The majority of us are simply unaware of how much “crap” our bodies pick up as we go about our daily routines. While we’re glued to our cell phones, over-relying on fast food, Grub-hub or Seamless, or are off somewhere staring at YouTube, playing games on our phone, or watching the umpteenth episode of whatever on Netflix, we are unaware of just how much we might be accumulating in the way of toxins, bad bacteria, pollutants, and other similar types of invisible threats that we ignore – completely.We just don’t realize that by consuming large amounts of highly processed foods, such as packaged foods, fast food, foods cooked with vegetable oils, or oils that aren’t sustainable under high heat (canola, soy, corn, and safflower oils), we are creating a disturbance in the omega 3 to 6 ratio, causing our food to become more toxic than it is valuable to the body.
Poor diet is detrimental our health. Things to avoid are bleached flower, sugar, corn syrup, large quantities of soda, diet sweeteners, alcoholic beverages, and foods that are labeled as fat-free and over processed. These things actually strip important vitamins, minerals, and nutrients form our body. In particular, poor diet is detrimental to bone health, causes stomach problems, erodes the lining of the stomach, destroys teeth, the liver and kidney health, which can lead to osteoporosis and fragility down the road.
The bottom line is that the standard American diet is not providing our body with what it truly needs to feel good, strong, and healthy, as well as to experience the mental clarity that we all desire.
The good and bad news is, to a large degree, how affected each of us is by the threats that are lurking all around us depends on what we bring to the table in the way of our habits and patterns of health and wellness! Factors that contribute to healthy diet include what, where, when, and how much we eat. Also important is how much sleep, water, sunlight, and fresh air we are exposed to. Other factors of critical importance include our stress levels, how connected we feel to those around us, and our physical surroundings.
Environmental toxins also affect our health. These toxins include factory emissions, exhaust fumes, pesticides, and electric and magnetic fields exposure. As is common with many things that we can not see, hear, touch, taste, or smell, we have a false notion that the threat is not real or that we are “getting away with it”. We think, “If I don’t feel or see anything wrong then how bad can this really be?” When we give ourselves permission to eat baked foods at high temperatures, eat highly processed and packaged foods, consume obscenely high doses of sugar and simple carbs, not to mention rancid fats and oils, we are setting ourselves up for a long and painful road, either now or some time later!
The purpose of a body cleanse is to rid your organs, gut and brain of these vial toxins and reboot your system for overall more optimal functioning.
The benefits of a detox just might surprise you! Recently MYND MVMT founder Samantha Benigno came to me requesting I come up with this exact type of cleanse/detox for her. She had been feeing lethargic, foggy, was experiencing post-holiday inflammation, bloating, stomach problems, among other things. One thing in particular she complained of was very bad skin problems. In a matter of days she said, “ Adam! I cannot believe how much better I look and feel! I am really blown away! My diet has been such crap for so long I just didn’t realize how bad my nutrition intake had gotten and even knowing all I know about health, I am truly shocked at the profound difference!”
Other benefits include mental clarity, a boost in energy levels, an improvement in gut health, providing aid to liver and kidney functions, which allows these organs not to be so overworked, removal of heavy metals that affect and damage brain function, heart, liver, lung and kidneys. In closing a general sense of wellness and reboot.
What to avoid during cleanse:
Foods heavily cooked in oils with high heat
Extremely spicy foods
Sugar, simple carbs like white flour, pasta, non-sprouted or unfermented breads.
Baked goods
What to include:
Fermented foods, e.g. kimchi, sauerkraut, miso soup without the soy, sourdough, whole fat greek yogurt
Homemade vegetable juices
Bone and vegetable broths
Teas
Black coffee from a good source with a limit of two cups per day
Variety of greens, vegetables, extra virgin olive oil
Wild caught salmon, sardines, anchovies and clams (not baked and topped with bread crumbs)
Lemon, ginger, mint water as a digestive aid
Coconut water for electrolytes (always beware of any added sugars). The ingredient list should just say made from coconuts and nothing else.
Extra methods:
Hot therapy: Getting yourself in a sauna a few times a week, if not daily, for up to thirty minutes.
Rebounder: Getting on this every day for 5-10 minutes gets your lymphatic system stimulated and starts to move out lingering waste, toxins, pollutants.
Yoga, breath work, and meditation are all good for balancing parasympathetic and sympathetic systems and increasing blood flow throughout the body.
Always consult a medical professional when looking to change diet and exercise and make sure these modalities are right for you.
So while we’re consumed with our grande-latte-soy-mocha-cappa-whatevers, looking for the cheapest and fastest way to grab lunch, or thinking I’m tired, I’ll order out tonight, just remember, as with many things in life, the threat may not seem real yet, but every choice you make has a consequence eventually.