Whether it’s just after the holidays, an indulgent vacation, or the recovery from an intense weekend out…you might be wondering how you can help your body detox and get back into a healthy balance, without doing some crazy detox program that leaves you shaken and frankly, starving.

The great news is that your body is naturally designed to detoxify itself! But there are some things you can do to help clear out an abundance of toxins and give your system a little “tune-up.”

Here are a few natural things to add to your diet and help your body detox:

4 Types of Detoxifying Foods

1.   Antioxidants

Through our diets, vices, and environments, our bodies absorb unstable molecules called free radicals. Because of their instability these molecules wreak havoc in our bodies and damage our cells. To stop the damage, our body uses antioxidants to find free radicals and neutralize them by giving them some of their own electrons.

Foods with a lot of antioxidants include:

1. blueberries
2. artichokes
3. beets
4. broccoli
5. green tea
6. walnuts
7. pecans
8. dark chocolate!

Regularly incorporating these foods into your diet can help keep your body in balance and boost your detoxing functions, but if you’re in “tune-up” mode, you might want to incorporate a supplement like the Organic Green Superblend which lets you effortlessly pack in the antioxidants to help your body out.

2.   Immune & Gut Health Boosters

Did you know that 70% of your immune system is in your gut? Your gut flora and good bacteria (probiotics) are constantly fighting against foreign pathogens, and alerting the body’s T-cells to recognize any pathogens that escape the gut to quickly eliminate viruses before we even feel symptoms.

When our good bacteria is depleted (by antibiotics, alcohol, imbalanced diet, etc.), our liver has to work double time to pick up the slack, making it less efficient at detoxing our body.

To keep our body’s immune system balanced, and lessen our liver's workload, we can naturally incorporate probiotics into our diet with:

1. pickled foods (like sauerkraut, pickles, kimchi)
2. kombucha
3. probiotic supplement

3.   Liver Enzyme Assistants

The liver is the body’s powerhouse for detoxification, performing hundreds of functions to process nutrients and clear out waste. Some foods have vitamins and minerals that activate liver enzymes and improve liver function. When you’re in detoxing-mode, adding additional portions of these foods can keep your liver fueled for optimal performance.

Foods for your liver include:

1. beets
2. cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage)
3. fatty fish
4. garlic
5. spirulina

4.   Fiber

Fiber helps your body detox in so many ways:

1. It keeps your digestive tract moving smoothly so your body can clear out waste efficiently
2. It feeds the healthy bacteria in your gut
3. It binds to toxins in your digestive tract so that they’re not absorbed into the bloodstream where they can cause cellular damage.

Adding a boost of fiber to your regular diet can help clear out the waste from detoxing and make sure you’re truly clearing out those harmful toxins.

Foods high in fiber include:

1. avocados
2. beans
3. whole grains
4. dried fruits
5. berries

A Holistic Approach to Detoxing

Although diet plays an important role in our body’s detoxing functions, we can also support our natural detox through adequate sleep, regular movement and exercise, and moderation (or a cleanse) from toxins like alcohol and tobacco.

These natural solutions to help your body detox can also be incorporated into your regular routine to keep your body functioning at an optimal level.