Detoxifying your body

In my continued quest for health and healing I have recently been focusing more on detoxing my body. Part of my health journey has included a couple of MRI’s WITH CONTRAST and there are more than a few studies showing bad affects from the gadolinium in the contrast. As I’ve been working remotely with my Florida MD/Naturopath his advice to clear my body of this chemical that can cause anything from skin conditions to brain issues has included:

1. Sauna as often as possible- I’m blessed to have a dry sauna in my basement and I generally spend 30 minutes every morning downstairs sweating away. A sauna session is known to help detox by working the body into excessive sweating using dry heat, which helps release toxins and impurities through skin. There are many toxins that ONLY exit the body through sweat. If you have access to a sauna I encourage you to add it to your daily regimen and note- I let you substitute sauna time for exercise time for your daily points. Also it’s important to wash your skin well after sauna to remove the toxins that sweat has deposited on your skin. I recommend Dr Bonner’s pure-castille soap. 
2. Drink plenty of water- Our challenge requires a good bit of daily water but if possible drink even more. Drinking a full glass of water before you begin a meal can help with detoxification and reduce how much you eat at your meal. 
3. Take Epsom salt baths- Magnesium and  sulphur are critical nutrients our body needs. Unfortunately, they are poorly absorbed through our food.  Soaking in a hot bath with Epsom salts helps significantly as these minerals can easily absorb through the skin.  An Epsom salt bath helps to boost circulation throughout the body, lower blood pressure, relieve muscle pain, and pull toxins from your pores. An Epsom salts bath has also proven to help flush out drugs remaining in the body after surgery. When you bathe forgo the synthetic colors and fragrances in bath products like bubble bath or bath bombs, instead use natural epsom salts and healing essential oils. 
4. Fast- Researchers have found that fasting mice live longer. Other benefits include: helping lysosome remove toxins from cells, stimulating bone marrow stem cell formation, stimulating cell division without mutation or cancer cell formation, improving metabolism and slowing down the aging process. I have done two 3 day fasts in the last couple of years and hope to do another one soon but a 24 hour water fast is a good first step in using fasting to clear your body of toxins. Another strategy is intermittent fasting where you daily restrict your eating to a certain time window like 12-12 (you eat for 12 hours and fast for 12 hours) or 18-6. Use caution in fasting and consult with your doctor before doing more than a 24 hour water fast. 
5. IV Vitamin C- This was something else advised by my MD/naturopath (and something you should do only after checking with a doctor) the benefits include: immune system support, antioxidant, wound healing, iron absorption, boosts energy, collagen production, skin health, detoxification. 

6. Glutaryl antioxidant spray- It’s expensive but part of the regimen my Naturopath/Md advised.  It aids in detoxifying the body of existing free radicals and improving one’s health in both the short-term and the long-term.

So our weekly bonus challenge is to take efforts to detoxify your diet. Choose at least one of these each day to earn the daily bonus points:

1. Sauna for at least 15 or more minutes (note you can count this time as exercise time)

2. Take an Epsom salt bath for 15 or more minutes (you can also count this toward exercise time)

3. Increase your daily water intake by 16 ounces.

4. Restrict the hours you eat today. Keep track and work toward a smaller window of eating and a longer window of allowing your body to heal, clear and detoxify. 

5. Sweat- if you don’t have access to a sauna or bathtub just make a greater effort today to work up a sweat. Exercise harder or maybe outdoors and clear out your body with some good old fashioned sweat.