January is detox month, but what exactly does detox mean?
The term ‘detox’ is often surrounded by controversy and confusion. It is important to
realise that detoxification is a natural process in the body that occurs all the time. It is
our body’s way of ensuring that our inner environment remains consistent.
Predominately it is the liver that breaks down anything toxic to the body, and it
eliminates these toxins alongside our other waste products through the intestines,
kidneys, lungs and skin. So does this mean that there should be no need for detoxing if
the body has the ability to do it constantly? Unfortunately we live in a dirty, stressful
world with excessive alcohol and drug use, artificial food ingredients, and environmental
pollutants - all these affect the body’s natural ability to detoxify and eliminate.
I understand the process of ‘detox’ to mean improving and optimizing the function of the
body’s own detoxification systems and ensuring that we are eliminating our waste
efficiently. This can be done by decreasing the amount of toxins we put into our bodies,
while at the same time supporting the body’s detoxification and elimination systems
through a change in diet, lifestyle and use of herbs.
Typically ‘detox’ programmes are done in the spring as the body and mind are coming
out of hibernation. Many of the spring herbs are perfect for supporting elimination and
can be picked fresh and used in teas and decoctions. Most often though it is after
Christmas with the overindulgence of rich foods and alcohol that people feel the need to
‘detox’, so the herbs are available as teas, tinctures and capsules.
My recommendation is not necessarily a ‘detox’, but to have a period of eating simply,
increasing vegetable intake, limiting intake of alcohol, caffeine, fizzy drinks and smoking,
drinking approximately 1.5 litres of water daily, daily exercise and getting at least 8
hours of sleep a day. Alongside the lifestyle changes, herbs can make sure the liver is
working efficiently and encourage elimination. Symptoms of inefficient elimination could
include diarrhoea, constipation, bloating, excessive wind, smelly and dark urine, spots,
acne, and general malaise.
One of the most important ways of helping the liver’s natural regeneration is to stop
drinking alcohol for a period of time. Herbs like Milk Thistle, Artichoke and Dandelion
Root can be used to improve liver function and regeneration, especially after times of
excess. Stimulating digestion and therefore elimination through the intestines can be
done with bitter herbs like Centaury, Artichoke and Dandelion Root; to be effective they
need to be taken before meals, and the bitter taste cannot be disguised. It is, after all,
the stimulation of the bitter receptors that triggers the increased release of digestive
acid and enzymes which helps with elimination. Eating more fruit and vegetables can
add fibre to the diet, but herbs like linseeds and psyllium seeds, drunk with lots of water
can add bulk and help with sluggish digestion.
Herbs that help with elimination through the kidneys are usually drunk as teas, and
include Dandelion Leaf, Nettle and Golden Rod. Dry skin brushing can support
elimination through the skin, as well as traditional ‘blood cleansers’ called ‘alteratives’.
Blood cleansing herbs include Red Clover, Nettle, Heartsease and Cleavers. Epsom salt
baths can also support elimination from the skin.
You can choose a few of those herbs and use them as a combination. After a few weeks
of this simple living, supported by herbs, you should feel start to see an improvement in
how you feel.
The question is whether ‘detoxing’ can have an effect on the base amount of those
toxins in the body, especially if the toxins are fat soluble, meaning that they are stored
in our body fat. Pesticides, like those used in non-organic farming, are examples of such
fat soluble toxins. While exposure to some toxins is simply unavoidable because of the
nature of the times in which we live, what we can do is support our body in efficiently
flushing out what it is naturally in a process of trying to remove itself. In this way, we
can optimise our general health and well-being.
Produced by herbalist and Wild Oats Advisor, Becs Griffiths
Tel 0741 239 9154
Email mail@becsgriffiths.net
Web www.becsgriffiths.net
Wild Oats Wholefoods
9-11 Lower Redland Road
Bristol
BS6 6TB
UK
Tel 44 (0)117 973 1967; Fax 44 (0)117 923 7871
http://www.wild-oats.co.uk/