How to Detox Your Body and Home and Why It Helps

The whole concept of detoxification was a completely foreign one to me until I started living naturally and eating real food. I never understood or even cared what it was about and now incorporate detox strategies into my daily routine as I find it improves my digestion, helps my mood, increases my energy, and relaxes me all at the same time!

How to Detox Your Body and Home (and why it helps)

A great time to start detoxing is right after the holidays when the stress of staying with family (no just kidding – no one feels stressed with their in-laws!) and consumption of foods loaded with sugar and white flour start to take their toll on your stomach, intestines, immune system, mood and more.

The Dangers of Corticosteroid Creams for Eczema

What is the point? We are bombarded with unnatural chemicals in food, beauty products, cleaning supplies, furniture, mattresses, carpet, paint and the list goes on. Unless you live in a cave in the middle of Montana, it is impossible to not come in contact with harmful chemicals. However, all hope is not lost as there are ways to boost our body's defense system. Our immune system starts in our guts, where the intestines filter out the chemicals and toxins that we eat (like preservatives and sweeteners) and come into contact with (think lotions, shampoos, perfume, makeup, laundry detergent, air fresheners, etc.). Our bodies can efficiently filter out a few things nasty things here and there by keeping them from getting into our bloodstream. But an overload of toxic food and chemicals and our guts cannot protect us from their harm. The chemicals enter the bloodstream and the body attacks the foreign substances, causing inflammation and all manner of autoimmune diseases like anxiety, depression, fibromyalgia, arthritis, and even Autism (source – (affiliate link) Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Campbell-McBride).

Thankfully, detoxing isn't terribly difficult or expensive and doesn't require special machines!

Homemade Green Household Cleaners with Free Printables
Make your own cleaning supplies – it's super easy!

Ways to Detox Your Home

All Natural Cleaning Supplies

Switch to all-natural cleaning supplies. Store-bought cleaners are LOADED with toxic chemicals, many that attack the endocrine system. Making your own at home is not only super easy, it's cheaper, too! I have tons of recipes here on the blog to get you started:

Natural Laundry Scent and Fragrance - Alternatives to Fabric Softener and Dryer Sheets

All Natural Laundry Cleaning

Laundry detergent, dryer sheets, and fabric softener are other big offenders in the toxic department. But I have recipes to switch to all-natural versions!

Ditch the Air Fresheners

They irritate the lungs and exacerbate asthma. Febreze is one of the most toxic substances on the market, according to the EWG (Environmental Working Group). Thankfully, it's really easy to make your own with essential oils!

Ways to Detox Your Body

My Merry Messy Life: Homemade All-Natural Bath Salts for Romance

From the Inside-Out

Here are some of my favorite ways to both detox and relax at the end of the day – all of these pull toxins from your gut and get them out of the body. They really help me with digestion, reducing eczema, improving my mood and more! (Some affiliate links are provided for your convenience.)

  • Long soaks in the tub with Epsom Salts (see my recipe here) – 2 cups or more of salts and soak for 20 minutes or more.
  • Detox herbal tea – I make a cup of this tea and put in a teaspoon or more of grassfed gelatin, due to its healing properties
  • Diluted apple cider vinegar – I have an entire post about the amazing properties of apple cider vinegar. I dilute one tablespoon in 8 ounces of water and drink once a day or more to boost my immune system and help with digestion.
  • Probiotics – In my post on how I deal with eczema with some natural remedies, I talk about how I take probiotics. The conventional medical community has finally caught up with the alternative medical community to agree that probiotics are one of the keys to health! My favorite one is from BioKult Probiotics.
  • Oil Pulling – swish a spoonful of coconut oil in your mouth for 5 to 20 minutes a day to pull out toxins. I've been doing this for a short amount of time so I cannot speak to its benefits yet, but there are many posts out there on the subject!
  • Yoga – I cannot sing the praises of yoga enough! I am crazy about it and am always amazed at how good it makes me feel. Best of all, many of the poses are designed to flush out the organs and detoxify (like all of the twisting poses).
  • Sweat it Out – I love to go to the sauna at my gym to sweat out the toxins. I feel so incredibly relaxed and I've even noticed it improves my eczema if I have an outbreak! High-intensity exercise can also be beneficial to sweat out the toxins in your body.
  • Massage – Now you have another excuse to get a massage! It releases toxins from your entire system – muscles, lymph nodes, blood, and organs.
  • Juicing – This is an excellent way to get all the nutrition from fruit and vegetables without your body having to work hard to digest it. More posts on juicing coming soon!
  • Eat Real Food – Vegetables are the healthiest things to eat. Stay away from nitrates, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, and food grown with pesticides (get organic instead when possible). I'm an ingredient nazi and try to avoid buying anything that has ingredients that aren't real.

All Natural Beauty Regimen

From the Outside-In

 

31 Days to Detoxify Your LifeGet all of this information and more in my new eBook, 31 Days to Detoxify Your Life! I've partnered with 10 other bloggers to bring you a 200-page book with over 120 recipes to detoxify your body, home, medicine cabinet and food. Amazing! It would take many hours to locate these recipes, pin them, read them, organize them…This way, you can have it all in one spot!

 

How to Purchase High Quality Essential Oils through My Merry Messy Life

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *