Spring brings memories of my mother, gathering dandelion greens and eating them steamed, with a splash of vinegar. It’s invigorating to eat bitter greens, knowing they clean the digestive tract after a long winter, helping the body better absorb nutrients. Seasonal detoxification regimens also encompass food and beverage combinations designed to cleanse the body of substances that are harmful, or at least unhelpful, to health. Among them are heavy metals.

What Are Heavy Metals?

Naturally occurring metallic components of the earth’s crust, toxic heavy metals are ubiquitous and “contribute to noncommunicable chronic diseases,” according to researcher Margaret E. Sears, PhD.

Heavy metals include:

• aluminum
• arsenic
• lead
• mercury

How Do Heavy Metals Get Into Your Body?

Heavy metals get into your body in many ways, from drinking water contaminated with lead; eating fish caught or raised in waters where mercury is prevalent; and using unsafe kitchenware to having a job that involves heavy metals or even breathing dust that contains old lead paint.

What Is Heavy Metal Toxicity?

Some mineral elements that are important to human health in small doses (calcium, iron, and zinc, for example) can become toxic in very large amounts. Acute heavy metal toxicity, from getting a large dose at one time, can bring on frightening symptoms. Low doses of heavy metals over time can cause chronic heavy metal poisoning.

Symptoms of heavy metal poisoning and toxicity include:

• Fatigue
• Muscle and Joint Aches
• Headache
• Constipation
• Nausea
• Confusion
• Numbness
• Fainting

Metals are a causative factor to many health issues, including cardiovascular, blood pressure, endocrine, thryroid, and neurological types of issues.

What Is Chelation Therapy?

Chelation agents bind with heavy metals in the body, allowing them to be excreted through the urine. Anyone wishing to do a heavy metal detox should, with their healthcare practitioner’s approval, consider looking for products containing the following ingredients:

• ALA (alpha lipoic acid)
• Cilantro
• EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid)
• Glutathione
• Modified Citrus Pectin
• NAC (N-acetylcysteine)*

*NAC is one of the building blocks of the antioxidant glutathione, which the body manufactures in the liver and uses to escort mercury from the body.

Substantial research has also shown that probiotics belonging to the Lactobacillus genus also decrease toxin absorption. 

Naomi Campbell. Robert De Niro. Pharrell Williams. And the star-studded list of celery juice fans goes on.

Long touted by Anthony William, a self-styled “medical medium,” the celery juice diet is one of the latest nutrition fads to trend in Hollywood and on social media.

What is The Celery Juice Plan?

Using celery juice as part of a detox or weight-loss diet starts with making 2 cups of celery juice to drink first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. William recommends waiting 15 minutes before having breakfast.

The Benefits of Celery Juice

Celery is a nutritious vegetable, and removing the fiber through juicing enhances its other components. Mostly water, celery juice is hydrating, low in sugar, and rich in vitamins C and K and other nutrients whose antioxidant properties fight free radicals in the body.

Celery, according to some studies, “may help reduce inflammation and boost cardiovascular health,” says Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RD, a licensed dietitian and consultant to the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute.

The Cons of Celery Juice

While juicing celery concentrates its mix of nutrients, the removal of fiber presents a problem: Fiber, says Kirkpatrick, “is what makes you feel full . . . and contributes to good gut health.”

Celery juice contains a high amount of the sugar alcohol mannitol, which attracts water to the digestive tract. So, “many people report experiencing digestive side effects like diarrhea after drinking celery juice,” says Rachael Link, MS, RD. While these effects are likely to subside, Link notes that people who already have bowel conditions may suffer more pronounced symptoms.

After the day begins with 16 ounces of celery juice, you’re on your own regarding the diet you follow the rest of the day; “specifics aren’t mentioned,” says Canadian dietitian Katey Davidson, MScFN, RD. “Research also associates juice cleanses with disordered eating and a negative relationship with food,” she adds.

Summary

If you’ve been impressed by stories of dramatic weight loss from the celery juice diet, find out if the success is attributable to other factors, such as exercising and removing processed foods from the diet. And if you want to try celery juice, Davidson says, “be sure to drink it as part of a healthy diet.”

Spring symbolizes a time for renewal. Historically, as bitter greens emerged from the snowmelt and humans dug for earthy roots, our seasonal diets would include more naturally detoxifying herbs and foods.

Nowadays, social media provides constant reminders that bathing suit season is not far away, and many people may be curious about trying a cleanse. Cleansing kits are easy-grab options for internal spring cleaning, but what’s in them, really? And how do you choose which one is best for you?

Detoxifying Foods

First, it’s important to note that the best way to encourage your body’s natural detoxifying processes is to eat a clean, plant-rich, fiber-rich diet with plenty of water.

• beets
• dandelion greens
• leafy greens
• lemon
• garlic
• ginger
• artichoke
• burdock
• green tea
• flaxseeds

Proper sleep also helps, as this is the time when your body does most of its detoxification.

Herbs for Your Detox Kit

The body is amazing in the cleansing it already does. While you don’t need to use a kit to detoxify, the herbs presented here can help enhance the body’s natural detoxification processes so you feel healthier and more vibrant.

