Want to do a cleanse? You’re already doing one.
When your body is working the way it’s supposed to it naturally cleanses itself. You eliminate waste and toxins continuously while you sleep, breathe, digest, and go about your day. The best way to do a natural cleanse is to support the body as it gets rid of things the way it’s built to.
Elimination happens when you get rid of unneeded things via liquids, gas, and solids leaving your body. If the systems that do this get disrupted you may suffer the consequences, but there are things you can do to help keep the gears oiled: 1) Don’t overburden your body with things it must process and get rid of, 2) Don’t stop the cleansing systems from working.
“Milk, milk, lemonade, around the corner fudge is made!”—said every 2nd grade body expert ever
Urinary system
Your kidneys are constantly filtering your blood and balancing your fluid and electrolytes. They get rid of toxins, excess water and electrolyte salts, as well as urea, ammonia, uric acid, and other byproducts of metabolism. These wastes leave your body when you pee. Be kind to your kidneys as they flush out the bad stuff.
Keep hydrated. Prolonged dehydration reduces the ability for your kidneys to work, since water isn’t just necessary for the physical act of peeing, but also the filtration process. Pay special attention to drinking enough when you sweat, like while working out.
Don’t use nicotine. This substance weakens the performance of blood vessels, including the tiny ones, which serve the filtration system in your kidneys. Nicotine products also contain many toxins that increase the burden on your kidneys.
Keep your blood sugar normal. Elevated blood sugar can also damage those tiny blood vessels and gum up the filtration system, at the same time it increases filtration demand as your body attempts to get rid of the excess. This is the #1 cause of kidney failure.
Have normal blood pressure. Blood vessels can be stretched, hardened, or narrowed with increased pressure, all decreasing the flow of blood to the kidneys for filtration. Flow can be limited to the point where kidney tissue dies.
Keep kidney stones from forming. If you are prone to kidney stones, consider a diet that helps reduce their formation. Stones can lead to damage and infection.
Don’t hold your pee. It can back urine up to your kidneys, stopping normal function, and could cause serious infection. If you tend to get urinary tract infections, take preventing them seriously, as infection is not only dangerous itself but can scar the urinary tract and kidneys.
Digestive system
Your digestive system processes some toxins and wastes from your liver via bile, and gets rid of undigested food. It works closely with the circulatory system to deliver nutrients to the blood. Microorganisms rule the intestines and live in a symbiotic relationship with us. They help determine the overall health of your gut and THEIR eating habits and waste products can give important signals for metabolism and neurological functions. They covert digestive wastes and food into things we can use or get rid of more easily. We need to keep a healthy balance of bacteria to make the intestines work properly.
What to eat
Promote a healthy gut biome. Eating probiotics and prebiotics might help you achieve maximum symbiosis. Probiotics are especially needed if you are exposed to antibiotics that can kill gut flora and cause an infectious takeover with bad types of microorganisms (such as c.diff or yeast).
Limit intake of chemically processed foods and known toxins . Eating or drinking things your body was not meant to handle is burdensome as your body tries to identify and remove these substances.
Eat foods with fiber. Fiber helps trap cholesterol, and other toxins that are present in bile salts, so they can be eliminated from your body instead of reabsorbed. It is also necessary for healthy pooping by bulking up stool and keeping it wet enough to pass. The large intestine will continue to pull water from stool as it goes through, and if poop sits too long you may reabsorb things that your body was trying to get rid of.
Stay hydrated to help that fiber keep stool moving.
What to do for your digestive system
Avoid liver damage. The liver is your main detox powerhouse. Although it does not have a direct orifice to the outside, it performs a good portion of your body cleansing. Damages due to excessive alcohol use, fatty liver disease, and viral hepatitis are all preventable. Fatty liver disease is linked with high triglycerides, obesity, high blood sugar, and insulin resistance. You may not know your liver is fatty until it’s too late, so keep your risk factors down.
Limit medications that dry you out or slow the motion of your gut. Examples include some antihistamines and pain pills. Medicines in general can increase the amount of stuff your body must filter and dispose of. Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist to look at your medication list for what things are essential, then work on those that can be safely decreased or stopped.
Get good sleep. Natural body clocks help regulate intestinal activity and digestion. While sleeping, resources can be routed to your gut for proper processing of food and intestinal housekeeping. The parasympathetic nervous system dominates during sleep, for “rest and digest” time.
Get up and move. Exercise, including normal everyday walking, helps move stool through the intestines via gravity and passive pressure changes as your abdominal muscles contract.
Let the gas out. Bacterial wastes can include gasses, and if you aren’t letting the gas out it can cause bloating, reflux, and stretching that affects normal functioning.
“Better out than in, I always say”—Shrek
Respiratory system
As you exhale you get rid of carbon dioxide, a natural byproduct of metabolism. Buildup of carbon dioxide can cause acid in your blood and a decreased ability to get oxygen to your cells.
Eliminate, when possible, all sources of smoke and lung-damaging substances. Smoke and air pollution, in addition to chemical and biological irritants, can damage lung function. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an example of what can happen, which harms your lungs and has devastating effects on the rest of your body.
Exercise and practice good breathing techniques to keep your lungs in shape and utilize maximum lung surface area for gas exchange. Here are some yoga breathing techniques for a lung workout.
Integumentary system (skin)
Salts, water, microorganisms, and some toxins are flushed from the body with sweat, tears, and other secretions.
Let yourself sweat. Clogging your pores with makeup, antiperspirant, certain lotions, and other personal care products can cause both local and systemic irritation. When you do sweat, don’t keep the sweat next to your skin. Wear breathable clothing and expose your skin to air.
Take care of your skin. Excessive dryness, removal of natural oils, and poor balance of skin flora can cause damage that allows toxins and bad microorganisms to enter the skin, instead of getting rid of them. Remember that your skin is not a perfect barrier. It CAN let things through. Particles that can fit between your cells can get below your skin and eventually into your bloodstream, so protect yourself. This includes harsh cleaners and solvents that can be found in everyday products you use in your home, yard, garage, and at work.
If you have a vagina, respect it. Your vaginal secretions help continuously cleanse bad germs away. Don’t suffocate your lady hole or disrupt its pH with weird douches, horrible “sexy” underwear, or scented products. A healthy vagina is a happy one.
Circulatory system
The flow of blood and lymph throughout your body allows fluid balance to take place and equips you to perform the processes outlined above. Keep your heart, and the highways of your body healthy, with daily exercise, a positive attitude, loving relationships , and a reasonable diet.
As you can see, you are already “doing a cleanse,” so if you really want to take it to the next level, you should include living a lifestyle that supports the essential housekeeping your body does everyday. No temporary health cleanse is going to take the place of the ongoing maintenance your body needs. Humans are complex creatures, and the balance of taking things in and flushing them out is a weird science, but somehow it works, for the most part. So keep pooping, peeing, breathing, and secreting your way to cleanliness!
Further reading
- Review of scientific articles on food additives and their safety
- Food additives banned in Europe, but still on US shelves
- More information on gut bacteria and the brain
- A huge (though not exhaustive) list of toxins your body might encounter in modern life: