Full Body Detox: 9 Ways to Rejuvenate Your Body—without Supplements!

As we’re exposed to more and more toxins, this often puts strain on the body’s systems and natural detox pathways. This can lead to feeling sluggish, not being able to lose weight, and symptoms of hormonal imbalance. The goal of detoxification is two-fold: first, your body needs to rid itself of metabolic waste that’s built up over time; and second, cellular health should be improved so that toxins don’t have an easy pathway into your cells. You’ll learn how lifestyle changes are the best simple detox practices for better overall health.

How can I support detoxification every day?

Believe it or not, our bodies are built for detoxification–and they do it pretty well, despite being exposed to thousands of chemicals every day. The main systems involved in detox are the:

• Lungs
• Liver
• Kidneys
• Digestive system
• Skin

As long as these organs and their cells are healthy, your body is hard at work, eliminating toxins 24/7. The problem happens when your body either can’t keep up with normal detox function, your immune system somehow becomes compromised, or damage from a buildup of free radicals starts to impair important cells or tissues. These factors can slow detoxification pathways and create a cycle of inflammation and poor health (1).

There are some things we can do to promote a safe and efficient pathway for toxins such as heavy metals, endocrine disruptors, and any other pathogens to leave the body.

Better health (and detox) starts with a healthy gut. Learn more about daily Belly Fix for digestive function.

Get massages

Massages increases circulation which helps stimulate the lymphatic system and remove buildup of toxins. The lymphatic system is sort of like the body’s super highway that gets rid of metabolic waste, toxins, and damaged cells. It removes waste from your cells and gets rid of it through the kidneys, liver, lungs, and skin. It’s incredibly important that you support the health of your lymphatic system, as it’s part of healthy immune function and so much more (2).

Massage helps keep fluids and metabolic waste moving through the natural process to remove toxins and prevent them from recirculating.

How high is your toxin load? Take the quiz!

Eat smaller portions—and slowly

Big meals cause bloating, which forces digestive system to work overtime, and puts detox processes on the back burner. Large meals may also result in food moving too quickly through the digestive tract as your body hurriedly tries to make room for food coming from the stomach. When food moves too quickly out of the small intestine, it can cause diarrhea and issues with nutrient absorption.

Fewer nutrients and poor digestions equals sluggish detox pathways. Eat slowly, and avoid very large portions when necessary.

Related: 5 Rules to Rebuild a Healthy Gut

Make your home healthy

To limit your exposure to harmful environmental agents that make their way into your home, replace HVAC filters regularly, and consider getting a high-quality air purifier. This is especially important if you have certain underlying health conditions or sensitivities.

Avoid harsh household chemicals such as chlorine, and consider a reverse osmosis or carbon filtrated water system. If you want to support healthy detoxification, a big part of that is reducing your exposure to harmful toxins before they enter your body.

Read more: Simple Ways to Detoxify Your Home

Dry body brush

Dry brushing is common in various part of the world. It can help increase blood circulation, improve the tone and appearance of skin, and support natural detoxification pathways via our largest organ— skin! Dry brushing stimulates lymphatic function which helps rid the body of harmful metabolic waste (3).

With a bristled brush designed for skin brushing, brush in a circular motion beginning at your feet and circulating inward toward your torso. Do this about once per week prior to sauna or showering.

Related: Best Essential Oils for Skin + Hair

Tongue scrape

This helps to quickly clean the tongue. Think of that as assisting your body at the process of detoxification by allowing for breath freshening and removing toxins from the mouth. Use a spoon or tongue scraper to clean your tongue in circular motions, scraping off any excess mucus that sits on your tongue. Do this every morning before you brush (and rinse with warm water).

Get moving

Exercise helps upregulate metabolism and therefore is key in eliminating toxins from your body naturally.

