Modern Detox Therapies
Our growing knowledge and understanding of health and wellness, symptoms and causes of toxicity, and detoxification coupled with new technologies now makes it possible and more convenient for us all to pursue a much improved state of health and wellness. Detoxification is a process that can be pursued both through sound lifestyle changes and better choices and modern therapies. Most of us know we need to detoxify, as we know we “just don’t feel quite ourselves.” You may have a general hazy, lack of focus, fatigued, sluggish, blocked, or overall run down feeling. These are all general symptoms of toxic buildup in the body.
A well-designed and individualized program should be designed in consultation with a trusted health care practitioner such as your Doctor, Chiropractor or Naturopath. The particular “best practice” and most effective program for you will depend upon the condition of your natural elimination systems and overall health. This will also allow you to rule out more serious causes of malaise and allow you to better monitor your progression to improved wellness.
What steps will a detox program likely include?
Diet
A typical detoxification program is likely to include an improved diet consisting of whole foods, organic fruits and vegetables, grains, lots of water, and limited amounts of lean (non-organ or cured) meats or proteins. Salt and sugar are normally not allowed. You will likely also be told to avoid alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine. This type of diet is a way to rest and rebalance your system.
Exercise
Your health care practitioner will likely suggest two forms of exercise that are particularly beneficial in detox therapies. The first is aerobic exercise, which improves detoxification by encouraging perspiration, increasing circulation, breaking down fat, and stimulating the lymphatic system. A typical aerobic exercise regimen prescribed for detox therapy includes 30 to 90 minute sessions, 3 to 5 times per week. The second regimen prescribed is likely to be Eastern exercise such as Yoga, Tai Chi, or Qi Gong. These aid the detox process by stretching the muscles, releasing toxins, teaching proper breathing, and stimulating the lymphatic system. A 20-minute Eastern exercise session 3 times per week is thought to be an important component of a comprehensive detox therapy and wellness program.
Stress Reduction
Stress reduction is also an important component for sound detoxification program. While sometimes ignored by many, stress reduction is essential to allow the body to balance itself and for the remaining components of the detox program to be maximally effective. Top stress fighters include:
- Manage your time better by trying to plan ahead more carefully and thoroughly
- Cut down on caffeine and alcohol. Instead, try ginger or peppermint teas which boost energy and mental clarity
- Practice Yoga or even gentle stretching exercises every day
- Take an adequate supply of natural B Vitamins. Good sources are cereal, whole grain bread, milk, lean meat, yogurt, eggs and bananas
- Schedule regular tension release sessions using meditation or other forms of relaxation techniques several times per day
- Eat some carbohydrates for lunch – 1 to 2 ounces of bread, whole grain rice, pasta or potato
- Exercise regularly according to the prescribed program
- Aromatherapy can be a helpful stress reducer
- Supplement your adrenal glands – 500 to 1000 mg of ginseng daily is the most commonly recommended method
- Get a good night sleep. Milk or dairy products and protein contain tryptophan, which helps aid deep sleep. Keep a regular bedtime and be sure to relax prior to attempting to sleep.
Hand Washing
The importance of keeping clean cannot be overemphasized. Most germs enter the body through the nose or eyes when we touch our face so wash your hands thoroughly and regularly.
Sauna
Take a sauna. The human immune system works better at slightly higher temperatures than normal. Humans have recognized this for centuries. This is also one of the reasons the body temperature rises when we are fighting infections.
Nutrient Supplements
Take appropriate and recommended supplements. A host of nutrients can help repair some of the damage experienced before and during detoxification. A good multivitamin with mineral supplements is a good idea for most. Be sure to consult a healthcare professional to make certain that the supplements you take are best for your own personal health and do not conflict or interfere with any medications you may be taking.
Detox Footbath
Lastly, a recent, breakthrough technology has shown significant benefits to detox therapy, Ionic Detox Footbaths.
