Detox Tips For Surviving The Holidays

Coming off of birth control with acne-prone skin

With the holiday season upon us, it can be hard to resist all the amazing meals, baked goods, and celebrations this time of year brings. Unfortunately however, indulging all December-long can wreak havoc on your health. You might notice your skin isn’t as clear, your digestion feels off, and you’re just generally feeling sluggish. So how do we make it through the holidays feeling well without sacrificing the holiday festivities?

What Is Detoxification?

We can’t answer that question without first discussing detoxification. Detoxification is your body’s natural ability to remove waste. This is something our bodies do naturally every single day. We don’t need to go on a ‘detox diet’ or a ‘cleanse’ to achieve this - our bodies are already doing it!

Our body has several organs of detoxification/elimination: our liver, digestive system, kidneys, skin, lymphatic system, and lungs. Our liver is our biggest detoxification organ, with our digestive system and kidneys being our primary excretion organs. Detoxification is a long and boring process, which is illustrated below - but basically our liver turns waste from fat soluble forms into water soluble forms, so it can be excreted by the body in stool, urine, and sweat.

How Do The Holidays Impair Detox?

Eating inflammatory foods more regularly (think: baked goods, sugars, red meat), and drinking alcohol more frequently all contribute to increased detoxification demand on our body. If we are eating or drinking too much, our liver isn’t able to metabolize waste fast enough, and we start to experience symptoms of toxic burden. This can look like breakouts, eczema, digestive disturbances, brain fog, hormone disruptions, and more. Supporting our detoxification organs during the holidays is vital to feeling your best, despite the momentary lapse in your diet.

Supporting Our Natural Detox Abilities

Like we said, detoxification is something you do naturally every single day. We just need to gently support the amazing processes our body already has in place. When we’re feasting to our heart’s content, don’t forget to add in these daily tips to help your body do it’s thing, and help you feel better during the holidays!

Drink enough water. Remember, toxins are excreted from the body in water soluble forms, so hydrating adequately will help all of our organs of elimination. Drinking enough water supports regular bowel movements, ensures our kidneys have enough fluid to filter and excrete waste from the body, and allows toxins to be excreted through the skin. Also, if you are drinking alcohol, drinking waters in between beverages can help your body keep up with detoxification demands.
Takeaway: Aim for 2-3 liters per day. Drink a glass of water for every alcoholic beverage you consume.
Make small, sustainable changes to your diet. No crazy diets or juice cleanses here! The best change you can make to support detoxification function is eating enough fiber. Not only will fiber help bulk up your stool, thereby improving digestive regularity, but it also helps bind toxins that need to be eliminated. An added bonus of fiber is that it protects and heals your digestive lining, so toxins we ingest don’t end up free flowing from our intestinal tract into our bloodstreams. It also feeds our healthy gut bacteria which plays a role in detoxification as well.
Takeaway: Eat your fiber! Aim for a minimum of 20 grams of fiber daily.
Up-regulate digestion. Our digestive processes begin working as soon as we taste sour and bitter. Therefore, having lemon water or apple cider vinegar before your meals can help up-regulate digestive enzymes, acid, and bile secretion so your digestive system is functioning optimally. An optimally functioning digestive system leads to improved detoxification abilities.
Takeaway: Start your day with warm lemon water. Consider having 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar 5-10 minutes before each meal.
Support circulation. We need adequate circulation for our lymphatic system to collect and filter toxins that have accumulated throughout the day. Luckily supporting this is easy - it just means moving your body regularly! This doesn’t mean you have to engage in high intensity workouts - even going for a 30 minute walk each day can help. If you have mobility issues or live in freezing cold Toronto like we do and would rather stay inside, completing contrast showers or going for infrared sauna sessions can also be very helpful!
Takeaway: Move your body for a minimum of 30 minutes every single day. If you can’t do this, complete contrast showers daily!
Don’t forget your liver detox co-factors. Check out the photo of liver detoxification above. Those required nutrients listed under Step 1 & Step 2 are necessary co-factors for toxins to be converted from fat soluble forms to water soluble forms, allowing them to be excreted by the body. If you’re going through a heavy period of eating and drinking, incorporating some of those supplements into your daily routine can be helpful. Always check with your Naturopathic Doctor first.
Takeaway: Consider supplementing

A final word on detoxification

We’re not going to tell you to not indulge or enjoy this time of year. We strongly believe a full and happy life encompasses celebrating with those that you love. Just remember - everything in moderation, and take extra care of your body if you feel you need it. By incorporating these practices you can make it easier on your body and feel your best during the holidays.