How to quickly and easily herbal detox your body.

Step 1.  Herbal Detox Your Body

Stop adding toxins to your system.  I know this sounds plainly obvious but many people don’t know how much of their toxicity is their own doing.  So, I’ll list out the major causes.

• Stop Smoking – stop hanging around areas where others smoke.  Sometimes easier said than done, but smoke is one of the most pervasive toxins around.  If you need help stopping, join a program like this one Stop Smoking or seek help from a medical professional.
• Stop Drinking Alcohol – I’m well aware that it is a natural product consumed for centuries.  It is also very taxing on the largest organ in your body, the liver.  Alcohol is a toxin and must be metabolized in the liver.  Drinking is directly contrary to a detox program.
• Stop Eating Processed Food – generally speaking, if it comes from the supermarket in a box, its processed – don’t buy it, don’t eat it.  Exceptions are things like oatmeal.  Come to think of it, that’s the only one that comes to mind.  (Things like rice in a box is processed.  Brown rice usually comes in a bag.)
• Stop Eating Meat and Dairy Products – they are the most difficult to digest foods you can eat (other than processed foods like hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup – both are extremely nasty to your body).  You don’t want to eat anything that will hinder the digestive process.
• Stop Eating Wheat Products – most people have a low level allergic reaction to gluten, for some it is severe.  Since most wheat products are processed, they should already be on your ‘avoid’ list.

Step 2.  Herbal Detox Your Body

Eat lightly.  Herbal teas, vegetable broths and fresh juices (both fruit and vegetable, combined if you wish) should make up your first day’s food choices.  Slowly reintroduce salads, steamed vegetables and whole grains (brown rice, lentils, beans and even wheat in the form of wheat berries or bulghar).  These foods are not calorie dense (you can eat a lot of them) and are high in fiber.  Remember, the idea is to get the digestive system operating efficiently.

Drink plenty of water.  The high fiber content of the foods you are reintroducing require a lot of water.

Step 3.  Herbal Detox Your Body

Drink teas made with herbs that enhance the functions of the organs which eliminate the waste from your system.  Those organs are the liver, the skin, the kidneys (and bladder) and the colon/bowels.

You’ll find a list of herbs and what organs they enhance on this page.  Make your own teas or buy them pre-blended.

You could also take the herbs in powder or pill form.  If so, take with meals.

Step 4.  Herbal Detox Your Body

By drinking a lot of water and eating fiber rich foods, you will be eliminating toxins via your kidneys and liver (via the colon).  Now, we’ll get the other major organs involved.

Breathe deeply and purposefully and sweat a lot. I don’t mean ‘exercise.’   In any other context, this would mean ‘exercise’ but you will be on a low calorie diet for at least three days.  What I do mean for you is to exercise your lungs and lymphic system by doing some deep breathing exercises.  Don’t get dizzy or faint but really use your lungs.

Spend some time in a sauna or steam room if you have the opportunity to do so.  If not, take some diaphoretic herbs which induce perspiration.

Step 5.  Herbal Detox Your Body

Ending your diet.  Slowly re-introduce heavier foods.  After spending three to ten days on this diet, begin returning to your ‘normal’ diet.  Reintroduce easy to digest proteins in small amounts like white fleshed fish, egg whites and poultry before moving on to red meats.

Be mindful of foods which contain toxins – grilled meats, alcohol, sugar, etc.  Your body can digest these but, obviously, the lower the quantity, the less difficulty your system will encounter.

Preparing for an herbal detoxification should be no more difficult than gathering the required ingredients, some easily digestible (preferably vegetarian) broths and food and enough time to go through the process with limited stress to your body, i.e., stop exercising, and be prepared to rest.  This is a recuperative process, after all.

Now, how much time you need?  The more time you can spend, the better, but one complete 24 hour period is the minimum amount of time you should be prepared to spend.

What you will be doing is eliminating toxins that have built up over time due to environmental factors, food processing agents and any other chemicals you may have absorbed or ingested in the past.  These foreign substenses are regularly filtered out of your system and broken down in the kidneys, gall bladder, liver and colon.

Herbal detox products are designed to strengthen intestinal muscles, improve  digestion and generally remove  harmful materials in your gall bladder and liver in addition to eliminating any intestinal parasites.

The simplest method for undergoing an herbal detox is to have your herbs prepared as detoxifying tea.  This way, you can drink them all day long.  They are generally mild tasting and your body will benefit from a continual lower dose of herbs over a long period of time as opposed to a powder or pill once or twice a day.

You will also find herbal extracts.  These are prepared very much the same way as spice extracts, like vanilla.  These should be avoided because the preparation method involves steeping the herb or spice in alcohol, which should be avoided during this time.

In the very simplest of terms a detox involves consuming only natural products (i.e., not adding any toxins) while eating and drinking those products that will help you eliminate toxic buildups.

So, a simple diet of vegetables and broths with whole grains for fiber is a perfect way to start.  Add some psyllium for extra fiber which both fills the stomach, reducing hunger, and aids in evacuation.

Some common herbs in the detox process are dandelion root and milk thistle for liver detox.  Juniper berries help the entire ‘waste-water’ system detoxifying the kidnewy, bladder and urinary tract.  (And you thought it was just a flavoring for gin!)

Burdock root is thought to aid in ridding the body of heavy metals an is used to clean out the lymphic system.

Reference to gin aside, alcohol should be avoided while detoxifying.  That only makes sense, right?

However you go about your herbal detoxification, drink plenty of water.  It is the most natural way to flush out your system.  You should notice an increase in your energy and vitality in as little as 24 hours.  However, it is recommended you stick with a detoxification program for a few days to let the benefits of the herbs really take effect.