These are not extreme. These don’t require a huge investment or awkward situations. And unlike some other detox protocols, these ones are gentle enough for all people.

5 simple ways to detox your body safely

1. Clay

I’ve mentioned the benefits of clay before, but I never get tired of recommending it. At a molecular level, bentonite clay has a negative electrical charge, attracting positively charged toxins. The formation of bentonite resembles tiny business card shapes, with negatively charged wide surfaces and positively charged edges, providing a surprisingly high surface area and powerful drawing effect. As most toxins are positively charged, clay naturally rids the body of toxins as it pulls and holds the toxins into its core.
Taking clay internally or using it in a foot bath are simple ways to help rid your body of toxic buildup. As an added bonus, taking clay internally is a great way to get more essential minerals in your diet. Learn more here.

2. Add naturally detoxing foods to your (real foods) diet

While I don’t promote crazy fasts or fad-diets to detox your body, adding in some foods that naturally detox can be extremely beneficial. These should be in addition to a whole, real foods diet. Here are just a few of the best detoxing foods include:
Fruits - High in liquid-content, fruits help the body wash out toxins. They are also very easy to digest and full of nutrients, an added bonus in the detox process.
Citrus fruit - In particular, things like oranges, lemons, and limes aid the body in flushing out toxins and jump starting the digestive tract with enzymatic processes. Lemon juice aids the liver in its cleansing processes. Try starting each morning with a warm glass of lemon water.
Veggies - Green plants will help give a chlorophyll-boost to your digestive tract and are very cleansing to your system. Other foods like: Onions, carrots, artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, beet, turmeric, and oregano are great to help cleanse the body. These are high in naturally occurring sulphur and glutathione. Sulphur helps the liver detoxify harmful chemicals. It’s important to add raw veggies to your diet, as the digestive enzymes are very beneficial in the natural detox process.
Garlic - This little food is one of the best detoxing foods there is. It helps stimulate the liver into producing detoxification enzymes that help filter toxic residues from the digestive system.

3. Breathe

If you’re interested in detoxing, here’s why breathing matters: Oxygen is pivotal to the body’s process of absorbing vitamins and nutrients. Deep breathing allows you to absorb these good things more efficiently. Deep breathing also super-charges your lymphatic system by increasing oxygen levels, and this naturally leads to detoxification of the body.
Even though breathing is an automatic process, most of us are under-utilizing this amazing built-in “detox your body naturally” system. Taking a few minutes throughout the day to focus on deep breathing is essential to good health.

4. Skin Brushing

Your skin is the largest organ of the body. And guess what is included in its job description? That’s right: elimination. In fact, the skin is known to be responsible for 10 to 15% of total body elimination, and is sometimes referred to as the third kidney.
Dry skin brushing is an easy and effective way to help detox your body. It improves the appearance of your skin by eliminating dead cells and helping new skin to regenerate and it also stimulates blood circulation, the lymphatic system, and greatly enhances toxin elimination.
If you are new to skin brushing, check out this easy guide to get your going.

5. Exercise

Not only does exercise make you feel better, but it’s an easy way to help your body in its natural detoxification process.
Exercise promotes the detoxification process giving all systems of the body a boost. As you exercise, the blood circulates throughout the body, bringing nutrients to all the organs and muscles. As you do aerobic exercise you build up a sweat and toxins are released through the pores of the skin. It’s important to rinse off after heavy sweating to help rid the body of those toxins.

Detox your body: But keep it safe!

Part of living a healthy life is about finding joy in living. Going to extremes in diet, fitness, or detox practices strip us of the healthy life we are aiming for. So if you want to detox your body, first start by giving it what it needs to do the job it was designed to do.
What would you add to this list?

This post is part of Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Freaky Friday, Farm Girl, Fight Back Friday, Motivation Monday, Sweet Sharing Monday, Natural Living Monday, Monday Mania, Sunday School, Small Foot Print Friday, Fat Tuesday, and The Mommy Clu