7 Ways to “Spring Clean” Your Body

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Spring is here! Spring is known as a time of birth and growth in nature and is the perfect time to add additional support to cleanse the body after a long winter. Typically in the winter, we enjoy more warming foods and heavier foods, holiday lattes, and movie nights inside. Therefore our bodies are in need of some extra love. It is safe to say that we often eat differently based on the seasons such as desiring more soups and stews in the cold winter and more fruits and veggies in the summer. We take the time to spring clean our house but where do you start to “spring clean” your body?

This does not have to complicate nor do you need to put pressure on your body by engaging in an extreme detox or restriction program. Your body can benefit from high antioxidants, lean proteins, good quality water, and of course soluble and insoluble fiber to help eliminate unwanted toxins from the body. This process should be supportive and gentle and never causing stress to the body. To support your body to make the seasonal shift here are,

7 simple tips to incorporate into your week this spring:

Stress Management:
While we are releasing toxins, we want to support our immune system, which we are doing through the nutrient-dense foods in the meal plan. Journaling is a great tool to manage stress, record how you are feeling throughout this process, but it also can help with immune responses. Psychologists James Pennebaker, Ph.D., of the University of Texas at Austin, and Joshua Smyth, Ph.D., of Syracuse University conducted a research study that suggests writing about emotions and stress actually boosted immune functioning and overall wellness in patients with diagnosed autoimmune diseases.
Time your Hydration:
Increase your hydration this week to 10-12, 500 ml glasses of filtered water. Also, keep water away from meal times to avoid flushing away out digestive juices that could impact our nutrient absorption. Ideally, consume your water 30 minutes before your meal.
Intuitive Eating:
When you sit to enjoy your meals, take time to slow down and be present while eating. This means that you are not eating in your car, standing at the counter, or in front of the TV. Carve out sacred time to connect to the food you are eating, chew-chew-chew your food to take pressure off digestion, and be aware of the textures and flavors of the food.
Sleep Matters:
We all know that it is important to get a good night sleep but do you know that it is key to support your bodies natural detoxification processes. From 9 pm to 1 am your lymphatic system moves fluid towards your liver and colon. At 1:00am the liver dumps its toxins and lymphatic fluid directly into the colon. At 3 am the liver starts to regenerate itself. From 3am–6am the lungs and kidneys detox themselves.
Foods for Cellular Health:
To support our health on a cellular level there are particular foods and dietary approaches which on the premise of cellular health there are particular foods and dietary approaches which are highly effective in activating the bodies own detoxification and recovery systems. Meals should be full of fiber, minerals, live enzymes, and plant-based proteins. Meals should nourish and fuel your body on a cellular level, deliver nutrients that support the liver’s natural stage 1 and 2 detoxification pathways, and help with healthy elimination.
Include Juices & Broths:
Incorporating supportive foods that are pre-digested, use little energy to digest, and deliver a large amount of nutrition easily is a great addition to your spring cleanse. Bone Broth delivers bio-available collagen proteins, glutamine, amino acids, and minerals that your body will love, grab my Immune Bone Broth Recipe. Enzymes in fresh juice provide extra nutrients that help your body eliminate toxins. It is important that your juice is primarily vegetables and minimal fruit to balance the impact on the blood sugar levels. Adding in leafy green vegetables are a great way of detoxifying the body, especially those bitter greens like dandelion, parsley, beet, kale, chard, mustard greens, spinach, and arugula. Try a Liver Cleansing Juice or a Morning Glory Juice recipe.
Movement:
Getting outside in the fresh air for a walk three times a week, for 20-30 minutes is an excellent way to support natural detoxification. Detoxification is the cleansing of the internal organs of the body from pollutants, food waste, poisons, medications, and harmful bacteria. Our body is designed to get rid of waste with the help of our key detox organs (i.e. colon, liver, lungs, kidneys, skin and lymph glands. Exercise is a key part of any detoxification program. Movement our body breathe, stretch, circulate and sweat. It is a good idea to drink lots of water during a detox period, so the skin can sweat and the kidneys can effectively filter toxins. Also by increasing your heart and breathing rate, your body can more effectively flush out unwanted toxins, fats, and waste. The digestive system is enhanced with consistent exercise. As our breathing rates increase with exercise our lungs increase their capacity as the heart muscle grows stronger, and they produce and give off carbon dioxide as a waste product of aerobic exercise. The skin is our largest detox organ, we internally cleanse and eliminate waste through perspiration. So sweat, smile, repeat!