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What Is A Gentle Detox

As the name suggests, a gentle detox or cleanse, is a gentle and safe way to help your body detox. Rather than a harsh cleanse, a gentle detox works in 2 stages to support your body’s natural detoxification process.

Our bodies are already equiped with detox pathways by which our bodies expell toxins.

The main pathways are The

1. Liver
2. Kidneys
3. Lymphatic System
4. Bowls

Why Detox?

You might be wondering, if our bodies are already equiped with detoxing pathways, then why do we even need to detox? The simple answer? Too many toxins!

In our modern world we are exposed to more toxins than ever before. Even a person living a clean and natural life style cannot avoid them all. There are toxins in our food and water, and in the very air we breath. Most household and personal care products are full of fragrances, parabens, phthalates, aluminum, and other toxins. Try as we might, we just can’t escape them all.

This over load of toxins leaves these detox pathways overburdened and sluggish. When this happens these pathways are unable to function optimally and expell toxins efficiently. This is why a gentle detox, meant to support these pathways is so important.

Another reason we should be detoxing regularly is parasites. Everyone has them and if we don’t address them we can have an overgrowth of parasites leading to a host of issues. Historically, people dewormed themselves 2-3 times a year and in many parts of the world this is still a routine practice. Read more about parasites here.

who needs to detox?

I personally think everyone would benefit from a gentle detox 1-3 times a year. Our family does one every quarter.

It’s especially important to detox if you have a moderate to high toxic load, have had vaccines or taken medications, or are new to the holistic lifestyle. And as previously mentioned it’s important to detox regularly to prevent parasite overgrowth.

signs you Need to detox 

This list is far from exhaustive. A person could experience just a few of these symptoms or multiple of them.

1. Frequent or prolonged illness
2. Frequent headaches or migraines
3. Fatigue
4. Difficulty sleeping
5. Muscle or joint pain
6. Chronic inflammation
7. Acne, rashes, or other skin irritations
8. Mental or behavioral concerns
9. Brain fog
10. Dizziness
11. GI issues like IBS

There’s also many holistic and functional medical doctors who believe parasite could be a root cause for some cancers, autoimmune conditions, and other chronic conditions.

getting started

A gentle detox is done in 2 stages. The first stage will take 2-3 weeks depending on where you are at when you start your detox. 

Reduce your toxic load

This is the first and most important step. You can support your body’s natural detoxification process all you want but if you don’t first reduce your toxic load, you will reap little if any benefits. Look at house hold products, personal care products, and cookware to see what needs to go. There are literally thousands of toxins in everyday items. Fragrances, parabens, phthalates, aluminum, synthetic supplements, and so much more. Read more about toxins here. 

clean up the diet

Along side reducing your toxic load is reducing or eliminating processed and refined foods. Not only do these foods provide little to no nutritional value they are full of synthetic and harmful ingredients that won’t do you any good. Instead eat nutrient dense whole foods.

Support Your detox pathways

The final step in the first stage of a gentle detox is to support your detox pathways.

This can be achieved by

1. Staying hydrated
2. Getting adequate sleep
3. Exercising
4. Dry brushing
5. Lowering stress levels
6. Supporting a healthy gut
7. Supporting a healthy liver

The second Stage

After completing the first stage you’re well on your way to detoxing. You’ve reduced your toxic load, cleaned up your diet, and have primed those detox pathways to detox efficiently. 

In the second stage you will continue what you’ve been doing and will simply add in some herbs to further support the detoxification process. There are several herbs that can support your detox pathways. Continue your detox until symptoms improve. In some cases this could take 2-3 months.

liver

Milk thistle, peppermint, black pepper, and tumeric. Add these foods to your diet, drink them in a tea, or take them in a tincture. I use Liver Love from Earthley Wellness.

kidney

Cranberries. Earthley Wellness has a tincture called UT Relief but I typically just add organic cranberry juice to my smoothies.

lymphatic System

Yarrow, cleavers, and budrock root. I prefer to use a salve that I also get from Earthley Wellness, Lymphatic Cream.

Bowls

Pumpkin seed oil, coconut oil, and cloves. Add these to your diet or make things easier with Earthley’s Gut Health Oil.

Heavy metals And Parasites

Need a little extra detoxing power or want to detox from heavy metals and parasites? Chlorella is a power house herb that binds to heavy metals and helps the body expell them. You can get Chlorella powder from Perfect Supplements to add to smoothies or get Earthley’s Vaccine Detox tincture. Apple cider vinegar is another great addition to your detox regimen that can help eliminate parasites, support gallbladder health, and support gut health. Find it at your local grocery store or make it yourself. Diatomaceous is another thing I recommend. Not only is it a great binder but it’s also anti-parasitic.

Bioray is another brand that I recommend depending on your detox needs. They have a line of products for adults, teens, kids, and babies. I used the kids line for my kids in addition to the Earthley products recommended above when they were having difficulty sleeping and we were dealing with some anger issues from my oldest. I suspected parasites and wanted to up my detox game. Within 3 weeks of using them, the anger issues were gone and everyone was sleeping much better.

Understanding our body’s natural Detox Process

Let’s learn a little more about how our body’s natural detox process works. Once you understand this process you’ll be better able to support it.

We take in toxins in a variety of manners. Orally through food and water. We breath them in from air pollutants. They can be absorbed via our skin. And likewise our body removes them in a variety of ways. Some toxins are secreted via sweat or urine but most are expelled via the bowels.

Our lymphatic system circulates the body similarly to our cardiovascular system. The difference though is our cardiovascular system is constantly being pumped by our heart. Our lymphatic system requires us to get up and move and to sweat in order for it to circulate optimally. In addition to daily activity dry brushing and lymphatic message can help keep things going. As lymph circulates through our body it draws our cellular waste, parasites, mold, cancer cells, have metals, and other toxins from our organs, tissues, bones, and so on. All of this waste gets filtered through the liver and passes through the gallbladder via bile and into the bowels where it is then eliminated.

As you can probably imagine if any one of these detox pathways is not functioning optimally then this detox process can get backed up. If our bodies are not able to effectively eliminate toxins they will recirculate throughout our body and can cause all sorts of trouble. This is why it’s so important to start any detox slowly and to ensure your detox pathways are open and functioning optimally. It’s also why it’s important to support these pathways during your detox as recommend previously.

The 2 primary things I recommend people make sure are happening daily before they begin any type of detox are bowel movements and sweating. These are 2 important signs that your body is ready to safely and effectively eliminate toxins and parasites from the body.