Detoxing and cleansing aren’t just for a new year’s fresh start, or to prepare for a class reunion or wedding. Our bodies are happiest when we practice smart detox strategies every day — and we don’t need to starve to do it.
These practices can be great to get your health back on track or to complement a healthy lifestyle. Gently detoxing your body daily can help avoid a buildup of toxins and prevent fatigue, headaches and immune system issues.
To incorporate gentle detoxing into your everyday life, try these five easy methods. They’re simple and effective — and some are even fun.
1. Drink lemon water in the morning. Drinking enough water is important throughout the day, but a glass of warm lemon water is great to rid your body of built up toxins. This also helps to flush your digestive system and rehydrate your body.
2. Sweat it out. Exercise and get your body moving. All you need is about 30 minutes a day to feel a difference in your energy levels and mood. Sweating is also one of the best ways to remove toxins from your body. If you’re unable to exercise, try a sauna or steam room.
3. Dry brush your skin. Dry brushing helps improve blood circulation. Skin is the body’s largest organ, so dry brushing helps get your blood moving to all parts of your body, stimulates the lymph system, and rids of dead skin cells. It’s best to do this right before you shower. It only takes five minutes and can leave your skin feeling soft and supple.
4. Hydrate with filtered water. Tap water can be loaded with compounds like chlorine and fluoride, which damage our intestinal flora and disrupt our endocrine system. Drinking clean water allows our bodies to hydrate and eliminate waste more effectively, because we don’t have to do more work to filter out the chemicals in our water.
5. Scrape your tongue. It sounds funny, and maybe a little gross. But this quickly cleans the tongue of accumulated bacteria and toxic debris. Cleaning your tongue regularly removes mouth bacteria that can lead to bad breath and other oral health problems.
You don’t have to start these detox habits all at once — maybe choose a couple to begin. Any of these five rituals added to your daily regimen will show results and improvements to your health in the long run.
