This time of year is the busiest time for clients to join my 8 week program, likely because they think I will help them to detox with the latest diet trend. But I believe that for many people, when we look at the symptoms they're currently presenting, they actually need to support certain systems in their body, rather than starting a strict detoxing diet, a juice cleanse or restricting certain nutrients. Often, this time of year, symptoms that tend to be the most common with clients that I work with:
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In my 8 week program that I offer 1:1 with clients over video call, I help people to heal these symptoms through supporting their bodies with nutrients and lifestyle changes. Instead of starting a restrictive diet or juice cleanse, here are 4 ways I help clients to detox(and most of these including ADDING things to your plate rather than taking away):
when we sleep, this is the time the body repairs itself. This is where our hormones and systems in the body rest and repair. It's probably the most naturally occuring form of detox our body does every day, and we don't really have to do much besides making sure that we regularly get good sleep. Some ways I suggest improving the quality of sleep(ie. longer hours of deep restful sleep) are:
1. Try eating more of a well-balanced, nourishing meal for dinner, and avoid snacking before bed. If the body is truly going to detox and be able to rest and replenish its resources, it needs to not be processing food throughout the digestive tract all night.
2. Take magnesium as a supplement before bed. Magnesium is a natural supplement that is supposed to be found in our foods(but has become extremely scarce and depleted over the years). Magnesium is not a sleep-aid, but it is an element the body uses for muscle relaxation. And because a large part of our bodies are made up of muscle(the digestive tract, the heart, our limbs, etc), it will help to relax the body to prepare for sleep. I suggest finding a good quality magnesium from a health food store and taking the recommended dose on the label before bed.
3. Pay attention to how much sunlight you're exposed to in the daytime. This is often not something we think of when it comes to quality sleep, but allowing our eyes to see the sunlight or daylight for even 20 minutes of the day, helps to regulate our circadian rhythm. When our circadian rhythm is runs on it's natural cycle, it means that it allows our bodies to release certain hormones for the day time, and then when it's night time, more of our hormones that are meant to promote sleep and restfulness are released.
4. Get some movement and exercise in your day. Just a 15 minute walk around your neighbourhood or some stretches or jumping jacks in your living room can be all you need. This helps to get the blood flowing, gets energy levels up, and ultimately helps us to get better quality sleep because our bodies will be more physically tired.
Starting my day with hot water + lemon is something simple that I try to start my day to help optimize my digestion, so that the nutrients I'm eating are actually breaking down, and enter my cells, and giving me the energy I need. Fresh lemon juice is considered acidic, but when it goes into our digestive tract, it creates an alkaline environment, which is the environment that helps us to break down our foods and allows for good bacteria to flourish. When our foods break down the way they're supposed to, we don't get symptoms like bloating, gas, acid reflux, and we even see more regular bowel movements too. More importantly, when the nutrients in our foods break down the way they were meant to, we don't experience symptoms like low energy or drops in energy as frequently. As an added bonus, try adding a pinch of pink Himalayan salt or sea salt to increase mineral intake for more alkalinity.
This one should have been the first one because it's actually one of the most important aspects of our health. Regular bowel movements(at least once day) are a way for the body to release toxins, to create hormonal balance, to help improve mood, and so many other things. Our body's release of toxins is just like when we take the garbage out at our homes. We produce waste in our day to day, we put it out on the curb, and the garbage trucks picks it up, and relieves us of those waste products. But what happens when we miss garbage day? We have to hold on to all that garbage for another week and all the garbage sits and festers. The same thing happens in our body when we don't have a bowel movement every day. The natural toxins that the body releases will just stay in our system, and eventually get reabsorbed, causing all sorts of other symptoms like low energy, low mood, lack of motivation, hormonal imbalances, and more. Here's 5 things I do every day to make sure I keep my bowel movements regular:
A common misconception about blood sugar levels is that either you're "normal" and you're considered "healthy" or you are diagnosed with Diabetes and there is nothing you can do to balance your blood sugar levels. Neither of these are true. Our blood sugar ups and downs happen all throughout the day, and anyone can experience an imbalance in blood sugar levels without even knowing it. Some of the common symptoms of blood sugar imbalance are: chronic low energy or feeling fatigued all the time, low mood and depression, symptoms of anxiety, intense cravings for sweet or carbohydrate dense foods, headaches and migraines often.
The other misconception is that if we are experiencing these symptoms as a result of blood sugar imbalance, there is nothing we can do help it. But that is absolutely not true. There are actually lots of things we can do in our day to day to help support our blood sugar levels for the long term, to prevent diabetes, and to improve our energy levels and mood too! Here's what I recommend to my clients for daily blood sugar management:
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