Feel like you need to do a detox after indulging in excesses during the holidays? Me too.
With all the festive foods and drinks, a lot of us are ready for a healthy reset, but juice fasts, detox diets and any other quick fixes you may have seen on TikTok aren’t the best way to go about it. The thing is, there’s not much evidence that they actually work and some even do more harm than good.
Fortunately, our bodies are really good at cleansing themselves naturally and these are some simple — maybe even boring — things we can do to help them along.
- Eat more fiber - Pretty much everyone needs to do this, as 97% of men and 90% of women in the U.S. don’t get the suggested daily intake and most Americans eat less than half of what's recommended. Fiber helps move things along in our system and can even bind to toxins and other substances, helping to remove them effectively. So load up on fruits, veggies and nuts to boost your fiber intake.
- Drink more water - It helps the kidneys and liver get rid of toxins and being even mildly dehydrated can make that tougher to do. Plain old water is great, but lower-fat milk and drinks without sugar, including coffee and tea, all count toward your fluid intake.
- Help your lungs - There are products that claim to cleanse your lungs, but the American Lung Association warns against using these, as some can be dangerous. The lungs are naturally self-cleaning, but you can support this by quitting vaping or smoking, keeping indoor air as clean as possible and using a HEPA vacuum cleaner to reduce dust and allergens.
- Enjoy your sleep - While we snooze, an “influx of fluid” flushes through the spaces around our brain cells to get rid of waste. This “brain washing” helps eliminate the bad stuff we don’t need, but if you’re not sleeping well or getting enough, this can’t happen the way it’s supposed to, which can slow down our cognitive abilities.
- Stay active - You can’t sweat out the toxins, but exercise can help the body get rid of them. Hot yoga, saunas and working out in heated studios are trendy, but scientists are skeptical that you can actually sweat out toxins. But research does show that exercise boosts blood flow to the kidneys and liver, which helps them filter waste more effectively.
Source: BBC
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