15 Signs It Is Time To Do A Detox (# 13, Who Knew?)

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Are you trying to eat right, get enough sleep, and regularly exercise but you still don’t feel 100 percent? You might try telling yourself that you aren’t a spring chicken anymore or that you are working too hard but perhaps the real reason you aren’t feeling as good as you should is because your body is holding onto too many toxins.

Eating a healthy, organic diet and staying well hydrated, in addition to getting enough rest and exercise, are all important for a healthy body, but performing detox on a regular basis is just as important.

Although many of the symptoms listed below apply to numerous things and seem to be a list of the human condition, if you are living a healthy lifestyle but still do not feel right, then chances are your body has become overburdened with toxins.

If you notice any of the items below on a regular basis, you are very likely way overdue for a detox. Keep reading and see if any of the 15 signs listed below sound like you.

1. You Have Extra Pounds that Won’t Budge

If you have tried to lose weight through calorie counting, exercising, and cutting out sugar but the weight simply won’t budge, an overload of toxins could be to blame. Most toxins are stored in the fat of the body. These include toxins like PCB’s, dioxins, and many commonly used pesticides. A detox will remove these toxins so that the weight can finally be shed.

2. Skin Issues or Allergies

If you are having skin problems, such as flakiness, excessive dryness, itchy skin or red, irritated skin, and nothing seems to work, it might be that you are ready for a detox. Topical treatments aren’t going to address the root cause. Sometimes it appears that, during and immediately after a detox, your skin problems get worse, but this is generally because toxins are being removed through the skin. This will completely subside within a week or so after you complete your program. If you are having allergic reactions such as sneezing, coughing, or watery, red eyes, and antihistamines don’t work, this is often another sign for the need to detox.

3. Unexplained Fatigue

If you are diligent about getting your 8 hours of sleep but you still wake up feeling exhausted or if you are completely out of energy by 10AM, this is another sign you are running on a toxic overload. Carrying around a high toxic load puts tons of extra stress on the body (as if we don’t have enough already), which puts an overload on the adrenal glands. Adrenal fatigue will leave you feeling exhausted, run down, and out of shape. Some toxins have a direct effect on your adrenal function.

4. Unexplained Sore or Stiff Muscles

Unless you have been going overboard at the gym or recently started a new workout program, those stiff, sore muscles are probably a sign that your body is carrying a heavy toxic overload. Toxins cause inflammation in the body. When you don’t remove the toxins, they accumulate in many places, including the muscles, leaving them feeling sore or stiff. If you wake up in the morning feeling like you have been hit by a bus, but there is no reason for it, it is way past time for you to perform a detox program.

5. Insomnia

Although everyone has an occasional sleepless night, habitual insomnia is usually a sign of not only toxic overload, but out of whack hormones. This often happens due to stress and the environmental toxins we are exposed to. For example, most antibacterial soaps contain a hormone disrupting compound called triclosan. Excessive stress leads to an excess of the stress hormone cortisol. Your body needs sleep to balance hormones, repair tissue, and to detoxify itself naturally. You can help your body by performing a detox program to remove an accumulation of toxins so that you can get the sleep you need.

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6. Feelings of Depression

Most of the time our feelings are linked to our diet. Coffee can give us a boost of energy; chamomile tea can make us feel calm and sleepy. Your mood can change simply by the consumption of certain foods and drinks. Eating low quality or non-organic foods over a long period of time can leave you feeling depressed. This is why, for many people, eating a healthier diet does not make you feel better. The toxins that have accumulated in the body will block the absorption of vital nutrients, which will leave you feeling out of energy and depressed. It is important to note that there is a big difference between feelings of depression and clinical depression. If you think you might be clinically depressed, please see your doctor right away. A detox will not help clinical depression but it will help you to avoid those negative, depressing thoughts.

7. Brain Fog

This is one of the most common complaints people have. This is because many toxins affect the brain, including MSG (monosodium glutamate) and artificial sweeteners such as aspartame. Our overexposure to toxins can leave us feeling “spaced out” or feeling as if our brain is trying to work in a foggy cloud. An accumulation of toxins leaves us feeling unable to concentrate, focus, or worn out within minutes after starting a project.

8. Over Sensitivity to Scents

If you find that you are extremely sensitive to certain scents, you could have a high accumulation of toxins. When your liver is no longer able to remove toxins from your body in an efficient manner, you become much more sensitive to scents such as perfumes, scented lotions, soaps, and sometimes even plastics, mold, and tobacco smoke. Do a safe detox as soon as possible to remove the buildup of toxins in the body.

9. Frequent Headaches

If you tend to get frequent headaches that you can’t explain your toxic load is more than likely quite high. Common toxins that cause headaches are dioxins, MSG, aspartame, artificial colors, artificial flavors, chemical preservatives, and heavy metals. This is another common problem that affects many people that seems to disappear almost like magic once a detox is performed.

10. Acne, Rashes, or Boils

Your liver and kidneys are the major detoxing organs in the body, but your skin is also capable of removing some toxins. When you suffer from acne, unexplained rashes, or boils, this is often due to your skin’s inability to remove all the toxins in your body. This accumulation of toxins causes serious skin issues such as these.

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11. Mood Swings

When your hormones are out of balance, you can suffer from some pretty serious mood swings. Many women are well aware that their feelings can change dramatically when they are approaching their monthly cycle due to fluctuations in hormones, but if you are feeling these same sort of mood swings on a regular basis, you are probably overdo for a detox. Avoiding plastics and hormone disrupting products such as antibacterial soaps and toothpastes are a great way to immediately lessen your toxic load.

12. Constipation

It’s a fact of life: Your body gets rid of waste, including toxins, through poop. If you are not able to poop on a daily basis, you can guarantee that you are holding on to an excess of toxins. When you are constipated, your body will reabsorb any toxins that your bowels are trying to remove. Increase your water intake, eat more naturally high fiber fruits and vegetables, and perform a detox program as soon as possible.

13. Sexual Dysfunction

People might laugh at the mere mention of erectile dysfunction or vaginal dryness, but these are no laughing matter. The drug companies are laughing- all the way to the bank! Imagine the millions of dollars that are spent on prescriptions and other “sex aids” or libido enhancing products every single year. In most cases, all that is really needed is a healthier diet and a good detox program. If your sexual performance or interest have faded away and you haven’t done a detox program in the past year or more, this is a powerful sign that you need to do a detox sooner rather than later.

14. Body Odor

If you have foul smelling breath, feet, gas, urine, or stools, these are all signs that your toxic load is very high. Your liver and colon are having difficulty with your toxic overload and, literally, the toxins are being expelled any way possible. This accounts for the bad smells. You can help your liver by consuming milk thistle and performing a detox as quickly as possible.

15. Weight Gain

If you find that despite your best efforts the pounds are slowly and steadily adding up, especially around your waistline, and you haven’t performed a detox in a year or more, this is a sign that it is time to get down to business. Eating healthier won’t work since the body is most likely filled with waste that is preventing you from getting the nutrition your body needs. Many people find that enemas or a liquid detox program will remove literally pounds of excess waste built up in the colon and allow you to start fresh rather than trying to swim upstream, so to speak, and deal with a mountain of toxins.

If you believe your toxic load might be too high for your body to handle, it is vital that you find ways to reduce your exposure to toxins for starters. Eat clean, organic foods as much as possible, avoid sugar and refined, processed foods, keep yourself well-hydrated with water and herbal teas, and get plenty of rest. Perform a detox program as soon as you can so you can start feeling more like your old self once again.

References:

Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Water.usgs.gov

Tandfonline.com

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