6 Tips to Spring Clean Your Health

With the snow finally melting and the flowers blooming, everyone is starting to come out of their winter hiding places. While it’s tradition to clean up your surroundings, most people forget that the cold months take a toll on the body as well. One of the best things to add to your spring-cleaning list is a gentle spring detox to boost your metabolism, optimize your digestion and increase your energy.

The skin, lungs, intestines, kidneys, lymphatic’s and liver are all organs responsible for the elimination of various toxins from the body that build up over the winter months. Here are some tips to help support these organs and re-vitalize your body for spring:

1. Hydrate Well - drinking at least 8 glasses of water each day will naturally flushes out your system and can improve digestion, skin, circulation and respiration. It is also helpful to swap your coffee for green tea as green tea contains antioxidants as well as caffeine to give you a healthier morning boost without the cream and sugar.

2. Eat a Variety of Colourful Fruits and Vegetables – these foods are often high in fiber and packed with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that can support your immune system. At the same time, decreasing inflammatory foods that are often consumed more in the winter such as gluten, dairy and sugar, can help get you back on track.

3. Get moving – even just 20 minutes of movement a day can increase circulation and oxygenation to your organs, decrease muscle tension, improve sleep quality and aid in toxin elimination through the skin and lungs. Moving your activity outdoors can also help to increase your vitamin D levels that get depleted in the winter.

4. Breathe Deeply – deep breathing each day can cleanse the air in your lungs, decrease stress, relieve pain, improve your posture, supports and strengthens your vital organs, and increase your energy.

5. Be creative – grab a paintbrush, start a journal, make a bracelet, etc. Emotional expression is an important part of feeling balanced and grounded internally.

6. Get a good nights sleep – getting 7-8 hours of sleep each night gives your body a chance to repair and regenerate between days and can boost your energy and immune system.

In addition, there are many supplements including probiotics, botanical teas and vitamins that may help to support the organs involved in toxin elimination.

Spring-cleaning your health doesn’t have to be difficult. Book an appointment with a Naturopathic Doctor today to see what the best spring cleaning protocol is for you to increase your mood, energy and health this season.