The Best Detox Diet
Ask The Acupuncturist:
Hey Everyone! Your friendly Portland neighborhood acupuncturists here! You know the old adage: “You are what you eat.” The food we eat is one of the most important keys to living pain free, improving our mood, and well…just about everything about our health. That’s why we want to talk about the best detox diet.
Detoxing can be such a fad. The best detox diet needs to be tailored to each person. After all, there are some pretty ineffective and dangerous diets out there. The key questions are when do we detox…and how? Your health care providers at The WellBridge Clinic can help guide along the way.
5 Signs It’s Time For a Detox
- Fatigue
- Digestive Problems
- Headaches
- Mood Swings, Irritability, Poor memory
- Difficulty losing weight
Detox Diets: Set Up for SUCCESS
Do you know that brain fog feeling? Maybe fatigue, Like you just can’t get into gear? All those new year’s resolutions just starting to wither on the vine of motivation. Well, you are in luck!
First off, the middle of winter is NOT the time to squeal the tires on a life changing routine. January first is still nature’s time of rest and preparation. Let’s set you up for the success that will last all year. Detoxification and cleansing requires personalized guidance from a qualified healthcare professional. At The WellBridge Clinic we can help you here at our Portland clinic or with a tele-health session through our secure portal.
The first step to an amazing year is to know how to transform your health and habits. We need to leverage strengths and identify any obstacles. One of the foundations of the amazing new you this year is going to be through learning how to detox or a cleanse.
There are so many detox and cleansing diets out there. All those diets can be confusing and a waste of time. We want to make sure you succeed. In this article we are going to introduce you to some of the important parts of the best detox diet. Spoiler alert! The best detox diet is the one that is individualized to you! That is the greatest value of working with one of the providers at The WellBridge Clinic. We we tailor your plan to your health concerns, heath goals, and lifestyle. That way you maximize your effort much more than a cookie cutter diet from the internet. If you are ready to begin Click Here to book an appointment to begin your detox.
Why Acupuncture?
Did you know that when acupuncture and Chinese medicine (when practiced properly), represent the most comprehensive holistic medical system? Chinese medicine is the original “Functional Medicine.” The tools we use have been organized to balance our mind and body, into one coherent functioning system. That way our patients get better and stay better. Personalized and dynamic help is the best detox system there is.
Detox Everyday (but don’t Yuck My Yum!)
“Chronic inflammatory diseases are the most significant cause of death in the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) ranks chronic diseases as the greatest threat to human health.”
– 1) National Institute of Health, 2) National Cancer Institute, NIH 3) VA MEDICAL CENTER
Our goal is to help our patients navigate their own personal health strategies, avoid environmental toxins and best prevent the development of chronic disease.
Keep in mind we are also human and want you to enjoy life AND be empowered with vibrant health. Whenever I get too dogmatic about diet, my daughter (JR) gives me ‘the eye’ and says “Daddy, don’t yuck my yum!”
So keeping in mind that there is a time for indulgence and a time for detoxing. Everyday we can do 5 things to do our “Daily Detox”:
- Drink more water. More.
- First thing in the morning. Drink a glass of water.
- Take 3 deep breaths. Often.
- Eat some green vegetables.
- Laugh. Frequently.
Dedicated to Detox
A couple times a year it is crucial to do a dedicated detox. The best time of year is from February to October (in the Northern Hemisphere). Follow the seasons and of course plan to clean up after the holidays or times of joyous indulgence. And we do encourage joy. In case the holidays are stressful, a detox diet is even more important.
We can get so much inflammation from our food, but we are also exposed to potentially hundreds of chemical compounds in our water. Just this week, the Environmental Working Group issued a report on the prevalence of “forever chemicals” in the drinking water of several major cities across the country. Perflourooctanoic acid, or PFAS, an industrial toxin used in making non-stick hard plastics and is associated with disrupting hormone, immune, and major organ function was detected in the water supply of 30 major U.S. cities. [1],[2]
Great, So What Do I Do About It
Given the amount of controversy and misinformation around diet and detox strategies, we feel compelled to contribute to the conversation and hopefully provide some insights from Functional and Chinese Medical systems along with what modern science recommends to best rid your system of potentially harmful toxic compounds.