We understand that regardless of our efforts to lead a healthy lifestyle today’s toxic environment results in higher than desired levels of toxins and heavy metals within our bodies. While our body’s natural mechanisms to eliminate these toxins work to reduce these levels, they are often overwhelmed leaving us feeling tired, sluggish, and finding it difficult to concentrate. This general feeling of malaise is due to an improper acid-alkaline ph balance and improper positive and negative ion balance in our body’s energy levels. This results in weakening our body’s natural immune system and consequently greater exposure to many forms of illness and poorer general health. Detox Footbaths, which can greatly aid in the reduction of toxins and heavy metals, are an especially important therapy for people recovering from illness, injury, or surgery.
Have you ever noticed how much better you feel when walking on the beach with the surf lapping at your ankles? An ionic footbath can restore that same sensation of well-being and effectively aid greatly in detoxification of our systems.
How does a Detox Footbath work?
A Detox Footbath involves filling a footbath tub with clean water and adding sea salt, which is high in mineral content. An array connected to an ionic detox cleanse unit is placed in the water. This results in positive and negatively charged ions being circulated through the body of the Detox Footbath Therapy subject. These ions circulate primarily via the lymphatic and circulatory systems, which bathe cells throughout the body, acting like magnets to attract the oppositely charged ions of toxins, heavy metals and cellular waste.
This process is painless and takes approximately 30 minutes. While some of the toxins are excreted through the approximately 2000 pores in the feet during the Detox Therapy Session, most importantly the Detox Therapy Session will result in a boost in the efficiency of the body’s natural excretory and toxin elimination functions for 24 to 48 hours after the session.
The liver and kidney are marvelous natural filtration systems and work with the body’s natural excretory functions during the period following the Detox Therapy Session to help the body eliminate collected toxins and heavy metals. You are likely to notice changes in the color of the urine and bowels of the individual treated following the Detox Session evidencing the resulting increased efficiency of the body’s natural filtration and elimination functions.
If you have never experienced a Detox Footbath, you will be amazed by the change in the color of the water during the Detox Therapy Session. What started out as clean water will change color and you will observe the water becoming very discolored indeed. This is in part due to ionization and the resulting oxidation of the minerals in the water. However this is only part of the story. You will also notice mucus, foam and flecks in the water and it may turn very dark indeed during your first several sessions. After a number of sessions or during a period of particular illness you may notice the color of the water changing indicating a change in the detoxifying of different parts of the body or varying states of toxicity in your body.
What is most important to understand about how a Detox Footbath Therapy Session works is that an adult human body is between 50 and 65 percent water. The ionization and discoloration process you see going on in the footbath is similar to the process on the water content within your body. The positively and negatively charged ions introduced in the footbath are passing throughout your body and having a similar collection and cleansing effect through the body’s natural filtration and elimination functions during the period following the Detox Therapy Session. The 24 to 48 hour boost in efficiency of these functions resulting from the Detox Therapy Session provides most of the therapeutic benefit as well as toxin, heavy metal and cellular waste elimination. For this reason, Detox Therapy Sessions are not suggested more frequently than once every two or three days to allow for the post-Therapy Session detoxification process to work through to completion and not overload the body’s natural filtration and elimination processes.
Detox Footbaths have been shown beneficial in the following ways:
- Enhancing and rejuvenating the immune system
- Assisting in shortening the recovery time from injuries, surgery and illness
- Relieving pain and joint stiffness due to arthritis
- Removing heavy metals from the body
- Improving sleep patterns
- Removal of blood clot materials
- Improving kidney and liver function which are a part of the body’s natural toxin elimination system
Detox Footbaths should not be used by people with pace makers, those with organ transplants, or by expectant or nursing mothers. An important part of Detox Footbath Therapy is to make certain that you are properly hydrated. Drink plenty of good water and the use of drinks enriched with colloidal minerals and electrolytes is encouraged during and after sessions. Detox Therapy is en essential component of a path to improved health and wellness.