Time for a little spring clean and I’m not just talking about giving the house a good deep clean. I’m talking about your our bodies. Detoxing the body is highly important, it’s a process of eliminating toxic substances from the body with either temporary or permanent changes of lifestyle and diet, toxins are substances such as heavy metals, chemicals, pollutants, artificial food ingredients and pesticides these all can cause harm to our health, they build up over months and years most of the time without us even knowing it.

Unfortunately toxins are everywhere they are in the water we drink, food we eat and air that we breathe, in a nutshell we live in a toxic environment but please don’t despair there are plenty of things we can help us cleanse our bodies.

Here are a few signs that your body might need a detox:

  • Brain fog • Depression • Insomnia
  • Body odor • Cravings • Low libido
  • Fatigue • Constipation • Bloating

If you do suffer from any of the above you may want to think about taking some time to do a detox, there’s numerous ways to reduce and eliminate toxins that can be done easily just by following these steps.

Eating the right foods

  • Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and legumes
  • Choosing organic if possible
  • Drinking plenty of filtered water and homemade fresh juices
  • Avoid processed food (particularly white flour and sugar) and fried food
  • Cut out meat and dairy
  • Cut out foods containing preservatives
  • Avoid empty calories such as sugary loaded fizzy drinks and alcohol 
  • No smoking

Here is a list of naturally detoxifying foods and herbs:

• Water • Ginger • Green tea • Apples • Carrots • pineapple • Grapefruit

• Coconut oil • Artichokes • Garlic • Turmeric • Lemons • Limes • Broccoli

• Basil • Coriander • Beets • Flaxseed • Avocado • Collard greens (kale, chard)

Clean air:

Indoor air quality is roughly 5x more polluted then outside so purifying the air inside your home is highly important but is something most of us don’t think about, poor air quality is the leading cause of respiratory infections, asthma, allergies and rashes

To improve this we can do a number of things such as:

  • Open windows and airing out the house
  • Burn essential oils and soy candles. • Stop using commercial chemical products and air fresheners
  • Switch too natural products which are better for you and your family plus the environment
  • Have air purifying plants dotted over the house preferable in each room, bamboo plant, snake plant, peace lily and spider plant are just a few good examples
  • Himalayan salt lamps are also great at cleansing the air.

Stress less:

Modern day lifestyle can be very overwhelming and stressful at times causing havoc not only on our emotional state but physically as well. Stress can be toxic to your health so keeping stress levels to a low is well advised.

  • Try meditation 
  • Breathing exercises
  • Exercise is another great way to relieve stress (especially Yoga and Pilates)
  • Burning essential oils like lavender, rosemary or wild orange
  • Try drinking herbal teas such as mint or chamomil
  • Soaking in a hot bath

Living here in Spain it’s not very often I opt for a bath over a shower but there are heaps of benefits from soaking in a bath containing a handful of Epsom salts, 5/10 drops of your favourite essential oils (lavender to relax the body is    a personal favourite of mine) and half a cup of baking soda, this is a brilliant combo to draw out toxins and heavy metals
, lower stress levels, regulate hormones, balance your ph level, improve sleep and relieve sore muscles. Soak for 20/40 minutes and after slowly stand up with care since you may feel lightheaded or drained rinse yourself with cold water. You should make sure to drink plenty of water and do not eat immediately after.

Rachel Tuttle