A very thorough detox can be expensive and difficult, but with today’s lifestyle, detoxifying the body thoroughly is essential for good health. That said, people who eat very well, exercise and sweat, and breathe heavily while they do, and drink lots of water and stay away from medications have a body that is able to detoxify itself to a degree. There are bound to be some chemicals in the body that will not be expelled on their own.
Why Detoxify?
Here are just a few indications that you need to detoxify:
Headaches
Skin issues
Allergies (any and all)
Muscle soreness (not from working out)
Getting sick more than once every few years
Sluggish and groggy waking up
Vision loss
Hair loss
Body odor
Yeast infections
Athlete’s foot (that’s a yeast infection, too)
Arthritis
Slow healing
Digestive issues
Cavities
Trouble focusing
Trouble sleeping
Sleeping too much
Back pain
High blood pressure
Diabetes
Joint pain
Kidney stones
Canker sores
You get the idea. Basically, any health problem means the body is toxic. There is only one disease, and that is cell malfunction. There are only two causes, nutrition deficiencies and toxicity. And the two go hand-in-hand.
Toxins are so easy to accumulate. Here is an incomplete list of commonplace items or substances that can cause harmful toxic chemical accumulation. Some may surprise you!
Brake fluid
Fungicides
Pesticides
Cables
Gasoline
Plastic
Carpet
Glass
Rubber
Ceramics
Hair spray
Rubbing alcohol
Chipping paint in older homes
Hand cleaners
Seafood
Colognes
Hand cream
Shampoo
Computers
Insect repellant
Shaving cream
Contact lens cleaning solution
Insecticide
Soap
Cosmetics
Latex paint
Spot cleaners
Crystal tableware
Light switches in cars
Spot removers
Dental fillings
Liquid soap
Stain/varnishes
Detergents
Lotion
Thermometers
Drugs
Lubricants
Thermostats
Dyes
Medical devices
Tire cleaners
Electronic equipment
Medication
Vaccinations
Erasable ink
Mosquito repellent
VCR head cleaners
Floor cleaners
Nail polishes
Wax strippers
Fluorescent lamps
Paint
Windshield cleaners
Food additives
Paper
Wood finishes
Food packaging
Perfume
X-ray shields
It’s amazing how toxic our modern lifestyle has become. The human body becomes overwhelmed. Our bile becomes toxic. Our blood becomes toxic and sluggish. But the way one feels after detoxification is truly an amazing feeling! So alert, energized, focused, successful, intelligent, and the list goes on. Our bodies are amazing, but they are really amazing when they are not being slowed down by crap. Living with a toxic is like driving a car that needed an oil change, a new air filter, and new spark plugs about 60,000 miles ago.
Common Detox Diets
There are a few detoxification diets that you’ve probably heard about. Below are some of the pros and cons with a few of the more well known detox diets and/or weight loss diets.
Diet
Description
Pros
Cons
Master Cleanse / Lemonade Diet
The Master Cleanse is a modified juice fast that includes lemonade made with purified or spring water, fresh squeezed lemon juice, organic maple syrup and cayenne pepper. Laxatives are also part of the program as well.
Cheap
Simple to do
Reduces appetite, so it’s great for resetting the body’s desire for food
Muscle mass loss
Very little nutrition
Difficult to stick with for many people
Fat loss is likely to be put right back on
Most people need supplements to thoroughly detoxify
Raw Food Cleanse
There are many variations to choose from. The diets consist of raw foods and fresh juicing.
Raw foods are the healthiest thing we can eat
Plenty of nutrition
Most people need supplements to thoroughly detoxify
Diuretic Diet
Diuretic foods or supplements will help the body to release fluid. There are certain herbs and foods that are natural diuretics, like celery, parsley, asparagus, and watermelon.
Relieves bloating
Quick weight loss
Not enough nutrition
Muscle loss
Fat loss is likely to be put right back on
Most people need supplements to thoroughly detoxify
The Body Ecology Diet
The diet aims to restore and maintain a healthy ecology that your body needs to function optimally.
One of the healthiest diets there is
Plenty of nutrition
Does a very good job of establishing a healthy ecosystem within the colon
Not easy to follow
Many of the recipes do not taste good in many people’s opinion
Living Foods Diet
A diet program based on living plant foods , like a raw foods diet, but greater emphasis on foods that are still alive and as fresh as possible.
Lots of enzymes
Lots of nutrition
Most people need supplements to thoroughly detoxify
Fruitarianism
A diet that includes fruits, nuts and seeds, without animal products, vegetables or grains.
Lots of enzymes
Lots of nutrition
Fruits are very easy to digest
Most people need supplements to thoroughly detoxify
Fruits can feed Candida
Juice Fast
Raw vegetable and fruit juiceand water only
Lots of nutrition
Most people need supplements to thoroughly detoxify
Fruit juice can feed Candida
Hallelujah Diet
A heavily supplemented, low-calorie vegan diet, consisting of 85% raw organic foods and 15% cooked foods.
Should be easy to continue eating this way
Lots of nutrition
Does not do a thorough job of removing toxins
Weight Loss Cure
Based on Kevin Trudeau’s book which adheres to detoxifying the body as a means to weight loss. Involves a combination of injections, supplements, cleansing regimes and organic foods.
