Detox Before You Diet

Summer is practically upon us and this is the time of year you want to look your best. Whether you just want to shed a few pounds or much more, I would recommend a holistic approach to dieting or weight loss by starting with an internal cleanse to detoxify your body. This will allow your body systems to work more efficiently.

Two areas that are vital components in a detoxing and cleansing program are the intestinal tract and the skin.

Detoxification for the Intestinal Tract

Cleansing the intestinal tract starts with the diet: the more fiber, the better. Remember to drink plenty of water when you are increasing the fiber in your diet.

When taking supplements for the intestinal tract, make sure they contain psyllium and flax. These are the most dominant fibers used in supplements.

Additionally, you may also consider herbs like slippery elm, which along with marshmallow, can help to soothe any kind of irritation to the villi. The villi are the tiny finger-like tissue projections from the lining of the intestinal tract. It is through these that nutrients are passed into the blood for distribution throughout the body.

Slippery elm is also excellent for breaking up phlegm and mucus, which may also exist in the intestinal tract - especially if someone has a steady stream of dairy in their diet.

I'm not a fan of laxatives for cleansing the intestinal tract because they train your body to be lazy. I believe that if you give the body what it needs, vitamins and minerals in high doses, then the body will do what it's supposed to do.

In addition to fiber, garlic and pumpkin seeds, I also use dandelion root. My reasoning is this: dandelion root stimulates the liver, and the liver secretes enzymes that are designed to keep your intestinal tract healthy.

Cleansing the skin

When the body is laden with different types of consumed toxins, it tries to remove them. The skin eliminates whatever it can via the drops of perspiration that are released through the skin’s pores.

Toxins can also play a role in issues with the skin, because your skin is the largest elimination organ of the body. When your body is ridding itself of toxic material/poisons from within, they can be deposited on the skin and the billions of microbes that live on our skin interact with the toxins. As a result, eruptions and other manifestations can appear.

Vitamin A and zinc both work at providing building material for the skin. Niacin is a vasodilator. It opens the capillaries to provide more blood to the cells right below the skin surface. In this way, it helps to provide more fresh blood and nutrients to the affected area. By increasing the circulation to the skin, niacin facilitates the removal of toxins from the same area.  You also want to bring in herbs like burdock and red clover because they are excellent blood purifiers.

When you're dealing with something that is applied topically, consider purification, too. In that regard, you can make an oil to apply to your skin using the essential oils of lemongrass and peppermint. Add one part each of lemongrass and peppermint oils to six parts almond oil. The body will absorb it very quickly.

A skin moisturizer you can make at home that will out-perform most in the marketplace is a combination of almond, avocado, sesame and safflower oils.

When the wastes from the diet are in the bloodstream for elimination through the skin, the pores can become clogged. When there is an abundance of waste being eliminated and not readily removed from the surface of the skin, the wastes can become food for the microbes that live on the skin. Consequently, the pores must be kept clean and open. This means that the body must also have a clean diet and a regular supply of high potency nutrients in order to manufacture healthy replacement cells for the skin.

Here are the nutrients I use and how they work:

Niacinamide is a buffered form of niacin that eliminates the flushing,  turning red and itchiness normally experienced with niacin. It participates in maintaining healthy skin by facilitating reactions that dilate the arteries and capillaries carrying blood to cells that construct skin.

Vitamin A is very important for the skin, and for maintenance of the outer layer of tissues and organs.

Zinc plays a fundamental role in normal tissue development, including cell division, protein synthesis and collagen formation.

Vitamin C is also essential for the formation of collagen which is the main component of connective tissue.

Burdock Root is an all-around blood purifier, which also stimulates perspiration. This herb helps to cleanse the body of toxins and enhances liver and gallbladder functions.

What state are your intestinal tract and skin in? Do you eliminate at least once a day? More times would be better, once would be essential. What about your skin? Does it have a healthy glow? Are you free from blemishes? Cleansing your body before you diet can help these and more.