Detox Agents Chicago IL

By Jeff Kent

Clear, radiant skin requires more than lotions and potions, no matter how religiously you baste yourself. Those products help, of course, but to have beautiful skin you really need to cleanse your whole body, inside and out. That’s why skin-care professionals emphasize a wholesome diet as the path to healthy skin and suggest an occasional fast or cleanse to purify your system. Done properly, a nutrient-rich detoxifying cleanse can boost your complexion’s intrinsic beauty and revive your youthful appearance.

“A cleanse is a way to eliminate toxins from the body,” says Halé Sofia Schatz, author of If the Buddha Came to Dinner: How to Nourish Your Body to Awaken Your Spirit (Hyperion, 2004). Look at it as a seasonal cleaning of the body’s closets, a way to help the body rid itself of the ill effects of a buildup of impurities—environmental contaminants from the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the toxins we consume in our less-than-healthy diets.

Looks don’t lie
Nutritionist and author Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, says the face seldom lies about your dietary indiscretions. “Simply put, what you put into your body comes out on your face.” But even though she sounds negative, Gittleman actually offers hope. “Dryness, oiliness, pimples, bumps, dermatitis, blotchy skin, large facial pores, brown spots, wrinkles, collagen loss—all of these conditions can be managed, treated, and controlled with diet and proper nutrition.”

Think of skin as a shell that protects us, says Jen Murphy, esthetician for Pangea Organics. It’s the first line of defense for the immune system and readily reacts to any systemic assault by swelling up and turning red—a sign of inflammation. Unfortunately, Murphy says, this exacerbates the aging process because “the body then uses all its energy fighting off irritants rather than making healthy cells.”

The body eliminates fully one-third of its alien invaders—bacteria, viruses, and toxins—through the skin, according to Gittleman. When the organs of elimination (like the liver, colon, and kidneys) become overwhelmed, the skin picks up the slack. The body pushes toxins through the pores to the surface of the skin, where they do less harm systemically. Overall that’s good news, but at skin level, those toxins can clog pores and cause irritation, leading to breakouts, redness, and inflammation.

A skin-oriented cleanse (and subsequent diet) typically reduces or eliminates substances that trigger problems for your skin. The worst offenders include hydrogenated vegetable oils (trans fats), sugar, caffeine, alcohol, red meat, excess dairy, processed foods, and refined carbohydrates.

Feed your face
Along with getting rid of the bad stuff, you must consume more vital nutrients so your digestive system can handle the heavy lifting and sifting of toxins. Without plenty of antioxidants and other vitamins, your body can’t break down these toxins, and they continue to work their poison.

It’s also important to tr...

Author: Jeff Kent

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