By Carla Oates
Kick off 2024 on a high note with the Cleanse & Reset. By joining The Beauty Chef’s 14 Day Cleanse & Reset, you can kickstart your journey to radiant skin, improved gut health, better digestion and more energy. Starts Jan 8. Reserve your spot here.
Every day, due to the nature of modern life, your body is exposed to a vast array of chemicals, pollutants and pesticides—be it through the foods you eat, the air you breathe (sorry, city dwellers!) or the household cleaning products you reach for.
Trouble is, when combined with a poor diet, we can experience total toxin overload. Although there’s plenty you can do to reduce your toxic load, some of this exposure is simply unavoidable which is why it’s essential to support your detoxification organs—namely your liver, lungs, kidneys, gut and skin—to ensure that your body is excreting chemicals, hormones, toxins, pathogens and allergenic food substances (like salicylates, histamines, amines, sulphites and glutamates) as efficiently as possible. If we don’t, over time this toxic overload can lead to a myriad of unpleasant symptoms and even contribute to long-term health problems.
So, how do you know if your body is struggling to cleanse itself naturally? And, more importantly, what can you do to support its elimination processes? The good news is, our bodies actually communicate quite clearly with us when they’re in need of a cleanse—we simply need to listen.
Below we explore five common signs that indicate your body is in need of a cleanse—as well as a few tips on how to cleanse your gut for optimal health, beauty and wellbeing…
You have digestive issues
The occasional bout of tummy upset is nothing to worry about—but if you regularly experience bloating, excess gas, feelings of nausea or ongoing constipation, it’s likely your digestive system isn’t functioning optimally. As an example, your liver is one of your body’s main elimination organs—sending processed chemicals to your bowels to be excreted—but if your bowels aren’t moving properly, your body will struggle to eliminate them.
Digestive issues may also hint at an imbalance of bacteria in the gut—known as dysbiosis—meaning that your hardworking microbes are unable to perform their duties to the best of their abilities. Given certain types of gut bacteria are responsible for metabolising and neutralising chemicals and excreting heavy metals from your system, if your gut is in a state of dysbiosis, you’re facing an uphill battle. Ongoing digestive issues can also indicate more chronic conditions such as leaky gut, IBS or SIBO—so determining the root cause of your digestive issues is important in order to feel healthy, well and vital—and to experience more glowing skin.
You’re fatigued
Your liver is in charge of neutralising wastes and toxins, but when it becomes overburdened, fatigue is a common symptom. As the body faces an ever-increasing build-up of harmful substances, it can struggle to devote enough energy to other important bodily functions, leaving you feeling tired and lethargic.
You get sick often
Are you the person with the perpetual cold? If so, it’s likely your gut microbiome is out of whack. Given that 70 per cent of your immune system lies in your digestive tract, your immune health is heavily reliant on the state of your inner ecosystem and supporting it becomes even more critical.
You have problem skin
The state of your skin is a good indicator of what’s going on inside your body but if your liver is struggling to eliminate toxins, your skin will attempt to pick up the slack by expelling this waste through your skin cells. Likewise, if your bowels aren’t moving properly (as a result of an unhappy gut), toxins may be retained in your body systems—including the lymphatics, which sit just under the surface of your skin. While you can slather on any number of topical lotions, the best way to clear your complexion and take the burden off your skin is by supporting your body’s internal elimination organs—especially your gut.
You often get headaches
Unexplained headaches, migraines or “brain fog” are a common sign that your body needs a cleanse. While ongoing headaches are certainly worth investigating with your healthcare professional, you may find that your headache is also due to an overload of toxins in the body or a condition such as leaky gut.
Cleansing 101: How to cleanse your gut naturally
If you suffer from any of the above symptoms, you don’t need to lock yourself away in a toxin-free room to find relief! Fortunately, there are a number of ways you can support your body’s natural detoxification channels—beginning with your gut.
As the centre of our overall health, immunity and wellbeing—and one of our body’s most important elimination organs—it makes sense to focus our attention on our gut health if we wish to effectively cleanse our body and reduce our toxic load.
Firstly, it’s important to focus on a nutrient-dense wholefoods diet that’s packed with antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables. This will ensure that you’re providing your gut bacteria with all the essential nutrients they need to thrive! Similarly, reducing gut irritants such as gluten, dairy and minimising your consumption of alcohol, sugar and caffeine will also help you to maintain a healthy balance and diversity of microbes—and combat inflammation and issues such as leaky gut.
Secondly, while there are countless toxins and chemicals we are unable to avoid—there are also so many which we can minimise our exposure to, including those found in common beauty and household cleaning products. Swap harsh cleaners for natural, organic or plant-based formulas and steer clear of phthalates and parabens which are commonly found in commercial products.
And finally, don’t be afraid to give your gut a helping hand by adding a daily dose of DAILY SUPERGREENS Inner Beauty Support to your routine. This bio-fermented super-greens powder has been specifically formulated to help your body realign and support your natural cleansing processes by promoting a happier, healthier gut. Ingredients such as fibre-rich banana starch and Jerusalem artichoke provide a prebiotic-boost to your microbes, while choline aids liver function and fat metabolism—for even greater detoxification benefits.
While this delicious greens powder can be integrated into your existing inner beauty routine—for a more committed cleanse (which is often beneficial after periods of excess or at the start of a new season), download our free Cleanse & Reset eBook and join the Cleanse & Reset—a 14 day online program kicking off on January 8, where you can connect with like-minded people and stay motivated with recipes, lifestyle tips and more.
Ready to get started? Our Cleanse Kickstart kit has everything you need to kick off the Cleanse & Reset.
