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Special detox diets are trendy now. There are a myriad of products that promise a full body detox that will remove pollutants, chemicals, and processed food from your body. But they are not necessary. Your body detoxifies itself naturally, and doesn’t require specific diets or products to do so, according to Healthline.
Your body already removes harmful substances through your kidneys, liver, digestive system, lungs, and even through your skin. But your organs do have to be healthy and functioning well to do so. That’s where you come in. You can optimize your body’s own defensive system with these seven hacks.
Keep Hydrated
Staying hydrated is the key to keeping your kidneys healthy and able to flush out toxins, according to Health. If you don’t like to drink water you can change it up by drinking herbal teas, green tea and juices. In fact, teas come with a host of health benefits.
Get Enough Sleep
Getting quality sleep is the best way to support your body’s health and ability to detox itself, according to Healthline. When you are asleep, your body recharges and removes the toxic waste that accumulates during the day. If you are sleep deprived, your body doesn’t have enough time to detox and this can negatively impact your health.
Reduce salt and processed foods
If you consume large amounts of salt, you can retain excess water. While it may seem contradictory to encourage drinking more and discourage using salt, the fact is that when you consume too much salt and not enough water, your body releases an antidiuretic that prevents you from urinating and detoxing.
Eating too much sugar and highly processed foods can lead to chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers. These diseases harm your body’s ability to naturally detox by damaging the organs that process waste like your liver and kidneys. You can keep your body in tip-top shape by reducing the amount of junk food you eat
Eat foods rich in anti-oxidants
Don’t despair if you have been eating unhealthy foods. Change your diet to one that is rich in anti-oxidant foods – like nuts, berries, beets, greens, and dark chocolate – that can protect against cellular damage caused by free radicals. Excess production of free radicals causes oxidative stress that can lead to chronic diseases. Research, published in the journal Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity suggests that free radical damage plays a role in liver disease, heart disease, and dementia. This limits your body’s ability to remove toxins.
Consume foods that are gut healthy
Foods that contain prebiotics help to promote the good bacteria in your gut and help to keep if functioning well, according to Health. Using antibiotics and a poor diet help to alter the bacterial balance in your gut and weaken your body’s ability to detox itself. Eating healthy gut foods including dairy foods, whole grains, fermented foods, avocado, fatty fish like salmon, garlic, and onions will protect your gut health.
Limit alcohol
Your body has to work really hard to process and remove alcohol and even a small amount can impact the organs responsible for removing toxins. That’s because your body processes alcohol mainly through your liver. Everyone wants to celebrate holidays and occasions but it is best to keep consumption to a minimum.
Get your body moving
Sweating is a great way to remove heavy metals like lead, nickel, copper, mercury, and many more from your body. So instead of taking a cleanse, take a run and sweat out the toxins, naturally. Exercise is as effective as going to a sauna. So get your body moving.
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