Simple Foods to support Detoxification Everyday
Our bodies are truly amazing. They are constantly identifying and re packaging the foods we eat, the things we drink, the air we breathe, the deodorants and creams and perfumes we use so that we can either use their nutrients or get rid of their by products. Our liver, gallbladder, kidneys, skin and bowels do a great job of this, but when we overload them without giving them additional support, we can start to feel the effects of less-than-ideal detoxification, such as:
– Constipation
– Skin conditions (acne, eczema etc)
– Nausea
– Brain fog
– Fatigue
The good news is that you can support your body to detox every day with simple foods. Here are a few of my favourites:
Dandelion Root Tea
Dandelion root tea is prepared from dried and roasted dandelion roots. It looks like coffee and has a similarly bitter taste to coffee. The bitter flavour helps to stimulate the release of bile from the liver. The liver dumps many of the toxic byproducts that our bodies don’t need into bile, so that we can release them from our bodies. Supporting bile release therefore helps that bile, and the nasty stuff in it, to be excreted from our bodies efficiently. Bile is also responsible for assisting in absorbing fat soluble vitamins like Vitamin A, D, E and K.
Broccoli
Broccoli florets contain a compound called sulforaphane. Sulforaphane can help you to increase excretion of airborne pollutants, make more energy in the mitochondria of your cells and increase fat burning. Regular cooking of broccoli results in killing off the enzyme that helps us to absorb the sulforaphane, so if you’re not keen on eating your broccoli raw, eat it with some good quality mustard instead as compounds in the mustard help us to absorb the sulforaphane.
Flaxseeds
Believe it or not, having excess oestrogen in the body is not just a problem women face – men can be susceptible to excess oestrogen too.
On a daily basis we come into contact with a variety of xenoestrogens which are chemical compounds found on things like receipt paper, plastics etc that we either absorb across the skin or ingest. These compounds can then mimic the effects of oestrogen in the body. Oestrogen is an amazing and healthy hormone but too much is not a good thing! Flaxseeds can help to bind to excess circulating oestrogens in the gut and remove them from the body, as well as reducing the reuptake of oestrogen from the gut which ultimately helps you to enjoy healthier hormone levels.
With gratitude,
Emma Lynas (Nutritionist + Reiki)