Green Smoothies For Dummies
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It’s a simple analogy: Your body is like a car requiring regular maintenance. Doing a detox is your maintenance check to help you avoid costly visits to the doctor. If you clean your body from the inside out by doing some type of regular detox program, you’re getting a mini tune-up and practicing preventative maintenance for your health.

Catching common signs you need to detox

If you suffer from three or more of the following conditions, you’re a very good candidate for doing a cleanse:

  • Constipation, excessive gas, and/or bloating

  • Indigestion and/or acid reflux

  • Body odor, bad breath, and/or bad-smelling stools

  • Insomnia, light sleep, or sleep that isn’t restful

  • Headaches or migraines

  • Joint aches and pains

  • Low energy/fatigue throughout the day

  • Poor skin, acne, or rashes

  • Thinning hair or brittle nails

  • Decreased sex drive

  • Excess weight and/or trouble losing weight

  • Dark circles under your eyes or puffy eyes

  • Frequent colds, flus, or mucous congestion

  • Allergies or hay fever

Consult with your doctor and continue to take any prescription medication during the detox program.

Recognizing why getting rid of excess toxins is important

Your body goes through a natural process of detox on a daily basis. The lungs bring oxygen in with each inhale and release carbon dioxide with each exhale. The liver filters toxins in the blood, the kidneys and skin release acid buildup, and the colon gets rid of solid waste.

If the body can eliminate all of that on its own, what’s the point of butting in? Why not just let Mother Nature do her job?

The main problem in letting nature take its course is that you’re simply putting more in than is going out. The average diet today is heavily loaded with chemical additives, flavorings, coloring agents, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and other toxic chemicals that overburden the body.

During cleansing and similar programs, the organs of elimination — the colon, liver, kidneys, lungs, and skin — are able to eliminate large amounts of these accumulated metabolic wastes and poisons.

The purpose of doing a detox or cleanse is to give all your organs a chance to catch up on internal housekeeping.

Have you ever tried to clean your house while people were walking through it? Their feet track dirt all over the floor, their hands touch everything, and you can’t even clean the old mess before new mess forms. And even if you clean your house regularly, dust and dirt still gather under and behind furniture.

Giving your body just a short break from that constant exposure allows your organs to clear out the buildup without adding more on top of it and provides the health equivalent of a good spring cleaning. Moving forward, all your organs work better, which means your energy levels, immune system, metabolism, and digestive system all improve, too.

About This Article

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About the book author:

Jennifer Thompson has been working with raw food, juices, smoothies, and detox for over two decades to help people heal. Today, she shares her expertise worldwide, offering lectures, workshops, training, and one-on-one consultations at various health and detox retreat centers. She shares fantastic recipes and time saving lifestyle tips on her site healthybliss.net.

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