Detox: organs of elimination

To maintain your health, particularly if you live a busy metropolitan life, your body needs to detoxify and rebuild itself on a regular basis. Amazingly, the body’s cells are completely renewed every seven years.

The body is eliminating and rebuilding all day, every day. Periodic cleansing / detoxing helps maximise the body’s ability to eliminate toxins. Toxins come in through the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. The body also creates toxins through metabolism, dead cells, stress and emotions. Western lifestyles put the body’s organs of elimination are under tremendous pressure with, generally speaking, insufficient time given to their maintenance and health. If any of the main organs of elimination are operating below par, it places an extra load upon the others.

During an in:spa retreat, whether it be to Marrakesh, the South of France or southern Spain, our expert nutritionists spends time explaining the importance of detoxing to guests and the entire retreat is geared around giving your body’s organs of elimination a holiday too! A good, cleansing diet combined with targeted, well balanced exercise and plenty of rest are just what your body needs on a reasonably regular basis. The tried and tested in:spa programme has three key elements:

• Diet & Nutrition
• Fitness & Yoga
• Massage & Relaxation

So, what are the organs of elimination?

• Skin
• Kidneys
• Lungs & Bronchioles
• Bowels
• Lymphatic system
• Liver (though, technically, not)

Skin: The skin (your body’s largest organ of elimination) acts as a supplemental filter to the kidneys for removing wastes from the blood. When the other organs are congested the skin tries to push out toxins through the skin. The skin throws off about two pounds of toxic waste a day in the form of perspiration. Taking care of the skin and ensuring that it functions well helps to relieve the other organs of elimination.

The appearance of the skin is a good barometer of the general health of the body. Spots, dry skin, eczema and dark circles under the eyes are all signs that all is not well.

Kidneys: The fact that we have two shows how important kidneys are to our internal cleanliness. Kidneys filter our blood of toxic waste and excess water. The best way to look after your kidneys is to drink plenty of water.

Lungs & Bronchioles: Some of the toxic waste material generated by the body is passed out of the system as a gas through the lungs. Carbon dioxide is exchanged for oxygen during the process of breathing. We can do without food for weeks, without water for days, but without air… after a few minutes we die. Improving the exchange of gases results in better oxygenation of the blood and better removal of toxic wastes. That’s why, on in:spa retreats, everyone enjoys daily fitness & yoga.

Bowels: Complete elimination of the bowels in the Western World today is very rare. Tribe’s people will eliminate about 500 grams a day, going after each meal. In the West it’s once a day and about 150 grams if you are lucky! Through self-abusive diet, lifestyle and bowel care, the bowel has become sluggish and a storehouse for the rubbish going into our bodies, emotionally and physically. We have a ‘sewer’ inside us and we must keep it clean. Bowel cleansing is best supported by a detox diet. The in:spa specialist chefs and nutritionists have created lots of delicious, cleansing menus over the years, and we’re pleased to share some of them with you online.

Lymphatic system: The lymph is responsible for grabbing intra-cellular waste and dumping it into the bloodstream, where it is then processed by the liver and filtered by the kidneys. White blood cells in the lymph also destroy harmful bacteria as part of their function in the body’s immune system. Unlike the blood, lymph has no pump to force it through its vessels, which extend to every corner of the body. Lymph circulation depends upon movement of the extremities and muscle action. That’s why most of our lymph nodes are concentrated in the places of greatest movement in the body. They are found where the arms and legs meet the torso and in the neck at the spot where nearly constant movement occurs. How can you help your lymph? We recommend exercise and massage – and both are part of the in:spa programme.

Liver: Strictly speaking, the liver is not one of the organs of elimination, though it does filter and remove large amounts of toxic matter such as dead cells, microorganisms, chemicals, drugs and particulate debris from the blood stream.

If you look after your organs of elimination, it helps ensure that the liver functions to best effect. If you cut out alcohol or only drink a little, your liver will be happier. There’s no booze on an in:spa retreat! Though we do sometimes offer guests a glass of Champagne on the last night but, after a week of good clean living, most guests decide not to have a glass – thereby giving their bodies one more day of holiday.