Don't Detox in January!
January is the month most of us feel guilty on some level about what we ate, how much we ate, or how little exercise we did over the festive period and are tempted by the idea of a detox in a bid to clean up the ‘mess’, repair the ‘damage’, and feel better about ourselves.
Why you don't detox in January...
Winter is a time for nourishment, hibernation, sleep, rest and reconnection.
Lack of food and light during winter and the gradual depletion of the stored autumn harvests prevented our ancestors from over-eating or over-doing it during winter. However, modern life means we’re no longer forced to fast over the winter due to lack of food, we can stay up long after it gets dark ticking more things off our to-do list, scrolling on mobile phones, or binge watching Netflix, and technology means we’re always available and not properly switching off.
Instead of mother nature forcing us to fast, sleep, rest and recover, we’ve found ways to continue with our non-stop fast paced lives paying little attention to the subtle messages and wisdom mother nature is sharing with us via the changing seasons. Unfortunately our bodies are still running on ‘old code’ meaning they’re geared up for scarcity and rest in the winter months and this is why attempting a detox at a time when the body is in conservation mode could undermine your health, not boost it.
What to do instead...
​By focusing on improving your body’s natural detoxification system through diet and lifestyle changes, you’ll reap the long lasting benefits of a cleaner, stronger, more resilient body that works properly throughout the year. As long as you’re not suffering from constipation, you shouldn’t experience any significant detox reactions. Mild detox reactions include the onset of a cold, cough, fever, or skin rashes that are self-limiting. If you are currently suffering from constipation, your focus should be on resolving that before you implement too many changes since you need to be able to clear waste on a daily basis before generating more from cleared toxicity.
Your bowels are the body’s waste disposal system, every cell and process in the body creates waste which is ultimately and mostly dumped into the bowels or urine. In women, menstruation is another route of toxin elimination. If your bowels are not moving regularly (at least once per day), then the toxins get stuck in the bowel and reabsorbed by the body causing other symptoms which is why it’s important to resolve any bowel symptoms before implementing significant improvements to the diet or work with a practitioner who can help you resolve symptoms.
Small improvements in diet and lifestyle gives the body the chance to start cleaning up and throwing out the rubbish (toxins), so anything you do to reduce the body burden will kick-start cleansing on the inside.
Did you know that hormones such as oestrogen become toxic once they’ve been utilised?
All our hormones including oestrogen and progesterone are made from cholesterol making cholesterol an essential substance for overall health and vitality including reproductive, heart, bone, and brain health. A very low fat diet and/or cholesterol lowering drugs can therefore have an impact on healthy hormone levels.
Once oestrogen has been produced and utilised in the body, it must be cleared/detoxified from the body by the liver before being pushed into the bile and then into the bowels for elimination through the stools. If the liver and/or the bowels are sluggish and this process slows down and oestrogen isn’t able to be cleared, we can begin to experience symptoms of oestrogen excess such as acne, tender breasts, PMS, heavy periods, PCOS, fibroids, and fertility issues.
So we want to be helping our body’s to keep themselves clean so we can remain in optimal health and prevent the development of degenerative and chronic disease.
Here are my top 6 tips for optimising your body’s natural detoxification system:
1. Drink Up
Step back and honestly review your water intake, this one really cannot be overstated. Water is required by every system in the body from the cells to the brain and is easily lost through urine, sweat, stress, and drinking diuretics such as coffee and tea. The body will prioritise the heart and brain at the expense of all other organs and body system if water levels fall low. Without adequate hydration we get stagnation, with stagnation everything slows down. Think of a stagnant pond where waste builds up and can’t get out. Without fluidity in the body nothing moves and waste and toxicity accumulates degrading health.
Build up to 2 litres or 4 pints of plain water gradually.
Tip: Drink a pint of warm water with a slice of lemon and pinch of good quality sea salt every morning first thing before breakfast, coffee or exercise.
