According to the author of The Great American Detox, Alex Jamieson, "detoxing is a gentle method of cleansing and non-invasive method of rebalancing. It is the departure point for rejuvenation and the restoration of our health, vitality, and wellness". Sounds pretty good but why does anybody need to detox? As Jamieson and many other experts explain the American diet is highly processed and not very healthy. Add to that polution, pesticides, and other harmful substances that most of us are exposed to and the body becomes unable to function properly. As Jamieson points out in her book, "the FDA has admitted that about one billion pounds of chemical additives are put into our foods every year and the average American eats more than 50 pounds of additives a year". Think you're healthy now? There's other gross stats that could be included here but why. You get the point. Check the conditions below to see if you're due for a detox?
- Symptoms That Your Body Is Toxic Include
- fatigue, chronic pain, headaches, poor sleep
- gas, food cravings, constipation, food allergies
- diabetes, hypoglycemia, bad breath
- attention problems, pms, skin problems, and other conditions
Get Started With Purified Water
The first step in the Great American Detox and most detox systems is flooding the body with purified water and not the bottled kind. Jamieson explains that "75% of Americans are constantly dehydrated and that our body is so out of touch with our thirst response that 37% of us mistake thirst for hunger". Symptoms of dehydration include: dry mouth, fatigue, muscle weakness, cramps, headaches, dizziness, nausea, and fogetfullness.
Ever felt all these things at once? Infusing the body with water will immediately help you kidneys and digestive system to function better and boost your metabolism which in turn help your body to eliminate waste and burn fat more efficiently. Who doesn't want that. If your diet is high in salt and heavy on the alcohol and caffeine you are in need of even more water.
Jamieson recommends filtered over distilled and warns that drinking too much water from plastic bottles can also increase toxicity since plastics are made from petroleum (oil). She recommends that you only use platic bottles once since freezing or heating releases more of the toxic plastic chemicals. She also highly recommends a reverse osmosis filter to cut back on plastic bottle use.
Buy the book and get more details about how to improve your health through detoxing. Great recipes plus other ways beyond diet to improve health!
