Spring is nearly upon us, a time when most people take stock of what is in their house and decide what stays and what goes. A major cleaning allowing for a new beginning! This is also the perfect time of year for an effective cleansing of the body, or known more popularly as detox.
The body is constantly detoxifying harmful chemicals and waste. Springtime naturally allows us to be outside breathing fresh air and walking more often, which are vitally important for cleansing the body.
Poor diet, insufficient sleep, lack of exercise and movement, insufficient clean water, overworked and stress all lead to free radical damage which in turn leads to chronic inflammation and degenerative diseases.
The body eliminates toxins in a series of steps. First the body detoxifies (neutralizes) the toxins. This is constantly done in the liver and to some extent the kidneys, without it, we would not survive much more than 5 minutes. Once neutralized, the toxins must be cleansed or purified from the body, know as depuration. This is actually the process in where toxins are eliminated. Unfortunately, more often then not this process is hampered at the cellular level for various reasons such as the ones mentioned above regarding free radicals.
As a result, the body needs added support in the way of drainage therapy. Drainage ensures detoxification and depuration (elimination from the body) can happen normally. The focus of this therapy is to open up the emunctories (organs of detoxification and depuration), which includes the liver, kidneys, lungs, skin and bowels to eliminate waste and toxins from the body. If these organs were not functioning properly, I would liken it to trying to push out all the garbage in your house out the back door when the door is firmly closed!
Since drainage can be very specific for each person, a “detox” program is more effective if you its tailored to your needs. For example, your liver may be working optimally but not your lungs, where your neighbour’s organs could be the complete opposite of you, doing the exact same “detox” program would likely produce very different results. More importantly, if you don’t do it properly for your specific needs, you may actually do the opposite of your initial intentions and cause damage by moving the garbage around without eliminating it.
Detox programs can be very helpful, but you need to make sure you are doing it right for your body. Naturopathic Doctor supervision can provide that support for you.
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