How To Detox Your Life in 6 Steps
Written by Dr. Nalini Chilkov
With a new season upon us, it is time to start thinking about Spring Cleaning on all levels, Body, Mind, Emotions, Spirit, Relationships. My dear friend and colleague, Dr. Mark Hyman, M.D. is a brilliant functional medicine physician. Here is his take on how to detox, not just your body, but your life. I have combined his Six Rules for Detoxing your Life with additional ideas to get your started! Pick one Step each week for 6 weeks and take action to lower toxicity in your body, your environment and your life! Then go back and go through the list for another six weeks!!
Eat organic, grass-fed, sustainable food. This will enable you to avoid the most common sources of chemicals and toxins in our diet. See The 12 Most Toxic Foods You Must Buy Organic Buy local and seasonal fruits and vegetables whenever possible and avoid the most contaminated ones. Choose the best-quality meat and poultry you can afford ñ ideally from animals raised without hormones, antibiotics, or pesticides and that are free-range or grass-fed. See Meat Eaters Guide to learn how to choose the safest and most sustainable animal products. Avoid large predatory and river fish, such as swordfish, tuna, and tilefish, which contain mercury and high amounts of other contaminants. Choose only from the list of seafood with the ìleast mercuryî.
Action Plan: Add one healthier food to your diet and remove one unhealthy food.
Drink clean water. Drinking 6-8 glasses per day of clean, fresh, pure water has many benefits. Drinking water before meals also helps with weight loss and appetite control. Often when we think we are hungry we are really thirsty. It also flushes out metabolic and environmental toxins through your kidneys. Your urine should be light and clear. If it is yellow or strong smelling you are not drinking enough water. The best option is to filter your own water with a simple carbon filter or a reverse-osmosis filtering system, and then carry it with you in BPA free stainless steel or glass bottles.Action Plan: Commit to drinking 2 quarts of fluid daily. Fill 2 glass or BPA Stainless Steel bottles in the morning with clean filtered water. Drink all of the water by 8pm.
Purify your home. Most of us donít know the extent to which weíre exposed to
environmental chemicals right in our own homes. We canít eliminate all risk or exposure, but we can change the important things: fill your home with plants to detoxify the air; use HEPA/ULPA filters and ionizers to reduce dust, molds, and
off-gassing from synthetic carpets, furniture, and paints; clean your heating systems and monitor them for carbon monoxide; look for non-toxic household products. Substitute florescent lights with incandescent or LED bulbs
wherever possible. The Environmental Working Group has a wonderful online resource for green cleaning products. Action Plan: Remove Toxic Cleaning Products and Replace with Green, Safe, Non Toxic Cleaning products for kitchen, laundry and bath. Replace florescent light bulbs with safer bulbs.
Purify what goes in and on your body. Avoid microwaving food, which
produces AGEs (Advanced Glycation End products) that create more inflammation and oxidative stress; stay away from water in plastic bottles that contain phthalates; avoid charbroiled foods, which contain carcinogenic
hydrocarbons; opt for clean cosmetics and personal care products without
parabens, petrochemicals, or other toxins (rule of thumb: if you wouldnít eat it,
donít put it on your skin); avoid excess exposure to petrochemicals and toxins in
garden chemicals, dry cleaning, car exhaust, and secondhand smoke. See Cancer Causing Cosmetics: Poisons in Your Bathroom
Action Plan: Remove your old shampoo and body lotion and replace with safe, chemical free products. Stop eating blackened foods. Buy yourself a vegetable steamer.
Minimize your exposure to electronic pollution. Mitigate any potential risks of
electromagnetic radiation or electromagnetic frequencies by using an air tube
headset or speakerphone when talking on your cell phone (wireless and wired may still conduct radiation); keeping your smart phone at least six to seven
inches away from your body whenever in use; replace as many cordless and WiFi items as you can with wired, corded lines; sit as far back from the computer screen as possible. Action Plan: Make sure you use headphones or speaker phone with your cellphone. Donít keep your cell phone in your pocket or next to your bed.
Detox your relationships. Often and inevitably our lives bump up against challenging or difficult relationships ñ in family, in work or in random encounters. Some we cannot escape ñ such as parents or children who are inextricably tied to us, others are by choice and for those we can choose to alter our relationship by changing our way of being within them, or ending them. Even within our family relationships, if they are toxic or destructive we can change our response and behavior, try to heal them, and if they cannot be healed (and some cannot because of mental illness or abuse), then we can separate from the toxicity of those connections. This perhaps is the hardest part of the ìdetoxî, but
poisonous emotions can be as harmful as or more harmful than any chemical poison. And of course, this is not a 10-day project but a lifetimeís work of healing and creating a circle of love, support, and connection that elevates and
heals your being. See The Giving Mindset: Why Generosity Matters Action plan: Reflect upon your 2-4 most important relationships. Plan at least one small act of kindness and thoughtfulness on a daily basis. (include yourself!!) Cultivate the practice of gratitude and count your blessings daily (State 3 things that you are grateful for every evening.)
----------------
Click here for more empowering info from Dr. Nalini
----------------
Dr. Nalini Chilkov, L.Ac., O.M.D. is a leading edge authority in the field of Integrative Cancer Care, Cancer Prevention and Immune Enhancement. She is the Founder of IntegrativeCancerAnswers.com where she offers online programs and resources that empower and transform. Dr. Chilkov brings over 30 years of clinical experience combining the best of Modern Functional Medicine with the ancient wisdom of Traditional Oriental and Natural Healing. She is a highly respected expert in her field, a frequent speaker at conferences, educational institutions and a trusted resource to the media.
