The detox is thought to be the best way to cleanse your body of unwanted toxins and damaging free radicals in order to leave your body looking and feeling wonderful. But how do you do it exactly? From IV cocktails and sweat therapy, to the classic juice cleanse, there seems to be a detox for every occassion, making choosing one even harder. Here is a breakdown of the top detox therapies, how to do them and what you will achieve.
This is exactly what it says on the tin – just juice, all the time. The premise revolves around the concept that juicing frees up energy to engage in deep cleaning within your digestive system. The energy your body would normally spend breaking down food can go on to cleanse your gut instead, leaving you glowing and feeling mile better. If you prepare your body for this, you’ll experience far better results. This means gradually phasing out coffee, dairy, meat and coffee prior to your juicing days. You can even get juices delivered to your door that provide pre-made bottles of juicy goodness to get you through the day.
IV Therapy
One for the more extreme advocates of detoxing, the IV Therapy provides an intravenous injection of vitamins which bypasses the digestive tract and delivers nutrients straight to the source. It works by building up the body’s nutritional stores and extracting toxins through the use of chelating agents. Naturally, this is not your standard spa treatment – it’s pricey and risky. It’s advised you seek medical advice before embarking on this particular detox.
Halotherapy
Halotherapy is also referred to as salt therapy and historically means a visit to the salt caves which are found in Europe. There are now man-made salt rooms though to take the stress off of seeking one of these out. Because of the dry and dispersable nature of rock salt, it’s able to travel easily through the airways and absorb bacteria along the way. It’s also believed to be beneficial for asthma, allergies and skin irritations. If you’ve been battling with a winter cold and rosacea, this won’t be an instant cure. But over time, this does offer some really great results. You can even try this one at home, by adding two cups of Epsom salts to a warm bath and soaking for a while. Repeat a couple of times a week and you should begin to see results.
Sweat Therapy
It might not sound appealing, but sweat therapy is a age-old tradition. Whether you go for a sauna, hammam or banya, this is a global treatment that you can find a variation of pretty much anywhere. Our skin is our biggest organ and when we sweat we excrete toxins as well as cooling down. As long as you take it slow and drink plenty of water to stay hydrated, you should be fine. But you don’t need a sauna to sweat – exercise works in the same way, and some actually consider it to be better. By reducing your body fat, you’re also eliminating the space for toxins to be stored.
Lymphatic Massage
This is a gentle massage which targets the lymphatic system, and it works by promoting the lymph flow and moving stagnant energy around the body, to stimulate the immune system. This is different from the standard massage, so you need to seek out someone who is trained in this matter. You should also avoid this is you have a heart condition or are undergoing radiation or chemotherapy. If you’d rather do this at home, you can go for dry brushing which works in a similar way by maintaining good lymphatic health. Apply light strokes on the arms, legs and abdomen in the direction of the heart.