By Dr. Irina Schurov, LiveRight
The end of March and the beginning of spring have finally arrived! Nature has begun to wake up and every day new flowers, more green grass and blossoming buds on trees appear.
Now is the time for a Spring clean in the house, garden and, of course, in the body. Some people associate this with a strict diet or a liver flush. For others, who follow religious traditions and are currently fasting, this “clean” is already happening, as fasting is a very effective traditional detox programme. However, it is important to realise that detoxification processes can cause huge stress to the body and it is advisable to undergo them gently, applying a very personalised approach. Only people in very good health can go through a robust detoxification protocol, others need to be very careful! Because of the amount of toxicity and stress we experience in our lives, our body’s detoxification system is always working hard. We have a complex elimination system that is responsible for removing waste from the body. This internal system includes the kidneys, liver, lungs, skin and the gastrointestinal tract. If you have issues with any of these organs it means the detoxification process cannot be very effective! For example, if you suffer from constipation, you cannot eliminate toxins effectively, therefore, any detoxification protocol you may introduce will elevate the problems in your body even more, as it will cause the concentrated toxins in your gut to accumulate and will redistribute the toxicity in your body, potentially causing many health issues.
For this reason, please assess your elimination pathways before considering different detoxification protocols. Ask yourself questions such as: Is your stool regular? Is your skin in good condition? Are your liver and kidneys working well? If you find you are experiencing certain issues, they must be addressed first. This means you need to consider a very gentle, but still beneficial, way to detox that is specific to you. For instance, eliminating sugar from your diet is a great way to detox, this helps to normalise your gut issues and improves the immune system.
Other examples of a gentle detox include a two-week gluten-free diet, a casein-free diet, a “no processed food” approach, vegetarian and organic only options and much more. A semi-fasting approach can be beneficial for some people as well, when you skip either breakfast or dinner, have only two meals instead of three so that your body doesn’t starve but at the same time has enough time to heal and restore itself. What is important during this period is to drink plenty of water and to have sufficient sleep. Remember, the main detox process takes place during the night!
So, the bottom line is that a detox needs to be done in the right way for you. Only then can it be a great boost to your well-being. For all of these reasons, assess your health and plan your detox carefully! Have a sunny spring and enjoy its pleasures in good health!
Author's Bio
Dr. Irina Schurov is a Nutritional Neuroscientist with a PhD from Cambridge University (UK) and over 20 years’ experience in science and health-providing services. She created and founded LiveRight, an initiative to help others through nutrition and wellbeing strategies. By building an educational platform around healthy eating habits, by restoring the relationships between people and food, by supporting your individual circumstances and through personalized coaching in nutrition, she wants to help you and your family achieve the optimal balance between help and life.
Irina focuses especially on children with ASD and related neurological conditions by addressing the connection between gut and brain by detoxifying, nourishing and resetting a whole body biochemical balance. She provides personalized nutritional support to families and an individual DNA nourishing programme for each child in order to maximise their potential in life.
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