Detox and Declutter to Start Your Healthy New Year
Written by Dr. Suzanne Tang
January 6th, 2025
Happy and healthy New Year to you and your family!
The holiday season oftentimes throws us off our typical routines, sleep schedules, and eating habits. As the dust settles from the holidays, before you step back into your usual routine, ask yourself which habits you would like to reincorporate and which ones you would like to release and let go of to make room for a healthier, nourishing, and grounding routine this New Year.
While the clinic was closed for the holidays and as the festivities and visits from family and friends quieted down, I implemented the practice of letting go and detoxing our home by decluttering one cupboard, drawer, and shelf at a time. It was liberating to throw out expired supplements and old toiletries and discover items that could be reused or donated. I am proud to say that I am now able to find a matching pair of socks without spending over 15 minutes searching for them. This allows me to start the day with so much more ease and peace. Yes, organizing your sock drawer can actually reduce stress!
Detoxing after the holidays is especially beneficial after indulging in more processed foods, sugar, and alcohol. Yet detoxification is not limited to just a physical and chemical cleanse but it can also be applied to anything in life that is contributing to more stress, stagnation, and clutter in your mind, emotional state, and environment. Perhaps there is a call to detox from excessive screen use, the news, social media, unhealthy relationships, dissatisfaction with your job, or even a messy sock drawer. Rather than deep diving into detoxification, this blog is meant to inspire you to create intentions for a healthier routine this New Year by letting go of what no longer serves you. If you would like to take a dive, check out “Not Your Mother’s Detox” one of the numerous blogs that I’ve written about detoxification.
Start your post-holiday season detox and establish nourishing habits with the following recommendations:
Clear Out Inflammation. Eliminate refined sugar, seed oils, and refined flour, inflammatory foods that can disrupt hormones, raise glucose and insulin, increase inflammation and cellular damage, cause weight gain and belly fat, and congest the detox pathways, particularly the liver. Focus on eating fiber-rich whole foods, plenty of colorful vegetables, protein from grass-fed meats, organic eggs, beans, and healthy anti-inflammatory fats rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as avocado, olive oil, basil seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, walnuts, and wild salmon, mackerel, and sardines.
Focus on eating fiber-rich whole foods, plenty of colorful vegetables, protein from grass-fed meats, organic eggs, beans, and healthy anti-inflammatory fats rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as avocado, olive oil, basil seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, walnuts, and wild salmon, mackerel, and sardines. Cook with liver-supportive spices and herbs, such as garlic, onions, turmeric, ginger, cilantro, and parsley. Replace juice, energy drinks, lattes, and alcohol with plenty of filtered water and green tea.
Declutter your Space. Tackling one shelf, cupboard, or drawer at a time minimizes the procrastination and overwhelm of cleaning out a whole closet or room.
Keep what brings you joy and utility and let go of the rest to reduce stress, increase productivity, enhance mood, and improve time management. If you need more support, hire a professional organizer.
Clear your Mind. Block out overstimulating noise, stress, and distraction from screens by deleting news and social media apps and turning off screens at mealtime and at least one hour before bed. Want more of a challenge? Detox from social media and news outlets for a full week or more. Replace this free time by journaling, reading, reflecting, and meditating on your goals for more freedom, peace, calm, abundance, and purpose.
Shed and Sweat Toxins Out. The skin is the largest organ of detoxification so give it some love with dry brushing for 5 minutes daily and sweating out toxins in an infrared sauna a few times a week. Be sure to start slow with 10 minutes or less per session and hydrate before and after the sauna with electrolyte-enriched water. If you have a health condition such as multiple sclerosis, are pregnant or trying to conceive, or you’re sick, it’s advised that you don’t use a sauna. Those with blood pressure issues, heart conditions, skin conditions, or heat intolerance should exercise caution before using a sauna.
Infrared sauna technology has multiple health benefits including:
Support Removal of Toxins
Lower Blood Pressure
Muscle Relaxation
Improved Immune Function
Aids Collagen and Elastin Production for Skin Health
Potential Weight Loss
Relaxation and Mood Support
Improved Circulation
Skin Purification
Release Negativity. Set boundaries with negative people by saying no to them and if needed release toxic friends and family members. Stop trying to fix and rescue the energy vampires from your life and focus on tending to your own needs. Friends or family members who are unhealthy for you are often people that you tend to walk on eggshells around, dread spending time with, feel depleted, angry, or anxious after being with them, are unable to have honest conversations with them and/or feel threatened or endangered by them. If you need support with setting boundaries or addressing and healing your own trauma, seek the help of a therapist or counselor trained in trauma therapy or EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing, a psychotherapy technique that helps process traumatic memories and other distressing experiences.
Need support with starting a detox program? Please contact our office to inquire about our comprehensive detox programs complete with health coaching and nutritional and supplement guidance.
Exciting News!
To fully support you and your family in your intentions for 2025 and beyond and enhance your wellness care, we are now offering wellness membership programs to all new patients. Starting June 1st, Dr. Tang will be offering a new and enhanced model of care through wellness membership programs to all existing patients. She will be discussing the benefits and perks of these programs and help you choose the plan that is the best fit for your health needs and continuity of care at your next visit.
Yours in Wellness,
Dr. Suzanne Tang, ND, LAc
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