All disease is caused by toxins, trauma, and autosuggestion, and today I want to talk about Toxins.

Hi folks, thanks for joining me today.

Throughout this video series, we’ve talked a lot about the three types of stresses we all deal with, Chemical, Physical, and Emotional. This ties in perfectly with the understanding that all disease is caused by toxins, trauma, and autosuggestion, and today I want to talk about Toxins. Specifically, I want to talk about a few of the very easy, basic steps we can take each and every day to rid ourselves of the toxins that we come in contact with, whether these toxins are a result of our own choices or merely a product of living in the world we are surrounded by.

Now I know that when most people talk about detoxing, they are talking about one of the hundreds of short-term blitzkrieg detoxes that are meant to shock your system and eliminate toxins in one sweep. These techniques can certainly have their place, but most won’t be sustainable over a long period of time. Today we will not be talking about juice cleanses, smoothie week, detox teas, or elimination diets such as Whole30.

There are a number of decisions you can make each and every day to avoid unnecessary toxins and clear out those that you can’t avoid. We are constantly surrounded by toxins in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the houses we live in, and the places we work. No matter how hard we try, these cannot be eliminated from our lives, not fully at least. And even though we are in control of our exposure to a lot of the toxins we take in, especially in the dietary choices we make, we’re all human. As good as you are at managing what you put in your body, it’s very difficult to eat completely clean throughout your entire life.

So what are some of the best ways to detox that is actually sustainable over a long period of time?

Let’s start with one of our absolute favorites here at Total Health – Chlorella.

Chlorella is a green algae that can be taken as a supplement, but it’s way different than most supplements out there because it is a whole food rather than an extract or concentrate. There are a ton of incredible benefits from incorporating chlorella into your day, including the fact that chlorella is a complete protein. That means that it contains ALL of the essential amino acids. The detoxifying qualities of chlorella are what have really sold me. Since it is a green algae, chlorella contains chlorophyll. Chlorophyll, when consumed by humans, can stimulate an increase in the total number of red blood cells, and it will bind to toxins and heavy metals, making them easier to expel from the body. Just make sure that when you purchase chlorella, it’s organically sourced and has a cracked cell wall so your body is able to absorb it better.

Keeping on that chlorophyll thought, don’t skimp on the green, leafy veggies in your everyday diet. They’re not only packed with nutrients you need to build health and fiber to help keep you regular, they’ll offer even more of that toxin-clearing chlorophyll.

Don’t like veggies?

Sorry, there’s no way around it, you need them. Find a way to prepare them so you’ll enjoy them as much as possible. This is as scoldy as you’ll ever see me, so you know I’m serious.

Next up, water.

It’s simple – Drink more of it, and make sure it’s filtered.

Eating a healthy diet and supplementing will give you all the minerals you need, so you don’t need anything extra that you’re getting with unfiltered water. One of the best pieces of advice I’ve seen regarding water intake is to get as much down as possible within the first half hour of being awake. This will not only fire up your metabolism and fat burning for the day, it will also help flush your system after a night of digestion. I’m sure you’ve heard this about a thousand times, but you should shoot for drinking half your weight in ounces of water each day. That means that if you weigh 200 pounds, drink 100 ounces of water daily.

Having trouble drinking that much water?

Exercising at least 30 minutes per day will help you out with that.

Exercise will help with your overall health, but the sweat you generate will flush even more toxins from your body. Your lungs will also work harder to clear stagnant residual air to help you get a fresh supply of oxygen.

The last point I want to touch on is diet.

We’ve already talked about increasing your vegetable intake. This will help you to clear out some of the toxins we take in throughout the day. We also have to be mindful of the quality of the food that we put into our bodies. Eating organically sourced food will prevent the intake of an incredible amount of toxins. Some food may not be as affected by external toxins as others, for instance, let’s look at avocados. Avocados absorb almost no pesticides from their environment, so they can be a little closer to the safe side than other non-organic produce. A great resource for information on residual pesticides in produce, check out the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen, where they discuss which types of produce are most affected by toxins in their surroundings.

Another of the most well-known dietary tips concerning packaged food is to eat products with the least amount of ingredients. This helps to avoid as many unnecessary additives as possible. Check out the Whole30 Common Additives Cheat-Sheet for a breakdown of which common additives should be avoided and which are acceptable when trying to eat clean.

Thanks for hanging around for all of that. This may seem like a lot of information to take in and can be a huge undertaking to implement in your day-to-day life. Ease into it, and remember that a slip up here or there doesn’t mean you’ve failed in trying to make yourself healthier.

We’re all human – it takes time to build health, so a pizza night with friends here or there won’t destroy the progress you’ve made.

I hope this helps, so good luck and be well.