How do you know if you need to detox?

Feeling as if you need to detox, is often disregarded by the mainstream medical profession, as being ‘in your head’, or as ‘hypochondria’, and even as ‘depression’.

It is none of those things. It is a very real condition, often brought on by exposure to a wide variety of toxins.

The body has simply reached a point of tremendous toxic burden, so the symptoms of muscle aches and fatigue, are natural, under the circumstances.

Sadly, many doctors will say that it is not possible to detox, and dismiss this concept as a New Age myth.

So I was thrilled to be featured in the Huffington Post, as saying:

“Some other alternatives to lend your system a hand, are special diets, like seven days of raw food, ten days of brown rice.

Nevertheless, according to Janice Rosenthal, Certified Massage Therapist and Lecturer in holistic living, “While these cleanses are great ways to give your organs a much-needed rest, they do not address the deeper areas of the body in desperate need of a true detoxification.

For that, there are a variety of programs, which deliver fantastic results, and each one can take three weeks or more to complete”.

Some of these methods are: the Candida Diet, Anti-Parasite Cleanse, Heavy Metal Detox, and the Obesogen Detox.”

 

What are the most common ways to detox?

People are under the illusion that detoxification of the body is simple. The mainstream concept of a detox, has come about as a result of binging on alcohol or junk food. The detox from that, would therefore be to refrain from alcohol and junk food, and to assist this process, using any number of ‘cleanses’, that have been designed. We are given a variety of cleanses to choose from – from seven days of raw food, to ten days of brown rice, or how about one day of nothing but fruit and vegetable juice, from a juice extractor.

While these cleanses are great ways to give your organs a much-needed rest, they are not a long term solution, and they do not address the deeper areas of the body, which are in desperate need of a true detoxification.

 

Is it really possible to detox in a few days?

A true detox can never occur in a few days, which is why weekend detox retreats are not really a long term detox. All you can achieve in a few days, is to give your body a break, from the usual assault on the liver and kidneys. This is a good thing, but should not be thought of as a final ‘cleanse.’

Since the true cause of feeling awful is toxic burden, there are a variety of detoxification programs, which deliver fantastic results, and each one can take three weeks or more, to complete. They are:

A. The Candida Diet – healing leaky gut syndrome.

B. The Anti-Parasite Cleanse.

C. The Heavy Metal Detox.

D. The Obesogen Detox.

E. The Raw Foods and Vegan Diet.

All of the above programs could be done, and in the above order.

Take a break of one or two months in between each program, before starting the next program.

 

A. The Candida Diet

If you suffer from persistent acne, unexplained rashes, allergies, recurring vaginal or bladder infections, strange muscle aches, fatigue, fibromyalgia, headaches, ADHD, arthritis, mood swings, respiratory infections, asthma, eczema, psoriasis, thyroid imbalance, auto-immune disorders, Type 1 diabetes, or digestive disorders such as IBS or constipation, you may have Candida, currently known as leaky gut syndrome. What might all of these ailments have in common?

The answer is: By having taken antibiotics, your beneficial intestinal flora, have been killed off, along with the bacteria, which the antibiotics were targeting.

Intestinal flora’s function is to break down food, into substances which can be assimilated.

So if you have no or low flora, you are not assimilating much from the food you eat. For example, you could eat ten oranges, and hardly absorb any vitamin C.

So what happens when your body absorbs almost no nutrients? Well, it cannot perform a wide variety of healing and detoxifying functions, hence the acne, bladder infections, and muscle aches begin.

Beneficial intestinal flora can also be greatly reduced by:

antibiotics

prolonged medications or drugs

excess alcohol

extreme stress, lasting over a period of time

toxins in pesticides (found on all non-organic food)

toxic residues in tap water (everyone should use a water filter, as there are 2,000 chemicals in tap water.)

For a complete list of foods and supplements needed to do this cleanse, read The Candida Diet.

 

B. The Anti-Parasite Cleanse

There are several causes for fatigue, and playing host to a parasite can certainly produce the symptoms of muscle aches and exhaustion.

Anyone can get parasites. It is estimated that half the population is living with some kind of parasite in their gut. You can get it from any pig product, meat, raw seafood (sushi), and even lettuce. It can be ingested by drinking unclean water in certain foreign countries.

Different species of parasites produce different symptoms. Certain types of parasites cause symptoms so similar to fibromyalgia, that it would be an obvious choice to try the parasite cleanse.

