Detoxification for weight loss

Detoxification or cleansing can be perfect to re-boot your metabolism and get rid of unwanted toxins. By now we’ve all heard of detoxification or know someone who’s gone through a cleanse, but with the hundreds of detox programs available, you have to wonder which ones really work.

It’s critical that you chose a program that’s safe, effective and nutritionally sound. It’s even more important that you ask yourself why you want from a detox or cleanse anyway.

When I asked my patients what they wanted out of a detox program the most consistent answer I got was weight loss. Some said they just wanted a program to help them get back on track with eating healthy.

Do a detox or cleanse that’s supervised

1. Never fast, it puts too much stress on the organ systems of the body.
2. Don’t refrain from solid foods, rather eat light and practice caloric restriction.
3. Make sure you’re getting the daily requirement of macronutrients and micronutrients (this is where the supervised comes in handy). For example you need a minimum of 130 grams of CHO each day in order to make enough glucose for your brain and CNS to function properly.

Take the proper time to detox. You should be mentally prepared to cook and prepare daily meals for the time frame of the detox. You should listen to your body’s signals. If you feel tired take a nap and never push through an exercise program.

How does detoxification or a cleanse work?

Simple! Toxins are stored in fatty tissue. The more toxic you are the more fat you’ll have on your body. To release toxins from fat we incorporate a detox product to help facilitate toxin release. This is done along with a low calorie nutrient dense diet.

Through dietary changes and pointed nutrients, the fat cells will become mobilized and begin to release their toxic load. The body will use the fat for energy. Once the toxins are mobilized, they travel to the liver to undergo phase I and phase II detoxification. With the proper nutritional support the liver will easily convert these toxins to water soluble molecules, bound for excretion via urine and feces.

Most healthy people who do a detox protocol will usually have no problems and will achieve successful results. I find this to be true for 50% of the general population. The other 50% really need to detox, that is; their sick and their system can’t fully handle it. They need a different plan or a pre-detox to prime the body and get the body healthy so it can handle a detox more efficiently.

I assess each person before they detox. I’ll always send them for a blood test first to look at their overall health status. If any of these tests show that the person is at nutritional risk or has underlying metabolic issues, then we need to address those issues before detoxing.

Detoxification is extremely necessary in the world we live in today. We are continuously bombarded with toxins such as pollution, exhaust, chemicals, pesticides, hormones, xenoestrogens, plasticizers as well as internal toxins that we produce or are made by stealth infections such as LPS.

Detoxification can be done once or twice per year and it’s best to do it in the spring or fall. Detox is not only healthy but it should be a springboard for you to reset and develop healthy eating habits that will last you a lifetime.

Although it’s impossible to address all of the details of detoxification here, we provide case reviews to assist you with detox questions and health concerns.