Healthy New Year's Resolutions: How to Detox with Traditional Chinese Medicine and Optimize Your Health During the Cold Winter Months
The holidays have come and gone and New Year’s resolutions are on the minds of many. Some of you may be thinking that January is the perfect time to detox and get your health back on track. You’re right! However, there are a few things you should keep in mind. Getting your health on track should always be a priority, but you may want to rethink the type of detox program you choose and let us explain why.
According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), winter is the most yin time of year because it has dark, cold, slow, inward energy. Think about curling up on the couch under a warm blanket with a hot cup of tea. These are actions that can help nourish yin because they provide stillness and warmth. Certain diet and exercise regimens can do the same.
Some detoxes, like a master cleanse where you survive on maple syrup, lemon, and cayenne pepper for a few days, are more extreme and can cause stress on the body. This might be more appropriate in the spring or summer where the energy has more light, hot, quick, expansive qualities just like that type of detox. Other detoxes involve eating an abundance of cold, raw vegetables and smoothies that require energy to break down and warm up before we can digest them well. Since winter is a time to be conserving energy, our detoxes should be more gradual and gentle. Here are five ways to gently detox the body and help prepare your body should you want to do a more active cleanse in the spring or summer.
Start by removing as many toxins from your environment as possible.
The obvious ones are alcohol, caffeine, and sugar. The less obvious can include plastics and heavy metals, pesticides, and chemicals found in skin and hair care products. This will give your endocrine system a break and help your hormones balance.
Check out the Environmental Working Group’s dirty dozen and clean fifteen lists to help know which produce have high and low levels of pesticides. Or use their Skin Deep search bar to test the safety of your skin and hair care products.
Consider an electronics and social media detox.
Not only can this give you much needed one-on-one time with yourself or loved ones, but it has the added bonus of resetting your circadian rhythm and improving sleep if you avoid blue light and power down by 5pm.
Add in Dry Brushing.
Incorporate dry brushing into your daily routine to help detoxify the skin by increasing circulation and promoting lymph flow. It also unclogs pores and exfoliates to improve the way you eliminate toxins through the skin.
Improve Your Diet
For dietary detox, avoiding foods that are too salty, processed, or full of refined or fake sugars can help the body immensely with the added bonus of weight loss. Add in warming foods like porridges rather than cereals, cooked/steamed vegetables and stir fries, and seasonal vegetables such as squash and sweet potatoes. Anything that is baked, broiled, roasted or poached will be easier to digest and warm your body internally.
Have a daily cup of medicinal Bieler's broth which can help support your liver (the detoxifying organ) and adrenal glands as well as restore your acid-alkaline and sodium-potassium balances.
We saved the best for last. TCM!!
Acupuncture: Some of you may already know that acupuncture can help detox from drug, alcohol, and tobacco use. It can help with withdrawal symptoms and reduce stress and cravings. Did you know that studies also show that acupuncture can help with general detoxification by improving liver function and decreasing oxidative stress? It also has a natural diuretic effect which can help pass toxins through the urinary tract. Acupuncture and TCM help restore the balance of energy throughout the entire body and prevent disease. A body that is balanced and well will naturally detox better. If you have questions about how your body needs balancing for detoxification, ask one of our doctors for a consultation!
Moxibustion: A warm hug in the winter. This warming therapy can treat a great range of diseases and support the immune system. It has purifying effects, can create a cleansing atmosphere, and helps remove toxins from the body.
Cupping: It feels amazing! Plus, this massage-like treatment can focus blood flow to help your body by flushing built-up toxins through the lymphatic system, which is one system responsible for eliminating your body’s waste.
For those of you looking to improve your health through exercise, keep in mind that January is a month known for lack of sun, shorter days, and colder temperatures. Your exercise and activities should be appropriate to the season. Some of the best exercises for this time of year are ones that combine breathing, meditation, and movement. Here are a few examples.
Yin yoga is a slow-paced style of yoga, incorporating principles of traditional Chinese medicine, with postures that are held for longer periods of time.
You may also try Tai Chi or Qigong. As quoted in an article by Science Direct,
Through traditional Chinese health exercises (TCHEs) such as Tai Chi, Baduanjin Qigong, Liuzijue (Six-Word Qigong) and others, the body's muscles and tendons are activated, the breath is controlled, and the mind or “shen” is nourished through resting meditation. These exercises help one's body to dredge the meridians and collaterals, promote the circulation of blood, and regulate the internal organs in order to strengthen one's physical fitness and improve the quality of life.
It is the lack of stillness in our lives that throws us off balance. We need both activity (yang) and rest (yin) to stay healthy. Here are a few more tips to help your body rest and reset to get you closer to your health goals this winter season.
Fall asleep before 10, in a dark room on an empty stomach.
Hydrate, preferably with warm/hot water or bone broth.
Be in nature everyday. Be fully present.
Avoid rushing and stay home in the evening hours.
Be out of cellphone range as much as possible.
Meditate or create moments without activity to practice stillness.
No matter what your New Year’s Resolution this year may be, book an appointment with one of our doctors to give your body the support it needs for rest, reset, and detoxification.
Bieler's Broth: a Healing, Restorative Soup Recipe
Ingredients
4 medium zucchini, ends discarded and zucchini sliced into rounds
1 pound string beans, ends trimmed
2 stalks celery, chopped
1-2 bunches parsley (flat-leaf or curly), tough stems removed (you can freeze the stems for stock making)
4 cups water
Instructions
Place all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Skim any foam on the surface, lower the heat and simmer, covered until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
Puree soup in the pot with a handheld blender or in a blender in batches.
Eat warm.
