Detox and Fly, Preparing for The Year Ahead
Before the next latest diet detox fad takes hold try to understand some basic things about detoxification. – Any time you have a state of more toxins leaving your body than are existing inside the body you have a state of detoxification. – Toxins get inside the body from food water air, what you put on your body directly or indirectly and your internal and external environment. – Toxins are produced naturally as part of the day-to-day metabolic activity of the body. – Your body requires energy in order to detoxify properly.
When thinking about detoxifying decide in advance exactly what you want to achieve. You can detoxify the digestive tract, the blood, or the liver, which will reap benefits for the entire body. In reality all three are related and it’s best to do an element of each to get the best result.
The lightest form of a detox you can do is an abstention from intoxicating substances or stimulating foods. In this way at least you won’t be adding toxins to the load you already have and it may enable your body to start ridding itself of toxins it already has. Another form of abstention is fasting, it could be on juice, water or nil by mouth. This type of detoxification needs to be undertaken with a quantified practitioner and is not suitable for everyone.
After that comes the digestive tract detox, which is useful in any case as any toxins generated for elimination by the body need to pass through the digestive tract in some form in order to get eliminated. These type of detoxes tend to concentrate on soluble fibre which literally sweeps the large intestine clean and helps get rid of debris and undigested matter as it passes through.
The blood is a liquid tissue that gets everywhere in the body. It has an ability to clean the organs of the body as it goes about its job of oxygenating and supplying nutrients. Chlorophyll based detoxifiers are best-known to help cleanse the blood, you can also use certain herbs to help build the blood. Making sure you drink enough water when detoxifying the blood is also an important practice otherwise toxins from the body dumped in the bloodstream can make the blood less fluid. This can impair the removal of toxins to the sites of elimination.
One of the deepest types of detox you can do is a liver cleanse. The liver is the hardest working organ in the body. It detoxifies many substances and makes them safe for elimination by storing them in inert forms in the body. A liver detox is best undertaken with help of a nutritional therapist until you are confident enough to undertake it by yourself. Herbs and oils are best used to get any detox response from the liver, especially bitter herbs*.
Whatever type of detox you choose preparing properly beforehand is important. Preparation should always include consuming more water than normal to assist the detox process. Skin brushing is always a good idea. Making sure you are in a safe environment is also important (if you are back on the road and trying to detox it is not usually a good idea). Let important people around you know, so if your energy drops or you need to take a rest or some time out they can respond appropriately.
If your travel schedule is so hectic that you cannot find the time to do any of the detoxes above there are some short cuts you may find useful. They are simple to implement and they work every time if done properly. Here are two you can use right away and I give a brief scientific explanation of why they work.
Geophagy* – is the art of using clays to cleanse the body, it is an ancient practice seen as primitive but with validity in science. All effective clays have a negative electrical charge which binds to toxins (most toxins have a positive charge) and escorts them out of the body. You can easily buy these clay preparations and mix them in drinks and water to cleanse your body wherever you may be. In the Chernobyl radiation disaster one such clay (Zeolites) was used for this porpoise with great effect.
A High Alkaline Diet* – making sure you eat a high percentage alkaline diet as an ongoing practice. This works along the same lines as geophagy. A high alkaline diet leans towards introducing more negative ions into the body which in turn speed up the detox ability of the body.
The take-away for healthy frequent fliers is that there are detox tools for every traveller no matter how busy you may be. Seasonal detoxifying is a way to arm yourself against any harmful environment on the road and shouldn’t be underestimated.
Bitter Herbs – http://evenstaronline.com/articles/bitters.html Geophagy – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geophagy Alkaline Diet – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_diet#Alternative_medicine