Why Detox?

By Violetta Petrenko, Wellness Coach & Yoga Teacher at Udara

When I got into the topic of nutrition, I was wondering how many different opinions about detox people have. Is it useful? Do we need to detox? Does detox actually work?

Cleansing for a healthy body

Let’s think logically. Do you dust your house or wash your clothes? If you don’t, it gets dirty. And it’s the same with our body. We clean our teeth daily, we bathe and wash our hair daily or every other day and we like to look and smell clean because it makes us feel better. Similarly, a detox is like an internal cleanse.

A sad fact in today’s modern culture is that everyone’s body is toxic. Many people understand that pollution and poor air quality are an important issue, but often it remains an abstract concept until a person is directly affected. Nevertheless, much attention is paid to the issue of contamination of food and beverages, as eating and drinking is the most important necessity that makes up the life of every person.

The need to detox in modern times

Different researchers propose that the average person carries more than 700 known toxins in their body within all organ systems including blood, skin, brain tissue, liver, fat tissue and digestive tract. Any one of these toxins may increase the risk of developing chronic illness and cancer.

Detoxification is what your body does naturally to neutralize, transform or get rid of unwanted materials or toxins. It is a primary function of the body, constantly working and interacting with all other functions of the body. Detox is about improving and optimizing the function of your body’s own detoxification systems. This is done by decreasing the amount of toxins we put into our bodies while at the same time supporting our body’s detoxification and elimination systems with the nutrients it needs to function properly.

My life changing experience with detox

It is totally up to you if you want to experience detox or not. For me personally – my own detox experience was life changing. It turned my lifestyle to positive way and had great affect on my overall health, mood and even life philosophy.

How toxins end up in our foods

Harmful substances contained in the emissions of industrial enterprises and thermal power plants, in the exhaust gases of cars, are deposited on the ground. Penetrated into the soil, toxic metals are absorbed by the roots of plants and then come to our table as food contaminants. Gradually accumulating in the human body, harmful substances can cause serious diseases.

In addition to industrial enterprises and motor vehicles, the soil and the crops growing on it poison various kinds of fertilizers and toxic chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, etc.). Contamination of food by radionuclide and nitrates, contrary to a very widespread opinion, is extremely rare.

Pollution from the environment (soil, sediments, water, and air) gets into the food web by polluting plants or animals that come in contact with environmental pollution. For example, water pollution may accumulate and concentrate in fish. Fish may be consumed by birds and other animals and the pollution gets transferred through the food chains until it reaches humans. By the time the polluted meat or fish reaches humans, the pollution may be substantially increased compared to the original concentration.

The meat that people consume in food, in addition to all of the above – absorbed along with the plants’ harmful substances – is very likely to be polluted with antibiotics that cattle are stuffed with for prevention (in response, a person develops resistance to many drugs, which makes it difficult to treat infectious diseases); growth and sex hormones as well as death hormones resulting from the slaughter of animals.

Thus, human intoxication cases may be serious and regular detox is highly recommended for us living in these modern times, as the conditions and quality of our environment, our food and drinks has changed a lot compared to previous generations.