Do You Need a Detox and If So, How?

Whether it is the beginning of the year or a new season or you’re listening later to this episode, cleanses and detoxes are prevalent topics. Do you need a detox? I may have answered that very differently 10 years ago. This episode follows two recent episodes on detox and answers some of the questions from our community about what it is why it might be needed and it’s not what you think. 

 But once you know something you can’t go back. In the last two years, I’ve done 3 liver detoxes. I have a recent episode on biohacking, and admit I have disliked the word hacking forever. Yet, many of us are biohacking as we gain insight into the what and why of the body. We didn’t label it. 

We do elimination diets, we sauna, steam, sweat, and those all help us naturally detox. But does the body need a detox boost from time to time? And if so why? 

Why am I answering this question? Because when a woman asks, why am I gaining weight when I’m doing everything right? Or someone asks why they can’t lose weight… I’ve had to have an explanation for that. 

While the After 50 Fitness Formula and Flipping 50 methodologies taken from science can support an updated version of “healthy for you” that replaces healthy for all, there are stubborn cases. I’ve witnessed them for 40 years. And would say, I’ve had to solve my own mysteries along the way-  this last 5 years more than ever. Many fitness pros do and it’s what leads them to the Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist.

Questions We Answer in This Episode:

• What is detox? Do you need a detox?
• What could interfere with natural detox? 
• How can we support our natural body detox processes?
• What is a detox experience like? 
• Is there a difference between a cleanse and a detox?

What is Detox?

A process of clearing toxins out of the body. The body does it well automatically. Except at a tipping point. 

Tipping points are one cause of cancer. Combine genetics, and don’t blame your parents – we all have potential cancerous cells within us but they don’t all express – with two other factors.. The saying goes, genetics may load the gun but  lifestyle habits pull the trigger. And the environment is the third.

So consider this, maybe genetically you’re more predisposed. Your environment is contaminated, because say you live in a location where air quality or water quality is loaded with heavy metals and weren’t aware of it. And let’s say in effort to do the right thing you clean within an inch of your life and always have. But if this was true before toxin-free products were even discussed and you’ve used all kinds of products promoted to kill germs, eliminate odors, sanitize your kitchen where you eat, the bathtub where you and your family bathe. This could be enough to reach a tipping point. When families endure cancer, they begin to learn this. 

Often before that, we ignore or figure that it’s just someone trying to sell us a product or service. We collectively ridicule something that we aren’t ready to accept. If it’s too far from beliefs we’ve always had, it feels threatening. That’s often the human reaction to something. Judgment. Skepticism. To anything that makes us uncomfortable with knowledge we thought we had, about habits we thought were good. When those  are challenged we first get defensive. Curiosity isn’t unfortunately our first response. 

But the heavy metals in your fillings, from tuna or other fish high in mercury, in drinking water; chemicals in cleaning products, hair and body products, things we’ve thought were good like fluoride in drinking water… and the BPA in plastics we all not only ate food or drank from but often also microwaved food in and stored it for days in the refrigerator. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Toxins make fat loss hard and are hormone disruptors.

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What Could Interfere with Natural Detox? 

Your body can deal with toxins. But one way is removing them from your bloodstream and storing them in fat. That makes fat loss hard as the body is reluctant to release these stored toxins. 

One reason the process gets interrupted is the combined overload mentioned above and too few ways to eliminate toxins. If you’re not regularly sweating, during exercise, and also in sauna (preferably infrared sauna), or pooping daily at least once, supporting yourself by drinking purified water and including plenty of fiber in your diet, natural detoxification is limited. 

If you continue exposure to processed foods, sweeteners, polluted water or air, or have a mouthful of old amalgams, you’re making it harder to detox. 

Even eating what seem to be healthy foods, that aren’t for you, can contribute to this disrupted detoxification because your body isn’t processing them well. I didn’t understand the mechanism behind this and if you have a queasy stomach, you may want to turn this off. I’ve vomited directly onto my laptop  keyboard while drinking a really poor coffee choice. 

You may wonder why I talk about clean sources of matcha and coffee ? It matters. Even if you’re getting away with it, doesn’t mean there isn’t damage being done. If you have 95% of everything well, missing a step may not be a problem here and there. But when your body becomes loaded down, even with those of us that live health-consciously, your body will rebel somehow.  

I put together a list of things I did last year, and among them:

• 182 gallons of drinking water 
• 109 Epsom salt baths
• 730 mugs of matcha
• 500+ showers 

Considering that, first and foremost, what if my drinking water or tap water is contaminated? Fluoride, chlorine, or I was drinking out of plastics, soaking in water regularly? What if I wasn’t careful of my matcha and was drinking mold and heavy metal-laden green tea? I’m doing those things every single day. 

BTW: I choose PIQUE and you should too! If you’re a coffee drinker – I do recently more too – because I’m drinking a coffee designed to NOT have mold(common) and infused with minerals and electrolytes. Try it yourself here. I also had a water filter system installed for the entire house and for drinking water. 

