Detoxing has become wildly blown out of proportion these days. Left and right you’ll find conflicting information about what we need to do in order to ensure our body is detoxing properly. Many people don’t truly know what it is, yet claim they have all the answers. And there are many charlatans out there trying to convince you to opt into buying expensive programs and supplements that are supposed to detox your body. It’s as if you’re forever doomed to be this incomplete, impure person unless you give in to their detox products.
Let me fill you in on the truth about detoxing, and how we perform it every day without really knowing it.

Starting off, a little detox 101:
Detox, or detoxification, is the body’s way of getting rid of substances.
These include: [1]

• Metabolic waste
• Bacteria, parasites, or pathogens
• Alcohol
• Cholesterol
• Environmental toxins (xenoestrogens, heavy metals, mold, pollution)
• Medications
• Excess hormones (i.e., estrogen)

There are a number of ways our body efficiently performs a detox, all of which involve our internal organs. This mainly includes the liver, with honorable mentions to our kidneys, intestines, skin, respiratory system, and lymphatic system. [2] You’ll know you’re detoxing whenever you’re sweating, breathing, sneezing, having a bowel movement, urinating, or even exercising.
When it comes to detox, our body has our back. Its ability to protect us from the harmful effects of toxic substances is both intricate and intelligent. So the next time someone attempts to convince you to perform a questionable (and expensive) “detox”, ask them if they have a liver! Or any of the other detox organs and systems I just mentioned.
As far as how each one of them works, here’s a rundown for you to look into in case you’re interested. I’ll also provide very simple ways to support them:

Liver
The liver is considered to be the ringleader of our body’s ability to detox. You can also think of it as a filter. What it does is take toxic substances, deactivate them, and see to that they’re properly released (or expelled) from the body. And it does this in what is known as the Two Phases of Detoxification. [3]
Give It Some Love: Consume bitter and sour foods, which stimulate liver function; includes arugula, ginger, pepper, dandelion greens, radishes, endive, and citrus.

Kidneys
These guys also act as filters and are particularly important when it comes to purifying the blood. They ensure that toxic substances go out of the bloodstream and take a final ride out of the body through urine. [4]
Give Them Some Love: Stay hydrated! This includes drinking plenty of water and consuming enough minerals, whether it is through food or drinks. These include bone broth, sauerkraut or pickle juice, cucumbers, melons, coconut water, celery, and sea salt.

Intestines
Our intestines aren’t only involved with digestion. They also lend a hand in eliminating toxins from the body. And the beneficial bacteria that live in them also take part in the process by helping out in the detoxification process. To put it lightly, the toxins wind up in our stool, which gets excreted during bowel movements. [5] [6] (Of course, this is only scratching the surface when it comes to gut health. Here’s my post that gives a closer look into our gut, which used to be considered as “the forgotten system”.
Give Them Some Love: Support your gut every day with a whole foods diet, along with consuming probiotic foods as well as supplements if need be. (If you want to learn more about the gut, then start here.)

Skin
Surprisingly, not many people know that our skin is our largest organ, and it’s also a shield protecting us from things on the outside. With detox, it helps to evacuate waste products that are defined as “crystals”, or metabolic byproducts. These crystals become soluble in liquid form and get excreted through our sweat glands. In other words, it helps us to detox through sweat! [7]
Give It Some Love: Break a sweat! Exercise is the easiest way to do that. My ZGYM members definitely know how to get their sweat on, so if you haven’t joined already, now’s your wakeup call! You can also incorporate a few sessions in the sauna or book a hot yoga class.

Respiratory System:
Consisting of the lungs and bronchi, our respiratory system aids in detox by excreting toxins in the form of (mostly) carbon dioxide and some phlegm. Both of which we breathe (or with phlegm, spit) out. Translation: we’re exhaling toxins. [8]
Give It Some Love: Obviously you need to breathe to stay alive, but if you really want to amp things up, then I definitely recommend good old-fashioned exercise. Whether it’s going out for a walk or crushing one of my ZGYM workouts, find a way to really connect with your breath. There are also several deep breathing exercises in calming practices like yoga, tai chi, and chi gong, so find what works best for you!

Lymphatic System:
Our Lymphatic System is pretty remarkable. For starters, it plays an essential part in immunity. But where it really shines is with detox, performing as the “sanitation department” of the body. It helps to sweep away leftover debris from cells and other systems within the body and making sure they leave the body through urine, sweat, and stool. As I wrote a while back in a post about our lymph, it’s like an enormous drain. [9]
Give it Some Love: Exercise wins once again! Our lymph does not have a pump, so it needs all the help it can get. Next to exercise, inversions, rebounding, infrared sauna, and dry skin brushing are all excellent ways to support it.

Hopefully by now you’ll understand why there’s no need to replace what our body is already capable of. Don’t fall into the trap of investing your hard-earned money (and sanity) into questionable “substitutes”. Instead, do your body good with simple but effective lifestyle practices, such as exercise and proper nutrition. If you support your body, then it will continue to support you.

Sources:
[1] https://drhyman.com/blog/2010/05/19/is-there-toxic-waste-in-your-body-2/
[2] http://issels.com/publication-library/information-on-detoxification/
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0072577/
[4] http://issels.com/treatment-summary/importance-of-detoxification/kidneys/
[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17110980
[6] https://phys.org/news/2012-09-detoxifying-effect-microbes.html
[7] http://issels.com/treatment-summary/importance-of-detoxification/skin/
[8] http://issels.com/treatment-summary/importance-of-detoxification/respiratory-tract/
[9] https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/lymph-system