Unlike fad detoxes, detoxification is a real thing that your body does – naturally, every single day. In this Blog I talk about my favourite 10 herbs to support detoxification.
While occasional detox diets are helpful for a reboot, detox is something we need to support our bodies with every single day, not just a couple of times each year. We are exposed to an unprecedented number of environmental toxins every single day. The Environmental Working Group has found that newborns already have nearly 300 environmental toxins in their blood at birth. That’s really frightening!
So you can imagine by the time you hit your 20s and beyond, our bodies have been steeped in environmental chemicals!
These chemicals come from herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, and artificial ingredients in our foods. They exist as pollutants in our air, water, cosmetics, medications, vaccinations, household cleaners, furnishings, cars – there are literally tens of thousands of them.
Not only that, we create toxic chemicals in our bodies from the process of breaking down the hormones and stress chemicals that our own bodies produce.
The good news is that your body is amazingly equipped with detoxification systems that have been evolving and improving over millions of years. Most of these are in your liver, but also require that you keep your bowels moving well each day to “take out the rubbish” that the liver has processed. Your body has the mechanisms in place to keep you healthy.
The bad news is that never before in the history of humanity have we been exposed to so many different chemicals. Our bodies are overwhelmed by toxic loads and need some extra daily detox help.
Also as a practicing Nutritionist, Naturopath and Functional Medicine Practitioner, I have seen women day in and day out in my clinic who suffer from health conditions that are associated with environmental chemical and hormonal detoxification problems which is why I included the ‘Detox type’ as one of the Metabolic Types in my book Eat Right, Lose Weight. Symptoms include:
- Weight problems
- Fatigue
- Loss of mental concentration and clarity (“brain fog”)
- Oestrogen Dominance symptoms such as PMS, heavy or painful periods, headaches, cysts & fibroids, endometriosis
- Thyroid problems
- Blood sugar problems
- Joint pain
- Autoimmune conditions
- Cyclic breast pain
- Infertility
- Early puberty
- Allergies
- Acne and Eczema, to name a few
In my practice, where I am able to do Functional and DNA tests to see how effectively my clients are detoxifying, I find two common threads: many people are low in the natural chemicals they need to effectively detoxify environmental chemicals and hormones, and are overloaded with harmful toxins such as heavy metals, pesticide residues, BPA and more.
Two Simple Steps to Natural Detoxification
Good health, clear thinking, weight loss, and abundant energy are absolutely possible! They can be achieved with the same simple two-step process which is part of my Pippa Campbell Method (PCM) that me and my practitioners use in clinic.
Here it is:
- Take Out the Bad = Minimize Toxin Exposure
- Add in the Good = Support Natural Detoxification
And the great thing is that this is not a “diet” but a Method. It is a way of life that makes living easier because you feel better. And anyway, we should all try to reduce our use of environmental toxins – it’s good for us and it’s good for the planet.
Take Out The Bad
- Eat a wide variety of vital natural foods. Not junk. That simple. This way we avoid most of the agricultural and added chemicals that act as toxins in our body.
- Eat only organic meats and dairy, and follow the Environmental Working Group Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen which you can link to here.
- Use natural household cleaners, cosmetics, and body products. As women we apply more than 15 different products, many with a dozen or more chemicals, before we even leave the house in the morning. There are many fantastic natural cosmetics available to us now. You can use the Yuka App to check or look at Pippa Loves for some products I use.
- Avoid unnecessary medications – use diet and natural remedies whenever possible before taking ibuprofen, antibiotics, or hormonal treatments.
- Don’t smoke keep alcohol to a minimum (less than 4 drinks/week, preferably red wine) and stress less.
Add in the Good
To add in the good, all you need to know is which foods and herbs support and enhance your body’s detoxification pathways. And I’m going to make that easy for you with the information below. While there are many options, here’s my Top Ten Detox List.
Simply add in some of these natural detoxifying foods and herbs every day, and if you’re taking out the bad, too, you’ll find that within days to weeks your energy, health, and mood are picking up! Taking a probiotic and adding fermented foods to your diet is a detox plus because they help provide the necessary microflora to help you make use of the nutrients in many of the foods and supplements below, especially the flax seeds and leafy greens. Healthy flora is an important ingredient in optimal detoxification.
