PURE FOOD
Spring's bountiful harvest makes fresh vegetables, leafy greens, and fruit the most nutritous choices for the season. Include them raw or lightly steamed in three simple meals a day. Whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, bran, and barley provide healthy doses of fiber, but detox experts also suggest taking psyllium seed (powder, capsule, or whole seeds available at any health store or food market) to speed digestion. The body's most important purifier is water, an essential element for moving toxins through the kidneys and skin. Drink anywhere from 32-64oz of water per day to feel better and create a well-balanced body-machine.
HERBAL TEAS
The cleansing of body, mind, and spirit is one of the natural benefits of herbs. With steaming brew in hand (perferrably caffeine-free), sit back, breathe in the relaxing aroma, and let nature go to work. Milk thistle, cinnamon bark, and the roots of dandelion, licorice, and burdock all encourage liver detoxification, and blends like Yogi Tea DeTox http://www.yogitea.com, Organic Rooibos http://www.scentbyspirit.com, and Flora Bija Healing Tea Deep Cleanse http://www.florahealth.com infuse them with a tasy twist.
AROMATHERAPY
Certain essential oils added to a warm bath encourage the release of environmental toxins. A 20-minute soak using Tara Spa Therapy Body Purifier Bath Salts http://www.taraspa.com - a mixture of grapefruit, juniper, lavender, and lemongrass essential oils, dandelion and burdock root, and vitamins A, C and E - is said to help draw out harmful pollutants trapped in the skin from everyday exposure to smog, pesticides, and second-hand smoke. Another product, the Wasabi Hangover Bath Treatment http://www.body-systems.net contains essentials oils such as Eucalyptus, Peppermint, and Rosemary to clear out cold/flu symptoms and Organic Ginger and Wasabi to help draw out toxins from the skin due to overeating, jetlag, drinking or simply the Winter Blahs.
SKIN BRUSHING
A classic Japanese cleansing ritual, skin brushing works from the outside in. On the surface it's exfoliating, but internally, your circulatory and lymphatic systems are getting a stimulating workout that results in smooth, glowing skin. Before showering, use a natural bristle brush (try Body Systems' Cellulite Brush at http://www.body-systems.net) or loofah mitt to vigorously work the entire body, starting at the feet and moving upward toward the heart with long sweeping strokes.
EXERCISE
Sweating, stretching, and deep cleansing breaths set the body's natural mechanisms for flushing out toxins in motion. A brisk 20-minute walk each day will send oxygenated blood to the cells that need rejuvenation, plus work up a healthy sweat. Yoga is condusive to this because the stretching, twisting and rhythmic breathing involved in the practice stimulate circulation, digestion, and the lymphatic system, which is the body's source of immunity.
See our Fresh Ideas article for additional detox information including recipes!
