Anonymous

FEELING sluggish after indulging in turkey, chocolates, wine and cookies during the festive season? Have the holidays left you with ill effects to our health? Do you know that bloating, blemishes, tiredness, lack of energy, dull hair and skin, bad breath and digestive disorders can all be signs of excess waste or toxins in the body?

It is not unusual for toxins to build up in your system after the New Year celebrations. These have a disruptive effect on your health as liver detoxification slows down.

Toxins are poisonous substances that are chemically unstable in the body.

They are an accumulation of normal body by-products that haven't been eliminated.

Toxins get accumulated through environmental pollutants (cigarette smoke, exhaust fumes), alcohol, food additives, chemicals, heavy metals and pesticides.

For instance, a high consumption of alcohol can leave toxins that lead to lasting damage such as cirrhosis and liver dysfunction.

A detoxification plan is thus needed to get us back on a healthy track. It is important to follow the detoxification plan (detox, rebalance and reshape) at least once a year or any time if you are feeling lethargic and have poor digestion or elimination.

Herbal detox: milk thistle, dandelion and organic spirulina

Organs of detoxification are the liver, kidneys, large intestines and the skin. A main focus of naturopathic detoxification routines is improving liver function with targeted food and herbal medicines.

Herbalists the world over have held dandelion in high regard for centuries. Dandelion root has an extremely high nutrient content.

Human and animal studies show that dandelion increases bile flow and helps get rid of liver congestion, bile duct inflammation and gallstones.

This herb can be best combined with other liver herbs such as milk thistle for better effect.

Silymarin, which is found in the herb milk thistle, is known to protect the liver by altering and strengthening the structure of outer cell membranes of liver cells.

It prevents toxins from entering the liver cells and stimulates the regenerative ability of the liver.

Silymarin, as an antioxidant, may also reduce damage caused by free radicals and drugs.

It increases the glutathione content of the liver by 35 per cent in healthy subjects.

Glutathione is responsible for detoxifying a wide range of chemicals. It gives the liver an increased capacity for detoxification reactions.

Organic spirulina is ideal for those undergoing a detox programme. It is low in fat and calories, with no cholesterol content, making it suitable for weight- control.

The pigment chlorophyll in spirulina helps in detoxification. Many health professionals also advocate the use of spirulina during juicing (sprinkled onto vegetable and fruit juices and broths) as it provides the vital nutrients such as the B vitamins and calcium.

Apart from that, the bioavailability of iron in organic spirulina is important to those on detox programme or dieters who are on low-calorie diets and prone to iron deficiency.

Remove with juices

For many years, fresh fruits and vegetables have been used by natural therapists to help cleanse and restore the body to good health.

Consuming only fresh, diluted juices from various fruits and vegetables for a day or more is a safe and helpful form of fasting.

Start with well-tolerated vegetables such as celery, cucumber and fennel. Dark-green leafy vegetables such as spinach, pegaga (pennywort), parsley, lettuce and cabbage can be considered too.

Fresh fruits and vegetables juices should be drunk on the day they are made, preferably right after juicing to ensure maximum nutrient content.

Here is a detox recipe you could try on yourself and your family.

DETOX COCKTAIL

2 green/red apples

2 celery sticks

1/2 cucumber

1/4 lemon, peeled a few mint leaves

Method

Blend all the ingredients together with two cups of purified water. For a bit of colour, you may add a carrot.

About the author:

www.medical-explorer.com

Tyson J Stevenson

Detox or detoxification includes two things:

1) Withdrawing poisonous substance from the body.

2) Withdrawing one's mind and soul from the darkness of abused substances.

The term Rapid detox was first used ten years ago and was specially related to opiate addictions. But today, it is mostly used to advertise and describe various methods of detox. Rapid detox can be used to describe the methods of alcohol detoxification, drug detox and other substances. Drug detox

It is a process to withdraw one from drug addiction. Detoxification assists the overcoming of uncomfortable symptoms at the time of drug withdrawal. The ultimate goal of drug detox is to get the body rid of toxins formed due to drug use. It is carried out in various ways depending on where you decide to receive the treatment. Most drug detox clinics provide treatment only for physical withdrawal of drugs and alcohol.

