National Detox Month

January should just be proclaimed National Detox Month.

Everyone I know, including myself, is so ready to detox from this holiday season. It was great to throw caution to the wind and over indulge. The beauty of our body is that it was set up to detox. It wants to be in balance. 

This is what I’ll be doing to combat my over indulgence.

I didn’t include juicing because it’s expensive unless you’re doing a juice fast. I wanted this list to be accessible to anyone and everyone.

Everything here is something I do regularly so I know it works and I live on a very small budget so I know you can do it too! 

Do you have any tried and true Detox tips you’d like to share? Please do!

1. Lay off the meat – You ate enough, give your body a break from all those hormones and antibiotics. Maybe your family is loaded and you ate all organic. Good for you. It’s still way to many hormones and it’s screwing with your body. 

2. Eat a ton of greens -Whatever form you want. Get organic, with all the money you’re saving from skipping the meat. Greens are in the Dirty Dozen. If you want your body to detox you can’t give it more toxins. Simple as that.

3. Start every day with lemon water -a big glass of water and a lemon squeezed into it. Lemon and Lime have high concentrations of Vit C. Which you know you take for a cold, but do you know why? It breaks down toxins so they can be flushed from the body. Drinking a large glass of lemon water first thing in the morning when your belly is empty gives you the most bang for your buck, so to speak.

4. Skip the gluten. Again the idea is to give your body a rest. Let it recoup from the pie, cake, bread, rolls, stuffing, gravy, pasta, beer. Just let it go by. This month try something new. Experiment with new grains. Be ok with failure. Some you won’t like, some you’ll burn, some you’ll fall in love with. 

5. Cook. Do some batch cooking (make a ton of something once) one day then for the week morph it into other things. I like to make a simple soup or beans then as the week goes on I can make them Mexican, or Indian, or Sweet or Savory. You’re only limited by imagination and how long you’re willing to kick it on Google.

6. ACV. Apple Cider Vinegar. Use it on your salads. Drink a shot of it in water. Sprinkle it on your steamed veggies. Whatever way you want to use it try incorporating it 3x a day. This flushes toxins out of your system while helping the good bacteria in your gut flourish. Get unpasturized ACV, Braggs Brand is always a safe choice.

7. Kombucha. The same goes for this wonder drink. A natural probiotic Kombucha is relatively easy to find these days (I lived in Summit County Colorado, super tiny markets and even they had a wide variety at the local health food store) or make your own! Or if you live in LA come get a CDK at CleanDinners! Kombucha brewed by yours truly for a fraction of the cost at stores!

8. Lay off the booze. I know it sucks for many people but it kills the good bacteria and lowers your immune system. Want to know why you get sick every winter? Look no further. I’m not saying you have to go cold turkey, but try having one drink (not a long island ice tea either) instead of multiples. Try having a glass of red wine, it has redeeming value, if you can’t let it go. If you can’t let booze go for a chosen amount of time, you need to look at why. Seriously.

9. Try a weird thing like tongue scraping, dry brushing, or oil pulling.

10. Take a warm hot bath! This is the best part! 2-3 times a week take a nice hot bath for at least 20 minutes with Epsom Salts and Baking Soda. The baking soda helps pull toxins out while the Epsom salts fill you magnesium, which most everyone is deficient.