Summary: Detox or detoxification is the psychological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver.

Aging and Detoxing

Ageless detox mainly focuses on removing the toxins and can make the cells healthier and increase oxygen levels in the blood.
This process removes toxins from your body that speed up aging.
Too many toxins in your body cause oxidation, damaging your cells, which in turn makes you age faster.
Detoxing reduces the oxidation effect and allows your cells to function more efficiently, slowing the process of aging.

Where Do Most of Our Toxin Exposure Come From?

Environmental pollution
Food
Heavy metals
Dental fillings
Beauty and personal care products
Contaminated water

Initiatives to detox your body

Hydration

In addition to your body’s need for water, drinking water every day also helps detox toxins from within.

Sulfur-rich vegetables

Many B vitamins are commonly used in the detoxification process.
Vitamin B3 cleanses the blood, lymph nodes, liver, and skin from any free radicals.
Vitamin B1’s job is to break down sugar molecules from carbohydrates and help convert them to energy.
Vitamin B12 targets specific toxins and lessens the body’s reaction to them.
Foods rich in B vitamins include:

Nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, sunflower seeds, tahini, broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, spinach, asparagus, liver, and almonds.

Milk thistle

Milk thistle is an herb with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
It is widely used to detoxify the body and promote liver and gallbladder health.
Its detox properties include the ability to act as a toxin blockade agent by inhibiting the binding of toxins to cell membrane receptors.
Milk thistle also acts as a powerful liver cleanser by reducing liver damage and removing toxins processed through the liver.

Cilantro

Cilantro is a traditionally used herb, which can easily be included in your diet.
It can be a powerful way to help reduce the build-up of heavy metals like mercury and lead.
To maximize the effectiveness, it is best used in conjunction with chlorella, which you can learn more about below.

Chlorella

Chlorella is a single-celled, green freshwater algae. Chlorella’s impressive nutritional profile has led some to call it a “superfood”.
It may help the body detox by binding to heavy metals such as cadmium and lead.
Furthermore, chlorella has been shown to help lower the amount of other harmful chemicals that are sometimes found in food.

B-Complex Vitamins

Many B vitamins are commonly used in the detoxification process.
Vitamin B3 cleanses the blood, lymph nodes, liver, and skin from any free radicals.
Vitamin B1’s job is to break down sugar molecules from carbohydrates and help convert them to energy.
Vitamin B12 targets specific toxins and lessens the body’s reaction to them.
Foods rich in B vitamins include:
- Nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, sunflower seeds, tahini, broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, spinach, asparagus, liver, and almonds.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is a powerful water-soluble antioxidant that the body can use to detoxify itself.
It offers antioxidant protection and neutralizes toxins, called free radicals, that would otherwise damage the cell membranes and DNA.
Foods rich in vitamin C include:
- Citrus fruits, pineapple, papaya, bell peppers, and broccoli.

Magnesium

Magnesium has potent detoxification properties that help the human body get rid of toxins that are built up in cells.
Maintaining healthy levels of magnesium is essential for healthy cell growth and maintenance.
The mineral can help to stimulate cell activity so that toxins being stored within them are released into the bloodstream before being flushed out of the body.
It also takes toxins such as poisonous heavy metals including aluminium, lead, mercury, and nickel from your body and binds them together to push them out.
Magnesium reduces the heavy metals being absorbed by your body.
Foods rich in magnesium include:
- Almonds, pumpkin seeds, avocados, figs, cacao, black beans, and bananas.

Calcium

The mineral calcium helps by preventing toxins from re-circulating in the body.
It keeps them packed together in bundles, to reduce reabsorption.
Calcium also helps keep toxins out of your blood and helps release them from your system.
Foods rich in calcium include:
- Dairy products such as cheese and yogurt, kale, collard greens, sardines with bones, and bok choy

Glutathione

Glutathione is one of the most important antioxidants in the human body.
It is used for the detoxification of the body and is vital for liver health.
The body can create it from the amino acids L-cysteine, L-glutamic acid, and glycine.
Glutathione conjugation helps to detoxify and eliminate poisons and toxins in the liver, lungs, intestines, and kidneys.
At the same time, the conjugation of glutathione with toxins helps to detoxify and eliminate fat-soluble toxins and heavy metals.
It even helps detoxify other environmental toxins such as many solvents, herbicides, fungicides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and lipid peroxides.
Exposure to high levels of toxins, or smoking, exhausts glutathione levels faster than the body can naturally produce or absorb.
You can naturally increase your glutathione levels by increasing your intake of:
- NAC, ALA, selenium, B6, B9, B12 & biotin, vitamin C, and vitamin E.
Foods that increase glutathione levels include:
- Milk thistle, whey protein, sulfur-rich foods, raw liver, as well as those high in the nutrients previously mentioned.