For more information on how to do this cleanse, read Natural Cures to Eliminate Parasites.

 

C. The Heavy Metal Detox

Heavy metals can enter the body via:

Dental procedures: The International Center for Nutritional Research Inc, has this to say “Dental amalgam fillings slowly leak mercury, tin, silver, copper and sometimes nickel. All of these metals have various degrees of toxicity. A fairly large mercury filling contains enough mercury to kill a child if given as a single dose!

The most common symptoms caused by amalgam fillings are:

• Chronic fatigue.
• Tendency to chronic inflammatory changes – rheumatoid arthritis, phlebitis, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome.

Seafoods high in mercury: Some examples are king mackerel, swordfish, tuna, and canned ‘white’ albacore.

Dental injections: The dentist Michael Goldman, states that “the most commonly used type of injected local anesthetic  breaks down into anilines, which are reportedly the main carcinogens found in tobacco.” One dental anesthetic exposes you to the equivalent of hundreds of cigarettes.

Vaccines: The National Vaccine Center says “Thimerosal, which contains the organic compound ethyl mercury, is a known neurotoxin and used to be a major ingredient in childhood vaccines. A growing number of physicians, scientists and parents maintain that thimerosal has played, and continues to play a large role in contributing to the emergence of multiple chronic illnesses in children and adults, including the neurological spectrum disorders.”

Tap water: From one of hundreds of University hospitals and Geology departments, comes the statement “Diseases are apparently related to drinking water with heavy metals such as Lead, Cadmium, Copper, Molybdenum, Nickel, and Chromium. Renal failure is related to drinking water with lead and cadmium, liver cirrhosis to copper and molybdenum, hair loss to nickel and chromium, and chronic anemia to copper and cadmium.”

For more info on tap water contents, read why water is not safe to drink, unless it is purified, or unless it is spring water from a verified, pure source.

Cigarettes: MDPI states “The presence of trace amounts of metals in tobacco smoke has been known for some time. Those most commonly associated with health effects include arsenic, cadmium, chromium, nickel, and lead.”

A toxic burden is placed on lungs, by smoking cigarettes, because over 4,000 chemical compounds are created by burning a cigarette, many of which are toxic and / or carcinogenic (causes cancer).

Carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen cyanide and ammonia, are all present in cigarette smoke. The Surgeon General states that there are 69 known carcinogens in cigarette smoke.

The Institute of Medicine estimates that smoking a pack and a half of cigarettes per day, exposes a person to the same radiation as having 2,000 chest X-rays every year. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) classifies secondhand smoke as a Group A carcinogen.

 

How to do a Heavy Metal Detox

This is the simplest of all detoxes. Avoid ingesting anything in the list above, and take the following supplements, which bind and excrete heavy metals form the cells:

I was honored to have been quoted in Honey Colony as saying:

“According to Janice Rosenthal, the founder of Garden Essences, seaweed is also highly beneficial when ingested, because it contains iodine. This helps to rid the body of a substance she says few people know is a heavy metal: fluoride.

Rosenthal says, “Loading the body with iodine displaces fluoride from cell receptors and flushes the fluoride out of the body in urine.”

Chlorella, organic, broken cell chlorella, in order for it to truly penetrate the cells – 200 mg to 500 mg per day.

Cordyceps, organic – must be taken with Chlorella, to assist the body in removing the loosened heavy metals – 500 mg per day.

Cilantro extract, organic – prevents the loosened heavy metals from depositing themselves in other cells – 400 mg per day.

N-Acetyl-Cysteine – one of the most powerful liver detoxification supplements available – 600 mg per day.

 

D. The Obesogen Detox

Obesogens are chemicals we ingest which disrupt our hormonal system, which in turn can lead one in the direction of obesity. Whether one reaches full obesity or not, the symptoms of obesity begin to manifest as: weight gain, fatigue, reproductive disorders, and many more symptoms related to endocrine disruption. Some major source of obesogens are:

Xenoestrogens: These are found in antibiotics, phthalates in certain plastic containers and air fresheners.

Pesticides: There are thousands of pesticides sprayed on food, of special note, atrazine and DDE, but research ‘The Dirty Dozen’ to see that even the FDA does not want you to eat these 12 toxic foods, unless they are organic.

