The Detox Diary
Tuesday, October 29, 2013, 8:00am
Katherine Gallagher, Communications
Practitioner for Whole Foods
Pollutants. They’re everywhere. They’re in the foods we eat,
the air we breathe, and the products we use, and yes the drinks we drink, including
water. All of these factors are a gateway to ingesting harmful toxins and
chemicals that can affect our overall health and well-being. How have you been
feeling these days physically and mentally? All of these factors can contribute
to how we feel including depression, anxiety, bloating, stress, insomnia,
headaches, weight gain, and the list goes on. Many of these factors we can
control like living a vegan
lifestyle, buying everyday organic products and food, and drinking filtered
water. There are many environmental uncontrollable factors, though, that can be
hazardous to our overall health.
There is a way to rid our body of these chemicals to
guarantee a happier, healthier, and longer life. Detoxification. Why does this
word scare or intrigue you? A detoxification or detox for short also known as a
cleanse is a complete removal process ridding the body of toxins that can
negatively affect our overall health and well-being. Many people feel that a
complete body and mind detox are costly techniques that don’t really benefit
us. Our health expert and spokesperson for Whole Foods, Dr. Robert Fletcher, M.D.,
is an advocate for detoxification programs and encourages a true mental and
physical detoxification be done at least twice a year. Some detox programs are
costly and quite extreme but there are many simple, easy and cost-efficient
detox programs that can still give you that deep cleanse to feel better without
spending an arm and a leg. Whole Foods swears by these two detox programs.
Ready to reboot your system? Let’s do it!
Raw Eating The Right Way: Three-Day Raw Food/Juice
Cleanse Challenge
A
raw food/juice cleanse you replace all your regular meals with raw food such as
vegetables and fruit and freshly squeezed fruit and veggie juices for three
days. Cutting out all solid foods and eating raw food and drinking only these
power juices will give your digestive system a break, detoxify your body, give
your skin a glow, and boost your immune system. You can buy a cleanse at any
local Whole Foods. Here are some helpful tips on what to do before, after and
tips on how to survive your cleanse:
Pre-Cleanse:
Many
of you might be thinking that your body might not be able to handle drinking
six bottles of juice and raw food a day for three days straight. Try eating mostly
a raw, vegan diet for three days before and after your cleanse to ease your body
and mind into this process. Load up on fruits, veggies, soup, lentils, and
brown rice. Also try and break your daily coffee routine and switch to tea
instead. Green tea is a fabulous antioxidant and can do wonders for your body.
Getting at least eight hours of sleep the night before the cleanse starts also
helps you not feel tired throughout it.
Day One Through
Three:
Start your day off by waking up at a
half decent time. Remember to refrain from any extreme exercising during your
cleanse. Your body will be going through a deep detoxification process so even
just going on a refreshing walk can still help give you that boost of energy
you need to get through your day. Also remember to drink A LOT of water during
your cleanse to keep yourself hydrated as your body is working hard to purify
itself from all the toxins. Figs, vanilla bean, and almonds, which is a great
source of protein. My personal favourite would have to be the pineapple,
apricot, and coconut water smoothie. So delicious! Try and eat and drink every
two hours to sustain yourself and to fight cravings.
Post Cleanse:
I guarantee that you will feel
cleaner, healthier, refreshed and rejuvenated. Try and stick to a vegan diet
for three days after finishing the cleanse and eventually go back to your regular,
but HEALTHY diet.
Happy, Healthy, and
Hot Yoga
Another amazing way to fully detoxify both the
physical and mental body is hot yoga. Hot yoga is a series of poses and deep
meditation techniques that stretches, strengthens and tones the muscles while
detoxifying the body and calming the mind. Each posture is held for about a
minute; this allows the skin to sweat and detoxify the body. Some benefits to
practicing hot yoga on a regular basis are mental clarity, insomnia,
improvement of poor posture, digestion, constipation, scoliosis, pain due to
headaches, arthritis, and overall it can help with depression, anxiety, and
stress. If you have practiced hot yoga, how did you feel physically and
mentally?
What To Bring:
• Yoga mat
• Large and small towel
• Water
What To Wear:
• Minimal clothing is
suggested seeing that the room is heated and you will sweat a lot!
What To Eat/Drink:
• Eat a light snack
• Avoid eating heavy meals
• Avoid any caffeine
• Stay hydrated! Drink lots of water before,
during, and after your yoga practice
Detoxification can do wonders for the body leaving you feeling younger,
happier, and healthier. If you’re an experienced detox guru what other detox
programs have you tried? How did you feel after it was complete?