There are many different types of exercises that help with detoxification. You don’t have to be a marathoner — just focus on activities that will get your heart rate up and increase circulation. Here’s how:

• 20 minutes of hot yoga
• 40 minutes of low-intensity cardio like walking or elliptical
• 30 minutes of strength training, Pilates, or other training

Regular exercise is one of the most important lifestyle practices that promotes the health of your whole body, in addition to healthy detoxification.

Related: Stop Over-Exercising! Get the Best Workout for Your Body Type

Get good sleep

Sleep helps regulate all the important players of a healthy lifestyle, including the drivers of appetite, immune function, and melatonin production. Melatonin and sleep support the function of your glymphatic system–or your brain’s personal detoxification process. Without consistent and good quality sleep, your body (and brain!) can’t detox as easily. This can lead to oxidative stress causing free radicals to build up in the brain, which damages them over time. This is one significant risk factor for numerous chronic diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (4).

Need help calming a busy mind at night? Relax with Sleep Savior before you get in bed.

Break a sweat

Sweating is often the missing link to eliminating harmful chemicals in the body. In Sweden, the majority of the population spends time in a sauna daily, sweating out heavy metals and other contaminants that contribute to chronic disease and poor health. It’s no surprise then, that Swedes–and other Nordic countries–have the highest life-expectancy in the developed world (5). Other factors, like stress, diet, and genetics play a role, but sauna has been shown to have many well-documented health benefits. Infrared sauna has also been shown to decrease inflammation markers, blood pressure, and other factors associated with heart disease and chronic illness (6).

Sweating helps with detoxification of body and increases circulation throughout. It’s one of the best ways to eliminate toxins.

Read more: 3 Detox Methods That Actually Work

Detox DON’TS

When living a detox-friendly lifestyle, there’s a few reminders you’ll want to have to promote overall health and help the natural detoxification process along.

Avoid excess alcohol.

This one may seem obvious, but alcohol is a toxin, and its effects are harmful for detox, hormone balance, mood, and so much more. Though it’s not uncommon for many women to overestimate how many drinks they can have per week before it starts to negatively impact health. Aim for no more than 2 drinks per week to avoid sluggish detox or issues with hormonal imbalance.

Limit refined sugars and processed foods.

High-sugar foods or ultra-processed foods spike blood sugar sky high, and contribute to issues like insulin resistance, weight gain, and poor gut health. Eat mostly whole foods and plenty of antioxidants to help your body naturally detoxify.

Read more: 7 Wellness Tonics for Detox, Hormone Balance, and More

Don’t go low-calorie (or low-protein).

For a small number of people with underlying health conditions who need to limit proteins, the average woman shouldn’t limit protein and overall calorie intake when supporting the body’s ability to detox. Restricting vital nutrients means your metabolism is missing out on healthy foods that promote immune health and toxin elimination.

Take a break if you’re always on-the-go.

The modern woman has to contend with a lot of stress, but not taking time to calm your nervous system can be a recipe for disaster–and slow detox. Supporting your body’s natural detox means allowing time to recharge and eliminate certain toxins that could health problems down the line. 

Starting a Detox-Friendly Lifestyle

There are many ways to support your body’s natural detoxification pathways, and you don’t need to spend a lot of money on supplements, or begin a complicated detox program. Some simple changes that can help include avoiding excess alcohol consumption and using a sauna regularly to help eliminate toxins. You may also consider dry brushing the skin before a shower and keeping your oral hygiene in tip top shape. Take some time today to try one of these changes that will pay off big in detox benefits. 

How serious is your toxin exposure? Find out your Toxic Load when you take the quiz.

Resources

1. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2018.01162/full
2. https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-is-lymph-drainage-massage
3. https://www.jidsponline.org/article/S0022-202X(15)52853-4/fulltext#s0020
4. https://www.npr.org/2020/11/16/935475284/scientists-discover-a-link-between-lack-of-deep-sleep-and-alzheimers-disease
5. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(19)30224-5/fulltext
6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30077204/