So, for the sake of this article, let’s assume that you are wanting to do a body detox and lose some weight or cleanse your colon or what ever you have in mind for your physical cleansing aspect.  If you only focused on that one aspect of your detox, you would not get nearly the results you had hoped for.  For example, what people find is that when they are trying to lose weight with a detox diet, if there are other factors that are inhibiting their cleanse, the weight will not come off.  Then, what happens is you will end up blaming the supplements or the diet itself, when the real problem might be that you are not addressing other core toxic issues in one of these other aspects mentioned.

Addressing Your Mental Detox

Toxic emotional and mental thoughts are also a problem.

A big part of what keeps our bodies holding onto all sorts of toxins is that energetically we don’t know how to release them.  Your body is only the physical structure that is a manifestation or symbol of your emotional, mental and spiritual self.  What you are holding in those other areas will show up in your physical body.  So, in order to really do a thorough body cleanse, you will need to address these issues at some point.  It doesn’t have to mean a bunch of sessions with a therapist or counselor to address your past.  It may involve this if you think that this is an area you could use help with, but it need not.

The whole point is that you are one symbiotic and holistic body.  There are other factors at work than just your diet as a reason why you are accumulating toxins in your cells and tissues.  If your body is functioning at its optimum level, then much of this toxic debris and waste will be naturally flushed through your body’s natural elimination means.  This happens through your breathing (your lungs are a big source of toxic elimination), your sweat by way of exercise and through body elimination processes (urine and stools).  The only reason that your body may be more sluggish in eliminating a build-up of toxins in your colon is because one or all of these aspects of the body detox are not being fully addressed.

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You'll have to give up this type of diet during your body detoxification. You will be eating more foods that are 'alive' and full of active minerals, vitamins and antioxidants.

Okay, now that you are here, let’s discuss some of the do’s and don’ts about a detox program, how to detox, what to eat, how much fluid to be drinking, supplements, and all the rest.  Some people even wonder whether a detox diet has any validity or not.  Well, if you’re a skeptic, hopefully this site will help clear up some of the myths and misconceptions about what a detox really is.

Detox Your Body The Safe Way

If you are embarking on your first detox diet or program, then you need to know how to do it safely.  Most detoxification procedures that have any merit should give you the adequate information to make your diet one of the largest components of your plan.  While it can be very helpful to supplement your food choices with the right herbs, teas and detox supplements, the key will be in the organic food you eat and the amount of water you drink.

As just mentioned, you should pay particular attention to make sure that your foods are organic.  To the degree that you are trying to eliminate toxins from your body, your choices in food items will make a big impact.  Choosing organic vegetables and fruits is no longer difficult and often very similarly priced.  On the more exotic foods, you may find organic to be a bit pricey, but remember, this is your health you are dealing with.  It just makes sense to go for the cleaner produce – especially when you are hoping to detox your body.

When It Comes To A Cleanse, How Much Should You Drink?

Let’s be clear.  The only thing you should be drinking is water, possible a little fruit juice or what ever type of detox

You can blend up your own smoothies and vegetable drinks.

products you may be using.  Other than this, you should not be consuming any alcohol, pop or soda, or coffee.  While this may be hard on your normal routine, it will benefit your colon in the end.  What you are assisting is your natural body detoxification process.  Water is an essential component to cellular and organ function and health.  Your colon cleansing will be accomplished by the movement of waste through your body.  Water and some light fruit juice combined with the proper foods and supplementation will accomplish this.  The idea is to work with your body in its own natural detox way, don’t try to force something that is not a natural process.  However, you can assist and amplify the results through proper conscious dietary choices.  It’s always funny when I hear critics say “do detox diets really work?”.  They usually have never done one and consider things fast food and smoking or alcohol simple necessities of life.  Don’t get me wrong, enjoying alcohol or a hamburger time to time are fine in moderation.  I do not think anyone can defend smoking in this day and age.

Here is a basic rule of thumb to use for how much water you should be drinking:  divide your body weight in half and drink that much water in ounces, plus one glass.  For example, if you weigh 130 pounds, that would be 65 ounces of water.  There are approximately 8-10 ounces of water in a normal glass.  So, this would be approximately 8 glasses, PLUS one equals 9 glasses of water each day.  You cannot really screw this up, the key is simply to be drinking a very healthy amount each day of your detox.  The same rule could apply if you are simply trying to do a thorough colon cleansing, although the process is quite similar for both.

What Is The Difference Between A Drug Detox And A Body Detox?

A drug detox is a specific process for decreasing the body's dependence on drugs from an addiction.

