If you accomplish part one (loosening toxins from your body’s tissues) without accomplishing part two (expelling those toxins from your body), you are prone to cleansing reactions. This means that you may feel sick or tired when following a detoxification regimen. It is unfortunate some people then think that the detoxification has made them sick or tired, concluding that detoxification is bad. However, this simply isn’t so. Rather, these sick and tired people did not succeed in detoxification – they only rearranged where the toxins were staying.

Different products and regimens target different aspects of an overall detoxification program. It is wise to choose a program that accomplishes both steps mentioned above, loosening toxins and expelling toxins.

Part I: Loosening Toxins

Many excellent detoxification products accomplish the first step of loosening toxins from the body’s tissues. This category includes lemon juice with maple and cayenne; Calli tea; ginger; chlorophyll; juice fasts; vegetable fasts; apple cider vinegar; homeopathic remedies for detoxification, and many others that are readily available through books found at your favorite local health food store. I also include massage and lymph brushing and chelation (a process that uses a chemical to pulls heavy metals from the bloodstream) in this classification, since they loosen toxins, but don’t expel toxins.

Part II: Expelling Toxins

Now that you have stirred up the toxins from where they were living with one of these cleanses, you have to get the toxins out of your body. This brings us to the important part of expelling toxins from the body. Therapies in this category include colonics; enemas; ioncleanses; saunas; and the use of bentanite, activated charcoal, psyllium or other bulking and roughage products.

(A further word on bentanite, activated charcoal and psyllium and other roughage products: Bentanite and charcoal work by capturing toxins in your intestinal tract, and carrying the toxins out in your stools. Psyllium and roughage agents absorb water in the bowel, giving the bowel more bulk and moisture to work with, thus increasing the action of the bowels. You must drink more water than usual when using any of these, so that your bowels can continue to work smoothly without getting constipated. Combining increased roughage with bentanite or charcoal to increase absorption of toxins gives you the best of both worlds for bowel action.)

They Really, Truly, Work Best Together!

Obviously, part two therapies will be able to expel more toxins, if you also use a part one treatment to first loosen toxins from your body’s tissues. Conversely, toxins loosened from your body’s tissues can actually be expelled, if you do some type of part two therapy. However, they really, truly, work best together! Yet so many people are confused about the two parts of detoxification that they select a detoxification treatment that only provides one part and then wonder why it isn’t as wonderful as they have heard.

A Quick Primer

Can you name the four primary organs or systems in your body that expel toxins, without reading the next line?

The answer is: bowels, urinary tract, lungs and skin. (We might note that the liver detoxifies the bloodstream, though it doesn’t expel toxins from the body.)

We’ve already looked at the bowels as an organ system for detoxification. The urinary tract is also clearly for detoxification, and this is why most detoxification products urge you to drink more water, since both the bowels and urinary tract need water to expel toxins.

When listing the four systems that eliminate toxins from the body, a lot of folks overlook the lungs and skin. But both the lungs and skin throw off many of our bodily toxins. It’s important to see that exercise helps detoxification not only by stimulating the urinary tract and bowels, but also by increasing breathing and sweating. Saunas make the list for expelling toxins because saunas make us sweat, thus, using the skin to detoxify.

Look for the Warning Signs

If your body is overloaded by more toxins than your bowels, urinary tract, lungs and skin can dispose of, you will see more skin eruptions, mucous from your nose, and crusty or gooey stuff in your eyes in the morning. You will have worse breath and perspiration odors. These are some signs from your body that it is time to get going and detoxify.

A good detoxification regimen will pay off for you with many physical benefits, such as a stronger immune system, better digestion, better skin and more energy. Emotionally, you will be less irritable. Spiritual benefits have long been recognized also. The benefits go on and on. Why not give detoxification a try?