10 Ways to Naturally Detox your Body for the New Year

1. Drink Water : Water is part of every metabolic process in the body, and adequate water intake also helps keep the balance of body salts normal. I recommend drinking ½ of your body weight in ounces. The best way to tell if your water intake is adequate is to check the color of your urine. Pale yellow is the goal. If it’s any darker than that, drink a glass of water or two.
2. Juicing Cleanse : Try a two-day juice cleanse to cleanse your kidney and liver. I recommend freshly juiced 1 part lemon, 2 parts grapefruit, 2 parts orange, and distilled water. Drink 1 gallon of this daily for 2 days along with 1 gallon of distilled water per day. You can purchase this already made at some juiceries for about $20 per gallon. Typically, patients will lose 5-7 pounds in those two days and will be able to keep this off if you continue with a healthy diet.
3. Exercise: Skin is the body’s largest organ, and sweating helps you eliminate excess body salts and other metabolites of body processes. Breaking a sweat every day is a good way to support your body’s healthy elimination of metabolic breakdown products. I recommend 30 minutes of exercise per day with a mix of Interval cardio and weights.
4. Sleep: Sleep is the time our body gets to repair, rebuild, and restore in every way. Create a bedtime ritual of seven hours on average of sleep per night. Avoid using your cell phone or computer for two hours before your bedtime. Recent studies continue to support the connection between amount of sleep and cognitive function.
5. Limit Caffeine: Caffeine can be a boost for mental focus and energy, if limited to less than 300 milligrams per day. A large mug of coffee has about 150 milligrams of caffeine, so that’s about two servings a day. A mug of tea is around 50 milligrams, so that’s about six servings. When it comes to caffeine, the less often it is consumed, the more of a positive biological effect you can expect.
6. Stop Eating Sugar: Cut out sugary drinks, snacks, and treats, and you’ll be surprised how fruit will satisfy your sweet tooth. Cutting down the sugar is important for detox. Your body is tired and consuming sugar will force your body to work to produce more insulin. So, give your body some rest by lowering the amount of sugar you eat. Good Alternatives for sugar are Monk Fruit and Coconut Sugar, as they are lower in the glycemic index.
7. Eliminate processed and prepared foods:
   As a general rule, don’t consume things that come in cans, boxes, bags or jars. Cutting out processed foods is the quickest and easiest way to limit excess (and often hidden) sugars, fats, and calories.
8. Try a NAD Nutritional IV: NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is a metabolic co-enzyme which is responsible for the structure, repair, and restoration of every cell. These enzymes are in constant demand by the body due to their demand by every cell and need to be replenished. The continuous need for replenishment of metabolic enzymes requires energy. NAD offers nutritionally based and medically supervised support for people suffering from chronic fatigue, immune deficiency, mood disorders, chronic stress, chronic illness, depression, anxiety and addiction. NAD helps make more energy adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and to minimize withdrawals from addictive substances and restore the brain function so one can focus on recovery and reaching optimal health. NAD IV Infusions take about 1 hour and are an excellent start to New Year goals.
9. Try the Ketogenic Diet: The Ketogenic diet is a very low carb, moderate protein, high healthy fat plan that puts your body into a metabolic state referred to as ketosis. In lieu of a high amount of carbohydrates in your diet, the body becomes very efficient at burning fat by breaking it down into ketones.
10. Avoid alcohol: Alcohol is not a health food, although some health benefits have been associated with moderate intake (that’s a maximum of one serving for women and two for men daily). Alcohol is also a diuretic, which can be dehydrating. And it’s a double diet whammy, bringing both the extra calories and the lowering of mental focus to say no to higher-calorie foods.

About the Author

Saira Sultan, ND, is the Director of Operations of Progressive Medical Center located in Atlanta, Georgia. She is double board certified as a Traditional Naturopath and in Nutritional Wellness. Progressive Medical Center is the largest Integrative Medical Center in the Southeast and has been a National Leader in the field since 1998. To learn more, please visit www.progressivemedicalcenter.com or call (770) 676-6000.