You may have already heard of detoxing—a buzzword in today’s health and beauty industry. Detoxification is the process of cleansing your body to remove harmful toxins. Centuries ago, people used fasting as a way of getting rid of those toxins, but today, there are multiple ways you can achieve this. Dozens of companies advertise different ways to cleanse your inner self, and these various detoxification methods are used by millions around the world every year. Still, if you’re new to the world of detox, embarking on your first detox mission can be scary and confusing. Here’s what you need to know: 
What is detoxification, exactly?
As previously mentioned, you detox to rid your body of harmful chemicals. The body can achieve this through urine, sweat, feces, and more. But the truth is, detoxes aren’t just about getting rid of toxins, but what happens when those harmful chemicals are eliminated. Ultimately, they can improve your health, overall mood, and even promote weight loss.
Furthermore, it’s important to understand what “toxins” are in the context of your body. The truth is, we’re surrounded by and absorb synthetic chemicals, processed foods, and pollutants on a daily basis. Each of these things have a negative impact on our health. We all put harmful things into our body, even when we aren’t doing so intentionally. The first step you should take is addressing your daily consumption habits and understanding the role it plays in the flow and function of your internal organs.
How can you naturally detox?
There are several ways you can approach the detoxification process. A quick search for detox methods and you’ll be met with a barrage of results. However, generally speaking, you should avoid gimmicky “detox” shakes and cleanses with clever marketing campaigns. This is because, generally speaking, our bodies do a fairly decent job of naturally detoxing our bodies.
Our internal systems help clear waste materials and prevent the accumulation of those harmful toxins. Of course, poor lifestyle choices, genetic weaknesses, and polluted environments thwart our body’s effort to do its job. Rather than honing in on the strict and rigid nature of detox cleanses and shakes, it’s better to use more natural methods to detox at home.
There are several ways you can naturally detox, and many of these methods are much easier than you think. For example, limiting alcohol consumption is an excellent detoxification method. The vast majority of alcohol is metabolized in your liver. Too much drinking could affect your liver’s ability to efficiently eliminate toxins that come from alcohol. And when it cannot filter out these toxins, it results in fat buildup, inflammation, and even scarring.
Drinking a healthy amount of water is another great way to aid detoxification. Water removes waste products (through sweat, urination, and breathing), helps aid digestion, and lubricates your joints.
You’ll also have to change your dietary habits, eliminating artificial sugars and adding antioxidant-rich foods. Processed food and sugar are among the biggest issues in the health world today. Highly processed and sugary foods hinder your body’s ability to naturally detoxify by harming the organs that aid the detoxification process. For instance, if you drink too many sugary substances, it causes fatty liver buildup, which hurts liver function. Try replaced junk and processed with fruits and vegetables instead.
Foods rich in antioxidants help protect your cells against radicals, which contribute to heart and liver disease, and various types of cancer. Vegetables, green tea, berries, and much more have rich antioxidant properties.
Ensuring that your body gets its proper dosage of vitamins is also an important part of detoxing. Although you should get the majority of your vitamins naturally (too many supplements can be counterproductive), you should also consider an IV vitamin therapy drip. These IV drips work by focusing on the liver—the powerhouse of your detoxification system. Unlike oral supplements, with IV therapy, 100% of minerals, vitamins, and nutrients are absorbed directly into the body—nourishing it at a much deeper cellular level.
Reduce your cravings with detoxes
One of the biggest benefits of a detox is that it can reduce your cravings to encourage long-term changes in your diet and daily lifestyle. Case in point: some studies have shown that sugar is actually 8x more addictive than cocaine. This biologically addictive substance is difficult to separate from. It takes much more than willpower to simple eliminate sugar; when you embark on a detox, you work hard to cut it out of your life. As your body flushes out toxins from your regular diets and habits, you naturally work towards curbing cravings that are ultimately harmful to you.
