Is getting healthier one of your New Year’s resolutions? Cleansing out old waste and toxins is one of the most important steps you can take to discover a “new, revitalized you.”
It’s estimated that the average person has at least 5 to 10 pounds of accumulated toxic waste in their cells, tissues, and organs. That’s 5 to 10 pounds we could really feel great about dropping!
Toxic substances that accumulate throughout the body can weaken and congest our organs and systems of elimination. These substances come from a number of sources such as the environment, unhealthy food choices, and internal by-products of metabolism, called endotoxins. Toxic substances such as industrial chemicals, pesticides, drug residues, heavy metals, food additives, along with by-products from food digestion, as well as yeasts, fungus, and parasites can pile up in our system like logs jamming a river.
If they are not broken down and eliminated, they are stored in the intestines, gallbladder, kidneys, liver, skin, bone, and fat cells, making us sick, weak, overweight, unable to fight off infections, and causing pain in our muscles and joints. Toxic molecules, known as free radicals, damage our cells creating many health problems. This is why it’s so crucial to periodically cleanse our body.
With thousands of new chemicals produced every year, we are exposed to a myriad of toxins on a daily basis!
How Toxic Are You?
If you answer yes to two or more of these symptoms, it’s time to cleanse:
- Lack of energy and fatigue
- Weakness
- Aches and pains
- Headaches
- Overweight
- Inability to lose weight
- Irritability
- Emotional and mental problems
- Constipation
- Acid reflux
- Bloating and gas
- Indigestion
- Sinus problems
- Cellulite
- Trouble sleeping
- Restlessness
- Stressful feelings
- Dizziness
- Visual problems
- Skin problems
- Arthritis
- Hormone imbalances
- Premature aging
Benefits of Detoxification
If you would like to experience more of these benefits, make cleansing one of your resolutions:
- Renewed vitality
- Better sleep
- Improved digestion
- Better health
- Stronger immune system
- Lessening or disappearance of pain
- Improved skin and younger appearance
- Cleared mucous and congestion
- Re-colonization of healthy bacteria
- Increased mental clarity
- More creativity
- Renewed joy
- Greater sense of well-being
- Fewer mood swings
- Weight loss
- Purify the blood
- Clear the digestive system of mucous and congestion
- Reduce or eliminate cravings (e.g. sugar, salt, junk foods, alcohol, and nicotine)
A Time to Cleanse
January is a great time to start a cleanse program. Cleansing will help you lose weight and get rid of toxins, old stored up water, and waste. It will help you feel lighter and more energized. Some detox experts say that if you cleanse with each season, you won’t get sick. If you are ill, gentle cleansing will help you remove toxins and speed your recovery.
Your cleansing diet means you’ll be drinking a minimum of two glasses of vegetable juice per day. You’ll eat 60 to 70 percent of your diet raw. Avoid animal products as much as possible while cleansing and eat no dairy products, sweets, or gluten. Don’t drink sodas or alcohol and no coffee, if possible. Drink lemon juice in hot water with a dash of cayenne pepper first thing in the morning. This helps the liver to release toxins. There are many great recipes for cleansing in The Juice Lady’s Living Foods Revolution.
Add unsweetened organic cranberry juice to some of your daily water intake, which should be at least 8 glasses a day, to help cleanse the kidneys. Mix about 1 tablespoon of cranberry juice into a glass of water. This acts as a diuretic and helps flush the kidneys. Also, add asparagus stems, cucumber, parsley, and/or lemon juice to your juice recipes for more diuretic cleansing action. This is also a good time to drink nettles tea for kidney and bladder cleansing.
A sauna is very helpful in the cleansing process too. Infrared saunas are especially good because the heat doesn’t need to be as high to be effective. Unlike steam saunas that can hold toxins in the air, saunas provide a dry heat that encourages your body to sweat and release toxins. You can also take vinegar, ginger, epsom salts, or sesame oil detox baths. Mustard foot soaks are another good method to help remove toxins from the body.
If you’d like to lose a few pounds and revitalize your body, schedule a cleanse. You’ll be feeling like a new person in short order.
Cherie Calbom is the author of 22 books, including her latest book The Juice Lady’s Remedies for Stress and Adrenal Fatigue, The Juice Lady’s Big Book of Juices and Green Smoothies, and best-sellers including “Juicing for Life,” with 2 million copies sold. Known as “The Juice Lady” for her work with juicing and health, her juice therapy and cleansing programs have been popular for more than a decade. For her free “Juicy Tips Newsletter” and more information, go to www.juiceladyinfo.com
