Are you wanting to look, feel, and perform your best, but don’t know where to start? Many high-achieving men and women come to me to improve their health so that they can continue making strides in their profession and personal lives. One of the main factors I discuss with my clients that could be potentially holding them back is a constant state of inflammation.
Our bodies need an inflammation response to heal infections and injuries as well as to maintain good health. Excessive inflammation response, however, can be harmful to our body. Let me explain. When you get an injury or infection, inflammation occurs just for a short period of time. When inflammation sticks around for longer periods (known as chronic inflammation), that’s when it can negatively influence your health.
Chronic inflammation is when there are persistent low-grade inflammation or immune system markers found in your blood or tissues. This inflammation can be seen as a threat to your body, causing it to produce extra immune cells that then can harm cells and tissues. In addition, over-inflammation can interfere with normal processes and functions throughout the body as well. If your immune response is constantly on overdrive, it can lead to chronic diseases and health issues like heart disease, autoimmune disease, diabetes, and even cancer.
Reducing the amount of inflammation in the body is vital to keeping your body running smoothly. Inflammation may not have apparent symptoms yet could still be slowly adding to your health problems. Chronic inflammation can be caused by a number of stressors, including lack of sleep, hidden infections, stress, environmental toxins, and/or poor diet.
Sometimes these stressors are avoidable, yet sometimes they aren’t. We need to first attempt to avoid exposure to inflammatory stressors when possible. However, in today’s world, many of these stressors are pretty much unavoidable. Because of this, we need to help our bodies eliminate them.
This is why daily detoxing is so critical to living a low inflammatory lifestyle. When I say the word “detox,” it doesn’t have to mean a strict diet or juice fast. This just means that we need to make sure we incorporate practices into our daily routine to support our body’s natural detox organs and processes. Detoxing means getting rid of the harmful chemicals to let your body cleanse and reset. If we can help our body get rid of toxins, dangerous chemicals, and other harmful stressors, we can reduce the toxin accumulation and relieve our body’s immune response.
Ways You Can Detox Daily to Lower Inflammation
Reducing inflammation naturally doesn’t have to be extreme. Including daily or weekly practices into your routine can have a significant impact. Here are some things you can do. Keep in mind that you can slowly transition into these. It doesn’t have to be an “all or nothing” thing.
DIET
The Standard American Diet includes a high amount of foods that cause inflammation- high amounts of red and processed meats, pre-packaged and processed foods, candy and sweets, fried foods, and refined grains. Because it’s so common to eat this way in the U.S, most of us don’t see it as a problem. However, most of us will develop a chronic disease as well. The type of foods we eat is one of the biggest ways we can impact inflammation.
Avoid consuming those foods mentioned above and stay away from any foods that you have a sensitivity or allergy to since they can cause your inflammation levels to rise. Instead, incorporate foods that lower inflammation as well as foods that support detoxification. This means including an abundance of nutritious fruits and vegetables, wild-caught fish, beans, nuts, herbs, and spices.
Some of my favorite daily foods/drinks are:
Lemon water
Green juice
Ground flax
Cilantro
Blueberries
Dandelion Root Tea
Bone Broth
Cruciferous Veggies (these can bind to excess estrogen to help eliminate it)
SWEATING/ SAUNA USAGE
Exercising and getting your sweat on is an excellent way to detox, especially to detox toxic metals and chemicals from your body. Sweating increases circulation and blood flow to the skin in order to release heat. This allows toxins in the blood to travel to your sweat glands and be excreted. Many studies have shown that cadmium, lead, mercury, and even the dangerous chemical, Bisphenol A (BPA), have all been seen to be excreted through sweating. There are many ways to sweat, including exercise, hot yoga and using an infrared sauna.
