A new year brings new changes. Whether it’s planning a trip, taking guitar lessons or losing weight, humans seem to want to make changes as they look towards the year ahead.

One promise many people make is to clean up their bodies. This involves changing habits and being mindful of what you are putting on and in your body. It can even extend to who you choose to have in your life and how you let the outside world affect you.

A very important part of this process involves getting rid of toxins that you have accumulated over the years. The effects of our toxic world, processed foods, and high stress take a toll on our bodies, and slowly but surely our energy declines and our bodies begin to suffer.

Here are some things you can do to cleanse on a regular basis:

• Drink warm purified water with lemon juice to alkalize your body, cleanse and stimulate your liver and kidneys and kick-start digestion.
• Drink juices made of leafy greens. Chlorophyll in leafy greens builds up the blood with important nutrients and helps to promote regularity.
• Add more high fibre foods into your diet such as fruits, veggies, beans and lentils. Fibre absorbs excess cholesterol and toxins and scours the intestinal tract and colon clean.
• Exercise regularly. The lymphatic system gathers toxins during exercise and releases them into the circulatory system, where they are processed and eliminated. Exercise also helps you sweat out toxins.
• Incorporate saunas, steam baths and hot bathtub soaks. The skin eliminates more cellular waste through the pores than the colon and kidneys combined.
• Add plants to your home or workplace. They filter toxins from the air and add oxygen.
• Reduce caffeine containing beverages. They are stimulants and highly diuretic leading to issues like constipation and sluggish liver.
• Don’t eat while you are stressed. This can cause poor digestion, poor elimination and weight gain.
• Ensure 2-3 proper bowel movements per day. This is important to remove toxins on a daily basis.
• Reevaluate your morning routine. The shampoo, conditioner, hairspray, body lotion and make-up you use every day is one of the largest sources of toxic exposure.
• Remove foods containing suspicious ingredients, artificial colours, sweeteners, chemical additives and preservatives.
• Cleanse more deeply with an herbal cleansing kit. Look for a full body cleanse that addresses the liver, colon, kidneys, lungs, blood, skin and lymphatic system. Your local health food store can help find the one that’s right for you.

About the Author: Caroline Farquhar RHN, BA

Caroline Farquhar is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, digestive care specialist and lectures across Canada on digestive care, cleansing, and detoxification. She is a regular guest on TV and radio shows across the country and contributes articles for multiple websites and magazines. Learn more about Caroline at renewlife.ca.