Summer Detox - Glow From The Inside Out
Summer is the time to absorb inspiration from the beauty around us, and let our creativity bloom. It’s also the season to feel lighter and more energised. It’s the perfect time to slow down and cleanse our bodies naturally.
In this blog post I’m going to discuss the very basics of detoxification, and share tips on how we can cleanse our bodies and life so that we can start to glow from the inside out. As a result, we will have a higher quality of life!
Please note that I’m not a medical doctor or medical know-it-all and this blog post is for inspiration and entertainment purposes only.
The Basic - What is detoxification
At least a few times a year I think it’s good to pay a little bit more attention to our bodies’ natural detoxification functions so that we can get rid of all kinds of build-up toxins efficiently, and reset and nourish our bodies with healthy foods as well as with better lifestyle choices. There are all kinds of crash diets out there that are labelled as “detox diets” and often involve making extreme dietary changes like drinking juices or living on soups only. Not surprisingly these kinds of fad diets don’t usually last long and mostly fail. However, “to detox” or, in other words, to make our lives cleaner doesn’t need to mean deprivation! For me detoxification is about re-evaluating what we need and don’t need in our lives to reach our fullest potential physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
The human body is incredible and is designed to heal itself. The body is constantly detoxing meaning that it’s eliminating toxins through its organs and we want to support these natural functions. During the detoxification process the body changes fat-soluble toxins (like heavy metals, pesticides, and medication) into water soluble compounds that can be eliminated from the body - and this primarily happens in the liver. Detoxification also occurs through the gastro-intestinal tract, kidneys, skin, and lungs. Since food is the fuel for our bodies where our souls and energy reside, we should start by taking a closer look at our diets and after that pay also attention to other factors off the plate, like how we eat, live, and think.
To support our detox organs:
We want to remove harmful things that slow down our metabolism like ultra-processed foods and toxins that burden our liver.
We want to introduce unprocessed, whole foods that will nourish and heal us on the cellular level.
We also need to rebalance our eating, mind, and habits to bring our bodies, minds, and souls back to a harmonious state.
Ditch the junk foods
We all know that ultra-processed foods are bad for our health and beauty. Think of sodas, breakfast cereals, sweet and savoury packaged snacks, instant noodles, microwave-ready meals, candy, sausages, store bought bread, etc. Junk foods that are high in fat, salt, sugar, and weird chemicals are manufactured to be addictive by the food industry and scientists. Therefore, quitting can be challenging and we may even experience detox symptoms like headache, irritability, and extreme fatigue - but ditching the junk is absolutely worth it! I wouldn’t even call ultra-processed food products as foods because they are highly altered with industrial chemical additives. Ultra processed foods are not only bad for physical bodies but also for our brain health. Study after study has shown how junk foods can lead to depression and cognitive decline.
Life is never perfect - and I get it. Sometimes we simply don’t have the time to cook our meals from scratch because of other responsibilities but even still there are always better, minimally processed options out there. We don’t need to choose the most processed foods with a long list of artificial ingredients, flavourings, preservatives, and colours. Instead we can choose natural options without added salt, sugar, and fat - or do meal prep in advance for the upcoming week.
I also often hear people saying that eating healthy is so expensive and they simply cannot afford it. There are many ways to save money: take advantage of loyalty schemes, and switch to own-brands. Or plan your meals smartly and store your products according to the instructions so that you can reduce your food waste. For example, surprisingly many foods can be freezed, such as ripe fruits, baked goods, cheese, or cooked grains. Food waste is a big issue and according to the UN, globally around 13 percent of food produced is lost between harvest and retail, and 17 percent of total global food production is wasted in households, food service and retail every year! This is awful given that hundreds of millions of people are affected by hunger. Moreover, we all make choices in life and everything comes with trade-offs whether we like it or not. We choose how we want to prioritise our money. And money can always be made by creating more value. We can always choose differently and choose to make a change. We should never play the victim if we want to heal ourselves. When we decide to take the ownership of our life, everything changes.
Like processed foods I also think it’s smart to eliminate or at least minimise our alcohol and caffeine intake. I drink hardly any alcohol anymore because no amount of alcohol is safe. Even just a glass of wine can make me feel and look horrible the day after. When it comes to caffeine I usually have a cup of coffee in the morning and I absolutely love it! Since caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive drug in the world, I like to reset my body every once in a while and quit caffeine completely to give my liver a break and to remind myself how addictive caffeine really is. I did a 30-day caffeine detox last autumn and I will repeat that this summer. I have planned to start my 30-day caffeine detox in mid-June. The reason why I have chosen a specific day for my caffeine detox start is very simple: quitting is hard (!) and I always have horrible detox symptoms like headache and extreme fatigue during the first week without caffeine. Mid-June for me is perfect because I feel naturally more energised during the summer and have less distractions in my life overall.
