The post-Thanksgiving coma may not leave you feeling like your best self; so it’s important to take some time to recharge and relax while detoxing your body. It's ironic, really, foods like sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and turkey are healthy - but the way we prepare them during holidays can heap on sugars, carbs and unhealthy fats that make us feel sluggish and leave us in dire need of a reset. The word “detox” can sound intimidating, but detoxing doesn't have to be a week-long cleanse or an extreme change in diet.
Hurting after the holiday hedonism? Follow these simple tips to detoxify and cleanse the body so that you feel lighter, more energetic, and less bloated after the season’s treats.
- Lemon Water
Try adding warm lemon water to your morning routine, as it’s a great way to aid the digestion process and boost metabolism. Lemon water helps to slow down digestion; and therefore, helps nutrients to be more thoroughly absorbed by the body. Simply squeeze a quarter or half a lemon into your daily bottle of water and you’re on your way!
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Dry Body Brushing
Dry body brushing is wonderful for improving blood circulation in the body. Use a flat dry brush to gently massage your entire body in slow, upward, circular motions. This motion exfoliates the skin and works to stimulate circulation and lymphatic draining. Your lymphatic system aids in digestion and detoxification.
- Practice Yoga
Most people know that Yoga is great for stretching and strength, but Yoga can also have a tremendous impact on digestion and help in detoxifying efforts. There are even specific poses to help aid in these efforts! Poses involving spinal twists gently massage the internal organs and encourage the elimination of toxins in the body. By adding gentle pressure to the kidneys, stomach, and intestines, you will encourage the flow of new oxygen-rich blood to flow through the area, helping to speed up digestion.
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Add Probiotics Into Your Diet
Sugars, carbs, and alcohol over the holidays can wreak havoc on your digestive system, leading to an overgrowth of “bad” bacteria in your gut (yes, there are “good” and “bad” bacteria in your body). Your body needs enough “good” bacteria from Probiotics in order to keep your digestive system healthy and your immune system up to par! One of the easiest ways to get more Probiotics (and Prebiotics) into your diet is to drink them in your morning coffee! Our Probiotic Blend contains 1 Billion CFUs of Probiotics, Aloe Vera, and vitamins to help you reset after the holiday.
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Cut out Gluten, Dairy, Sugar, and Alcohol
If a regimen of dry body brushing and Yoga isn’t an aggressive enough detox, try cutting out this (albeit intense) list of ingredients for a week to give your body a chance to reset and cleanse out all the Thanksgiving junk food. Similarly, stop smoking if you can. Studies show that when people stop smoking they increase the microbial count in their gut. Elimination diets can be difficult even if they for a short spell, but the results can be worth it.
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Sweat it Out
Sweating is a crucial way to eliminate toxins from the body. Whether you like to get your cardio on or not, sweating for at least 30 minutes per day is essential for detoxifying. If you’re not into working out, saunas are a great way to achieve the same effect without the cardio part. If you’re not able to get to a sauna, try a warm bath with Epson's Salt, Baking Soda, and some essential oils to help draw toxins from the skin in a natural and relaxing way.
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Sleep
Reset your body from those late nights of holiday cheer and get some sleep. Getting in tune with your circadian rhythm is great for your gut health. The microbiota in your gut also has a circadian rhythm that adjusts in size and diversity based on when we eat and sleep. When you throw that out of wack it can negatively affect your gut health.
Using all of these tips together is sure to detoxify your body and have you feeling healthier in no time, but don’t fret if you’re only able to do some of them! Take your time and remember that a healthy lifestyle takes time to achieve and these introductory tips should be used as guidelines to make it easier to jump back into regular life after all that pumpkin pie.
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