Holistic, Alternative Medicine Education and Insight

Friday, May 25, 2007

Spring Cleaning - Time for Natural Detox

It's spring and time for spring cleaning. ...Not just for your house but for your body systems as well. We are constantly bombarded by external toxins and create our own just through the basic metabolic process. These toxins build up over time and affect our health and wellness. In order to restore your holistic well-being, detoxification should be used to clean your internal house, so to speak. Detoxing helps the body to cleanse itself and heal. We can naturally detox in various ways: nutrition, herbal medicine, enzyme supplementation, hydrotherapy, and exercise. Let's briefly look at each of these methods.


By applying a targeted approach to our basic diet, we can minimize the impact of toxins with nutrition. By avoiding the problem foods that trigger toxic reactions, we can improve elimination and aid digestion. Foods such as unrefined sugars, dairy, wheat gluten, and meats which more often than not contain harmful amounts of hormones and antibiotics should be avoided or minimized. Adding lots of fresh fruit and vegetables provides the fiber necessary in the diet and adds loads of antioxidants and vitamins as well.


Herbal medicine can be used to supplement nutrition as it can help the organs cope with the detox process. Dandelion helps the kidney and bladder and is a great toning and cleansing herb. The herb milk thistle is particularly great in helping the liver cope with toxic stress and helping to eliminate toxins. Various herbs as well can be used as a gentle herbal laxative to cleanse the colon and small intestine.


Enzymes aid digestion. They are produced naturally by the body. But as we age, we do not produce the necessary amounts needed for proper digestion. They can be found naturally in raw fruits and vegetables or may be purchased in supplement form. Supplementing your diet with enzymes between meals can be especially helpful during a detox.


Drink plenty of water during a detox. This is very important. The water is necessary to dilute the toxins, hydrate the cells and organs, and assist with elimination. However, hydrotherapy can assist in external ways as well. Soaking detox baths containing epsom salts or baking soda can do wonders as they help draw heavy metals from the skin and support the kidneys. Be sure to soak at least 20 minutes in a warm bath and scrub with a natural fiber gently on the skin.


Heavy exercise make you sweat and sweating helps to eliminate toxins. Not only does this help with detox, but the act of exercise itself speeds up metabolism and releases toxins. It helps to oxygenate the body and mind and helps improve blood flow -- both of which move toxins out of the body.


By implementing these simple strategies, you will be well on your way to a healthy spring cleaning and natural spring detox.



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Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Making Healthy Choices -- The Need for Caffeine Detox

Many Americans grab a cup of coffee in the morning in order to start their day. Some say the aroma, the taste, the warmth all combine to give that morning boost. But actually, it's the caffeine that revs up the system and gets the nervous system excited and generally over-stimulated. Let's take a closer look however, at just how the daily caffeine affects the body and overall health. Does an herbal medicine approach exist to address this?

Caffeine stimulates the nervous system and adrenal glands. For many of us these systems are already overworked which leads to our feeling constantly tired and exhausted. Furthermore, caffeine disrupts natural sleep patterns making you even more tired. By adding caffeine to an already overly stressed - overly tired system, we only add to and extend the problem. Caffeine is a drug and anyone who has started this cycle and then tried to abruptly stop has experienced the withdrawal systems of stopping cold turkey. The feelings of irritability, sluggishness, anxiety, nervousness, and headaches are all common symptoms.

Coffee is by far our favorite method of digesting large amounts of caffeine. Just six ounces of brewed coffee contains 102 mg of caffeine. Just thinking about all the Grande Lattes from my past, the amount of caffeine that must have been in them, and the impact on my health makes me shutter even today.

Instant coffee contains only half the caffeine of brewed. Although, when I drank coffee, I never thought that instant tasted quite as good as fresh brewed. Now I'm not sure if it was really the taste or the fact that instant probably didn't feed into my caffeine addiction as much as the fresh alternative did!

Brewed tea has even less caffeine than coffee. Eight ounces of brewed tea contains approximately 40 mg of caffeine. Tea also contains antioxidants which makes it a much better alternative, especially green tea.

If you are looking to improve your health and trying to wean yourself from caffeine and don't want to suffer from all the withdrawal symptoms, drink lots of pure water and get plenty of exercise -- enough to work up a good sweat. This will help sweat out the toxins and help you with overall detox. An alternative is to use herbal support to minimize withdrawal side-effects. One great product to alleviate detox symptoms is a product offered by Herbal Nutrition Systems called Caffeine Detox. This is homeopathic medicine solution that provides natural relief for caffeine withdrawal. One product to consider combining with this is called Nutri-Calm. It provides an herbal combination of B-complex vitamins and nourishing herbs to support and nuture the nervous system and improve relaxation and encourage restful sleep. This herbal one-two punch not only assists with detox symptoms but also helps to address the underlying cause for the feeling for extra caffeine in the morning.

For other great solutions offered by Herbal Nutrition Systems that you can get at discount, check out this link

http://www.herbalnutritionsystems.com


For information and training on natural health, body systems, and the impact of toxins in the body, check out

http://www.sc-cnhp.org



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