Detoxify yourself daily

Our body accumulates lots of toxins due to exposure to chemicals in food, water, air, pesticides, preservatives, food additives, plastics and other environmental reasons. More than that, body itself is a chemical factory, which can secrete and accumulate chemicals due to stress.

There are two types of toxins, water soluble, which can be eliminated from body via blood and kidneys and fat soluble, these toxins are a bigger challenge for body to remove.

Heavy metals, pressure cookers & pans made of aluminum/ black coating, plastics used to microwave, plastic glasses for drinking tea, water etc. are contributors to building toxicity in the body. Most tinned or packaged food, preservatives, artificial colours can also be very harmful, over use of aluminium foil, wrapping food in news papers, usage of plastics as tiffins/ storage box are other common factors towards fat soluble toxins.

These toxins can give many problems like obesity, skin problems, headaches, eye problems, swelling in many parts of the body, joint pain, stiffness in the body, frequent throat irritation, hyper acidity, digestion problems, constipation, asthma, cancer, HBP, poor circulation etc.

 

Although it is not possible to avoid these things completely, we can make our system work better to release these toxins on daily basis.

• 10% of toxins get released when we clear the bowel everyday in the morning. So proper diet with lots of fibers in the food and eating in time, especially in the night 2 hours before one sleeps.

 

• 20% toxins we remove through urine, so drink enough water in the morning as soon as you get up. Consume 4 glasses of water in the morning first thing after waking up, 1-2 glasses of water in between meals and at least 1 glass of water before going to bed. Sometimes people sitting in AC rooms do not feel thirsty and fall into the trap of not drinking enough water.

 

• 20% toxins we remove through skin by sweat. When we allow our body to sweat through exercises, heat, sitting in the sun, we can achieve it.

 

• 50% toxins we remove through breathing properly in fresh air, which is getting affected these days. So try to go in green areas , under big trees or sometimes smaller places where pollution is less. Pranayams are very good way to release it.

 

• Body itself also produces chemicals, which increases toxicity in the body. Key contributors are stress and tension. So get in to meditation, mindful techniques, mind sound resonance technique, pranic rejuvenation technique etc to calm the mind, relax the body and regain the balance.

 

• The liver detoxifies the body from 11am to 3 pm in the night while we are in sleep. We should allow the liver to do its job for these 4 hours. But if we sleep late it cannot do its job fully so sleeping latest by 11pm is very important. When we do not let this happen the liver becomes sluggish. Now day’s fatty liver is a common problem even with people who do not drink, smoke and are vegetarian. Travelling frequently, not sleeping on time, working late hours or night shifts are some reasons.

 

• To detoxify burn extra fat from body through fasting, change in life style, sports, breathing exercises, shankh prakshalan (cleansing the whole gastrointestinal canal under guidance of expert), one can use Dhauti (stomach washing technique under guidance of expert).

 

• Some people are allergic to some food and that also could create toxicity. This can be very painful, so avoid such food.

 

• Some food may be very tasty but difficult to digest. It can create gasses and acidity because of heaviness and the digestive system has to work extra hard to break it, so it takes longer and may get fermented inside, creating gasses and acidity problems. So avoid such foods.

 

• Some food like sweets create mucus in stool so reduce them

 

One can include certain spices to detox like- Cumin, Aniseed, Fenugreek, Asafoetida, Coriander, Mustard, Rock salt, some herbs- Basil, Parsley, Aloe Vera, Neem, Amrita, Tulsi, Curry Leaves etc. some food like- Amla, Beet root, Ginger, Turmeric, Yogurt etc.

Include all seasonal green veggies and fruits on daily basis

Put cold pack on stomach for 20 minutes

Sometimes massaging the whole body with medicated oil and steam can also help.

 

 

by: Saroj Modi, Founder, The Inner Startup