Alcohol detoxification

Alcohol detoxification is the process to withdraw one from alcohol addiction.

There are various aspects of alcohol detoxification:

1) The first aspect of alcohol detoxification is the medical aspect. There should be a medical specialist and a qualified nursing staff in order to help the patient during the procedure. It is an established fact that if a medical practitioner can set the patient's mind calm then the entire procedure goes smoothly.

2) The second aspect of alcohol detoxification is physical. During this process there should be a nutritionist in the medical center to put the patient on a perfect meal plan. If the patient takes balanced diet then the rest of the alcohol detoxification process will go more smoothly.

3) The third and the most important aspect of alcohol detoxification is the emotional aspect. The medical center should have a trained team of psychologists and counselors to help the patient psychologically. The process can be extremely emotional at times. Specialists should be there to assist the patient move forward through emotions.

4) Alcohol detoxification always combines a therapy with medication and that of psychological counseling. These programs are often long lasting; they mostly take two to four months and needs staying at medical institutions. Therapy techniques and personal counseling assist the patients to recover from alcohol completely and more comfortably. The drugs are given to avoid withdrawal symptoms that the patients may experience. Complete recovery from alcoholism is most preferable and the ideal situation.

5) Alcohol detoxification therapies use drugs like Disulfiram, which cause a severe and immediate hangover after consuming alcohol. Drugs like Naltrexone, helps in complete and comfortable recovery.

6) Nutritional therapy has also proved helpful in alcohol detoxification. During this stage, some patients feel 'insulin resistance syndrome' which results in the failure of processing sugar in body. "Insulin resistance syndrome" causes behavioral upsets and mood swings. These mood swings and behavioral upsets can be controlled with specific dietary regimen. Due to these types of psychological problems one should include a dietary regimen during alcohol detoxification.

7) There are some specific programs that help heavy drinkers who are not yet alcoholics but on the same way yet to become alcoholics. Moderation management also helps such people.

About the Author:

Tyson J Stevenson writes on a wide variety of health related subjects, always with valuable news & reviews. Expect to see his name often. See his work at Detox Methods or at Detoxification

Article Supplied by: www.KnowHow-Now.com

Ally Thompson

You've eaten and drunk well over the Christmas and New Year period, but you now find your self sluggish and slow and not ready to get into the swing of things again.

Well one way of getting yourself up and going again is to start a detox programme. The whole idea is to remove the toxins from you body caused by substances such as alcohol, tobacco and food consumed during the festive period. A detox programme helps your body by cleaning out the toxins that you have absorbed by passing them from your skin, liver and kidneys, which act as cleansing filters. The whole idea of a detox diet is to strengthen up the organs that your body uses to carry out detoxification of the toxins on a normal day-to-day basis and release the toxins that have become stored up in your body.

You may find that the detox programme you decide to use could have a number of different elements to it i.e., diet, nutritional supplements and herbs, exercise and possibly a number of alternative treatments. You may even decide to purchase a detox course from any good pharmacy or health shop.

The best and probably the most cost effective way of being able to remove the toxins from your body is to start eating more fresh fruit and vegetables and also drinking plenty of water. Wherever possible the fruit and vegetables that you eat should have a good source of fibre and one such fruit is a banana. Also try and drink at least 2 litres of water each day. If you find that water is a little bland, then try and jazz it up a bit with some lemon juice or even flaxseed, both of which act as a fairly good laxative.

When preparing the fruit and vegetables that you are going to eat, make sure that you prepare them as simply as possible, try not to add too many spices or oil to them. A good way of preparing vegetables for such diets is to steam them, thus you are retaining many of the vital nutrients that you require to assist your body during the detoxification period.

By following such simple rules you will find that your body is more effectively able to absorb the nutrients that it requires and will assist with the effective removal of the toxins that it has absorbed during the festive season. Also you may also find that your body has more vitality and stamina and there may well be an improvement in your digestive system as well. Finally, you may also find that you are more focused and able to deal more effectively with the stresses and strains of every day life.

About the author:

Allison Thompson providing information on detoxing. http://www.detox-zone.info/