How to Detox for Active People
You’ve heard of these detoxes or cleanses that remove all the impurities from your body and you’d like to try one. Get-Fit Guy has 3 quick and easy steps to detox without needing to completely quit exercising or spend your entire day near (or on) the toilet.
Ben Greenfield
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How to Detox for Active People
My Quick and Dirty Tips colleague, the Nutrition Diva, did an episode called How to Detox Your Body. In this episode, she has some great tips to reduce the burden of everyday life on your liver and kidneys, including…
“…moderate alcohol, avoid breathing engine exhaust, wood smoke, or tobacco smoke, avoid inhaling fumes from gasoline and other volatile liquids, air out dry cleaning before bringing it into the house, take prescription and over-the-counter medications only when necessary, avoid exposure to pesticides on fruits and vegetables and in your home and garden, use non-toxic pest control.”.
If your body has ever been exposed to over-processed and refined foods, chemical additives, antibiotics and pharmaceuticals, pesticides, herbicides, chlorinated water, artificial sweeteners or anything else that might remotely be considered “unnatural,” you may be wondering if it’s time for a detoxification protocol in which you assist your liver by binding and excreting toxins, flush your intestines, and heal any damage done to your gut.
But for active people (like Get-Fit Guy fans!) there are two problems with many popular detox protocols:
1) They contain lots of herbal diuretics that leave you feeling as though you always need to be within 20 feet of a toilet.
2) They severely restrict calories to the point where you simply feel horrible every time you try to exercise.
In other words, it can be pretty tough to maintain a healthy active lifestyle while “detoxing”! So in this episode, you’re going to get 3 quick and easy steps to detox without needing to move to an expensive resort on a mountaintop, completely quit exercising, or spend your entire day on or near the toilet.
Step #1: Don’t Stop Exercising, Just Take it Easy
Switch your exercise routine so you’re mostly doing light, aerobic activity (such as an easy 20-30 minute walk each morning) combined with just a couple of weight training sessions per week. Stay away from stressful hard sprints, intense intervals, and voluminous training sessions as the impact, bouncing, jarring, and metabolic stress is not be the best scenario for a fiber-filled gut or a digestive system that is detoxing.
Step #2: Don’t Take Colon Cleanses, But Do Eat Clean
As the Nutrition Diva recommended, eliminate processed foods like chips, crackers, cookies, and candy, cut out anything that is non-organic, cut out central nervous system stimulants like caffeine and alcohol and simply eat clean, real food. There are actually specific foods that enhance your gut or liver detoxification pathways without leaving you on the toilet all day, including beets, cranberries, sea vegetables, dandelions greens, broccoli, flaxseed, lemons, garlic, artichoke, turmeric, and apples.
For example, a sample day of eating could be:
- Two free-range, omega-3 enriched eggs for breakfast, sprinkled with sea salt, black pepper, and turmeric, with a side of steamed spinach or kale and large glass of water with lemon juice. Eat with nori seaweed wrap.
- Glass of 100% pure cranberry juice, handful of blueberries or a pomegranate or other piece of fresh, raw fruit for mid-morning snack.
- A kale salad or kale smoothie for lunch. Include dandelion leaves, flaxseed, and a couple of cloves of garlic in smoothie.
- Apple for afternoon snack.
- Mashed cauliflower with wild salmon, sauteed garlic, and steamed beets for dinner.
Step #3: Relax
As you detox, your body may need a little extra R&R. So get as much sleep as possible, limit your exposure to stress and heavy work-days, and if possible, throw in regular steamroom sessions, sauna visits, or easy hot yoga classes, since some toxins can also be removed in your sweat (if you frequently have very stinky sweat, it could be a sign that a detox might be in order).
Do You Need Detox Supplements?
You don’t have to take expensive supplements to help you detox, but some naturally derived compounds can speed your body’s ability to remove harmful compounds. As I alluded to before, many can give you diarrhea or are chock full of ingredients you’re already getting from just eating real, clean food. The following supplements will support a clean diet by binding toxins and metals, supporting liver detoxification pathways, clearing the gut, and enhancing elimination of toxins via urine and stool. And of course, these aren’t going to disrupt your workout or keep you from exercising:
- Glutathione
- Magnesium
- Chlorella
- Activated Charcoal
- Collagen Powder or Bone Broth
NOTE: When you embark on a detox regimen, you may experience gas, bloating, body odor, rash, hives or other unpleasant symptoms. If this happens to you, be sure to drink plenty of pure, filtered water, which will help you to flush toxins and prevent re-absorption of these nasty things.
If you have more questions, comments or feedback about a detox for active people, then go to https://www.Facebook.com/GetFitGuy and ask your questions there!
About the Author
Ben Greenfield received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of Idaho in sports science and exercise physiology; personal training and strength and conditioning certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA); a sports nutrition certification from the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), an advanced bicycle fitting certification from Serotta. He has over 11 years’ experience in coaching professional, collegiate, and recreational athletes from all sports, and as helped hundreds of clients achieve weight loss and fitness success.