Why do I need to detox? Isn’t that what my liver is for?

Some people are sceptical about detoxes and cleanses. Why do I need to ‘do’ a detox? Isn’t that what my liver is for? Yes, but not everyone’s body detoxes well. And what’s more even if your detox organs are working really efficiently our near constant toxin exposure puts our bodies under immense pressure.

These days toxins are in the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat.

Our bodies thrive when we lower toxin exposure and support our natural detox pathways. Here are some signs from Medical Herbalist Emma-Louise Follows that your body could do with a detox

Fatigue and Low Energy

Struggling to make it throughout the day without feeling like you could do with a nap? Post meal slump and heaviness after eating? When I started detoxing regularly and feeding my gut with pro and prebiotics I remember being surprised that it was possible to have so much energy and to go through the day feeling energised, because I hadn’t experienced it for so long I thought being tired all the time was normal!

Skin Issues

Your skin is one of the first indicators that all is not well in your body. So if your skin is constantly erupting with spots, rashes, itchiness, boils and even inflammatory conditions like eczema it’s definitely time for a detox.

Headaches

Headaches can be caused by lots of reason but high levels of toxins are definitely one them. In particular studies show high levels of heavy metal are linked to chronic headaches and migraines.

Difficulty Losing Weight

If you’ve been trying to lose weight and it seems harder than usual one of the best thing you can do is to start healing your gut with pre and probiotics. Did you know that through the gut-brain connection bad bacteria send messages to your brain to crave unhealthy food, the kind that feeds the bad bacteria and makes you ill. The stronger your colonies of bad bacteria the more they can make their host (you) crave unhealthy food so it becomes a vicious cycle. When you detox you starve your bad bacteria and feed your good bacteria.

Brain Fog

Having trouble remembering names and words or even just staying with the same thought?! Removing sugar, processed foods and cleansing with naturally detoxing herbs like Spirulina and Barley Grass is amazing for restoring clarity and improving your focus.

If you’re checking a few of these boxes never fear, detox doesn’t have to be difficult. All we really need to do is to support our detox organs and pathways and here are some easy ways to do just that…

Milk Thistle

Did you know that traditional story telling says that milk thistle got it’s name from a drop of the Virgin Mary’s milk falling onto its leaves? Studies show that this herb protects and improves liver function. Liver detox is one of the main components of overall detox so taking a milk thistle tea or tincture is one of the best ways to detoxify.

Dandelion

Dandelion is supportive of the kidneys. It is is a natural diuretic and helps to stimulate and improve kidney function. It also supports the liver like milk thistle so this is really useful as part of a detox programme.

Ashwaganda

This is a powerful Ayurvedic herbs that has a number of well researched health benefits including a hormone balancing adaptogenic effect, a calming effect on stress, optimising the body’s oxygen use and lowering inflammation. It is also linked with improved brain health and cognitive function.

If you could do with some support getting started with all this I have created a free easy to follow weekend gut cleanse guide that you can download here. So download the guide and plan a few days where you can focus on your self care and let the healing begin!Emma-Louise Follows

Emma-Louise Follows is a medical herbalist, wellbeing advocate and solicitor. She runs Eat Live Wellness in London offering 3 Day Ayurvedic Reset Boxes, a 12 week Deeper Detox and Gut Reset Programme and supportive gut health products.

You can find her at eatlivewellness.co.uk or on Instagram much more than she probably should be https://www.instagram.com/eat_live_wellness/