If you’ve enjoyed a weekend of excess lately, chances are that by the time you’re back to your regular schedule, you’re feeling as though it’s time to repent. You’re not alone: Google searches for “how to detoxify the body” have rocketed by 120 per cent over the last month, and there’s barely a water bottle in the nation that isn’t being more diligently topped up at the start of the week.
Vogue Arabia, January 2019
Our bodies know what to do when they’ve been exposed to an excess of toxins – it happens every day, we’re surrounded by them. “Toxins include environmental pollutants, food toxins like pesticides and mycotoxins, chemicals in cigarettes and even dry cleaning, and heavy metals,” says Rhian Stephenson, nutritionist, naturopath and founder of Artah. “Our own metabolic processes also produce toxins.”
The body is already great at detoxifying
Happily, the process of detoxification is handled incredibly well by an “intelligent and complex in-built system” in the body, which is centered around the liver, the body’s main detoxification organ. But other organs – like the lungs, intestines, kidneys and skin – are also involved, whether in the process of detoxification itself, or the excretion of those toxins. “For example, the intestine’s epithelial cells, which make up our gut barrier, have a detoxification and excretion system that helps prevent harmful chemicals from passing through the gut into our circulation,” Stephenson explains.
So, fundamentally, the body is clever enough to detoxify by itself, and it doesn’t need a detox tea or a special supplement in order to get the job done. “If you hear someone say that you need to take something external in order for detoxification to occur, that is marketing,” Stephenson points out. “However, that’s not to say there’s no merit in helping these processes along – especially when we aren’t functioning at 100 per cent.”
How to detoxify the body
Try to reduce your intake of toxins
Okay, so it’s easy to say in retrospect, but it’s worth understanding that the fewer toxins we take in or are exposed to, and the more efficiently our bodies are therefore working, the lower the toxin burden will be. “If we’re eating a lot of ultra-processed food, consuming lots of pesticides in our food and living in a busy urban city with high levels of air and environmental pollution, this presents a burden on the body,” says Stephenson.
Reducing consumption of ultra-processed foods also reduces exposure to plastic packaging and other potentially damaging food additives that may not technically be considered a toxin, but could still have a detrimental effect on our overall health over time, says Stephenson, who points to emulsifiers as an example.
Get to know the “Clean Fifteen” and “Dirty Dozen”
Studies have shown that certain pesticides can have negative effects on our health and put us at greater risk of type 2 diabetes and breast cancer – and most of us don’t even realize they’re there. Stephenson recommends using the Environmental Working Group’s Clean Fifteen and Dirty Dozen to understand how to reduce your exposure to pesticides. The former refers to the 15 fruit and vegetables found to have the lowest amounts of pesticide residues in 2024, a list that currently includes sweetcorn, avocado, asparagus, honeydew melon, cabbage and mushroom. The latter, conversely, is a list of the 12 fruits and vegetables that are most contaminated with pesticides, including strawberries, spinach, grapes, apples, bell and hot peppers, green beans and blueberries.
One statistic indicates that more than 90 per cent of strawberry, apple, cherry, spinach, nectarine and grape samples tested positive for residues of two or more pesticides, which is pretty sobering stuff. If you do want to buy them, try and buy organic. “Additionally, washing your fruit and vegetables in a solution of baking soda and water can also help reduce pesticides,” Stephenson adds.
Eat lots of these vegetables
“Foods that contain sulphur help support detoxification, so vegetables like asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, leeks, onion and garlic are great,” says Stephenson. “Natural cholagogues [which promote the discharge of bile flow to help detoxify] include beetroot, artichoke, dandelion, celery, fennel and fenugreek, so make sure you incorporate lots of them, too.”
Consume plenty of phytonutrients and herbs
Phytonutrients found in plants can induce and support detoxification, as well as support the gut. “For example, N-acetyl cysteine is essential for glutathione production [an antioxidant which helps to detoxify amongst its other benefits], while alpha-lipoic acid helps with the detoxification of drug metabolites and can promote excretion of mercury [which can cause a variety of health problems],” says Stephenson. “There are also certain herbs that can be useful, including milk thistle and turmeric.” You can find many of these ingredients in Artah’s Deep Detox supplements.
