Summer Cleansing for Health & Beauty

While summer brings a wealth of options for outdoor fun in the sun, it’s also an ideal time to rejuvenate, renew, and boost your wellness naturally. A great place to start is with a refreshing cleanse─from the inside out. The following natural tactics may inspire you:

Boost hydration

Consuming enough water daily optimizes your wellness as it facilitates many bodily functions, including digestion, absorption, circulation, and waste removal. Even mild dehydration is harmful, blocking the removal of metabolic wastes and adding to your burden of accumulated toxins. Distilled water, which is rated purest and cleanest by the National Science Foundation, is inexpensive and widely available. Keep it easily accessible, chilled if you like. Add variety with a range of caffeine-free teas, hot or iced, or sparkling water with a squeeze of fresh citrus.

Love cleansing foods

When it comes to rejuvenating your body naturally, food really is the best medicine. You can combat the harmful effects of pollution, food additives, second-hand smoke, and other environmental toxins with deliciously cleansing foods like apples, berries, citrus fruits, beets, dark, fresh greens, and other water-dense produce like tomatoes, melon, and cucumbers. Go organic as often as possible, especially with the 12 most contaminated produce items, otherwise known as The Dirty Dozen. See the full list here: http://www.organic.org/articles/showarticle/article-214

Scale back on “wellness sappers”

Wellness-sapping foods include refined, fried, processed and/or sugar-dense items like cheap/fast food, commercial baked goods, white bread, pastries, cookies, pies and cakes, as well as sodas and other sweetened drinks, candy, etc. Heavily sweetened items spike your blood sugar levels, leading to a rapid insulin rise and fall that can drain your energy and promote weight gain, among other health problems. As for beverages, too much coffee or other caffeinated drinks can overtax your adrenal system and, along with alcoholic beverages, promote low-level, chronic dehydration.

Detox your skin

Your skin is a primary means by which your body releases toxins, through sweat and the shedding of dead skin cells. Gentle daily exfoliation helps ensure natural cellular turn-over. Dry skin brushing with a soft brush or loofah prior to your bath or shower expedites this process while boosting healthy blood circulation and lymph flow. Natural scrubs and masks are ideal for a radiant complexion, but you can skip the costly commercial products with these beautifully effective DIY recipes: http://beauty.about.com/od/homemadefacemaskrecipes/tp/Face-Mask-Recipes-For-All-Skin-Types.htm

These few steps may seem minor, but the collective impact on your overall wellness is powerful. Why not use this gorgeous summer to optimize your health and beauty─naturally?