The fondest memories of the Christmas holidays we celebrate year after year are the fun activities, the lovely surprises and gifts from loved ones, friends, relatives, and associates, and the heartfelt greetings from everyone we meet, even from complete strangers, and of course, the food! There are many occasions during the holiday season to enjoy food, often to the point of excess.

We instinctively turn off the diet button and reserve the post-holiday period for getting back to our health plans.

Many New Year resolutions revolve around renewed commitments to good health, starting with dieting, consistent exercise, more attention to medical check-ups, and even enrollment in wellness programs and exercise gyms. Many of these resolutions fail because many forget that the key to success is delivering on the promises and working on the plan daily.

Unaddressed toxicity is a cause of many major health concerns. We fail to recognize that most of the toxicities we suffer from come from the food that we gorge ourselves on, especially during holiday seasons. Many of the foods served at holiday activities carry a big load of processed meats, highly refined sugar and carbohydrates, and plenty of unhealthy trans fat (oxidized fat and oils).

The cost of allowing our body and brain to be systematically poisoned by everyday toxins is huge—increased risks of disease, deteriorating quality of life, increased medical costs, loss of cognitive function, and many more. While our body system is equipped with innate detoxication organs to handle the greater part of the toxicity load, we need to make sure that our defense systems are not overwhelmed. Every cell in the human body has a detox process and our body functions holistically to be efficient at detoxification. The organs involved in the overall detoxication processes are the intestines, the liver, kidneys, lungs and the skin.

Because our body is “detoxifying” continually, the best strategy starts with avoidance of the toxins. Limiting exposure to toxins is the logical way to proceed. Avoidance refers to minimizing exposure to toxic chemicals and heavy metals in food, water, medicine, personal care products, home-cleaning products, gardening products, pet-care products and yes, the very air we breathe. Everything we touch, inhale or consume becomes a part of our physical body by contact or absorption. Hence putting safety nets in terms of exposure is always good strategy.

To simplify our understanding, we can outline the basic steps as:

Identification – Identify the sources of our exposure to toxic substances

Avoidance – Avoid those substances by reforming our behavior, lifestyle and consumption choices to break the cycle of repeated exposure to toxins.

Support our body’s natural detoxification and elimination abilities

Identification
We have to understand the sources of toxic chemicals and heavy metals that negatively impact on health and brain function. We must evaluate and review the labels and content of every manufactured product, especially food, medicines and supplements as these might contain chemicals deleterious to one’s health. This is not an easy step at all since it will take a lot of reading and familiarization to achieve a certain comfort level in making an assessment of what we put into our bodies.

Avoidance
The next step is avoidance. We need to make changes in our behavioral and consumption patterns to avoid purchasing or consuming these products. On top of the list are processed foods that are made ‘tasty’ by adding more salts, and refined carbohydrates. A good example is the high fructose corn syrup that sweetens almost all sodas and drinks, and a host of other products. Next are the trans fat that is denatured by being oxidized either by overheated cooking or artificially altering liquid cooking oils to make solid forms. Processed meats are also on the list for food avoidance.

Not many people are aware that the toxic chemicals in personal care products such as laundry detergents, weed killers and insect sprays, etc are notorious hormone disruptors. Hormone disruptors affect both men and women. For men, these chemicals can affect fertility by promoting feminizing effects. For women, these toxic chemicals show increased incidence of malignancies, especially breast and ovarian cancers.

Support
Environmentalists often quote that ‘dilution’ is the remedy for pollution. In other words, elimination of water-soluble toxins is less effective if one is dehydrated. So drinking plenty of pure clean water is the first start. This can be a problem for one who has pre-existing kidney problems, so be sure to consult with your kidney specialist before embarking of a hydration program.
Physical movement is also important for circulating lymph which allows the body to expel metabolic garbage more efficiently.

Sweating with exercise or sauna is beneficial in eliminating toxins through the skin.

It is a smart step to ensure support for our detox organs ( liver, kidneys, skin, and digestive system) by adding medicinal herbs, superfoods, and dietary strategies to any health plan. Supporting our detox systems require boosting our intake of nutritive elements. People living in modern societies chronically lack vitamin D, zinc, selenium, magnesium and other vitamins especially water-soluble vitamins such as B complex and vitamin C.

Nowadays, because of media propagation, what is in vogue are the so-called detoxification (detox) programs. By and large, detoxification is important; however, it is not a one-time affair but one that must be done regularly. For this to happen, there are a few basic lessons to be learned and commit to memory. While there is value in such detox procedures as IV glutathione, vitamin infusions, infrared saunas, and colon cleansing, it is good to be reminded that these should be administered by qualified and trained health professionals.

Indulging in unhealthy foods and toxic situations is not a very good way to honor our bodies, the temple of the Holy Spirit. The best way to celebrate the birth of our Lord, and the salvation He brought to the world, is gratitude, prayer, contemplation, and radiating the love He freely gives to us to others.