FEATURE — There are literally hundreds of uniquely interconnecting puzzle pieces that influence the presence – or absence – of proper cleanse and detox in each of our bodies.

Proper sleep and avoiding highly processed foods might be two of the more obvious essential pieces, but what else might your body require as it’s faced with solving its new and unique puzzle each and every day?

Keep in mind that no two cleanse and detox puzzles could ever be identically similar. 

However, here are five points of specific focus to consider bringing into your daily routine that will greatly benefit your body’s daily cleanse and detox efforts:

Beat dehydration the right way

Over 80% of people in North America are chronically dehydrated, and it’s largely because what we do drink is actually stealing moisture and energy from within us. Carbonated, sugar-dense, artificially-flavored, caffeinated and alcoholic drinks of all kinds are infamous for robbing actual water from our already dehydrated bodies.

When we choose to drink actual water by itself, it registers entirely differently in the body and feeds every cell with the oxygenated life-juice it desperately requires. A few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, diluted into your water or food throughout each day, will also facilitate an immediate correction of your body’s delicate pH balance. This facilitates the proper absorption of all the water you drink and all the vitamins, nutrients and minerals you consume.

Water-dense fruits and vegetables 

Mother Nature knows exactly which foods we need and right when we need them the most, especially when it comes to the whole foods most capable of cleansing, strengthening and healing our bodies. When spring arrives with all its life and color, it’s no wonder that the ground begins bursting with water-dense fruits and veggies of all kinds.

Make it a priority to remind yourself that at least half of all the food you eat each day should be coming from fruits and veggies. The foods most well-equipped to assist with the internal cleansing we all need are the ones overflowing with nutrient-dense fluid, such as melons, tropical fruits, berries of all kinds, tree fruits, celery and all citrus fruits. In the morning particularly, fruit acts as the most effective “soap” for cleansing the insides of our bodies.

Flax seed meal and chia seed meal

Over 50 million people in North America have chronic digestive issues of all kinds, the majority of which could be easily remedied by adding a regular daily dose of flaxseed meal and/or chia seed meal to the diet.

In addition to foods such as whole grains, a few tablespoons of flax meal and chia meal offer phenomenal sources of fiber, roughage, HDL cholesterol, digestion-assistive viscosity, essential omega-3, -6, -7, and -9 fatty acids and various nutrient-dense oils – all essential for optimal digestion, brain health, eye function and joint repair. These seed meals hide easily in hot cereals and smoothies and are wonderful at replacing eggs in most baked goods.

Dark berries, dark greens and crucifers

All fruits and veggies have their place and purpose, yet there are a few whose darker pigmentation allows them to be classified as literal superfoods. Loaded with powerhouse phytonutrients, these disease-fighting superfoods work hard to seek out and destroy free radicals, oxidants, cancer cells and oxidative stress points in the body.

Functional and lifestyle medicine practitioners worldwide regularly prescribe various dark berries and dark greens for the targeting of specific diseases their clients are battling. When you see these foods at grocery stores and farmers markets, keep in mind that they are Mother Nature’s very own unique, tried-and-true medicines designed to have only one side effect: healing.

Cardio, aerobic, sun and stretch

Winter provides plenty of reasons to stay indoors. As giving in to those reasons becomes habitual, our sedentary hearts, lungs, muscles and bones begin to weaken and atrophy. Shake off the winter grey and gloom by implementing a gradual and realistically sustainable daily routine geared around desire-based movement, outdoor “re-creation,” heart and lung-strengthening sport games or activities and warmup/cool down mobility stretching.

Our bodies are finely tuned instruments, and any musician knows that the worst thing you can do to your instrument is to simply not play it.

Get outside and go play, because whatever you don’t thankfully use, you will ultimately lose.

Written by BENTLEY MURDOCK, owner and founder of Healistic Vitality.

This article was first published in St. George Health and Wellness magazine.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews