There’s no shortage of detox programs and ‘flat belly’ juice cleanses out there. “Detox” has become quite the buzzword, circulating through just about every influencer’s Instagram feed. But while detox programs have become hugely popular, actually detoxing the body seems to be harder than ever.

The idea behind detox plans is that we need to periodically cleanse the body of accumulated waste—like hitting some ‘reset’ button. And the idea that a few days of extreme dieting or fasting can clear the body of all its toxins and waste is very tempting, especially after a few nights out drinking or over-indulging a little during the holidays. Severely restricting food consumption, however, is at best not effective in the long-term and at worst pretty dangerous to your health. The rapid weight loss that occurs when fasting or only drinking ‘detox juice’ is your body losing water and muscle, not fat or ‘waste.’

Fortunately, the body has ways of naturally detoxifying itself. All we need to do is assist what’s already happening by making a few adjustments to our daily routine to achieve desired results.

What is detoxification?

Detoxification is the metabolic process of the body, facilitated by enzymes, which changes toxins into less toxic or more readily removable substances. This happens through detox organs.

Detox organs include your skin, lungs, kidneys, colon, and liver.

The liver is the poison control center of your body—your own personal CDC, attuned to your habits and diet. It acts as the gatekeeper for all our toxins. This is one of the main reasons why you may feel sick or nauseous the day after having a few cocktails. The health of the entire body is reflected in the effectiveness of the liver’s detox pathways. And when the liver is congested with alcohol, sugar, and processed chemicals, we feel downright bad.

The kidneys help with regulating the volume and chemical composition of bodily fluids, balancing PH and electrolyte levels, and excreting wastes. Just like the liver, the kidneys are responsible for filtering blood and deciding what to save in the body and what to excrete.

Enzymes help with detoxification. These are proteins that act as catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions within the body. Enzymes move oxygen and energy throughout your body and are critical for efficient liver detoxification of unwanted chemicals, such as bacterial toxins, heavy metals, and histamines that are often at the root of immune or neurological concerns. If there are insufficient enzymes in the body to allow for proper detoxification, the whole process of turning food into energy and removing toxins is slowed down. Don’t worry, there’s plenty you can do to help your body detox, and none of it involves juice cleanses or restrictive dieting.

8 Healthy Ways to Detox:

1. Reduce your toxic load – Avoid chemicals, pesticides, pollution, and mold. Harmful allergens are everywhere, but washing your face regularly, changing your bed sheets, and walking in the park (surrounded by greenery) can help. Another method might be to literally wash out your sinuses with a Neti Pot. This Himalayan standard of ayurvedic medicine has been used for thousands of years to alleviate allergy and sinus problems. Avoiding processed foods and sugar (which take extra effort to break down and digest) can also lighten your body’s detox load.
2. Drink more water – Water in the body transports waste products, removing them through urination, sweating, and breathing. Simply put: Hydration is quite possibly the best method to detox your body. Every single cell requires water to function. For an extra enzyme boost, add lemon or orange to your water. Citrus helps to kick-start your liver and improve digestion. Another tip is to try avoiding coffee and caffeine for a few days at a time.
3. Practice deep breathing – Deep breathing (or diaphragmatic breathing) lowers blood pressure, calms heart rate, boosts immune function, reduces stress levels and supports the lymphatic system. The easiest way to start is to sit upright, place one hand on your belly and the other on your chest. As you breathe in, your belly should expand. As you breathe out, your belly contracts. Likewise, the hand on your abdomen should move with each inhale and exhale while the hand on your chest remains still.
4. Try grounding – Grounding is simply the act of putting your body in direct contact with the dirt, sand, soil, rocks, or water. We spend a lot of time wearing shoes and walking on artificial flooring. Skin to earth contact allows the body to rid itself of the high electromagnetic fields it’s exposed to on a daily basis. Our bodies slowly build up a positive charge. The earth has a negative charge. Connecting the two may help to ‘reset’ the body and bring us back towards a more neutral zone. I know this can sound like spiritual mumbo-jumbo, but there isreal science behind the theory. Standing barefoot outdoors, walking along the beach, swimming in a pool… Just a few minutes of grounding a day can be extremely beneficial.
5. Eat anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory rich foods – Fruits, vegetables, berries, nuts, green tea, cocoa, eggs, broccoli, and garlic all counter oxidative stress resulting from free radicals. Anti-oxidants, whether man-made supplements or whole foods, can prevent certain types of cell damage and aid gut and liver function. Fermented foods like yogurt, kimchi, and kombucha also provide essential probiotics to keep your gut ecosystem going strong. 
6. Practice good skincare – The skin is a major part of the body’s detox system, excreting toxins through the pores. One way of enhancing its function is through sweating. Infrared saunas, a steam room, working out, or just a hot towel on the face every once in a while can do wonders towards clearing out your pores. Dry brushing and facial/body scrubs are another form of skincare that help to exfoliate dead cells from the top layer of skin and open up the pores. And if you normally wear makeup, try going a few days without to give your skin a breather.
7. Sleep – Sleep allows your brain to recharge and remove toxic waste that accumulates throughout the day. Sufficient rest reduces stress and inflammation and gives your organs a change to recover and do some repair. Keep your bedroom dark, quiet, cool, and avoid screens right before bed to maximize your sleep time.
8. Limit alcohol intake – Excessive alcohol intake damages the liver and its function by causing inflammation, fatty build-up and scarring. Alcohol jumps to the front of the metabolic line. So, when you drink, you are putting other detox processes on hold until your body is done filtering through the alcohol. Depending on the amount of alcohol consumed, your liver may not be functioning at its best by the time it finally gets to the other toxins in your body.

Believe when I say that there is a healthy way to detox. We just need to think of detoxing more as a long-term practice rather than a ‘quick fix.’

Summary:

The idea behind detox plans is that we need to periodically cleanse the body of accumulated waste—like hitting some ‘reset’ button. And the idea that a few days of extreme dieting or fasting can clear the body of all its toxins and waste is very tempting. Severely restricting food consumption, however, is at best not effective in the long-term and at worst pretty dangerous to your health. The rapid weight loss that occurs when fasting or only drinking ‘detox juice’ is your body losing water and muscle, not fat or ‘waste.’

Detoxification is the metabolic process of the body, facilitated by enzymes, which changes toxins into less toxic or more readily removable substances. This happens through detox organs.

Detox organs include your skin, lungs, kidneys, colon, and liver. The liver is the poison control center of your body. The kidneys help with regulating the volume and chemical composition of bodily fluids, balancing PH and electrolyte levels, and excreting wastes.

Believe me when I say that there is a healthy way to detox. We just need to think of detoxing more as a long-term practice rather than a ‘quick fix.’