A dedicated rapid detox program and simple lifestyle changes to avoid toxins and pollutants can be life-changing for patients
Part 2 of a two-part series on rapid detox.
Hydration, fasting and supplements
Once you’ve whittled down your grocery list, the next thing you should focus on is your hydration. Most individuals are chronically dehydrated and that negatively affects your body’s ability to eliminate waste through sweat, urine and feces. A rule to follow would be to drink ½ to ⅔ your body weight in ounces of water. For a 200-pound person, that equates to 100-133 ounces of water per day. For reference, a gallon is 128 ounces or 7.5 standard-size bottles of water.
Another common dietary tool used in detox diets is fasting or intermittent fasting. Fasting is beneficial because it allows your metabolism and gut time to rest from digesting food and focus more on healing and eliminating waste. An easy way to start intermittent fasting is to either push back or skip breakfast and wait until later in the day to eat your first meal.
From a patient perspective, if you don’t have experience with fasting, we highly suggest you do so under the guidance of a health professional as it can be dangerous for certain people with metabolic disorders like high blood pressure, insulin resistance, diabetes, etc.
Finally, you may choose to add some supplements to your diet. While we have a long way to go in terms of research with regard to supplements, we do know some supplements can aid in eliminating certain toxins or supporting areas of your body like the liver and kidneys.
Here are just a few to consider:
- Selenium
- Chlorella
- Malic Acid
- Citric Acid
- Coriander
- Vitamins A, D, E, & B
Many “liver support” or “detox products” will include a combination of some or all of these different supplements. Finally, be sure to purchase supplements from a reputable company that can verify the claims and ingredients of their products.
Rapid detox and lifestyle
The second important aspect of a rapid detox program is lifestyle changes. Certain lifestyle choices can help accelerate the detoxing process, while other changes may help reduce the number of toxins you’re being exposed to over the long term.
For starters, patients should be doing some type of regular physical activity. Exercise helps stimulate metabolic function, improves excretion of waste materials, improves sleep quality and improves your circulatory health; all things that contribute to detoxing. You don’t need to do anything rigorous; just get moving and get your heart rate up some. Even something as simple as walking can be a great start.
The one caveat to exercise is you may need to reduce your activity levels if you’re engaging in prolonged fasting. This is due to the decreased calorie intake associated with fasting and/or intermittent fasting.
Another great way to improve a rapid detox is to utilize a sauna or steam room. Saunas or steam rooms, and especially infrared saunas, make you sweat profusely which helps eliminate waste, and there’s also some evidence showing they speed up a process called “autophagy.” Autophagy happens when your body breaks down cells and materials that are either damaged or functioning improperly.
Focus on getting enough quality sleep during a rapid detox. Sleep is unbelievably important when it comes to healing and recovering. The average American gets far less sleep than they ought to and, when they do sleep, their quality of sleep is often poor. The average person needs at least 7-8 hours of quality sleep each night.
Some easy tips to sleep better are:
- No caffeine in the afternoon/late in the day
- Install blackout curtains/blinds
- Drop the temperature in your bedroom a couple of degrees
- Use “Blue Blockers” and/or get away from electronic screens for at least 30 minutes before bedtime
Detox patients should also eliminate or reduce the use of plastics in the home.
Most plastics can leach a group of chemicals called “phthalates” into your food. These phthalates have been shown to negatively impact sexual health, hormone levels, sperm count and other important functions. As a rule, you should never microwave food in a plastic container. If you do utilize plastic, try to stick with plastics marked with numbers 2, 4 or 5 on the recycling label (found on the bottom of the container).
Also try to swap out your Tupperware for glass or stainless steel. You should take a look at your cookware because many non-stick pans contain chemicals such as Teflon and PFOAs that can leach into your food and cause health issues. Ceramic non-stick and stainless steel are often the best options.
Detox patients should also consider installing a water filtration system in the home. Drinking water is contaminated with things like chlorine, fluorine, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, heavy metals and other waste material. The gold-standard of water filtration is reverse osmosis, which strips all pollutants out of drinking water, and a good system will have a secondary filter that adds back in the appropriate mineral content. These systems used to be expensive, but now you can purchase and install an under-sink model for just a couple hundred bucks.
Finally, as a chiropractor, educate patients that chiropractic has an extremely positive impact on the nervous and immune systems, the main defenses against external and internal toxins — the more we can do to support them, the healthier we’ll be.
Explore detox with wellness patients
Whether patients choose to try a dedicated rapid detox program or just want to make some simple lifestyle changes to avoid toxins and pollutants, the end result will always be positive. Design a personalized program that accounts for individual health concerns and goals, as every little thing matters, and even the smallest change can have an amazing effect on health.
DANIEL KEADLE, BS, DC, is from Raleigh, N.C. He has a degree in Human Biology from NC State University and received his doctorate at Life University. He is a practicing chiropractor, seeing patients of all ages and backgrounds. In addition to his current practice, he also has a background in nutrition/weight loss as well as a focus on fitness and rehabilitation. You can find him at ChiroPartnersRansoneKeadle.com or @DrDanielKeadle on Instagram and Facebook.