“Detox” is a loaded term these days but it is also a crucial physiological function that your liver, gallbladder, kidneys, lungs, skin and intestines work hard every single day to prevent your system from excess oxidative and inflammatory compounds.
There are specific physiological sequences your body goes through to neutralize and eliminate potentially harmful substances and there are therapeutic strategies that can optimize several of these steps.
While, the air we breathe and the water we drink can be a significant toxic burden these days. The food we eat is one the most frequent exposures our body has to toxins. The quality of food we ingest, over time, has a significant impact on our overall “toxic load” and our state of systemic inflammation. As mentioned above, the water we drink is also a direct source of our total toxic load.
“You Are What You Eat”
The thing is, our food system is pretty complex. (To see the depth and economics of our food system check out “Food Fix” by Dr. Mark Hyman) Each step impacts the quality of our food…Because after all….’you are what you eat!”
- How food was grown.
- The quality of the soil or feed.
- What are the conditions the animals lived in.
- What are the ingredients and additives.
- How food is prepared.
- How our food was stored.
- What type of container our food was stored in.
- How those foods impact our gut biome.
Our total toxic load is the result of more than just poor nutrition. A 2015 report by the CDC on Environmental Toxin Synthetic chemicals such as flame retardants, fluorinated plastics, parabens, fungicides, pesticides, and herbicides and so on lists hundreds of potentially toxic chemicals present in blood and urine samples. [3],[4],[5]
Many of these toxic chemicals accumulate in fatty tissues, simultaneously disrupting our hormonal system, and triggering further accumulation of fatty tissue, creating a systemic warehouse of fatty, toxic cells.
Several diseases, ranging from diabetes to cardiovascular disease, and many auto-immune diseases, are being correlated with chronic inflammation, chronic microbiome dysbiosis, and retention of toxic chemicals. Many factors create these diseases resulting from persistent exposure to toxic substances, such as regular consumption of inflammatory foods, smoking, or air pollution, and compounded by a declining ability of our body’s natural processes of neutralizing and eliminating those toxic substances. [6],[7]
The Best Detox Diet
Throughout the year The WellBridge Clinic has a rolling enrollment into a personalized Detox system. Detox diets are a personal experience with specific obstacles that every individual experiences. Our patients schedule a series of 3 appointments. We work with people from any place on the planet. For our patients in Portland, Oregon we also integrate acupuncture into the process. Each detox is tailored to the individual patient. Everyone has a different health goal.
A few of the things we help people with include:
- Headaches
- Arthritis and Joint Pain
- Brain fog
- Addictions
- Memory loss
- Fatigue
- Eczema, Acne and other Skin Problems
- Chronic diarrhea
- Constipation
- Gas or bloating
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Frequent Colds
- Respiratory Allergies
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Fibromyalgia
- Lupus
- Celiac Disease
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Crohn’s Disease
- Sugar Cravings
- Depression, Anxiety, ADHD
At The WellBridge Clinic we continually help our patients with the 4 main factors that lead to chronic health conditions: Pain, High stress, poor sleep, and poor nutrition. Every year science shows more and more that systemic inflammation is a primary driver of up to 50% of the common debilitating diseases. We are proactively helping patients change the course of their lives. You don’t need to wait for a health catastrophe to make a change. It starts with intention and a good team on your side. We’re here to help and the best detox diet is the one that has been created for you.
The WellBridge Clinic Can Help
The WellBridge Clinic is a Functional Medical Clinic that specializes in Acupuncture, Herbal and Nutritional Medicine. Our Purpose has always been to get to the root of any health problem so you get better and stay better. Your healthy, vibrant life is our job.
We do that through time tested and science approved medical procedures and by educating our patients… Because the alternative is just juggling symptoms.
We are located in Portland, Oregon and serve patients locally and around the world. Click here so you can schedule an appointment or a free consultation to see how our team can help you. We are in the clinic 6 days a week. Call us anytime 503-544-9611.
References
[1] https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/pfas/health-effects.html
[2] https://www.ewg.org/research/national-pfas-testing/
[3] https://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport/index.html
[4] https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/pdf/FourthReport_UpdatedTables_Feb2015.pdf
[5] https://www.livescience.com/52344-inflammation.html
[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493173/
Authors:
Scott Baker, L.Ac., MSAOM
John Rybak, L.Ac., MSAOM