How NOT to Detox

I have been on this healing journey for a few years now and it seems like every health professional out there is pushing some type of detox program. I have always been leery of this because detox can be painful and if it isn’t done correctly,  it can end being of very little benefit.

You see, when your body stores any toxins rather than regularly cleaning them out, it’s because your body got backed up. It’s like when the pile gets so big on the desk that the papers just start falling everywhere. The body does it’s best to protect itself  from that and instead stores those toxins in fat cells and other areas of the body. This is a defense mechanism done in order to keep you moving. When we do flush detoxes or any quick fix,  we often tell the body to dump all those toxins out of their hiding places. The thought is, if you can get them out of the cells,  then your body will push them out. Unfortunately, that isn’t necessarily the case. Often what happens is your body WILL push the waste out of the cells but then because the body wasn’t able to push them out the first time, and hasn’t really changed, the waste will go back into the cells.

Doing this will absolutely give you detox symptoms and it may even give quite a bit of relief. But it may be a lot of work and illness for only a small return. This is why I stay away from detox programs! I went  through a six month gluten detox  when I was first diagnosed with celiac and I never want to feel that way again.

For the last year or so,  I’ve been going through somewhat of an existential healing crisis.  Because of that,  I have been seeking out even more forms of medicine. The woman I am currently seeking advice from suggested I do a 4 day liquids-only fast in addition to doing a coffee enema twice a day. Now, if you know me at all…I would try anything to feel better and have energy. If for nothing else, just to be able to keep up with my kids. So I thought, it was time to try a fast and detox (first time for both,  I might add). But I was going to do it my way.

Detox The Right Way

I took 4 days to prepare. On the days leading up to the detox,  I stocked up on all the supplies I would need. And because I still have 4 other people to feed,  I had to plan for them too. But not only did I need to prepare my external world, I needed to prepare my body for what it was about to go through. Any time you are detoxing, major organ systems are going to need support. The digestive system has to be working optimally in order to digest all material and get it out of the body appropriately. The colon has to as clear as possible. In my opinion, the most important thing I needed to do was prepare my liver. I stocked up on my supplements: hydrochloric acid for my stomach, fiber for the colon, milk thistle for the liver, and herbs to prepare my body to get rid of anything it was holding onto. The coffee enemas were there to support the movement of toxins from the body. You can read more about those here.

This was not a strict fast, meaning I could have any liquids I wanted. I wanted this to be the most power-packed cleanse it could possibly be (I’m kind of “all or nothing” : cough cough: perfectionist). I prepped my drinks for the cleanse by making as much bone broth as I could fit in the fridge. I also made sure to have lemons, apple cider vinegar, and honey for a warm beverage in the evenings. Here is a recipe for that.

Each day of my fast,  I drank plenty of water, green tea, and my favorite drink: bone broth lattes. Bone broth helps to restore the minerals lost when detoxing or using a coffee enema. The latte had enough fat, calories and protein to sustain my normal daily activities. I felt minimal symptoms on the cleanse and continued to take my supplements the whole time. Afterwards, I gave myself this opportunity to have a clean start and started back with the best quality foods! Overall, it was an interesting experience and I think I will do it once or twice a year.

The take-away message here, I have been working on cleaning my body out and restoring it for over 3 years now and I was still worried about doing any type of liver cleanse. So when you are reading about how beneficial they can be,  just remember that there is a way to properly prepare your body and to repair those pathways of detox naturally before jumping into something major right away. If your body didn’t know how to get ride of the toxins the in the first place, chances are it still won’t be able to now. If this is something that interests you, I suggest looking into dietary changes that will help you detox one area at a time. For instance, quitting soda or sugar or dairy, one thing at a time. This will allow the body to slowly detox and heal without you feeling majorly ill for any length of time. If you have any questions about this process,  reach out and let me know!

 

Recipes:

Bone broth in the INSTANT POT!

2-4 chicken carcasses  (I also did this with turkey bones and it was amazing)

1 large onion – cut in half

3-4 garlic cloves – whole

1 celery stalk – whole

2 carrots – whole

1- tsp salt

2 tbsp- ACV

handful of parsley

Put it all in the pot and cover the bones with water. Set the instant pot to 240 minutes (the max it will go) and let it roll! When it is done, skim the top layer off, wait for it to cool and store! You can drink this as a bone broth latte or just straight, or simply use it for the best soup base ever!

 

Bone Broth Latte

8-12oz warmed bone broth

2 tbsp collagen

2 tbsp grassfed ghee

Blend on high, put in your fav mug and enjoy!!

Pin for Later!

 

 

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.