Did you overindulge at Christmas? Have you put on a few pounds? Or are you just feeling generally yucky? The good news is you don’t have to do a drastic detox or “water fast” to start feeling tip-top again. Here are our top health tips to help you get back on track.
Is Your Body Sending You an SOS?
Low energy, excess weight, brain fog, low immunity, digestive discomfort, and skin problems are all symptoms that could be a cry for help from an over-toxed body. When toxicity builds up in the body, it can also have psychological effects, making us feel weighed down, lethargic and demotivated.
“Detoxification” is the removal, or flushing out, of “poisons” from the body. Every single minute of our lives, our bodies work hard to clear the toxins we absorb through the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. These include preservatives, pesticides, stimulants, and heavy metals. They create problems in insidious ways, such as inflammation and oxidative damage. We can easily get overloaded, especially if our diet lacks certain nutrients or we have overindulged during the festive season. It is easy to see why your body may need some extra help, and our top health tips are on hand to help.
Here Are Our Top Health Tips for the New Year
Drink Plenty of Water
To kickstart our top health tips, we’re focusing on good hydration. Aim for around 2.5 litres of water daily, and filtered is best. This will help wash toxins from your entire system and keep your kidneys functioning optimally. Why not start the day with a glass of lemon water? It will help alkalise and stabilise your body’s pH level. It helps improve digestion and detoxifies the liver.
Be Aware of Your Toxic Load
Pollutants like car exhaust fumes, cigarette smoke, formaldehyde, aluminium from cookware, BPA and phthalates from plastics, chemical cleaning products, pesticides and food additives constantly bombard us. Our lungs, skin and digestive systems are highly absorbent, and any chemicals you’re exposed to will find their way into your bloodstream, tissues and cells. Don’t forget our bodies create toxins, too, such as ammonia and urea from protein metabolism, metabolites from used hormones, or those produced by bacteria in the gut.
The first step to improving your toxicity is avoiding chemical toxins, so check for them in skincare lotions and household or garden products. Avoid ultra-processed foods and additives, preservatives or colourings.
Focus on the Liver
The liver is the master detox organ, eliminating toxins in two phases. First, they’re broken down into intermediates, which can often be even more toxic, so ensuring the next phase is working efficiently is essential. In the second phase, a protective compound binds to the intermediate, neutralising it and making it easier to excrete.
To support the liver, include plenty of cruciferous vegetables, onions, garlic, leeks, carrots, vitamin C-rich food like oranges and red peppers, asparagus, avocado, nuts, especially almonds and walnuts, legumes, and beans. Artichoke and turmeric can help increase bile production and help to eliminate neutralised toxins effectively.
Make Every Mouthful Count
It is important to ensure the food is nourishing and rich in nutrients. Include various coloured vegetables, low-sugar fruit, healthy fats like avocados, olive oil, good quality proteins, beans, pulses, wild fish, and organic meats.
Watermelon is a great fruit for detox as it is an excellent diuretic, ridding your body of toxins through urine. Watermelon contains citrulline, which removes ammonia from the body, and arginine, which regulates blood flow.
Support your bowel by ensuring you get a good amount of fibre in the diet. Include plenty of vegetables, stewed apples, prunes and figs.
Fasting
Fasting has been a buzzword for the last few years. It actually has a long tradition of use for spiritual and health benefits. The great news is that it doesn’t have to be extreme water or juice fasting to reap amazing health benefits. Intermittent fasting is growing in popularity. There are several different ways to do this, including alternate day fasting, 5:2 (two days of restricted calories a week), or time-restricted eating (fasting for 18 or 16 hours and eating during a six or eight-hour window).
Although all these methods tend to involve reduced calorie consumption, weight loss is not the main driver. It is something called “metabolic switching”. This is what happens when we deprive our bodies of food. We use up our sugar stores and switch to using fats or ketones for fuel. The benefits can range from improved glucose regulation, protection against oxidative damage, and even lessening inflammation.
Join a Motivational Group
There are all kinds of January challenges that can help you reset behaviour patterns. If alcohol has become a regular thing, consider “Dry January” to help break the habit. Or “Veganuary,” eating only plant-based foods can help you get your diet back on track. Exercise or activity challenges can help you banish the winter blues and improve fitness at the same time.
Get Moving
Aim for half an hour of aerobic exercise every single day. A brisk walk outdoors in the fresh air is ideal. It helps get the blood pumping around your body, taking oxygen into the tissues and removing waste products. Breathing more deeply and rapidly allows us to excrete toxins through our lungs, and sweating helps eliminate them through our skin.
Add a Bit of Self-Love
Adding self-love to our top health tips is essential. Why not start the day with some simple stretching and deep breathing exercises? Support your skin and try an exfoliating skin rub or dry skin brushing, and use a loofah or pumice stone in the bath. Book a massage for some relaxation time. Consider joining a yoga, pilates or tai chi class.
Supplement Support
We’ve included some supplement recommendations as part of our top health tips to support your diet and lifestyle.
A multivitamin and mineral supplement can be helpful to ensure you are getting all the nutrients you need on a daily basis.
Glutathione is the master antioxidant found in every cell, and it protects against free radicals, plays an essential role in detoxification and supports healthy liver and intestinal tract function. A NAC supplement is a good way to support glutathione production during this time.
Probiotics support a healthy microbiome and can help optimise the elimination of everyday toxins.
Don’t Despair
To summarise our top health tips, it is important to remember not to despair, but now is the time to draw a line under unhealthy behaviour and make a fresh start. You can make many small changes to ease your way into the new year and enjoy a happy and healthy 2024.
Product Recommendations
