Home Detox 101
Heading to a spa for an all-out cleanse may not always be possible, but there’s always plenty we can do at home to evict unwelcome elements!
Skin brushing
Dry skin brushing benefits the lymphatic system, It helps in the elimination of toxins and removes dead skin cells leaving the skin looking clean, and fresh and feeling super smooth.
All you need is a natural bristle brush and 3 or 4 minutes extra time before your morning shower. When dry skin brushing, always work up the body in long strokes, towards the heart. Include the soles of the feet and palm so the hands, neck and head, but avoid brushing the face or any sensitive or broken skin.
Solvent Solutions
Thirst is the body’s way of telling you it’s already dehydrated. Dehydrated bodies are more sluggish, toxic and prone to aches and pains than their well-irrigated counterparts.
For an easy solution to dehydration and its challenges to our healthy functioning try sipping hot water throughout the day.
Water is nature’s greatest solvent. When hot it is even more potent in reaching the finer tissues of the body and moistening, lubricating and flushing the areas that cold water doesn’t reach so easily.
Hot water from the kettle usually tastes nasty though, so here’s an easy home tip for a convenient, refreshing and portable detox.
Grab a stainless steel saucepan and fill it with 3 pints of water, add 2 slices of fresh ginger and a couple of black peppercorns. Set it to boil for 10 minutes. During that time, any chlorine will evaporate, and the water will absorb the benefits of the ginger and black pepper. Once it’s boiled for a few minutes, strain it into a flask and keep it by you for the day.
Many who’ve tried this, myself included, have waved goodbye to headaches and mental fatigue during their working day.
If a flask of hot herbal water isn’t practical - you could start your day with a cup of hot water and lemon juice in the morning and increase your plain water intake for the rest of the day. Lemon juice is cleansing to the liver and generally helps the body de-gunk.
Tongue Scraping
Another quick and easy addition to your morning routine, tongue scraping cleans the mouth of bacteria accumulated while sleeping, and encourages the bowels to empty first thing in the morning - and it takes less than a minute. Many health food stores and Internet sites now sell custom-made tongue scrapers, otherwise, an upside down teaspoon will do the trick.
Walking
A brisk 20-minute walk is as useful for detoxing as it is for exercise. Walking briskly encourages the skin to break out in a light cleansing sweat, massages the colon by using the lower stomach muscles and gives the lungs a blast of fresh air. Walking also helps cleanse the lymphatic system, which although it possesses circulation-like channels throughout the body, is an inert system with no pulse that only really benefits when we get moving.
Cleansing ingredients in your kitchen cupboards:
• Detox drinks such as, apple, cranberry, or red grape juice, and herb teas or hot water with fresh lemon juice in place of tea or coffee
• citrus fruits (with the exception of grapefruit), contain limonene a natural detoxer
• Vitamin E rich nuts, sees and good oils
• brassicas - antioxidant rich green things