Will Doing A Detox Help Your Skin?

One benefit frequently associated with doing a detox is clearer, glowing skin. The dream, right!? The premise behind this is a fairly old-school one. The idea that chronic skin conditions are borne from “dirty blood”. Essentially, the skin is a pathway of elimination that the body will use to rid itself of toxins and metabolic waste products that can’t efficiently be removed via other routes.

The routes of elimination:

  • The lymph and skin

  • The kidneys and urine

  • The gut and stools

  • The liver and bile

  • The lungs and breath

When one route is compromised, the body suffers.

Imagine these elimination pathways like the pumps, sewers and drains of the body. Clog one up, and the waste can’t pass. The last thing you want is a clogged pipe that causes the waste to flow back up out of the toilet bowl and all over your cute bath mat!

Looks pretty, but is it necessary?

Looks pretty, but is it necessary?

Chances are, at least one of your routes of elimination is compromised.

If you have a chronic skin condition like acne, it’s likely that one or more of your elimination routes may not be working at optimal capacity. This doesn’t mean your organs are failing, it’s just that for genetic or lifestyle reasons, your detox pathways need a little extra support. Looking at the iris, bodily signs and symptoms can all help to reveal which pathway is a little clogged up for you.

Is a detox really necessary? Doesn’t the liver take care of that?

Yes, but the liver has a big job to do! The efficiency of your liver when it comes to detoxification is dependent on a few factors:

  • Genetics

  • Availability to nutrients needed for the phases of liver detoxification

  • Access to bile from the gall bladder

  • The volume of toxins to be dealt with - not only normal metabolic byproducts and hormones, but also medications, pain killers, pesticides in food, chemicals from cigarettes and drug use, alcohol, caffeine, chemicals from personal care products and environmental pollutants to name a few.

Detox is your liver’s number one priority.

But the liver has other functions too!

  • Fat and carbohydrate metabolism

  • Storage of important nutrients for later use

  • Role in immune system health

  • Regulating hormones

All of which take a back seat when there is a constant stream of toxins to be detoxified and excreted.

Some signs that the elimination pathways are sluggish:

  • Very oily skin

  • Excessive sweating with odour

  • Acne/eczema/dermatitis/congested pores

  • Excessive mucous/phlegm production

  • Puffy skin

  • Swollen lymph nodes and glands

  • Fatigue

  • Frontal Headaches

  • Cellulitis

  • Sensitive to smells and chemicals

  • Bad breath

  • Constipation

  • Pale or floating stools

  • Metallic taste in the mouth

  • Itchy skin

  • Diarrhoea

Doing a detox is all about supporting the body’s natural elimination processes.

The goal is to clear the pipes so to speak. We want to give the pump a tune up and make sure the toilet is flushing correctly. By supporting all the pathways of elimination, there will be less pressure on the skin. This means that the skin can clear what it needs to via the sweat and doesn’t accumulate waste and toxins which come out in the form of rashes and acne.

Now the skin can focus on being your best feature - clear, vibrant and glowing!

The Holistic Detox encourages detoxification with a safe and no-nonsense approach.

The Holistic Detox is my answer to sluggish elimination. We get to meet and examine your individual detox needs - the protocol is tailored to you. I don’t ask you to fast or make complicated juices (unless of course you want to make juice!) Included in the package are practitioner only products which help to support the detoxification processes conducted by the gut, liver, kidneys and skin. You also recipe links and free lifestyle tips to incorporate during the detox.

As part of The Holistic Detox, you get:

  • A 60 minute consult to assess your individual detox requirements

  • Two weeks worth of tailored nutritional and herbal supplementation

  • A comprehensive detox guide which includes energetic, mental and environmental detox measures

  • A guide to which foods to avoid and which to eat freely

  • Detox friendly recipe links

  • A fifteen minute support call to address any queries during the program

Optional extras: naturopathically formulated detox herbal tea, natural magnesium bath salts, personalised herbal tincture, ayurvedic copper tongue scraper

Think of doing a detox like getting your car serviced. Recommended at least once a year to keep things running along nicely!

Want to get more of my best clear skin secrets?

Alexandra McPhee