It’s very common at this time of year to start wondering about doing a detox. The weather is getting nicer, you want to start getting out more and shake off that winter sludge. You have visions of summer BBQs, pool parties, late nights, enjoying the sunshine, and having endless energy to do it all. You want to feel amazing in your own skin.
But what’s the best way to kick off your summer season on the right foot? Is a detox the way to go?
This topic brings up many questions and misconceptions about what a “detox” really is and whether or not you need one. Let’s explore…
The first thing I want to point out is that there are MANY different ways to support the body’s natural ability to detox, some ways are efficient and purposeful and some…well not so much. When it comes to how our body detoxes it helps if you have some understanding of what is happening. Now please know that this is a VERY simplified way of explaining and not every situation will fall into this explanation.
The Organs Of Detox
There are 3 primary organs of detox. These organs are the most heavily involved with clearing toxins from your body. They are the liver, kidneys and colon. Then we have what are referred to as secondary organs of detox, these support the primary organs. They also function as an alternate route if the primary organs are overloaded with toxins. They are the lungs, skin, and lymphatics.
Everything in our body is very interconnected so for example, if one of your primary organs is struggling to keep up with its load of work then the toxins may get backlogged and create issues in other areas. This is when you can see skin issues arise as a result of the liver being overloaded or the lymphatics become sluggish because your bowels aren’t eliminating efficiently. There are a variety of ways this can play out and a problem can also originate from a backlog of a secondary organ. It’s not exactly cut and dry.
Your Toxic Load & How You Handle It
Your ability to filter toxins definitely depends on the load of toxins going into your body BUT there are other factors to consider as well so even if you are eating organic, healthy food, exercising, and doing your best to minimize your toxin exposure, etc. YOU CAN STILL HAVE AN ISSUE WITH PROCESSING WASTE within the body.
Not all toxins come from outside of you.
Sometimes the way we think or the emotions we feel can affect our body’s ability to detoxify. For example, you can be doing all the “right” things…but your underlying motives stem from an unconscious fear of getting sick. That fear will place stress on your body. That stress can add to the workload of the detox organs. In this case “doing a detox” is not addressing the root cause of the issue.
Another thing to consider in all of this is that each of us will handle toxins differently. Some bodies will clear most toxins with relative ease while some others won’t. So your chemistry or makeup definitely affects this process.
With all this in mind, do you think a detox is the best way to kick off summer?
I am a big fan of detoxing but not in the typical way. It isn’t just about purging the body of toxins with fibre, laxatives, and maybe some herbs. Some of you may find relief with the purging approach because it is relieving your toxic load but it isn’t restoring and balancing your body’s own healing mechanisms by identifying where the body is most overloaded. In other words it isn’t always addressing the root cause.
If you feel like health problems have dominated your life and chasing symptoms is getting you to a level of just “okay” then what you need is to be assessed and treated like a whole…where the focus is not ONLY on purging environmental toxins but more so on addressing the root cause and evaluating physical stressors and emotional/spiritual issues. This approach can include an element of detox but it’s more about restoring flow to the body’s ability to filter toxins. Identifying where the flow is getting stuck is the most important step and this is often NOT just to do with an external toxic overload.
Do you want to kick off your summer right having more energy and less stress? Then don’t wait schedule a FREE discovery session with me NOW and let’s get you on the path to optimal health.
Dr. Kim Gowetor
Naturopath Sherwood Park
Naturopath Calgary
780-328-9088
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