A full body detox refers to the practice that may help eliminate toxins from the body. Even though more scientific research is required to verify these claims, wellness enthusiasts use this practice from time to time to improve their well-being and overall health. Depending on the goal, detox practice may involve following a particular diet, reducing bad habits, taking supplements, or using a sauna.
Detox is mainly used to encourage habits that may improve the body’s normal detoxification processes, like eating a healthful diet, getting enough workouts, and staying hydrated. However, the detox industry is growing, and more and more people have become victims of market growth, experiencing side effects and outcomes of incorrect practices.
This article explores what a full body detox means, how it works, what it involves, the potential benefits and risks, and how to stay safe when detoxifying your body.
Chapter Overview
What Does a Full Body Detox Involve?
A full body detox, also known as a full body cleanse, is a practice that people follow with the goal of eliminating toxins from the body. Toxins, including poisons and pollutants, are substances that may accumulate in our system due to bad habits, diet and environment and negatively affect health. Our bodies eliminate those toxins on a daily basis through the liver, kidneys, digestive system, and skin.
However, in some cases, toxins stay in the organism and cause health issues in the long term, like weight gain and acne. This is why detox is used to speed up the process and help the body clean itself. There is no accurate list of what detox involves, as it depends on the chosen method. But most commonly, it requires a person to:
- follow a specific diet (water and fruit diet, for example);
- reduce bad habits;
- take supplements;
- use a sauna;
- change the environment.
Is Detox Necessary?
While some people enjoy the benefits of detox and add this practice to their overall wellness regimen, for most people, detox isn’t necessary. This is because our bodies already have their cleaning mechanisms that are capable of eliminating all toxins.
However, there are still some people who require detox to help the body. These are most commonly those who have medical conditions that prevent the body from fully cleaning the organism. However, healthy people who check their organisms regularly usually do not require any help from detox programs.
Potential Detox Benefits
While detoxes are not medically verified yet, they still may offer several benefits for health and overall wellness. These include the following ones:
Weight loss
A 2017 study published in the Current Gastroenterology Reports highlights that detoxification diets may help lose weight. This is because most of these diets encourage people to consume much fewer calories than they should keep their weight, so this may also cause health issues when not following special rules.
Healthier diet
Since detox usually means consuming whole foods and less fast food, people following this diet for about a few weeks can change their eating habits. This helps them to treat their body with essential nutrients, which also results in weight loss, improved skin and better health.
Hydration
Most modern people do not drink enough water per day, which results in dehydration and skin issues. This is why full body detox also promotes healthy water intake. And water is essential for overall health, healthy skin, cleaning the body from toxins and so on.
Antioxidants
Studies show that some detoxing diets encourage people to consume foods or supplements rich in antioxidants. Antioxidants are vital for our health as they support many bodily processes and also aid liver function and can help remove toxins. However, more scientific research is needed to make any claims.
It is worth noting that most of these benefits do not last long when the person eats fast food, does not have enough sleep, does not exercise well and drinks enough water.
How to Safely Detox the Body?
If you want to try your own detox program with no danger to your health, there is a safer way to do so. In most cases, changing simple things in your diet and wellness regimen may bring even more benefits than one week of cleansing programs.
Drink Enough Water
As discussed above, water is essential to our health and wellness. Drinking enough water can greatly change our feelings and skin health as well. In addition, enough water intake helps the liver to clean the body from toxins and pollutants. How much water you need depends on your level of physical activity, age and living conditions, among other factors.
Healthy Diet
A healthy nutritional diet allows the body’s detoxification system to speed up the work. We recommend reducing refined carbohydrates, added sugars, artificial additives and GMO products and trying to include more:
- products high in antioxidants;
- dark leafy greens;
- complex carbohydrates;
- fresh herbs and spices;
- oily fish.
Choose Natural Detoxifying Products
There are many natural products and drinks that help to safely clean your body from toxins that you can add to your daily wellness regimen. You can choose the best juice cleanse for weight loss or find the right product for any other goal. For example, the sparking spirulina drinks by Ful are a delicious yet natural method to detox your body and keep you energised.
Get Enough Sleep
Sleep is the main time our bodies can clean toxins and recharge. Therefore, quality sleep is essential if you want to boost detoxification.
Stop Smoking or Drinking
We all know that both tobacco and alcohol have a negative impact on our health. When talking about cleaning your body from toxins, alcohol, in particular, affects the liver, which is the key organ responsible for eliminating toxins. In case you smoke and drink regularly, then you may try to stop or reduce these habits and check how you feel.
Final Thoughts
Modern people are looking for the best ways to improve their health, where detox is a common practice. However, most detox programs can both benefit health and cause issues in the long term. So it is best to always know safer ways and tips you can try to clean your body before turning to the detoxifying program.