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Discover 3 keys to achieving a healthy toned and vibrant summer body.

Discover 3 keys to achieving a healthy toned and vibrant summer body.

Posted by Henry Maitland on 26th Jun 2018

As we head it to these hot summer months it’s a great time to look at key ways we can build the health wellness and vitality of our mind and bodies. When we focus on key foundational health strategies we can reap the rewards of a leaner, toned body and a healthy vibrant complexion. All of which is ideal when we’re preparing to reveal more of our selves on hot and sunny days!

We will look at some of the ways in which we can increase the body’s ability to detoxify from the chemicals that may have built up in our systems over the year and perhaps long before that too! Focusing on cleansing the system is a great way to initiate weight loss, improve skin quality and overall wellness vitality and immune response. It also makes sense that it will be an effective part of a longer-term strategy to reduce the chances of serious disease. U

Use aerobic exercise to shift toxins

We associate aerobic exercise as something that we may do to improve our cardiovascular function, lower blood pressure, lowering of stress levels and giving us a boost of feel-good hormones for mental well-being. Now these are all great benefits and these alone would make doing some aerobic exercise well worth while… hint hint.

However, as an extra bonus that seems to be less considered is that aerobic exercise is thought of as vital in the process of body detoxification.

If we are predominantly sedentary, our bodies can’t so effectively transfer nutrients into the cells or get toxins out of the cells and this means we can get stagnant like a small pond with no fresh water flowing into it, after a while it will really smell!

This occurs because the protoplasm (the living matter of plant and animal cells that manifests the fluid state essential for life functions of a cell) in our bodies is more like a gel when cool and when warmed up with some exercise becomes increasingly fluid allowing nutrients and toxins to mobilize freely. This allows nutrients to get into the cells, nourishing them and supporting cellular function assisting toxins to be removed thus starting the process of detoxification.

However, we need to be careful if we were to assume that aerobic exercise alone would be enough to effectively detoxify our bodies. When we get moving and our protoplasm allows greater mobilization of nutrients and toxins it’s great, but those toxins must be processed and eliminated and this is one of the many functions that our very hard-working liver must perform. 

The power of whole foods and supplements to detox and revitalise

Our livers have a hard time in the modern world. We live surrounded by chemicals from many different sources that we inhale, absorb and ingest and our liver has to deal with all this garbage. On top of this, commercial food quality can be very low which means we are often not taking in enough nutrients to cope with the overload and as a result our livers can get stressed and the body becomes toxic leading to symptoms of disease that our often treated with drugs. These drugs of course lead to more toxic overload and pressure on the liver so we may temporarily resolve the symptom however not treat the cause.

We can see that aerobic exercise alone is not going to be enough to create a powerful detoxification and that other components of health such as a good diet can be very important.

For optimal detoxification we need to get high quality organic or locally produced nutrient dense foods and supplements. If we buy foods that have been chemically farmed or even worse come from processed sources we could well be chucking toxins back into the system.

So, buy natural and organic, look to add an array of dark leafy greens, salad and other vegetables to your diet. Have you ever tried sprouts? There are amazing and there is a large variety to try all of which will be nutrient dense and wonderful for aiding detoxification such as alfalfa, mixed sprouted beans, broccoli and China rose radish sprouts. If you eat meat make sure the meats you buy come from the best quality source you can find again to avoid ingesting hormones or other chemicals that may have been used as the animals were reared.

If you need health snacks on the go take a look at the range of bars, shakes and other great healthy snacks stocked here at Evolution Organics for solutions to both maximising the detoxification effect and getting whole food nutrition on the go. 

Get hydrated!

There always seem to be conflicting advice about whether we really need to be drinking water though out the day, some people suggest that we get enough water from the food we eat and the other drinks that we have though out the day.

From my personal experience, the experience of working with my client’s day to day and from the research I have done over the years I would say that not only do most of us need to drink more water but that the majority are chronically dehydrated.

Staying hydrated is a foundational principle of health, this means that every system in the body to some degree relies on optimal hydration for optimal function. This means that we can’t detoxify effectively when we are dehydrated.

The formula I have found most useful to find out how much water we should consume daily comes from the book ‘your bodies many cries for water’ and states we should be consuming half our body weight in ounces of water per day. It’s easier to work it out as your body weight in kilograms multiplied by 0.022. So, for example, I weigh 90kg and therefore need 1.98 litres of water per day. For simplicity’s sake, I therefore aim to drink 2 litres of fresh filtered water every day.

By adding a small amount of aerobic exercise 2 times per week, improving your diet by adding nutrient dense foods and upping your water intake you will find that in just 30 days you can have more energy, a better body shape, a stronger immune system and a new outlook on life.  Remember you don’t have to do it all at once, any step in the right direction that you maintain for a month will become a habit, and then it’s easy to add another one. Becoming healthy is just lots of little changes combined so you should feel good about any positives step you take.

Enjoy the Journey,

In health and happiness

Henry