"Detox" - Detoxifying Your Body

Earlier this year, I went through my first official "detoxification."

After years and years of consuming way too much sugar, caffeine and fast food, I decided to just cut it out of my diet.

We are taking about at least fifteen years of abuse. My body was addicted to all of this stuff that I was putting into it, just like someone gets addicted to drugs. I knew it was wrong to put all of this stuff into my body, yet I kept doing it because I had become addicted to the sugar and caffeine, amongst other things.

All of these things are hard on the body, and especially hard on its metabolism. Putting excessive amounts of caffeine, sugar, fried foods, butter, etc. into your body is just not good for you because it makes your body work a lot harder, and you will never be truly healthy. You won't sleep as well, you will store more fat, and you won't have nearly as much energy.

So what happens when you suddenly cut these things out of your diet? Your body basically goes into "shock" in the period known as the "detox."

My particular "Detox" lasted about five days. I felt sick. I felt lethargic and sleepy. I slept for something like 12 hours each night, and could have easily slept more. I had crippling headaches. I was cranky and irritable. I wanted nothing else than to just go back to my old habits.

If you drastically change your diet (let's say that you are becoming a vegetarian or going off of dairy products), then the body will "detox" in a different way. Animal and dairy products don't digest properly and can sit in your body for ages, not properly digesting. If you suddenly become a vegetarian and avoid dairy products as well, you will notice that you will likely feel sick for a period of days and that you will have all sorts of things coming out of your body. This is all part of the cleansing or "detox" process.

In my case, my body was hooked on three things: caffeine, sugar and fast foods. I figured that I was consuming about 275 grams of sugar and 270 mg of caffeine per day, and way too much fat from fast foods. The combination of extremely high levels of sugar in my diet and high levels of carbohydrates was a deadly combination that had me gaining weight extremely quickly, especially as I got older. This had to change, and fast, or else I would likely develop diabetes or heart disease.

The bad news is that you'll feel like crap when you are "Detoxing." The good news is that after the detox period is over, you'll feel absolutely fantastic and your body will thank you every day. You will be in much better moods, you'll sleep better and you will have limitless amounts of energy.

Most people when they are embarking on a major change in their diet don't make it through the first couple of days. They say to themselves "I can't deal with feeling like this every day." All you have to do is get through that "detox" stage and your body will change and adapt, and you will no longer crave the things that you once consumed on a daily basis. I used to crave sugary drinks on a daily basis (more than daily) and now I don't crave them at all.

"Detoxing" is great for your body and you will thank yourself once you get through this stage. Your body just isn't meant to consume large quantities of alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fried food products on a daily basis, and once you get your body off of their addictive substances, you will feel SO much better.

Filed under: Health + Fitness | General Knowledge