What Are The Side Effects Of A Detox?

Our bodies are able to detoxify chemicals naturally. Although many experts believe that the large amounts of chemicals we ingest daily through food, water, and the environment can build up in our bodies to the degree our bodies need assistance removing these harmful toxins.

The buildup, called the toxic overload, can overwhelm the body’s ability to detoxify and may lead to nutritional deficiency, hormonal imbalance, and inefficient metabolism. Too many toxins in your body at one time will overload your system and can lead to oxidative stress, increased inflammation, nutritional deficiency, hormonal imbalance, and inefficient metabolism if you don’t reduce your exposure.

12 Tips on Detoxing

Here are 12 tips for detoxing before we talk about the side effects. It is important that you know how to properly detox to see if you are missing anything important in the detox itself.

Limit alcohol consumption

Focus on sleep – Your body needs 8 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period to reset and give your organs the rest they need.

Eat antioxidant-rich foods – Foods such as berries, cocoa, spices, fruits, nuts, veggies, and drinks such as coffee and tea are high in antioxidants.

Reduce sugar intake – Sugar wreaks more havoc on a body than most people would give it credit for. Sugar can cause inflammation to increase inside your body. Especially during a detox, you want the least amount of inflammation.

Eat foods high in probiotics – High prebiotic foods include artichokes, onions, tomatoes, oats, bananas, and asparagus.

Drastically limit processed foods – If it is in a box or can, stay away! Shop the outside of the grocery store. Some of that food is processed but less than the center aisles.

Drink more water – Men should strive for 125 ounces a day and women should try to achieve drinking 91 ounces per day, more if exercising.

Flavor meals with cilantro – Cilantro helps excrete heavy metal toxins such as lead, phthalates and insecticides.

Increase physical activity – Doctors recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity a week.

Decrease your salt intake – Cut down on salt but you can increase foods with potassium to counterbalances the effects from sodium. Some high-potassium foods include potatoes, squash, kidney beans, bananas, and spinach.

Eat foods that contain sulfur – Foods that are high in sulfur help excrete heavy metal toxins such as cadmium. Some of the foods high in sulfur are onions, garlic, and broccoli.

Concerns with Detox Diets

Now that we have talked about tips for a GOOD detox, let’s talk about toxic overload and side effects for detox diets.

If you’re experiencing any of the following, then you may have a toxic overload

brain fog
IBS
insomnia
weight gain
food intolerances
fatigue
joint/muscle pain
osteoporosis

There are possible side effects of any detox diet.

Potential side effects of a detox diet may include:

feeling dizzy or lightheaded
low energy
low blood sugar
muscle aches
headache
nausea
fatigue

Most of these symptoms will diminish after a few days. For this reason, many people take time off work to begin a detox or start the diet on a Friday night.

Keep in mind that your organs will benefit from any kind of rest. You can always go for an in-between detox by replacing your biggest vices with healthier alternatives.

Detox Side Effects

1. Because your energy will dip at the beginning of your detox, it is suggested that you start a detox on a Friday. This way, you will have the entire weekend to gain your energy back before the following work week.

2. Many people experience headaches at the beginning of their detox. This happens because their body is coming to terms with the dramatic reduction of its daily poisons that were being fed to the body. To help reduce headaches, start preparing your body for its detox by slowly removing toxic vices ahead of time instead of a cold turkey detox.

3. Gradually remove caffeine ahead of detox. By stopping caffeine during detox you will help give your liver a rest. Another benefit to stopping caffeine during detox is because it allows you to sleep better at night and have less stress going into the detox. This may make it easier to either cut out caffeine completely, for good, or, at least, limit it after your detox.

Fresh Fruit

Enjoy all the fresh fruit you want. Frozen fruit is a great alternative to fresh fruit when fresh is not available. Do not use canned fruit due to the preservatives and juices that are added to the canned options. The one fruit to stay away from during your detox would be grapefruit. There is a compound in grapefruit called naringin that can greatly inhibit liver detox enzymes and should be avoided during detox diets.

A detox is a great way to reset your body. There are challenges that come along with a detox but it CAN be done in a healthy manner to prevent those challenges or at least minimize them.