Water For Detox

As we all know, water is essential to life.  We can survive without food for months, but without water we last only days.  In the U.S. we are lucky enough to have access to clean water as well as, in fact, ANY kind of water you can think of– distilled, purified, bottled, enhanced and flavored.  Despite our options, many of us don’t drink enough water each day, falling short of the recommended 8 glasses or 64 oz. per day.  Maybe this is because the most common beverages available are diuretics like coffee, tea, and caffeinated soda; these actually dehydrate your body even if your thirst feels quenched.  It’s easy and common to not drink enough, but what we don’t realize is that even minor dehydration negatively affects our cellular functions.  Some of the ways water works in our favor are listed below:

– water dilutes toxins and waste products in the system as well as helping flush them out

-water regulates and maintains body temperature

-water helps transport nutrients and other vital substances throughout the system

– water provides our brain and joints with fluid protection

Simply drinking enough water is one of the easiest ways to detoxify your body.  Doing so will make you feel drastically better within a matter of days.  Some of the benefits felt will be better digestion, more energy, less cravings for certain foods, and clearer skin.

To go a step (or several) further, you can do a water cleanse or even a water fast.  A water cleanse consists of drinking about twice the amount of water recommended every day for 3 or 4 days, helping to quickly flush out toxins.  The dangers from this cleanse involve actually drinking too much water, so it’s important to consult a physician first.

A water fast, however, is much more intense, and I’m not sure I’d personally recommend it to anyone.  Water fasting usually consists of abstaining from all foods and other substances other than water for a period of several days, however, in the cases of extreme difficulty fresh fruits or vegetables can be consumed alternately.  Like other forms of detoxification, it is important to prepare your body both physically and mentally to do this fast.  A pre-cleanse diet should be implemented at least a week beforehand, and meditation on the subject should be practiced as well.  The most important preparation step for this cleanse is knowledge about what steps to take and what to expect.  There are many resources on this subject online; to briefly read up on water fasts, click here.