It can be easy to over-indulge over the festive season, particularly when normal routines are disrupted and celebrations enjoyed with family, friends and colleagues.
Many people choose the New Year as a time to detox, whether it be from taking part in Dry January – abstaining from alcohol, or Veganuary – adopting the benefits of a vegan lifestyle, or simply taking a more mindful, conscious approach to your lifestyle and looking at the New Year as an opportunity to detox, reset and boost your health, naturally.
Our articles are always evidence-based approach and oriented to a Personalised Health approach, and we aim to provide you with actionable knowledge and tips to help you on your journey to optimal health.
In this article we’ll look at the benefits of detoxing, how detoxification works, and our top 10 health detox tips for you this New Year.
Topics covered in this article:
Why should you detox?
Every day your body is exposed to a range of toxins and pollutants, from different chemicals in food, bacteria and metals in our water, to airborne pollutants. Common examples include alcohol, tobacco smoke, pesticides, herbicides, air pollution, heavy metals, food additives, cleaning products, oral contraceptives and drugs.
Toxins can wreak havoc on our health in the form of carcinogens, free radicals and VOCs which can build up in the body, causing symptoms such as fatigue and inflammation, and contributing in the long-term to the development of chronic health conditions.
A successful and well-planned detox can help you increase your energy levels, boost your immune system, help you lose weight and improve your overall health, both physically and mentally.
Understanding how detoxification works
Your body is designed to detoxify. The liver is your primary organ which works to process toxins in the blood in the liver for elimination. Other important organs that aid the natural process of detoxification are the kidneys, lungs, intestines, lymphatic system and skin.
Whilst your body is always naturally working to detoxify, and has built-in effective detox processes, over time toxins can build up, which is when taking steps to detoxify can help to support your body to perform optimally and aid the detoxification process.
Fasting is an excellent way to aid the body’s natural cleansing process, effectively enabling your organs to rest and recover.
Taking positive steps to lighten your toxic load is another key to an effective detox. Look to eliminate obvious avoidable toxins such as alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, refined sugars, saturated fats, and processed foods as well as less obvious toxins in chemical-based personal hygiene and household cleaning products, which you can replace with natural based products.
Improving circulation aids detoxification. Exercise and deep breathing boost the circulation of the blood throughout the body, helping toxins to be carried more quickly out of the bloodstream and processed for elimination. The simple act of breathing deeply brings more oxygen to your blood, allowing for faster elimination of toxins.
Amchara’s top 10 New Year health detox tips
- 1
Focus on nutritious foods – ensuring you are optimising your nutritional intake by consuming quality protein, healthy fats, whole grains, and unprocessed foods, including a rainbow of fruit and vegetables. Choose organic whenever possible to further reduce toxic load.
- 2
Keep hydrated – having a bottle of water with you at all times will help remind you to drink plenty of water throughout the day. If you find drinking water boring, try mineral water – look for water containing beneficial magnesium and sodium – or try adding a slice of lemon or sprig of mint to enhance the flavour. Proper hydration supports all bodily functions and is particularly useful to support all the organs and enable effective removal of waste products through urination, sweating, breathing and bowel movements.
- 3
Try fasting – there are many different options here. Juice fasting provides your body with nutrition whilst also relieving pressure on your digestive system. Light fasting – a mixture of juices, smoothies and soups is all liquid but contains fibre – this is a good option if you are suffering from fatigue and looking to both detox and nourish at the same time. Or you could try intermittent fasting – juicing or reducing calories for 2 days a week, or restricting your eating window – to again enable your body to reset and recharge. 16:8 is a popular intermittent fasting option, where you eat only within an 8 hour window and rest for the other 16. There are other variations of fasting and time restricted eating, it is about finding what works for you and your lifestyle.
- 4
Practise yoga and meditation – detoxing is not just about your nutritional intake, it is also about your physical, emotional and mental wellbeing. Yoga and mediation can help to clear the mind and enable you to focus, as well as helping to ground and relax you. Yoga can also help with improving the flow of energy and blood circulation as well as being an effective, gentle but strengthening type of exercise.
- 5
Exercise more – look to increase your general level and amount of exercise on a regular basis. Find something you enjoy and can easily incorporate into your daily routine. If you don’t enjoy it you are less likely to stick to it! Gentle jogging, walking or rebounding are beneficial to support you during your detox, but be mindful not to over do it by placing undue stress on your body.
- 6
Sleep more – your body cleanses itself whilst you are sleeping, so achieving good quality sleep, on a regular basis, will help you naturally detox. Maintain a healthy bedtime routine by avoiding blue light from screens during the 90 minutes before bed, and avoiding stimulants like alcohol and caffeine in the evening which interfere with sleep quality and duration. Try an Epsom salt bath to help relax your muscles and encourage the brain to produce stress-reducing sleep-inducing neurotransmitters.
- 7
Stress less – easier said than done in our hectic, fast-paced modern lives where we often are pressured with myriad demands on our time. Find ways to build micro-moments into your daily life to focus on breathing. Taking a couple of minutes to breathe deeply every time you put the kettle on, or wash your hands, can help to activate your parasympathetic system and calm your body, naturally. Build time into your day to do something just for you, whether it is going for a walk, reading a book, talking to a friend or anything you enjoy. This can help aid relaxation and reduce stress levels.
- 8
Take a hot bath or enjoy a sauna – as well as being relaxing, this will increase blood flow and open up the pores of your skin, aiding the detoxification process. If you have a hot bath or sauna, be mindful that you will need to replace water you lose from sweating with extra hydration.
- 9
Kick the alcohol and tobacco – both are full of unhealthy toxins and not conducive to a healthy lifestyle. Excessive alcohol and tobacco use can result in an overload of toxins that your body will struggle to effectively eliminate.
- 10
Choose non-toxic products – common household cleaning products can release hazardous toxic VOCs (volatile organic compounds) which can contaminate the quality of indoor air, damage the respiratory system and negatively impact other areas of your health. There is an abundance of natural based, fragrance free, cleaning products available today, or you could try making your own with natural, and effective, substances such as vinegar, baking soda and lemon. Choose personal hygiene products carefully and look for natural, chemical-free products. Avoid using plastics – phthalates are semi-volatile organic compounds found in many plastic products, and they can leach into food, water supply and the air you breathe, and disrupt the endocrine system, which regulates the release of hormones and controls numerous aspects of optimal functioning.
Takeaway
If you would like to find out more about optimising your health through detoxification, our Amchara retreats are designed to help you detoxify both physically and mentally.
There are many different approaches to detoxifying your body, and at Amchara we offer a range of fasting options to boost your detox, which you can choose from in consultation with our Personalised Health practitioners, to ensure you are choosing the option that is appropriate for your health circumstances and goals.
On an Amchara health retreat you will be immersed in a supportive and nurturing environment, combining a Functional Medicine and naturopathy approach, that enables you to switch off, relax and kickstart your health journey.
Our Personalised Health practitioners will support you, recommending positive, sustainable lifestyle choices tailored to your individual health circumstances and goals, and empower you to ‘Change for Good’.