It took three times for me to roast a pan of veggies, eat them and almost immediately, get nauseous and throw up to put the clues together. It was the food for sure, specifically sulfurous foods. That I ate often: broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, onions and garlic. Just to name a few that I eat often in copious amounts. Now, sulfur can be good for the body, but if something else is off, it can trigger the issues like I’ve described. It’s not about eliminating those foods 100% all the time. It’s about fixing the root cause of the problem. 

Why Would You Need a Detox? 

Here’s what I find is the kicker; signs you may need a detox mimic many signs of menopause: 

• Weight gain 
• Inability to lose weight
• Bloating, constipation, diarrhea 
• Puffiness 
• Lethargy and fatigue 
• Insomnia 
• Elevated Cholesterol 
• Water retention
• Headaches
• Skin rashes, acne
• Moodiness
• Unstable blood sugar or insulin resistance 

So it’s not a coincidence. At a time when your hormones change, you tolerate things less well. Your body has the hormetic stress of the phase of life you’re in, and possibly can’t work as hard to process all the toxins from your past and present as well. 

How can we support our natural detox processes? 

How Your Exercise Supports Natural Detox –  Podcast Episode

First and foremost, start exercising regularly if you’re not already. Exercise moves everything so your circulation, respiration, digestion are all enhanced. You’ll sweat, expire and eliminate toxins better. The lymphatic system is a part of that and you’ll hear more about that in the podcast on natural detox with exercise. 

Natural detox occurs with the liver first every day. It filters everything. But if it’s on overload as from above it can’t do the job. There’s three ways to lighten the load. 

• First, reduce exposure to toxins. 
• Second, reduce the load on the body. 
• Third, support the key ways toxins are eliminated: pee, poop, sweat.

If you wanted to do a natural 3 day detox you could: 

• Upgrade all the products you use on a daily and weekly basis. Perfumes and fragrance in lotions and shampoos are toxic, so look everywhere. Eliminate foods you know are toxic for you – processed foods, those with preservatives/additives, use organic, alcohol and sugar. 
• Eat lighter with soups and smoothies or cooked veggies to reduce digestive stress. Consider intermittent fasting for a longer period of time. Move but don’t do strenuous or long intense exercise during this time. Get lots of rest. 
• Drink lots of pure filtered water, increase your fiber intake, move regularly, or sauna.

My detox experience? 

In order to support detox for something specific like mold exposure – I used glutathione and Charcoal. 

In order to do a liver cleanse I took supplements with scalar frequency and those that helped me intermittent fast with some boosted benefits for the body’s own rejuvenation. 

Inside the Flipping 50 membership, we regularly do a self-directed kickstart. This is just a very simple elimination of food sensitivities, awareness of other toxins in your environment, knowledge of how to support your own system and tracking progress start to end. But sometimes it takes more. I’ve done a liver cleanse with Sara Banta of Accelerated Health Products. 

I’ve done this three times now and it gets easier each time and I’ve learned so much. Look, I don’t like “cleaning myself out.” But this recent process was so easy compared to previous flushes. I’ll do it again sooner than I have before. She made the final stages so much easier. Perhaps I’m less distracted than I’ve been for a decade too. The entire process was just simpler and smoother. 

The exposure to amyloid proteins and spike protein that are real for all of us who regularly think of chicken and turkey, not to mention the post-pandemic status whether or not you chose to do a poke.  

For me, the final cleaning out was no less pleasant but it also was a huge eye opener about what’s going on in my body, why I have felt less than 100%. And for those of you that “do well.” In fact, if you do better than most, it’s all too easy to settle and tell yourself what others are telling you: you do so much, I don’t know how you do it… I know you!

But stop… if you don’t feel 100%, you’re not. End of story. Dig for why. 

 In show notes I’ll share how to get access to Sara’s next cleanse. She does them monthly, with a coaching group where she answers questions, a very complete pdf, as well as videos to explain what and exactly how to do the cleanse. If you choose to do it, I’ll support you in any way I can too. 

I’ll share the other ways I detox every day and week of the year with my coffee, tea, and sauna and inside our member’s area for our members, you’ll be able to search for detox options to DIY or with our other members. 

Resources: 

Ascent Liver Cleanse & Liver Flush: https://www.flippingfifty.com/cleanse

My Matcha: https://www.flippingfifty.com/piquetea 

My Coffee: https://www.flippingfifty.com/givedanger CODE: Flipping50

My Sauna: https://www.flippingfifty.com/sauna [I have a solo]

Other Episodes You Might Like: 

How Your Exercise Supports Natural Detox

https://www.flippingfifty.com/exercise-supports-natural-detox

To Detox and If So How to Detox: Midlife Woman to Midlife Woman https://www.flippingfifty.com/how-to-detox/