Creating a nontoxic environment and lifestyle are essential for optimal health. At the same time, no matter how pristine your environment, your body still needs to detoxify on daily basis. There are a number of powerful and effective ways of assisting your body in the process of purification. These practices will support your overall health and well-being, while helping you to feel younger and more vibrantly alive.

Cleansing Principle # 1: Detoxify with Herbs

Herbs have been used for centuries for cleansing and detoxification. All traditional systems of healing include specific herbs to aid in purification of the body. These herbs are generally used as part of a cleansing program one or more times a year to keep the body in optimal health. Cleansing herbs are also prescribed during times of sickness to help the body to recover from disease. By supporting the organs of elimination, herbs facilitate the process of purification.

Purifying herbs stimulate the elimination of wastes, increase urination, encourage perspiration, stimulate circulation, enhance immune functioning, cleanse excess mucus from the lungs and intestines, and improve digestion. A balanced herbal cleansing program supports each organ system of detoxification—the large intestine, the liver, the kidneys, the lymphatic system, the skin, and the lungs. Herbal cleansing formulas are also designed to ameliorate any possible side effects of cleansing. During a cleansing program, it’s helpful to use a variety of herbs both internally and externally to aid your body in the process of detoxification.

Herbal Beauty

Cleansing Principle #2: Eat a Cleansing Diet

The dietary choices you make play a critical role in your program of detoxification. A purifying diet is based primarily on fresh, organic vegetables and fruits. Vegetables and fruits have the greatest cleansing power of any foods. They are rich in fiber, which helps to sweep out intestinal debris. They also are the most abundant food sources of vitamins and minerals, particularly the protective antioxidants which help to neutralize free-radical damage. Free radicals are unstable molecules that damage healthy cells and cause disease and premature aging. By saturating your tissues and cells with antioxidants from fresh vegetables and fruits, you can help your body prevent and repair free-radical damage.

Cleansing diets are most effective when they are designed for your particular body type and current health condition. Other factors, such as the climate you live in, should also be taken into consideration. For example, while a juice fast may be a healthy choice for a person living in Florida who is overweight and eats a diet rich in meats and fats, the same fast would be disastrous for a vegetarian living in New England in the winter. Fasting is the most intense cleansing diet and is not appropriate for everyone. Cleansing diets should be purifying without being debilitating. In general, a gentle, gradual approach to detoxification results in deeper cleansing than a more radical program.

Along with an abundance of vegetables and fruits, detoxification diets can include nourishing soups, whole grains, healthy oils such as olive oil and flax oil, and moderate amounts of lean proteins, including animal protein for people who need extra nourishment.

Foods to avoid while on a purification program include fatty foods, excessive protein, excessive salt, sweets, refined and processed foods, flour products, and dairy products. These foods tend to create stagnation in the body, and are best abstained from during a cleanse.

While cleansing, focus on making foods light, nourishing, and easy to digest. Also practice conscious awareness at meals so that you are eating when you are hungry and stopping before you are full. This promotes the healthy development of digestive fire, or agni, as it is referred to in Ayurvedic medicine. Agni not only stimulates digestion, but also burns up toxic accumulations in the digestive tract. Liquid intake is important during a detoxification program. Drinking plenty of pure water and cleansing herbal teas stimulates kidney function and helps to flush wastes out of the body.

Certain dietary supplements are also useful as part of a cleansing program. I especially recommend taking antioxidants such as vitamin C, which helps to stimulate detoxification, and herbs that support healthy liver function, such as milk thistle.

Cleansing Principle #3: Exercise to Enhance Detoxification

Exercise is an essential component of a detoxification program. Regular exercise increases circulation, which stimulates blood flow throughout the body and brings nutrients and oxygen to cells while carrying away toxins. The contraction of muscles is also the primary mechanism by which lymphatic fluid is moved through the lymphatic channels. Walking, bicycling, swimming, and dancing are excellent whole body exercises that stimulate circulation and lymphatic flow.

Cultivate the habit of moving as much as possible in your life. Look for every opportunity to enjoy the beautiful body that you have been blessed with. Your body craves movement, and becomes sluggish without daily exercise. Exercise promotes healthy digestion and intestinal function, enhances immune activity, keeps muscles toned and bones strong, improves mental functioning, and relieves stress and anxiety. Regular daily exercise is your best insurance for a long and healthy life. Give yourself the gift of at least 30 minutes of exercise daily, and take frequent exercise breaks throughout the day. In only 5 or 10 minutes, you can refresh your body and mind with a quick walk or a few stretching exercises. Gentle aerobic exercise such as walking oxygenates the body and alleviates stagnation. Stretching exercises and yoga open up the subtle channels of energy flow and stimulate healthy organ function.

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