Detoxification and his role in slimming and gaining muscles

Detox. That is the topic of a whole chapter and a book. Let's see what could be its role within sports. We are about to see a detox as a way to change our body if we feel we need to change something about it. Whether speaking about losing some holiday overweight or gaining the desired muscle mass. In both cases, it is quite clear a healthy diet combined with a physical activity will be our most important companion.

We should know well the entire cleansing process and don't get confused by the flood of information coming to you from every corner. Nowadays society, mainly because of the Internet, is overloaded with this modern term often promising the impossible. There is a kind of new pressure born in the air, a pressure focused on everyone who cares about his both inner and outer body.

The original meaning of a detoxification of organism is slowly fading away from the public awareness. It should be primarily a form of a natural cleansing. So let's remind us how does the whole thing work.

Basis of a Body Detox

Let's start from the beginning. As I have already mentioned in the introduction, the process of changes in the body itself is preceded by a cleansing. Particularly it is a cleansing of the digestive system, so the intestines. The intestines are able to retain about up to 8 kg of faeces. But faeces has a tendency to putrefy inside the intestines and to produce toxic substances, so a regular excretion is very important. If we have clean intestines, our body is able to absorb much more nutrition from the food we eat. And then it is not important to eat so much, because our body gets everything it needs even from a fewer amount of food. But don’t forget to keep a varied diet including every important nutrients. So a clean digestive system could play a main role in slimming.

And laddies, watch out! Do you suffer from an inflated belly? It is often due to poor eating habits causing the toxins are settled in the intestines. In this case, a solution is to clean your intestines and start again and better, without an inflated belly.

Detoxification and Body Building 

But how does the detoxification work for active people working out? Every sportsman probably knows that the building stone of muscles is, a part from a hard training and a diet, also the regeneration. By regeneration, the absorption of macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats) and micronutrients (vitamins, minerals) is creasing. So if we have clean intestines, the body is capable to receive the nutrients faster which make the whole muscle building process more efficient.

“If you are thin and you are still failing to get some weight, don't hesitate to start with an intestinal cleansing. At the beginning you might lose weight a little bit but then your intestines got well and so, while keeping a good diet, it is easier to achieve your optimal body weight,” explain a nutrition specialist Michaela Ptáčková.

Detoxification could also have a huge effect on your workout performance. A clean gut accelerates the metabolism which means that the toxins are not stored in the body. An as a nutritionist Lukáš Vaníček says: “Less toxins in the body equals to less fatigue in live.” And less fatigue is useful not only to sportsmen.

And now, let’s finally see the detoxification itself. So how to do it? All kinds of detox teas or pills, which might came up to mind to some of you after reading a title, are not indispensable. I don't dare judge if some of them actually works or not. But there is one thing I am sure about: they are not necessary at all. There are many other and more natural ways how to purify your body. Let’s see some of them.

Diet changes

The food is not the first thing you should be dealing with during detoxification. Someone might call it “a diet” but for another one it could become a new lifestyle. Actually, you don't have to have a clean digestive system only during the process of detoxification. Thanks to a good lifestyle, you can keep it clean permanently and I guarantee you that you will fall in love with that feeling of lightness, a big amount of energy, a faster metabolism and a great feeling about yourself.

It is also necessary to eliminate a refined white sugar during detoxification. We should as well avoid dairy products, white bread, meat, sausages and last but not least food with a high contents of salt.

“The base is to eat enough fibre which works as a vacuum cleaner in guts and supports the peristalsis. It is a natural part of cereals, grains, fruits and vegetables. Food rich in fibre are for example chia seeds, acai and chlorella. Chlorella can also carry out the heavy metals from your body and along with young wheat, it makes a powerful couple to the body cleansing. In Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine, the usual lenten meals are based on whole grain rise,” adds a nutritionist Michaela Ptáčková.

The Nature-helper

Another ideal food for cleansing is also raw food, especially green salads, wild herbs as wild garlic, horsetailor and nettle. We will talk more about those in the next article. The ideal heat treatment of your meals is steaming or stewing. Those treatments are the most gentle ones and convenient for a coming warm time.

Fermented vegetables are beneficial, too, especially beetroot which cleans the liver and the kidney and improves digestion.

Beet kvass

Ingredients:

• 2 beetroots
• ¼ cup of sauerkraut juice or whey
• 1 tea spoon of himalayan salt
• pure water
• one litre jar (1 l)

Method: Wash the beetroots and peel off the skin if they are not in a bio quality. Slice and put them into the jar. Add sauerkraut juice or whey, salt and then fill up with water. Cover with a dish towel and let it ferment for 2 days. The final kvass should be stored in a fridge.

Dosage: 1-1,5 dcl in the morning and in the evening

Another superfood is a green tea, naturally full of catechins which absorb toxins and take them out of the body. Old Chinese have already used a tea of schisandra and goji fruits for a detoxification. Schisandra is one of the few herbs which, according to Chinese Medicine, gets into all body meridians and so it strengthens all body organs and balances them.

A next detoxification herb is aloe which thanks to the right proportions of containing elements purifies the body from toxins and supports better and faster intestinal function.

Nowadays, a regular fluid intake is self-evident but I’d better remind it. Throw away all flavoured and unflavoured mineral water and drink pure water!

While eating, pay attention to chew every food well. Thanks to the salivary glands, a big amount of nutrients is already absorbed in the mouth. And if you will chew really carefully, you will be surprised that you might not even finish a portion you would normally swallow at one sitting. Your body itself can make you a signal once it is full. So give it space to do it.

Regeneration and Relax during Detox 

Another way of detoxification is, of course, a sport itself, which not only helps us to burn fats but also to build muscles. During a sport activity your "happiness hormones" flood our body and in the other direction, the toxins are leaving it.

After sport, go regenerate the strained muscles to the wellness. So you kill two birds with one stone. Wellness is not only great way of a relaxation, but also a great form of a detox. In saunas and steam spas, a detoxification is very intense because the toxins are leaving by the biggest human body organ - the skin.

In many modern wellness centres, you can also find so-called Kneipp treatments. It is a method using subsequent basins with a bottom covered by pebbles, where hot water alternates cold water. When we are crossing from one basin to another, our feet fill with blood, the blood circulation itself is improving, and last but not least, the body toxins are loosening. It is a detoxification using hydrotherapy.

A correct breathing is another and maybe the most basic form of detoxification which you can practise every time and everywhere. That confirms also a nutritional specialist and a founder of a fitness centre chain in Brno, Mgr. Michal Nejezchléb, who adds: “Thanks to breathing, our body gets rid of toxic substances. The deeper we breathe, the more we detoxicate.

A great practise of a good breathing is yoga which can help you to adopt a breathing technique. Many of you would be surprised that breathing well is not always so obvious as it might seem.

Detoxifikation under an Experienced Specialist 

There are many different ways to clean your body, whether with a sport intention or without it. If you are interested in a detoxification and sports but you have some questions you didn’t find in our article, don’t hesitate to contact our nutritional therapist Lukáš Vaníček (lukas@vitalvibe.cz) who has definitely many things to say on this topic and who is always pleased to share his experience with other fans. If you are about to start your detoxification, you are beginner and you would like to experience it with the exact instructions, contact our specialist Michaela Ptáčková (michaela@vitalvibe.cz).