1) Flaxseeds
Flaxseeds contain lignans, which when broken down by healthy gut flora help you to bind and eliminate toxic by-products with your daily evacuation. I recommend 1-2 tablespoons of freshly ground seeds added to your whole yoghurt, morning shake, or on top of your salad daily.
2) Leafy Green Vegetables
Rocket, watercress cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, and chard – all in the Brassicacae family – are the Queens of Greens. At least 2 cups cooked of one or a combination DAILY. Greens contain a host of naturally occurring chemicals called glucosinolates, which break down into isothiocyanates or ITCs, which increases liver detox while giving your gut flora the best nutrition possible. The fibre in them also helps you to have a good daily BM – which not only keeps you feeling good, but clears out the environmental rubbish.
3) Berries
All berries are fantastic for you. Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries (organic for these please!) and blackberries are my top go to’s.
4) Pomegranate
Pomegranate has 3 times the antioxidant effects of green tea and red wine. It improves detoxification in the liver and helps keep cholesterol and blood sugar balanced. Eat fresh pomegranate seeds on salads or yoghurt. You can also try 60 ml unsweetened pomegranate juice concentrate in 250ml of still or sparkling water daily for a lovely natural “spritzer” that is safe even for diabetics because it reduces insulin resistance!
5) Olive Oil
Olive oil, taken in amounts of 2-4 tablespoons daily, will not increase your weight and will improve your cholesterol, and will decrease isoprostanes, nasty little inflammatory chemicals that your body makes. Rich in naturally healthy phenols, olive oil gives a power boost to your body’s production of naturally occurring detox chemicals like glutathione. Olive oil, like the other foods and herbs listed here, can also help mitigate damage to your DNA because they create chemicals that scavenge free radicals, harmful little inflammatory forms of oxygen that get loose in our bodies as a result of toxins and detox problems.
6) Dark Chocolate
I wouldn’t be a female hormones nutritionist if I didn’t include dark chocolate. Dark chocolate really is good for you. In addition to improving mood and keeping blood pressure and cholesterol in check, dark chocolate is a detox plus in your daily diet. Yes, you can eat a couple of squares of dark chocolate every day – as long as it’s 72% dark or higher.
7) Turmeric
A spice that has been used in Indian cooking for thousands of years, this bright yellow herb has become famous for its ability to support our natural detoxification processes. And rightly so! Curcumin, the most medicinally active part of the plant, helps the body slow its roll on breaking down toxic chemicals long enough for the body to be able to do it effectively and efficiently without causing you to build up what are called toxic intermediates when the two phases of liver detoxification are out of sync. It also boosts up your body’s natural anti-inflammatory production. It’s one of the herbs we use most in my clinic, at a dose of 1000-2000 mg of curcumin extract daily. You can also use it in cooking or in your favorite shake, 2-10 grams of the powdered spice per day.
8) Green tea
Green tea boosts liver detoxification, helping you to break down and get rid of toxins while acting as an antioxidant, putting out the fires of inflammation around your body. It can be taken as a tea, but in extract form it is a potent supplement for weight loss, hormonal balance, and detox. A typical daily dose is about 200 mg of green tea catechins, or 4-8 cups of green tea. If you are very sensitive to caffeine, this amount might cause you some side effects including insomnia and heart palpitations – if you experience those, try something different instead.
9) Resveratrol
Comes from grapes, berries, and is found in red wine; has antioxidant effects that help with detoxification, improves detox in the liver and is also anti-inflammatory, which helps with everything from joint pain to menstrual cramps. You can get it from your diet by eating plenty of fresh berries, and you can take a supplement containing 10-25 mg of resveratrol daily.
10) Spirulina
A blue-green algae rich in antioxidants and particularly helpful for detoxifying heavy metals. It’s also rich in vitamins E, C, and B₆ to support healthy blood cells, immunity, and energy production. Found in PCH Super Greens.
Supplements
Herbs are fantastic but it’s also a good idea to support your liver with vitamins, minerals and amino acids that it needs to function. My PCH Detox supplement contains all the nutrients that the liver needs to support phase 1 & 2 liver detoxification including glutathione which is our ‘master’ antioxidant.
