10 Best Body Cleanse Practices

A body cleanse is the most popular way to reset and restore health and wellness.  Still largely ignored by the medical community, those interested in health do recognize the health benefits of clean eating, nutritional and dietary supplementation and whole, balanced living.

best body cleanse health

We are all prone to toxic build up for a variety of reasons.  Your body creates internal, metabolic toxins as part of living.   But when these natural toxins are added to environmental toxins, our bodies may become overburdened.  

According to Prevention Magazine, some known environmental toxins include pollution, plastics, and cleaning solutions, which are all known carcinogens. (1)

While our bodies are designed to naturally detoxify many substances,  it still requires nutritional support.  In other words, just like we eat to stay lean or energetic, we must eat to support these systems that do the work of body cleansing and detoxification.

One way to visualize this is to consider excess fat and weight.  Simply put, both are waste because your body doesn't need them.  In fact, excess weight can be  harmful.

The Journal of Obesity states that enlarged fat cells and adipose tissue are storage areas for environmental toxins. (2)  If our bodies could eliminate all waste without help, no body would gain weight.

Of course there is no "scientific" evidence that using diet, nutritional supplements or any body cleanse program will help our bodies eliminate toxins, but according to the above reference (Journal of Obesity), as one loses weight, toxins may be released, wreaking havoc on the dieter.

So, there we have it.  Eating healthy does support the body's process of removing toxins and waste.  Now that we know a little background on why body cleansing is a common practice among health conscious people, let's check out the 10 best body cleanse practices used today.

Body Cleanse Practices

Eating Clean is the basis of most body cleansing programs.  Since cleansing is a natural part of the way our bodies work, healthy eating allows it to naturally do the job of detoxification (neutralizing toxins) and cleansing (elimination of toxins). 

Extra Nutrition is almost always required by those who cleanse.  As we change our way of eating, it is easy to figure out what not to eat.  The common culprits are sweets, fried foods, junk snack foods, white flour, sodas, and you probably know the rest.  The difficult part is, what can we eat?  While ideas and new habits take time to form, nutritional support through supplementation may be helpful.

Colon Cleanse - This is often the first type of body cleanse that most people use.  It is helpful to ensure all systems of elimination are in good working order before we embark on the neutralizing and removal of more toxins.  As already shown in reference (2), toxins may cause some harm while they move through the body on the way out.  A colon cleanse may be a way to assure all systems are "go."

Liver Support is considered crucial by most health practitioners.  This is one of your main organs of detoxification and it can become overwhelmed due to being overworked, congested, and even weak from years of being in this state.  Liver support herbs are what are commonly used to help support and nourish this all important organ.

Kidney Cleanse - Many claims are made that certain herbs, diet and practices can help the kidneys remove stones before they become a problem.  Health advocates believe this is true while the medical communities claims it is not.  Either way, nutritionally supporting the kidneys has been used for centuries and, since they filter waste, this support may prove to be helpful.

Eliminate Harmful Organisms with a parasite cleanse.  The Centers for Disease Control is finally recognizing and attempting to better educate the medical community that these types of organisms, often microscopic in nature, are more prevalent than previously believed.  They have implemented a plan to educate and have 5 diseases, called Neglected Parasitic Infections, as a target for public health action.  May believe using a parasite cleanse is a way to be proactive in their health.

Heavy Metals are commonly found in vaccines (as mercury), pharmaceutical medications, pesticides and even air pollution (cadmium among others).  Since Linus Pauling won the Nobel Prize for showing the relationship between mental health and outside or foreign chemicals, some health practitioners use programs to help the body remove heavy metals instead of storing them.  Nowadays, a cleanse for heavy metals as a bath is used by many along with a body cleanse, and can be purchased in most health food stores.

Pesticides and other environmental products (plastics, cleaners, personal products, etc.) contain many chemicals that we know may build up in tissue.  Again, while the medical community and skeptics claim there is no evidence, many choose to be proactive anyway to support the body's natural ability to remove these types of toxins.

Mental Health - Eliminate stress or at least learn how to manage it.   Holistic health is taking care care of our whole person, and this includes our mental and spiritual health.  Meditation, taking time for ourselves, focus on family and even a mental detox can help you relax and remember your spirit.  This aspect of cleansing is extremely important as making changes in our lifestyle may be stressful.

Balance - A body cleanse is not something to do on a daily basis, but as a temporary program.  Our bodies work in cycles with cleansing/rebuilding being one our natural cycles.  Take time to rejuvenate your mind, build your strength and relax and enjoy life - without going overboard, of course.  Balance is a forgotten art in today's fast-paced, modern world, and includes balance of diet, exercise, work, and play.  Try making a conscious effort at ensuring you not only work, but play, and see where it takes you.



RESOURCES:

(1) Zerbe, Leah. "10 Strange, New Suspects That Could Cause Breast Cancer."Prevention. Rodalenews, 26 Oct. 2012. Web. 08 Oct. 2015.

(2) Lee D-H, et al "Inverse associations between long-term weight change and serum concentrations of persistent organic pollutants"Inational Journal of Obesity2010; DOI: 10.1038/IJO.2010.188.