One of the main differences is that with a drug detox you are trying to get clean from some very addictive substances.  These drugs have wreaked havoc with not only your body but your brain and mind as well.  Going through the detox process from prescription or recreational drugs is no picnic.  In fact, it can be very scary and cause a lot of stress in the person’s life.  This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t do it.  It can be one of the most important types of detoxifications around.

However, the information you are reading here and on the rest of this site is more related to how to detox your colon and cells for purposes of becoming healthier and cleaner.  People struggle with low energy levels or are carrying extra weight and feeling sluggish.   These are the main types of people that we can help.  Also, if you are addicted to drugs of any kind, you need to work with a professional in that area as well as a mental health provider.  When we say “detox your body” here, we are talking about from the normal toxins that exist from our environment in our daily lives.  Included in these are things like:  pesticides (on the foods we eat), air pollution, drugs (prescribed or recreational), smoking and other accumulated types of toxins.  An effective cleanse can help eliminate a lot of this type of toxic stress on your cellular physiology.  They simply need to be done occasionally as we continue to live in such environments in this age.

As a closing point, remember that when you see “how to detox” on this site, we are speaking to the more specific notion of cleansing rather than drug detoxification.  It is worthy to note, however, that as you participate in a cleansing diet with adequate hydration and proper vegetables and fruit, that it will assist you in eliminating other toxic substances from your body – not the least of which can be contributed to by drugs.  Best of luck!

Losing weight is just one reason that you may be interested in a body detox.

have a good answer to the question ‘why do one?’ in the first place.  If you think that you can just follow some way a friend mentioned, then you might want to read on.  Because of the shift in mindset toward more alternative and natural ways of health and well being, many people just like you are asking these same questions about colon cleanses and body detox programs.  Unfortunately, there are also people that are out to make a quick buck from the trend so you have to be cautious about how you go about getting your information.  Hopefully, as you browse our site, you can get some information that will help you learn how to detox with more care.

How Much Is There To Know About Cleaning Out Your Colon?

Much is out there in the way of colon cleansing products and herbal supplements to help you get the most out of your chosen plan.  If you know specifically what products you are looking for, that makes your online search much easier.  Colon cleansing products run a wide range of goals.  Some are for general detoxification of every day toxins like pollution and from what we put into our bodies through our diet.  Others claim to detox your body from heavier and longer-term toxins like drugs, agricultural residues and even heavy metals.  The heavy metal detox programs are for metals like lead and cadmium and are typically sold as ‘chelating products’.  Chelation is the term used in the professional field that relates to the removal of heavy metals from the blood and body tissues. It is usually done through intravenous (IV) type drips and requires continued sessions to fully cleanse your body.  The problem is that these will also leach other important minerals from your body and that is why it is recommended that you only do this type of process with medical supervision.  You don’t want calcium and other substances being leached from your bones do you?  Didn’t think so.  There are suppositories that offer claims of chelation as well.  They do actually have some merit to them, you just have to get the correct ones.

Answering The “How To Detox” Question Can Be Complicated

As you’ve been reading, there are many definitions of “body detox”.  This is why there is not one answer to the question.  What one person deems the ultimate detox turns out to be someone else’s lunch every day.  Then there is the problem of getting the wrong answers because you ran across someone’s rant online about  a particular supplement or program they hated and here’s why, blah blah blah.  Don’t get sucked into that.  Find the answer you are specifically looking for and move on.  There is precious little time for you to be wasting it reading on and on about someone’s colon health or some celebrities latest fasting drama.  Side note:  fasting and juicing can both be great steps as part of a healthy detox.  In fact, juice fasting for wellness is something that you can do for life.  You’ve found a site here that has good and reliable information about how to detox your body.  Hopefully, the general range of information guides you toward your ultimate path of a cleaning body and a cleaner life.

How Do You Find The Right Detox Diet?

Again, your friend may have mentioned something about the cleanse she was doing, but then either failed to mention which one or how it was supposed to work and for what.  So, when you are searching for how to detox make sure that you include words in your search that include what you are looking for specifically.  If you don’t know and are just looking to detox your body, then you can just enter that into your search field.  This may be how you found this site.  Great, you know that you are on the right track then.  For example, you may be searching for a

An example of a colon cleanse product.

colon cleansing product that you can trust or simply a colon cleanse program to follow.  What you want to enter into Google or any of the other search engines is exactly that “colon cleanse” into the box.  This may yield some results that may be helpful.  Others, maybe not so much.  But, since you are still looking for this information and not information about fasting, you can try entering a different but related term like “colon cleansing”.  Again, this will yield probably some of the same results and yet a few new ones.