A very thorough detoxification diet
Lots of nutrition
Injections?!?!
Click here for a more extensive list of detoxification diets.
What to Look for in a Detox Diet
A good detox program addresses parasites, heavy metals, colon, liver and gallbladder, and nutrition. Usually when people attempt to detoxify, they fast. Reducing calories is ideal when detoxifying, but reducing nutrition can be dangerous. When your body is releasing chemicals, parasites, calcifications, heavy metals, and many other nasty toxins, your body needs nutrition!
Radical Detoxification
Anyone with diabetes, cancer, thyroid problems, or any serious, life altering health problem should consider doing a very serious and completely comprehensive detoxification program such as The Total Body Cleanse, or OLM’s own Full Body Detox.
While these detox diets are very comprehensive, and completely capable of ridding the body of serious disease, they are not easy to do. In fact, taking time off work may be necessary for those who are particularly sick. But then again, if you’re that sick, you’ll be taking time off of work soon enough.
Simple, Inexpensive Detoxification
For something a lot less expensive, intensive, and consequently, less effective, but still very beneficial, try this routine:
Stevia Lemonade with Cayenne
With distilled water, use fresh lemons and cayenne liquid extract. If the fresh lemons are not available, get organic lemon juice. You can use cayenne pepper in the form of powder if need be. Use as much cayenne as you can. Make the lemonade to taste. Stevia has kind of a funny after taste, but it’s barely noticeable with lemon juice. Drink one gallon a day.
Detoxify the Blood
Dr. Shillington has a wonderful herbal tincture (purchase here) that helps to detoxify the blood. Ingredients include Red Clover, Chaparral, Poke Root, Periwinkle Flower, Lobelia, Cayenne, Garlic, Mullein, Burdock Seed & Root, Yellow Dock Root, Goldenseal Root, Oregon Grape Root, and Blood Root. For more information, and instructions, check out Doc’s article, BLOOD DETOX.
Liver and Gallbladder Detoxification
The cheapest, easiest, and, well, most unpleasant (at least for most people) way to clean the liver and gallbladder is with a coffee enema. Read our Coffee Enema article. And to learn more about the gallbladder read Gallbladder Bile, How the Gallbladder Works.
Kill the Yeast
Undecylenic acid kills fungus better than anything. Thorne SF 722 is the best we know of, but it’s not vegan. Take 20 a day (ten twice a day) until the bottle is empty. If it must be vegan, there are other options for undecylenic acid.
Remove Heavy Metals
Thorne Captomer is a great choice for heavy metal detoxification. Take three a day for three days on and then do not take any for four days, and repeat. Thorne says it is especially important to talk to your health care professional before using this product. It is important to make sure you replenish your minerals, as heavy metal chelation therapy draws out important beneficial minerals as well as toxic metals. Eating enough raw fresh vegetables during this diet can help with this, but if you are not eating lots of vegetables consider adding their Heavy Metal Support as well.
Eat
Vegetables, whole coconuts, avocados, and granny smith or crab apples are on the diet. Avocados are a great source of protein, too! And coconut and avocado fat will not make you fat. In fact, they will help you lose weight if needed.
Cook nothing. Get lots of enzymes. Eat as much of these foods whole and raw as you want. Provided your appendix has not been removed, the best way to build up a healthy eco system with beneficial bacteria in your colon is with vegetables. Most probiotics like the beneficial bacteria like yogurt, are killed in stomach acid.
If you have had your appendix removed, it can be harder to build back up your beneficial bacteria. If you have never done a serious colon cleanse, you need to. While this makes our inexpensive program a bit more expensive, for those in need of serious colon cleansing or those without an appendix, consider adding Dr.Shillington’s Intestinal Cleanses to the program.
Juice
Juicing is not totally necessary for this particular diet, but juice all the vegetables you want and add ginger to all juices. But limit your carrots and beets as they are higher in sugar. No fruit except granny smith, crab apples, lemons, and limes. A juice press is ideal, as centrifugal juices heat up the juice and kill enzymes.
Exercise and Breathe
Sweat. Breathe heavily. And breathe properly. You should be getting enough nutrition to exercise strenuously. And breathing heavily and properly for long periods of time detoxifies the body. Read How to Breathe.
Things to Consider Before and After Detoxification
If you are very sick, you are very toxic. If you are not sick, you may still be very toxic , and being very sick is just a matter of time. But a highly toxic body can be overburdened with detoxification.
Even those who seem perfectly healthy can get detox symptoms such as headaches, nausea, irritability, inability to focus, and fatigue. Consider starting slowly. Eat healthy for a few weeks and exercise before starting your detox diet. Drink tons of water, or better yet, drink a gallon of the stevia cayenne lemonade a day for a month before you detoxify.
And after you detoxify, BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU EAT! For instance, eating a bunch of mashed potatoes after you fully clean your colon and detox for a few weeks can actually kill you! After detoxifying, introduce foods slowly back into your diet. And focus on raw fresh produce, which is what you should always do anyway.