How Detoxifying Achieves Optimum Health

By Ellie Marrandette

Humans today, are eating more calories but utilizing fewer nutrients, contributing to an overweight society. That’s frustrating for some who believe it’s merely their willpower that’s holding them back. Not necessarily. Emotional disturbances, environmental stress, and misguided eating habits can all impact optimum health and weight loss.

What happens if you don’t change the oil or air filter in your car? The machine gets sluggish, right? TRUTH: God designed our bodies to be incredible machines too!

Culinary temptations abound everywhere; television commercials, shopping malls, billboards . . . we don’t live in a bubble. Anything is fine in moderation. But moderation doesn’t mean processed, fast food every day. If we eat unhealthily daily, we’ll need to detoxify our bodies to get back on track.

The liver is our largest internal organ. Its purpose is to alleviate harmful compounds, thus restoring biological harmony throughout our physiological system. When your liver isn’t working to full capacity, your thyroid can’t release hormones assisting with weight loss. Result? You’ll gain weight.

Therefore, if we eat too many chemically processed foods, it clogs up our system and we become unbalanced, hungrier, sluggish, and moody. Alcohol, caffeine, preservatives, dyes, nicotine, medications, and even something as common as acetaminophen, the active chemical in Tylenol, NyQuil, Midol, and Excedrin – everyday, over-the-counter drugs, affect our liver functions. And once ingested, these will never leave our liver, so don’t use them excessively!

Not sure if your body’s turning toxic? Answer these questions:

• Do you work around chemicals?
• Consume processed or fast foods daily?
• Smoke, binge or drink heavily?
• Have frequent headaches?
• Take prescription drugs?
• Consume a greater portion of processed meat protein? (bacon, sausage, hot dogs, ham, deli, or smoked meats)

Answer yes and you probably are. There seemed to be a common denominator among my patients suffering from Epsom Barr Syndrome or Fibromyalgia. They all worked around chemicals. Coincidence? Perhaps, but I’m wondering if science will someday discover a link.

A quick way to discern if you’re toxic is to look at your skin and eyes, “the window of the soul.” Are they yellowish? Yellow indicates toxicity. To cleanse the liver, it’s extremely important to eliminate excessive fat and bile.

Detoxify safely with these steps:

• • Drink More Water! One of the liver’s major priorities is to metabolize fat. If we don’t drink enough water, then the liver must take over the work of the kidneys and therefore can’t do its job of detoxifying and metabolizing.
  • Increase soluble/insoluble fiber intake through chia seeds, milled flaxseed, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables to confiscate and quickly push toxins through.
  • Increase lemon juice which helps break down fats. (Add to your daily water intake.)
  • Add chlorophyll, alfalfa, wheat grass, spinach, kale, parsley, and basil to your diet, which stimulates bowel function, eliminating toxins
  • Add good quality low-fat yogurt without additives like artificial sugars, to your morning routine. (Mountain High, Dannon Natural, or Simply Indulgent Greek) to restore good bacteria to your gut.

Certain B vitamins called Lipotropics, can break down fats in the liver. They assist in escorting toxins out of the body:

• • Betaine is found in quinoa, spinach, beets, and cereals.
  • Inositol is found in beans, cantaloupe, grapefruit, and whole grains.
  • Choline another powerful detoxifier is found in soy, nuts, bananas, potatoes, tomatoes, flaxseed, corn, and oats among others.
  • The amino acid methionine also assists in stimulating and removing fats from the liver. Found in lean pork, poultry, eggs, and seafood.

The intestinal system’s importance

“If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be?…” (1 Corinthians 12:17-19)

In the early 1900s, most people had a faster “transit” time due to consuming more unadulterated foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Then our eating habits changed. We added more processed and fast foods to our diet which didn’t have the much-needed fiber that pushes toxins through our system.  What’s so important about that? Well, foods that sit and wait, putrefy and harden along the lining of the digestive tract, thus blocking essential nutrients from entering the bloodstream.

When we are born our colon is beautifully perfect. But over time through stress, destructive foods, and environmental toxins, our digestive tract becomes caked with debris. You might find yourself becoming hungrier because your body is craving nutrients. Your hypothalamus is never satisfied since essential nutrients aren’t absorbed. You’ll feel fatigued, sluggish, and moody.

Let me give you an illustration. Have you ever left cardboard boxes in your backyard? Over time the elements of nature; sun, rain, and snow destroy those boxes through decay. They not only destroy what’s in the boxes but it decays the grass under the boxes on the lawn!  Well, without moving foods through our system, food just sits there, waiting to decay, destroying our intestinal tract.  It’s a perfect place for bacteria, fungi, yeast infections, and parasites to grow. Yuk!  But chewing releases enzymes and drinking water gets the process moving again!

Detoxify your colon and you’ll lose weight faster by allowing enzymes to do their job!  You can always test your transit time now by consuming corn or beets and noticing how long it takes to depart your tract. Or discuss having a stool analysis at your next check-up.

Here are additional actions you can take:

1. 1. Fiber to the rescue! Add insoluble fiber which is the fiber that doesn’t break up in your system. Some foods are rich in this: beets, corn, bran, Brussels sprouts, nuts, and potato skins.  Soluble fiber is the fiber that turns into a gel in your system; oatmeal, avocado, most fruits, and beans. Consume both!
   2. Increase water!  Fiber is like a sponge in water, expanding and pushing digested food through. Try to have at least 1/2 oz per pound of body weight or 6-8 glasses of pure water daily.
   3. Vary your diet so your system doesn’t get too used to the ‘same old, same old’. Different foods contain different elements for digestion and productivity.
   4. Consume foods high in pectin fiber, such as apples, bananas, carrots, cabbage, and okra.
   5. Add probiotics first thing in the morning. Only purchase good quality yogurt without fillers, artificial sugars, or preservatives.
   6. Add pressed or sliced garlic to more recipes. Garlic is antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral, kills parasites, and is a natural detoxifier.
   7. Chew your food to break down and release more productive enzymes.
   8. Don’t eat while stressed out!  This creates an acidic environment by releasing the stress hormones; cortisol and norepinephrine which hinders enzymes and your immune system.

We are so intricately made. Thank our LORD for creating us and strive to be a healthy example to others.

After attending Graham Jr. College in Boston and Moody Bible College, Ellie Marrandette earned her Bachelor of Ministry (BMIN) from Trinity Theological Seminary. Fascinated by psychology and physiology, God directed Ellie toward a rewarding healthcare career. She became a licensed, certified nutritional counselor, working with doctors, nutritional centers, and independently as the founder of New Creations Ministries, a faith-based solution in overcoming health challenges.

In recent years, God has focused Ellie’s path toward writing. She is the author of four Christian novels, a novella, and a non-fiction book on healthy living entitled, Life’s Too Short to Eat Bad Cheese (Nutritional and Life Lessons God Teaches Us.) All can be found Here. Her current endeavor is to complete a children’s devotional this year. For more about Ellie Marrandette visit her New Creations website.

Image by Devon Breen from Pixabay