Benefits of Cleansing

Fall is a wonderful time of year to consider cleansing your body. Seasonal cleansing can help reduce symptoms of disease as well as prevent illness from developing in the first place.

We live in a sea of toxins. Millions of tons of chemicals are released into the North American environment each year, exposing us on a daily basis. Manufacturing and mining are sources of contamination for our air and water, pesticides lace our foods, and cleaning products and cosmetics are just a few of the chemical substances we encounter in our homes.

Our bodies have detoxification pathways via the skin, lungs, bowels, kidneys, lymph system and especially the liver. Over time, these systems can become impaired due to excessive exposure, poor nutrition, drugs, or ill health. Symptoms can occur such as fatigue, headaches, skin eruptions, pain, allergies, muscle weakness and foggy thinking. Over time, repeated cell damage can lead to more serious diseases. Cleansing can help address the source of these ailments and promote overall health.

There are various detox programs available to the public ranging from gentle to more aggressive. Gentle approaches may be as simple as improving your diet and yoga. More aggressive methods may include the detox kits sold at health food stores. While some of these kits are produced by reputable companies, they can have detrimental side effects. Many are based on cathartic, laxative herbs that can cause unnecessary stress on the bowels. They may not contain appropriate amounts of beneficial vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and amino acids such as cysteine and glutamine that aid the cleansing process and help reduce detox symptoms (fatigue, headaches, gastrointestinal distress). Intense cleansing protocols performed improperly can actually harm your health.

Yearly or biannually cleansing is appropriate for most people, but may not be safe for young children, the chronically ill, pregnant or nursing mothers, and those suffering from a serious disease. Anyone who falls into these categories should seek the advice of a qualified healthcare practitioner when considering a detox program.

Some of the most effective cleansing protocols take a comprehensive approach and involve a whole foods hypoallergenic diet, rest and relaxation techniques, ideal amounts of nutrients, antioxidants and herbs, and supportive therapies such as skin brushing and colonics as appropriate. In addition, learning where exposures to toxins occur in our environment and what we can do to reduce or prevent them can immensely benefit our overall body burden of chemicals.

Carolinas Natural Health Center offers a Cleanse and Detoxification Program under the supervision of a naturopathic doctor. For more information, please call 704-708-4404 or visit Detoxification.

Dr. Marci Scott is a naturopathic physician at Carolinas Natural Health Center. She utilizes clinical nutrition, botanical medicine, homeopathy, and lifestyle counseling on an individualized basis to help people achieve better health. For more information or to schedule a free consultation please call (704) 708-4404.