You can continue with this process, searching terms like:

colon cleansing program
cleanse
colon cleaning
cleanse colon
colonics
colon cleanse

You get the idea.  Anything that would be related to the topic of interest to you.  Just as easily, you could substitute the term “herbal detox” or “detox diet” into the search engines.  You will come up with literally thousands of results.  Click the ones that seem the most related to your specific interest or question and you are on your way.  This simple process will save you a lot of trouble as you are looking for just the right answer to your questions about how to detox your body properly.

Don’t Confuse Fasting With Detoxing

Fasting has been a part of not only many diets but spiritual traditions as well.

This is a common problem or distinction that needs to be made.  And the distinction is quite a simple one, just important.  Fasting implies that no food is being consumed as part of the detoxification.  This is not what this is about as a way to detox your body.  We offer advice and info about how to detox using proper organic foods, supplementation with teas or even doing an herbal detox which involves specific plants and herbs to help you clean out your system.  With the right dietary choices, you can do a proper detox without fasting.  Sometimes, a fast is recommended for a person who has a tremendous amount of ambition, or weight to lose and has less information.  Often times, a fast is not the best way to lose weight or detox your body.  The best way can vary person to person, but usually includes hydration as a key component.  So, fasting can be part of a detox, but it may include supplements and any number of a variety of drinks or teas.  So, in this sense, it isn’t like you are eating and drinking nothing in order to lose weight or otherwise detox the body.

Detox Your Body One Choice At A Time

Basically, as you learn how to detox, you will be faced with many challenges emotionally as well as physically.  It isn’t strictly your body that will be going through this cleanse.  Your mind will be going through it too.  In fact, many in the health care professions use the term body-mind now, to indicate how there really is no separation. In any case, a body detoxification process is both a challenge and opportunity for you to pay attention to other ways in which you live your life.  The toxins you are trying to eliminate from your body got there somehow.  What types of choices do you (or did you) make that got you to this point in the first place?  Part of learning how to detox your body is that many of these old behaviors and patterns will show up again and again for you to address in your life.  The more completely you address them, the more beneficial each future cleansing process will be for you.

Is Colon Cleansing The Most Common Type of Detox Program?

Here a colon hydrotherapist is helping cleanse this woman's colon.

It’s hard to say with any degree of authoritative accuracy, but it would be fair to say that most people when searching for ways to cleanse their body think of ways of cleaning out their colon – or at least starting there.  Because there is a lot of media attention given to the merit of colonics especially in more health conscious cities, this is the most common and most sought after way for most people to begin their detoxification program.  Does this mean that it is the only way to detox your body?  Absolutely not!  It’s just that there are professional colon hydrotherapists that perform this service in offices designed specifically for this type of procedure.  This way, you know that you know there is a certified professional that knows how to detox your body, at least in so far as colon hydrotherapy goes.

Colonics, sometimes mistakenly referred to as enemas, are much more thorough and provide a more vigorous, yet gentle cleaning of your colon.  How they work is that there is a machine that serves to heat water, a pump, and a few different hoses.  The basic idea is that you should have followed a specific type of colon cleansing diet for the day or so prior to your appointment.  At your appointment, you will be led to a private room where you shall have walked with (hopefully) no shoes or atleast bootie-covered ones that help keep germs at bay.  Then you will lie on your side on the treatment bed while the colon hydrotherapist inserts a not-too uncomfortable tube into your rectum.  This tube will serve to both fill your colon with the warm water and remove the waste.  The pump on the machine continues to fill your colon to a comfortable but full level.  Then, you may have your abdomen massaged gently to help loosen any material lodged in your colon.  As the pressure is released by way of the water pressure, you will have the feeling of urgency like when you have diarrhea.  Many machines have a ‘viewing window’ as unpleasant as that sounds, it actually helps the hydrotherapist to analyze your diet and what may be going on.  As the pressure drops, you will see the matter from your colon coming through the hose into the waste removal area.  This process is repeated several times during your visit.  Typically, it is recommended to receive ten to twelve colonics over a period of time for maximum colon cleansing results.

Are You Still Wondering How To Detox The Rest of Your Body?

This process can take several forms.  Your colon is where much of the absorption of water and other materials enters your bloodstream, so this is where many programs focus or at least direct most of the attention to detox your body.  Many sources stop here.  They figure that this is the most significant way to go about your detox.  But, there are other ways as well.  Some of these include methods of fasting and drinking specific detox teas.  These teas may be pre-packaged or you can find recipes for them online.  Other detox programs offer advice on eating more vegetables and fruits to up your fiber intake and literally push some of that buildup through your body.  You’ll notice that this method is also a colon cleaning type idea.  With any of these strategies you can achieve a more clean and alive colon and body.  Again, remember, do yourself a favor and learn how to detox right.  If you don’t find the information you’re looking for here on this site, visit others.  Maybe you’ll find that each one has it’s way of providing just the right missing piece of information for you.