Shilajit

Shilajit is an ancient herb with a host of health benefits.
It’s a natural chelator as it contains fulvic acid and humic acid that bind to toxic molecules.
Consequently, its regular use helps reduce the production of toxins in the body.

Alpha-Lipoic Acid

Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) is a naturally occurring compound in our body.
It helps to increase glutathione levels inside the cells.
ALA helps the body naturally rid itself of toxic chemicals.
It is a water- and fat-soluble antioxidant, which means it can defend against a wider range of free radicals in comparison to other nutrients that are exclusively water-soluble or fat-soluble, such as vitamin C or vitamin E.
Alpha-lipoic acid binds to heavy metals in the body and helps carry them out of the cells.
Ideally, you would take the superior form called R-ALA to get the most benefits.

Activated Charcoal

Charcoal comes from burning carbon-rich material, such as wood, to produce a fine, black substance. Manufacturers then treat the charcoal to make it more porous.
Increasing its surface area in this way allows more substances to bind to it. This treatment is what makes the charcoal “activated.”
Activated charcoal can prevent the body from absorbing toxic substances that bind to the charcoal.
Activated substances can also eliminate substances like alcohol and very acidic or alkaline substances.
Since activated charcoal cannot distinguish between good and bad substances, it is recommended not to take it with supplements and medications.
Ideally, you would take it at least 1-2 hours away from medications and supplements.

Modified Citrus Pectin

Modified citrus pectin (MCP) is a modified, more digestible form of pectin. It is obtained from the peels, seeds, and pulp of citrus fruits using a chemical extraction process.
The low-molecular-weight citrus pectin binds to and facilitates the excretion of low levels of heavy metals, which typically accumulate from mild environmental exposure.
Because of its low molecular weight, MCP can pass through the intestinal barrier and work systemically to support detoxification. Unlike some other forms of pectin, MCP promotes healthy urinary excretion of heavy metals without altering the excretion of other nutritional minerals such as calcium and magnesium.
Since activated charcoal cannot distinguish between good and bad substances, it is recommended not to take it with supplements and medications.
MCP can reduce the body’s ability to absorb various nutrients, thus it is not recommended to take it with food, supplements, or medications.
Ideally, you would take it at least 1-2 hours away from foods, medications, and supplements.

Sauna And Cold Thermogenesis

Sweating helps you get rid of both heavy metals and xenobiotics – foreign compounds like plastics and petrochemicals – in small but significant amounts.
It can remove lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury, especially in people with high heavy metal toxicity.
Sweating also eliminates hormone-disrupting BPA, which accumulates in your fat cells.
Intense cold destroys fat cells, which has led to cold thermogenesis as a way to slim down and detox.

Coffee Enema

A coffee enema is a natural “colon cleanse” that involves injecting coffee and water into the rectum and colon.
It can help remove unwanted materials from the gut wall and bloodstream.
The primary role of the enema is to remove potentially harmful parasites, bacteria, yeast, and heavy metals that contribute to inflammation and therefore disease.

Epsom Salts

The sulfates in Epsom salt assist the body in flushing out toxins.
That provides a heavy metal detox from the body’s cells.
It sparks reverse osmosis, which literally pulls salt out of your body and toxins along with it.
For an Epsom salts detox bath, add at least two cups of Epsom salt to bath water and soak for 40 minutes.

Chelation Therapy

Chelation therapy is the strongest way to detox heavy metals.
The therapy uses compounds called chelators that form strong bonds with heavy metals, leaving them unable to further poison your body.
The chelators mobilize the toxins, and you can either pass them normally or bind them up with adsorbents like activated charcoal.
It is very effective for removing lead, mercury, aluminium, arsenic, iron, and copper.
Caution:
- It can be dangerous, so many doctors don’t recommend it unless you have moderate to severe heavy metal poisoning.