You can also make or buy tea blends that include several of these herbs.

• Colon Cleanse

  Most cleanse kits—particularly those with “colon” in the title—will include laxative herbs and fiber. These ingredients allow waste to more effectively leave in the feces versus being reabsorbed in the intestines.

  Natural Laxatives

  • Strong Laxatives

    While they’re safe, they are habit forming and usually unnecessary.

    • senna
    • aloe latex
    • cascara
    • buckthorn
    • rhubarb root

  • Mid-Range Laxatives

    Mid-range laxatives tend to support elimination more gently without overriding the body’s natural mechanisms.

    • magnesium
    • triphala
    • yellow dock

  • Fiber

    Fiber can come from ground flax or psyllium seeds or high-mucilage herbs like slippery elm and marshmallow. Fiber’s an important part of a colon cleanse because it acts as a bulk laxative and also grabs hold of waste so it’s more effectively excreted through the feces.

  A Word of Warning

  Whether your cleanse kit includes laxatives, fiber, or both, it’s good to start with a low dose, and make sure you’re near a toilet for the first few days. Different people have varying responses to the laxative actions. Some people have zero uptick on bowel movements on the strongest laxatives while others need to run to the bathroom after just a smidge of fiber or triphala.

• Liver Cleanse

  Your liver is a key detoxifying organ: It constantly filters the blood and excretes the waste in the form of bile via your digestive system and feces.

  • Milk Thistle

    Most whole body and liver cleanse kits will contain milk thistle, an important herb for protecting and regenerating the liver.

  • Herbs for Bile

    Bitter and sour-tasting herbs—including artichoke, dandelion, and yellow dock—encourage the liver to detoxify more effectively, “moving” the liver to create and excrete more bile.

    Schisandra and turmeric both protect and “move” the liver.

  • Fiber

    Fiber helps grab onto bile to improve its elimination.

• Kidney Cleanse

  Your kidneys help maintain fluid balance and filter different types of toxins from the body, excreted through the urine.

  Kidney cleanses are not to be used during kidney disease, infection, or stones (which usually require immediate medical attention and may be worsened by some kidney-cleansing herbs).

  Some herbs can encourage the kidneys to remove more waste and urine from the body via cleansing and diuretic actions. You’ll often find them in kidney cleanse kits and in whole-body cleanse kits.

  • cranberry
  • tart cherry
  • parsley
  • celery
  • dandelion leaves
  • corn silk
  • marshmallow
  • juniper
  • nettle

  Hydration is important to aid this process.

• Lymph Cleanse

  Your lymph system is very important for filtering the interstitial fluid that resides outside cells and the bloodstream.

  You’ll often find lymph-moving herbs whole-body cleanse kits.

  • burdock
  • calendula
  • red root
  • echinacea
  • red clover

• Parasite Cleanse

  Parasite cleanses contain herbs that discourage yeast, worms, pathogenic bacteria, and other nasties. A low-sugar diet is usually also recommended.

  • pau d’arco
  • black walnut hull
  • berberine-rich herbs
  • wormwood
  • quassia
  • garlic
  • neem
  • cloves

  Seek a Professional

  If you think you have parasites, contact a skilled practitioner for testing to confirm and identify which kinds are at play so you can better target your approach.

  While herbs might help with candida, dysbiosis, or parasites, the best herbs for the job can differ.

  Some antiparasitic herbs might be unhealthy for you to take if you don’t have parasites, or they might be ineffective.

In addition to fresh air, exercise, skin brushing to stimulate lymph circulation, sunshine, and water (drinking, bathing, steams, and saunas), healthy fasting includes digestive cleanses and fresh juices.

The two key times for natural cleansing are the times of transition into spring and autumn.

Dr. Gittleman has created a comprehensive program of internal cleansing, outlined in her book The Fast Track One-Day Detox Diet, that begins with organic foods, features a day of juice fasting, and transitions back to organic food.

“What’s the point of getting all those toxins out of your system only to load yourself up again every time you sit down to dinner? All the detoxing in the world won’t keep up with the load of chemicals you’re consuming if you continue to eat conventionally farmed food,” she says.

Juice fasting, preferably with as much organic produce and pure water as possible, provides fiber and nutrients, while making it easy to transition to and from solid foods.

After fasting, Dr. Haas recommends raw or cooked low-starch (low-glycemic) vegetables, including a little sauerkraut to help stimulate digestive function.

“A laxative-type meal including grapes, cherries, or soaked or stewed prunes can also be used to initiate eating [solid foods once again], as they keep the bowels moving,” he says.

And consume friendly bacteria in fermented foods like yogurt with active and live cultures or take a quality probiotic product, adds Dr. Gittleman.

Dr. Hass recommends that fasting be done only under the care of an experienced physician, usually one who is a naturopathically trained MD, DO, ND, or DC. It’s not recommended for pregnant or lactating women and anyone planning surgery.

In addition, “people with cancer need to be careful about how they detoxify, and often they need regular, quality nourishment,” he adds.

“Some people go to extremes with fasting,” he warns, “and begin to lose essential nutrients. Excessive detoxification can be a concern; finding balance is the key for each of us.”