BPA: This plastic is in some hard plastic bottles, which hold sports drinks, and  in linings of canned foods, unless the label says BPA free. BPA has been banned in baby bottles. Plastics have triangular markings imprinted within the plastic, so avoid plastics with the number 3 or 7 on the bottom, which may leach BPA. Instead look for the numbers 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6, which are unlikely to contain BPA.

BSA: This became the replacement for BPA, when the truth about BPA came out. However, it is just as bad as BPA.  If in doubt, read your bottle manufacturer’s website, or write to them. Crystal Geyser wrote back to me, to inform me that their water bottles contain neither BPA nor BSA.

PFOA: THE MAIN INGREDIENT IN TEFLON COOKWARE, WHICH LEACHES INTO THE BODY, every time you cook on it. It is a known carcinogen.

PVC: Found in cling-wrapped meats, cheeses, and other plastic-wrapped foods. Also in the pipes leading to your faucet. Water Purifier is essential.

Polystyrene / styrofoam: This chemical leaches into your take-out coffee, and other drinks.

Meat, eggs, and cheese: All animals are given massive doses of Growth Hormone to increase their mass, which equals higher profits. So, only eat dairy stating “no BGH” on the label, or you will also get ‘fattened up’ too. Labels stating “Organic and no BGH” are even better.

High fructose corn syrup: HFCS is now in almost every type of packaged food, due to it being far cheaper to manufacture than sugar. Studies have found that regular consumption of hfcs will double your chances of becoming obese. High fructose corn syrup is not corn, nor is it fruit. Yes, it is derived from corn, but then the glucose in the starch is chemically converted into syrup. By the time you eat it, it is a chemical not a food. Due to the bad press HFCS has received, BE AWAR that companies producing HFCS have been granted permission to use the following terms on labels: corn syrup, fructose.

Tap water: Fluoride is only slightly less toxic than arsenic. Heavy metals are leached from pipes, and enter the faucet, Modern plumbing comprises PVC piping, which is a source of obesogens.

 

How to Detox from Obesogens

Obviously, you would avoid all the items on the above list. Secondly, the supplements most effective in removing obesogens from your cells, are:

reishi extract / tamarind extract / curcumin / calcium D-Glucarate / greens powders containing a blend of: wheat grass, alfalfa grass, barley grass, spirulina, chlorella, kelp, and cruciferous vegetable powders.

 

E) Vegan and Raw Foods Diet

This is the simplest diet of all, and only takes a week. For one week, give your inner organs a rest, and detox by giving up meat, chicken, fish, eggs, and dairy.

Eat lots of raw and cooked vegetables, and as much fruit and fruit juice as you like. Any whole plant foods are allowed, such as nuts, seeds, legumes and whole grains.

Avoid alcohol, refined food, and foods containing sugar.

This is a diet about cleansing, so don’t beat yourself up if you eat a chocolate, now and then, or a slice or two of pizza. Its about steering in the majority direction of clean, whole foods.

This diet can be done, at any time, after completing the above four detoxes.

Or do it if the above detoxes seem too challenging to do, for the moment.

 

What should somebody do after detoxing in terms of diet and lifestyle?

After completing any of the above detoxes, the change in how you feel, is life-changing. Most people completely change their diet, after having become aware of how toxic our environment is. Some people, like me, are just so grateful for having been given a whole new life after detox, that it is hard to imagine going back to the old lifestyle of ignorance.

 

How to Book a Detox Spa Retreat to Suit your Needs

BookDetoxRetreats.com is the best source for booking your detox travel experience.

They are the largest detox travel website, with 264 organizers in 248 destinations in the world.

I was honored to have been featured in their post:

Kickstart a Healthier Life with a Detox Retreat – here is the extract in which I am quoted:

“Some other alternatives to lend your system a hand, are special diets like seven days of raw food, or ten days of brown rice.

Nevertheless, according to Janice Rosenthal, Certified Massage Therapist and Lecturer in holistic living, “While these cleanses are great ways to give your organs a much-needed rest, they do not address the deeper areas of the body in desperate need of a true detoxification. For that, there are a variety of programs, which deliver fantastic results, and each one can take three weeks or more to complete”.  

So contact them, and give yourself the detox you deserve, while enjoying a fine vacation, away from it all.

 

Article written by Janice Rosenthal

Owner gardenofessences.com and gardenofessences on etsy