For many ailments and health problems, your diet can be a powerful tool in promoting optimal health. The foods we eat can do wonders for making changes in our health and wellness. When it comes to detoxifying from heavy metals, this is still true. There are plenty of foods that will help you detox from heavy metals. These foods can be added to your diet on a daily basis to help you detoxify from heavy metals. These foods are easy to find and easy to prepare. Furthermore, these foods can be consumed in a multitude of ways so you won’t get bored. In this article, I will tell you 10 foods you can eat that will help you detoxify from heavy metals.
Detox diets are currently a very trendy topic in many health circles. Detox diets are typically spoken about as a strategy for weight loss. However, those detox diets are often ineffective and only provide short-term results. If you’ve ever seen restrictive diets, detox teas, detox juices, and tools similar to those, you know what I mean. Heavy metal detoxification is often viewed as another short-term strategy to “flush” toxins within a few days or a few weeks, then you can go back to the way things were before. Therefore, this article is aimed at promoting the idea that detoxifying from heavy metals via diet is a long-term process that you can do every day to stay healthy. Heavy metal detox diets should be a lifestyle, not a 14-day challenge. The focus should be on clean foods and daily habits that promote lifelong health.
What Is a Heavy Metal Detox?
Simply put, detoxing from heavy metals is the act of introducing specific foods, lifestyle changes, or compounds that will help your body get rid of heavy metals accumulated within your body. Heavy metals can accumulate in your bones, organs, muscles, and bloodstream. Some heavy metals will be flushed out faster than others, and if you do not minimize the factors that are exposing you to these heavy metals, you will continue to accumulate these heavy metals faster than your body can get rid of them.
How Do We Detoxify From Heavy Metals?
A detox generally means a natural removal of toxins and contaminants from our bodies. Every day, our body removes toxins without us even being aware. Our body can detoxify from heavy metals and other toxins thanks to a few key organs which act as a natural filtration system for our body. Our liver, kidneys, and GI tract work 24/7/365 to remove harmful toxins from our bodies. The body primarily removes toxins via urine, feces, and sweat.
Why Is This Detoxification of Heavy Metals Important?
The body does a wonderful job of filtering out toxins. However, it still makes sense to help the body as much as we can. We help the body remove toxins more efficiently with lifestyle changes that promote the health of our organs. Why is this important? Well, because of all the negative side effects we could experience if heavy metals accumulate in our bodies. Harmful toxins from these heavy metals can lead to detrimental side effects such as:
- multiple cancers
- fertility problems
- reproductive issues
- metabolic disorders
- cardiovascular diseases
- mental health issues
Therefore, even though our bodies already do a great job at filtering out toxins, we need to help our bodies in any way we can. What we can do is eat right and make changes to our habits that will minimize the threat of heavy metals.
How Does Diet Help Detoxify From Heavy Metals?
For most of us, the easiest way to start detoxifying the body of heavy metals is by making tweaks to our meals. Because of this, I am going to give you 10 foods you can add to your meals every day to help you detoxify from heavy metal exposure and accumulation.
#1: Blueberries
While this list is in no particular order, blueberries are definitely my personal choice for the best detoxifying food. Blueberries are full of helpful antioxidants that serve to destroy free radicals that create oxidative stress in the body. Oxidative stress creates inflammation, and antioxidants get rid of inflammation. Free radicals form when heavy metals interact with proteins in the body. Consuming blueberries helps the lymphatic system detoxify from heavy metals.
When choosing blueberries, try to find organic blueberries free of pesticides and GMOs. Organic blueberries are smaller but have more antioxidants. You can buy organic blueberries at most grocery stores and some produce markets if they are in season. Blueberries also grow wild in some rural areas, so it might be worth exploring to find some wild blueberries.
Blueberries can be added to your diet in a number of ways. Some methods of adding blueberries to your diet include:
- blended into smoothies
- eaten raw
- frozen
- freeze-dried
- added to yogurt
- added to cereal
- added to oatmeal
- added to salads
The blueberry is a versatile berry that has some of the highest antioxidant levels in a berry.
#2: Garlic
Garlic is a common solution to arsenic exposure. This helpful vegetable helps the liver produce detoxification enzymes, making it invaluable for detoxing from heavy metals. Garlic does this because it contains sulfur. Sulfur helps the liver filter toxins more effectively.
Like blueberries, garlic is most helpful when it is organic. Similar to blueberries, garlic is versatile and can be prepared and consumed in many ways. Some methods of adding more garlic into your meals include:
- adding garlic as an ingredient for salad dressings
- cooking meat with garlic as a flavor enhancer
- adding garlic to soups and stews
- add garlic to dips and spreads
- add garlic to your pizza
- eat Mediterranean foods (garlic is a common ingredient)
- eat more pesto (a spread that contains garlic)
- infuse your cooking oils with garlic
These are just some of the ways you can eat more garlic daily and reap the detoxifying benefits they contain.
#3: Beetroots
Beets have an array of health benefits attached to them. One of those benefits is vasodilation. Beetroot contains nitrates. Nitrates convert into nitric oxide in the body. The body uses nitric oxide to expand the blood vessels. As a result, blood flows more effectively. This means nutrients and oxygen move throughout the body more efficiently. This efficiency also occurs in the liver. Beetroot also contains a host of vitamins and minerals that help the liver detoxify the body from heavy metals better. Some of these nutrients include vitamin B3, vitamin B6, vitamin C, iron, and zinc. Beets also contain a fiber component called betaine that promotes digestion. Since our GI tract is part of our filtration system, this is good news.
Beets are also quite versatile for daily meals. Some of the ways you can add beets to your meals include:
- a salad ingredient
- squeezed to make a juice
- powdered as a mixed drink
- taken as a capsule or lozenge supplement
- roasted
- pureed to be added to certain baked goods like cakes
- used in soups and stews
- blended in smoothies
The taste and texture of beets are not for everyone, but there are plenty of ways to get around that and add more beets to your daily meals.
#4: Leafy Greens And Other Green Vegetables
Leafy greens such as kale, spinach, and arugula are usually at the top of most people’s detox foods, and for good reason. These green vegetables all contain chlorophyll, which promotes liver function and higher blood oxygen levels. Furthermore, green vegetables such as broccoli and cucumber also help the liver detoxify the body of heavy metals.
Since there are too many green vegetables to break down, some common ways to add more green vegetables into your daily meals in general include:
- eaten raw as a snack
- as a salad
- steamed
- boiled
- added to soups and stews
- blended into smoothies
Look for organic vegetables when shopping. On top of helping the body detoxify from heavy metals, leafy greens and other green vegetables have plenty of other health benefits as well.
#5: Onions
Similar to garlic, onions help our liver detoxify the body of heavy metals thanks to their sulfur concentration. Since sulfur aids in promoting detoxifying enzymes, it makes sense to eat more onions. While some onions often have a harsh taste and pungent smell, there are many types of onions with differing flavor profiles. Regardless of the onion you choose, they are edible in many ways. Some ways you can add more onion into your meals include:
- soups and stews
- sautèed with meats and/or mushrooms
- on sandwiches
- added to slices of bread
- added to pasta
Aim for organic onions when you can.
Final Thoughts
Heavy metal exposure can cause all sorts of health problems. Excessive accumulation can even alter your very DNA function. While the body does a great job of filtering out heavy metals and toxins, we still need to give it a hand when we can. The easiest way is to add a few simple foods to our diet in order to help the body detoxify from heavy metals a little more effectively. Make sure you add a few of these foods into your diet asap to promote heavy metal detoxification. For more healthy living info, be sure to check out the rest of our blog here.