Natural Way of Cleansing Your Body

Body detoxification eliminates toxins from your system before they can have a negative effect on your body. There are several ways to detox your body naturally, without side effects.

Toxins

Every time you breathe, eat and drink, you ingest toxins that can cause harm to your body. Often, toxins are natural waste products taken in with the food you eat, such as uric acid and urine, which your body eliminates readily. Toxins can also be poisons that are alien to your body, like alcohol, nicotine, food additives, pesticides and trace metals that you may ingest unknowingly. If you do not remove these toxins, your body may suffer illnesses that range from kidney stones to cancer. The two kinds of toxins frequently ingested are classified as endogenous and exogenous.

Endogenous and Exogenous Toxins

Endogenous toxins are metabolized as waste products, and are often contained in the food you eat. An example of an endogenous toxin is solanine, a steroidal glycoalkaloid naturally found in potatoes and other plants of the Solanaceae family. Exogenous toxins, on the other hand, are alien substances that enter your body through various means, including pollution and processed foods. You may unknowingly breathe in or drink traces of metals and excessive chlorine. Processed foods contain preservatives and additives like sodium metabisulfite, sodium benzoate, bromate (in bread) and artificial flavors or coloring.

Colon Cleansing

Colon cleansing rids the colon of mucoid plaque--hardened intestinal mucus produced from mucus-forming foods. The process involves transitioning to a diet of raw fruits and vegetables, reducing processed foods and taking colon-cleansing supplements containing anti-parasitic herbs, digestive enzymes and probiotics (also called beneficial bacteria). Herbs that stimulate liver function, the gallbladder and the intestines are also important components of the diet, such as psyllium seeds, slippery elm or flax seeds. Bentonite clay is sometimes also used to facilitate waste elimination.

Kidney Cleansing

Kidneys regulate blood composition and body ion concentration, filter out waste, enhance red blood cell production, maintain calcium levels and regulate the blood's base/acid balance. Kidney cleansing involves drinking large amounts of liquid to flush the toxins out and eating a healing diet.

Cleansing with Diet

Some people suggest eating watermelon for an entire day, emptying the bladder as often as needed. Others suggest drinking coconut juice, which, like watermelon juice, is a pure, electrolyte-balanced, glucose-rich liquid. Diabetics should avoid both of these cleansing methods. Drinking a bit of apple cider vinegar mixed with water and honey, going on a liquid diet, increasing fiber in your diet and eating more fruit can also promote natural cleansing.