CHOOSE YOUR PRODUCTS WISELY
You can minimize your body toxin exposure through the products you use. Swapping out your regular beauty and household cleaning products with non-toxic alternatives (check out Branch Basics or Norwex) can have a big impact on your toxin accumulation and inflammation levels. This isn’t a hard switch to do, yet if you are using these products daily, it could greatly benefit your health.
ENSURE YOUR HOME AIR & WATER ARE CLEAN
Investing in a high-quality air and water filter is a great way to reduce your toxic burden and help your body detox daily. First off, staying hydrated is essential in supporting detox processes. However, you want to make sure the fluid you are consuming isn’t contaminated with even more toxins, making matters worse.
DRY BRUSHING
Dry brushing can help exfoliate the skin and improve circulation. This can first open pores to help toxin elimination and it can help stimulate and detoxify lymph fluid that stores many of our toxins and cell waste. Our immune system is heavily affected by our lymphatic system and it’s ability to do its job properly.
FOCUS ON MANAGING STRESS
Stressors don’t just have to be from external sources. One major stressor that increases inflammation is stress itself. It’s stressful running a business and the pressures of performing well can be taxing. However, when you let stress overtake your body, it can lead to numerous issues from hormone imbalances to inhibiting normal bodily functioning, like hindering your detox pathways. To manage stress, try out some of these stress-reducing practices: yoga, meditation, journaling, breathwork, spending time in nature, exercising, and/or talking with a trusted loved one or friend.
EPSOM SALT AND BAKING SODA BATHS
Soaking your body in warm water containing epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) can help flush out toxins and heavy metals, and reduce inflammation. Baking soda is a natural alkaline substance that can also help detoxify your body and even soften your skin. The combination of these two combined in a bath makes for the perfect little at home detox.
Add this to your bath:
GLUTATHIONE LIPOSOMAL SUPPLEMENT
Glutathione is key to phases 1 and 2 of liver detoxification. Since the liver is one of your main detox organs, it’s vital that these levels are optimal. Our body naturally produces glutathione which is a powerful antioxidant, but oftentimes it gets depleted due to our lifestyles. Taking a glutathione liposomal supplement can increase your body stores, supporting detox processes, increasing antioxidant capacity, and boosting immune functions.
MINIMIZE EMF EXPOSURE
You may be exposed to electromagnetic field radiation through mobile devices and wifi-enabled devices. EMF exposure has recently been shown to increase oxidative stress, pro-inflammatory cytokines (PICs), and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis hormones. All of these can play a role in increasing inflammation throughout the body, affecting your overall health. To minimize your subjection to EMFs, you should turn off your wifi at night, never sleep with your phone under your pillow (actually place your phone on the other side of the room or in a different room), and use the speaker option when talking on the phone.
REBOUNDING
Rebounding is a form of exercise that involves low-impact bouncing on a mini-trampoline. The idea behind this is that it can stimulate your lymphatic system, increasing its circulation, and enhancing detoxification. You may want to start with 10-15 minutes and work your way up to 20-30 minutes.
ARMPIT DETOX
I am a huge advocate of wearing natural deodorant long term to reduce toxic exposure of chemicals like aluminum in most deodorants. Doing an armpit detox once a week can help your body get back to its natural state of clean perspiration faster. It can help eliminate old bacteria and chemical residue that has built up from your body, eliminating toxins that you put into it (aka poor diet and chemicals). An armpit detox can help clear out those pores to allow them to work properly. One way to do an armpit detox is by using a clay mask.
An easy recipe that you can whip up at home includes:
1 Tbsp bentonite clay
1 Tsp organic apple cider vinegar
1-2 Tsp filtered water in a bowl
If you are wanting to optimize your health, eliminating chronic inflammation is essential. Practicing these daily detox exercises can be a great way to keep your inflammation down. The good thing about these practices is that you can slowly include them into your routine so they become a habit and lifestyle. You don’t have to change up your routine to do an intense week-long detox (unless you want to).
You need your health to be a priority so you can keep your momentum going and reach your personal and professional goals.
