10 Ways to Detox and Cleanse in 2016.

Every day it seems there’s a new way to detox and cleanse… we know, crazy confusing and somewhat overwhelming at times. This whole looking after yourself thing feels like a full time job!

You can make it as difficult as you want… but you can also make it pretty simple.

Yes, there are additional super foods, supplements and health hacks to boost your health but you can leave all these out and simply eat real food. We say, if you wanna do all the health hacks… add some joy/fun and it doesn’t feel like hard work coz #makelifemerry right?!

We’re not gonna lie, at the moment we need 2 hands (maybe 4) to count our supplements.  

2015 brought some weird health issues for both of us. First there was Emma’s iodine deficiency, then came her helicobacter pylori (yes gross) then came Carla’s candida and weird arm infection. LOL… got to laugh (otherwise we will cry). 

We’ll share more info on all 3 of these fun things and how we overcame/are overcoming them in natural ways. At least we’ll be able to say there was a reason to experience them all… (blurghhh!).

Weird health issues = great blog content!

Ok let’s talk detoxing and cleansing. These are the detox and cleansing methods we are prioritising this year.

For us it’s not about starvation or liquid cleanses, it’s about adding certain things to help the natural detoxification process. 

[Tweet “It’s about adding more good stuff to our diets to get rid of the bad stuff.”]

10 Ways to Detox and Cleanse in 2016

Dry Brushing.

Dry brushing helps with lymphatic drainage which is so super important. Daily movement and even breathing helps the system move but dry brushing will really help you to remove toxins from the body. It’s also great for cellulite and skin exfoliation.  Remember our skin is the largest organ in our bodies so it’s important to pay some attention to it. 

Turmeric. 

We’ve been adding turmeric into our daily diets for the last year because of it’s amazing health and detoxification properties. Turmeric is an ancient Ayurvedic spice and it supports elimination of toxins. It also reduces inflammation and is antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial. It aids digestion and is a great source of antioxidants. So of course we will continue to use it daily! We love it in this immunity boosting delicious drink

immunity boosting drink2

Seaweed. 

We think seaweed is going to be the superfood of 2016. Packed with good stuff like vitamins A and C and calcium but most importantly it’s a great source of iodine. Iodine deficiency is becoming more and more common. Iodine is super important for hormone balance and healthy thyroid function. Just remember like any good thing, you can overdo the seaweed, a couple times a week should be fine and be sure to source healthy seaweed. We like the Power Superfoods variety. 

Greens.

More veggies more veggies! Nope, not enough… MORE VEGGIES! We want to add a Green supplement to boost everything and give us all the essential nutrients we need to function properly. You know you need more greens in you (we sure do!) and this is how we will ensure we get them! Now… to find a natural variety we like! Any suggestions? 

healthy tropical green smoothie

Magnesium.

Another common deficiency these days. We’ve started adding a daily magnesium, alkalising supplement and we’re not exaggerating when we say we felt the benefits straight away! We both have back issues (scoliosis and spondylithesis) and seriously we had no pain the next day! Coincidence… we think not! Magnesium helps to release heavy metals and chemical toxins from the body. It supports adrenal glands, relaxes muscles and nerves. It makes you sleep better which is a requirement for good health!

Resistant starch.

Yes it’s a carb! But resistant starch is a type of carbohydrate that our digestive enzymes (guts) cannot break down. It’s a prebiotic that reaches the colon and feeds the good bacteria and flushes out the bad bacteria. We know you’ve read about the importance of gut health and we have no doubt this will be the hottest main stream health topic in 2016. We want to write a lot more on this supplement as we are LOVING it.  It also improves thyroid function, magnesium absorption, aids weight loss and keeps you fuller for longer!  You can find it in raw potatoes, green bananas, cooked and cooled white rice. More on this coming soon!

Probiotic. 

Still on the gut health topic. 2016 is officially mission good guts! We’re on missions to weed, seed and feed our digestive systems. We’ve added a daily probiotic supplement plus extra sauerkraut too. We’ve also stopped drinking kombucha as we realised this was feeding the bad bacteria in our guts (oh… the confusion!). Expect more articles on this gut health journey! Coz did you know apparently we have more brain cells in our guts than our brains?! Not only is gut health important for weight control, digestion and immunity… it impacts the way we think! Holey. Moley.

Apple cider vinegar and water.

We’ve been doing this one for a while now and will continue to in 2016. 1 tsp. of apple cider vinegar in warm/room temperature filtered water every morning is the perfect way to rid toxins, aid digestion and so much more

apples

Infrared sauna.

We’ve never tried but we REALLY want to and want to make it a regular thing in 2016. We’ve done the normal sauna thing but infrared sauna heat goes down to a cellular level and releases stored toxins through sweat, as well as through the liver and kidneys. Woah… epic right?! Infrared sauna come at us!

Tongue Scraping.

We’ve never tried, but Kylie who was part of Make Life Merry (and shared her success story here) says it’s AMAZING! It’s an Ayurvedic ritual and removes bacteria, food, fungus, toxins, and dead cells from the surface of the tongue. It makes your breath better, you get to taste stuff better, it aids digestion and it promotes general dental health (less trips to dentist = #winning).

We couldn’t stop at 10…

Eat well.

We have to add this one as we’re all about the real food… but we do sometimes fall off the bandwagon. It won’t be an epic fail but you’ll find us over doing the sweet potato chips (from cafes… which usually means cooked in bad oils), corn chips and paleo sweet treats.

Last September we realised we needed more structure and needed to start meal planning again… welcome our Make Life Merry Challenge. Delicious, simple, real food like this healthy brekky salad bowl.

healthy breakfast salad

Oil pulling.

Been doing this for years. If you haven’t tried this put it on the top of your 2016 detox and cleanse plan! Read more here.

Water.

It will never leave this list! We’re mostly made of water so we not only need it to function properly but it helps to flush out those nasty toxins. And it makes you feel good. We know straight away if we haven’t drunk enough water during the day… we feel shit! Read more on why we choose to drink fluoride free water and get the recipe for these delish drinks here

sugar free lemonad_feature

Vegetable broth.

2015 was all about the bone broth … but we serisouly got over making it. We know! Terrible. But we need to enjoy this whole journey and we don’t want to put ourselves in a negative mindset about living healthy. So now, we use gelatin powder! Easy and yum! This year we want to add veggie broth to our diets. We’ve been reading about candida cleansing and veggie broth comes up a lot… it also sounds delicious and as we mentioned above… MORE VEGGIES!

What are you adding to your life to help you detox and cleanse for 2016? We have a feeling it’s going to be the BEST year yet (and of course every year after will be even better!).  Happy 2016 everyone!

Always merrymaking,

Emma + Carla 

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