Nourish yourself beautiful - Let food be your medicine
We all have our bio-individual needs meaning that we have different nutritional needs depending on our age, sex, physical activity, state of health, etc. Personally I thrive on a plant-based diet and have done so for over a decade now. Despite our individual differences we can all benefit from eating healthy, whole foods that do not need barcodes and packing. I think there is a difference between feeling satisfied and full. Processed foods can make us feel full but we never truly feel satisfied because processed foods do not provide our bodies vital nutrients, which is the reason why we keep eating. Whereas eating whole, un-processed foods without restriction makes us feel satisfied and nourished. When we eat foods in their whole food form we can restore our natural hunger cues. Personally I buy organic whenever possible because I want to minimise the toxins in my life. There is this Dirty Dozen list by the Environmental Working Group that includes twelve fruits and vegetables that are most contaminated by pesticides. At least buying organic vegetables and fruits that are on the list can help reduce toxic chemicals significantly. Here are some of my favourite tips for adding more healthy foods to your diet:
Choose at least one new fruit or vegetable every time you do grocery shopping
Only plant foods contain fibre that is essential for our healthy gut microbiome and keeps our bowel movements regular. We want our digestion to be optimal so that we can eliminate daily. Different species of microbes feed on different types of fibre which is the reason why we need various types of fruits and vegetables.
Eat your greens
And ideally at every meal because they are one of the most powerful foods on the planet! Only from greens can we get chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is the pigment in plants that gives plants their green colour and makes them healthy and beautiful. Chlorophyll benefits humans in many ways for instance by strengthening our immune system, improving the detoxification process, and boosting our energy levels. Sometimes I like to take spirulina tablets for an extra chlorophyll boost. Sprouts are also amazing and I like to grow different types of sprouts in glass jars at home. These micro greens are high in many nutrients like protein, folate, magnesium, and vitamin C and K - and the nutrient levels are typically higher than in unsprouted plants. Moreover, after sprouting these foods become easier to digest because sprouting reduces many antinutrients.
Have raw fruits and vegetables daily
Enzymes are specific kinds of proteins made of amino acids, and are easily destroyed by high temperature. Raw fruits and vegetables are rich in live enzymes. To get enough enzymes for optimal digestion we should eat raw foods daily. Enzymes have specific functions in the body: they are important for digestion, metabolism, and detoxification. Our bodies do make some of the enzymes on their own but the body’s capacity to create them declines as we become older. The other interesting thing is that only fruits and vegetables are truly alkaline whereas animal based products tend to be acidic. Milk and natural fats are considered neutral. The pH scale ranging from 0-14, with 7 being neutral (A pH of 0-6 is acidic; and pH of 8 and higher is alkaline), measures acidity or basicity (alkalinity) of an object. The pH of a healthy human body ranges between 7.35 and 7.45, meaning that the human body must be slightly alkaline in order to function properly. People promoting alkaline diets believe that by choosing alkaline foods and avoiding acidic foods we can reduce excess acid in the body and promote our health. This is a controversial topic: it’s a bit unclear whether a high acid diet might lead to negative health consequences like to the loss of bone mass in osteoporosis. According to this theory, the body wants to stay in homeostasis and thus, when the environment becomes too acidic it could start to release calcium from the bone base to neutralise part of the dietary acid load. Whether you believe in this or not, it’s very obvious that a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables is good for our health!
Eat mindfully without distraction
How we eat is probably as important as what we eat. It’simportant re-learn to eat without distraction, like without screens and phones, and without shame. Mindful eating practice draws inspiration from meditation and other mindfulness practices. Mindful eating encourages us to be fully present for the food experience and appreciate the food rather than restricting it and starving. It’s about having a non-judgmental beginner’s mind and learning to trust in our own decisions. When we are fully present and eat without rush, we can better connect to our internal bodily sensations and cues. Even studies show how mindful eating practices are inversely related to binge eating disorder and it can help those who have a tendency to overeat. What I like about mindful eating is that it helps us to remember to appreciate our food, and how it was produced. We should never take healthy food and clean drinking water for granted.
Embrace breath-focused movement
I see physical activities, or exercising as a tool to improve our body-mind relationship and confidence. We can support our natural cleansing processes by doing gentle, breath-focused movement practices like yoga and Pilates. Deep breathing helps to stimulate the vagus nerve and trigger our parasympathetic nervous system, also known as our “rest and digest'' mode which is the opposite to the sympathetic nervous system, also known as our fight-or-flight mode. The important thing to note is that the body can detoxify itself only in this rest and digest mode! If we are chronically triggered to our survival mode there is no way we can provide enough energy for our detoxification processes when the stress hormones are producing energy-consuming survival mechanisms physiologically and psychologically. Over time chronic stress can take a toll on the body, and lead to negative health consequences (directly or indirectly) such as high blood pressure, brain changes, and obesity.
The power of daily journaling
Finally, I cannot emphasise highly enough how powerful daily journaling can be. I am not perfect with this meaning that there are periods in my life when I journal every morning and periods when I am less consistent. But one thing is certain: Writing down our feelings, and experiences as well as our dreams and goals helps to become more organised and focused. It’s a wonderful way to detox the mind! If I don’t journal regularly, I soon notice the difference in my mental clarity; I start to feel scattered and more uncertain about my decisions and path. Journaling helps to figure things out and it can also serve as a reminder of who we want to become and how we want to serve on this planet. When we know and remember our mission we are going to make better decisions and eventually we will end up exactly where we need to be.
That’s everything I had to share this time.
Sending you so much love, peace, and gratitude!
Resources:
National Geographic: Are ultra-processed foods as addictive as cigarettes?