15 Signs Your Body Needs to Detox

Picture this: It’s prior to the huge technological advances made in the last few decades, before the industrial revolution, even before the invention of cars, energy and electrics and mass farming. Life would have been a lot different, right? Harder in many respects but one thing there was a lot less of: toxicity. No, I’m not talking about the toxicity that you see on social media day-in, day-out (although, they were free of that too!), I’m talking about pollutants, cosmetic toxins, and ultra-processed food.

 Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to set an idyllic scene for you. I would just like to plainly make the point that chemical and heavy metal toxicity could be avoided, unlike today where toxins are EVERYWHERE. They’re in the household products we clean with, the cosmetics we put on our skin, the tap water we drink, the food we eat and the air we breathe – unfortunately toxicity is unavoidable. And, since this wasn’t always the way, our body is not built nor prepared to cope with this amount of toxicity. This is why, slowly but surely, we get sick.

 Therefore, if you haven’t done a functional medicine detox before, or if you did one over a year ago, then you will inevitably need to detox. However, there are some sure signs that your body will be giving you to try and let you know that it’s not coping well with its toxic load.

What Is Toxicity In The Body?

Toxic build-up occurs when your body is overwhelmed by toxins and pollutants. This is an unavoidable problem, as there are hazardous products everywhere you look - even in brands, products and foods that we trust and label themselves as “natural”!! Toxicity overload is especially apparent in those who have Leaky Gut, because toxins are more able to escape through the increased permeable intestinal lining into the rest of your body. Read more on leaky gut here. 

Toxicity can show itself in all sorts of uncomfortable and debilitating symptoms, but it’s not just a sudden reaction – this occurs over a period of time as toxins are, slowly but surely, poisoning your body.

Where Does The Toxicity Come From?

As I mentioned earlier on, unfortunately, toxicity is everywhere and it’s causing widespread health issues – it’s not a coincidence that autoimmune conditions, cancer, autism, children dependant on pharmaceuticals is on the rise… This is super scary and a bleak with regards to our health, but it doesn’t need to be this way! Our body has the incredible ability to detoxify itself, it’s just overwhelmed right now and needs a helping hand, which you can give!

Top Tips to Reduce Your Toxin Exposure:

1. Thoroughly and naturally clean all the fresh produce that you can’t buy organic and try and consume as much organic fruit and veg as you can. Organic doesn’t mean clean, so make sure you give this a clean too.
   
   
2. Try to use genuinely natural products: weed killers, perfumes (one of the worsts!), beauty products, home cleaning and furniture, toxic cookware… this list of items that exposes us to toxins is long, but there are organic alternatives and natural home remedies that do the job and don’t damage our health whilst doing so. You need to be careful to read the ingredients, NOT just the marketing/packaging. Companies that claim to be ‘natural’, are anything but. Also, I’ve seen many products claim ‘90% or 95% natural.’ When I see this, I just see ‘5-10% toxic chemicals.’ Be vigilant! If you're stuck, check out my resources page where I share some of my favourite non-toxic brands.
   
   

I understand that we can’t all afford to buy organic produce, so I have compiled a list of non-negotiable items that I really recommend buying organic and, if you can’t, avoiding and getting the nutrients from other foods, this is free for Synergised Nutrition members here.

How To Test for Toxicities

If you work with an integrative practitioner, they will be able to direct you to the best at-home functional lab test for your symptoms and health goals. This will be able to highlight your heavy metal and toxicity levels, as well as be a good indicator to see if you also have GI related issues, such as leaky gut, which is exasperating the issue.

Can You Reduce Your Toxicity Levels?

Yes!! Yes, you can! The beauty of our bodies is that, if you give them a helping hand by removing toxins and supplying them with good nutritional and the right supplementation, they are incredible at healing themselves.

 You should be completing a functional medicine detox at least twice a year – it’s non-negotiable now. I wish it wasn’t, but we need to help our bodies detoxify to overcome health issues and prevent more toxicity build up which can lead to devastating sickness and disease later in life. I choose to do a 7 Day Reset every 3 months, with a 21 Day Reset at the start of the calendar year, and so does my family and the majority of my clients.

The functional medicine detox that myself and my clients follow is the 21 Day Reset, which is the most comprehensive, safest and effective way to completely reset and start to rebuild your body back to good health.