2. Eat More Vegetables
Make 50% of your plate vegetables to improve bowel motility since this is where the majority of the rubbish is cleared from the body.
Incorporate seasonal vegetables into your meal plan for the week because via the seasons, nature provides us with the nutrients our bodies need the most at each time of the year. If it’s growing right now, consider it a message from nature to eat it! Look out for sweet potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, pumpkin, kale, and broccoli which are all high in beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is used by the body to make vitamin A, an essential nutrient for immunity (think coughs and colds), protection against oxidative stress (think low energy and poor detoxification ability), and eyesight (think being able to see in the dark).
Tip: Batch cook a big pot of soup using seasonal vegetables that can be frozen so you can benefit from winter nourishing nutrients during working or busy days.
3. Intermittent Fasting
This is a much more accessible and gentler form of fasting that has been used for centuries, also known as time restricted eating. This is where you intentionally take an extended gap between dinner and breakfast to give the digestive system a rest from processing and digesting food so that the liver has more time to work on cleaning things up, aka detoxification.
Intermittent fasting improves glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity which has proved significantly beneficial in preventing Type 2 diabetes and reversing a pre-diabetic state, and is a must have essential tool in your arsenal for navigating a healthy menopause and mitigating symptoms such as brain fog, mood, hot flashes, abdominal weight gain, and fatigue.
Tip: Start with a gap of 12 hours between dinner and breakfast, if this is too much, begin with 10 hours.
4. Get outside and MOVE!
Aim to move your body, outside, every day to promote flow and movement throughout the whole body.
Stagnation in the body causes health issues such as constipation, skin problems, headaches, low energy, hormonal problems, mental health issues, and toxin accumulation.
Tip: Go for a 15+ minute walk at lunchtime whatever the weather to improve mood, focus, concentration, joint mobility, and to move the bowels and lymphatic fluid.
5. Enjoy Life
The body is unable to function properly let alone detox itself if it is in a constant fight or flight due to stress. When we are under stress our body produces cortisol triggering the liver to convert stored glycogen into glucose to provide us with the energy needed to run away from danger. If the liver is constantly being distracted by the demand for glucose, it won’t be able to give its full attention to its detoxification duties.
Whereas a small amount of stress can sharpen our performance and focus, stress that doesn’t go away or subside drains our life force and becomes debilitating paving the way for disease. It’s not always possible to remove or change some of the biggest stressors in our life, so techniques for managing it such as changing our attitude or reducing our exposure to a stressful a person or a situation can be a highly effective way of reducing the burden and rebalancing the system.
Tip: Making regular time for stress reducing activities such as a favourite hobby, seeing friends, and walking in nature can go a long way towards reducing the production of cortisol so your liver and nervous system get a break from its powerful effects.
6. Get some Sleep
Review your sleep hygiene especially if you struggle to fall asleep. Our detoxification process kicks in whilst we sleep, so if you are not regularly getting between 7-9 hours’ sleep, then the body isn’t able to fully complete its overnight clean-up and reset of the system.
Most of us can control the time we go to bed more easily than we can the time we get up, so aim to be in bed by 10.30pm latest, ideally 10pm, with the lights out at least 4 nights a week. Avoid blue screen light including the TV in the hour before bed and don’t take your phone to the bedroom. If you use your phone for an alarm, invest in a clock radio alarm or similar so that your phone is not in your bedroom.
Tip: Maintain the same sleep/wake time, even on weekends and get outside at first light even if this just means putting on your coat and walking around the garden for 5 minutes.
Why not take a Health MOT?
You could also consider a Health MOT to find out which systems and aspects of your biochemistry need your attention including levels of toxic elements such as aluminium and lead so that you are properly nourished and ready to detox in Spring (if that’s your goal), or better still, learn what your body is crying out for right now and use the cold, dark winter months to nourish and recharge your battery mentally and physically so that you are full of energy and raring to go when the days start getting longer and the uplifting sense of new beginnings arrives with Spring.