Before beginning a detox, be sure to consult with your health practitioner. If your body is quite “toxic” or you’re suffering from any nutrient deficiencies, you can make your skin condition much worse by not preparing properly before a detox.

Detoxification is a process that is naturally occurring and is an essential cycle that transforms and clears potentially harmful substances from the body. These substances form part of our everyday life. They can be endogenous (made within the body) such as hormones, or come from our food, water and air.

Our capacity to detoxify effectively depends on our genetics, age, gender, diet, environment and disease state. When working well this process is a balanced scale. When the scale is tipped though, our bodies can struggle to keep up with the detoxification burden and many different systems within the body can be affected. Skin is one of those systems and it will quite often present as acne, eczema or even premature ageing.

This is because your skin is one of the six channels of elimination through which our bodies detoxify. The skin is our largest organ of elimination and is fairly limited in its ability to cope with the increased demand for detoxification when the other channels aren’t working effectively or in situations when there is an increased overall toxin load.

Signs that you need to do a detox. 

If you suffer from any of the following, it’s likely that you need to undertake a detox to support your body’s natural detoxification processes.

  • Headaches
  • Acne
  • Dermatitis or eczema
  • Indigestion, constipation or bloating
  • Muscle aching and weakness
  • Chronic fatigue and lethargy
  • Nerve pain or numbness
  • Lowered immunity or allergies
  • Sensitivity to environmental chemicals and strong odours eg perfume, cleaning products, essential oils
  • Depression, anxiety or mood swings
  • Hormonal issues such as PMS or heavy irregular periods

You may require a Naturopathic Detox plan that could include herbs and detox nutrients such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients, glutathione, turmeric, quercetin, lipoic acid, selenium, copper, vitamin E, and zinc. Binders like silicon (high affinity to mercury) clays and charcoal are also needed in some situations.

If you are just wanting to do a “good clean out” or spring detox there are simple ways to enhance your body’s natural detoxification pathways. These include:

  • Getting enough sleep
  • Drinking plenty of filtered water
  • Reducing inflammatory foods and drinks
  • Getting regular exercise
  • Choosing organic food where possible
  • Eating only wholefoods; reducing processed and prepackaged foods
  • Eliminating harsh chemicals and cleaners; swapping to low tox and natural cleaning and personal care products

If you are needing to detox from toxins such as chemicals, pesticides, environmental toxins, or endogenous toxins like yeast, parasites and hormonal excess, or if you are experiencing any of the symptoms listed above, book a naturopathic appointment to get your custom detox plan.