Give your body a reset after the holidays

How are you feeling? As you head into 2024 your body is ready for a good reset, mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and nutritionally.

The extra sugar, refined carbs, alcohol, and lack of colour in the diet will have anyone feeling sluggish and bloated. The purpose of resetting is to promote whole-body health by uplifting your liver’s ability to clear toxins from the body. Resetting also involves feeding your microbiome well. By doing this, you will notice a difference in your energy levels, alertness, digestive health, skin health, and so much more.

Stop the toxic overload: There are certain foods that interfere with the liver’s ability to detoxify your body. These are also the same foods and beverages most commonly associated with creating fatigue, weakness, inflamed joints and muscles, poor digestion, headaches, weight-loss resistance, high blood pressure and cholesterol, and generally poor health.

You can assess the food you have in your pantry and freezer to rid your kitchen of foods or beverages that might tempt you during your detox diet. Place emphasis on minimising specific ingredients in your diet. These include sugar, refined flour such as crackers, white pasta; most boxed snack foods; artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, artificial colours; trans fats; gluten; dairy; processed soy; and alcohol.

Whenever possible, choose organic foods to minimise your intake of hormones, antibiotics, herbicides, and pesticides that were never intended to be in your body, and certainly do not do anything other than compromise how good you can look and feel. Choose foods that support healthy digestion and natural detoxification: the liver filters out what the body does not need through its concentration of enzymes.

The first phase of liver detoxification is the conversion of toxins into water-soluble compounds; the second phase is the addition of a chemical group, such as a sulphur-containing compound, to assist in their release from the body. The last step is the elimination phase to purge the body of the toxins it has worked so hard to detoxify.

All three phases need proper nutrition support or the detox process will become sluggish or, even worse, come to a halt. To support the normal detoxification and to promote digestions, eat these foods every day: leafy greens, beets, cruciferous veggies (cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage), broccoli sprouts, garlic, onions; citrus fruit and healthy proteins, which are vital for supporting the immune system and the health of liver cells; high-fibre foods, because they bind toxins in the gut; olive oil, because it helps thin the bile your liver makes; and water.

Your body needs plenty of water to stay hydrated and flush out toxins during your diet.

Support those kidneys: Drink at least eight, eight-ounce glasses of filtered water daily. You will know you are hydrated when your urine is a clear to pale yellow colour. It does not hurt to mention, drink water from a stainless steel or glass container. Plastic contains many of the toxins you are trying to eliminate.

Sweat it out: The skin is the body’s largest organ. Not only is it the body’s primary shield to contaminants in the environment, but it is also a major elimination pathway for impurities. The simple act of sweating helps your body flush out unwanted waste products. Vigorous exercise, jumping on a rebounder, and taking a dry sauna or hot steam are all great ways to get a healthy sweat and flush impurities from your body.

Giving your body a reset can set you up for more success, and put you on track for a healthy and happy new year.

keisha.hill@gleanerjm.com