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T hough conventional dictionaries and the average punter may not make a distinction between the two terms, there certainly is one. “Detox is a clinical state,” says

Sam Gowing. “It takes months to detoxify the liver and kidneys, it requires food that has low or no chemicals, no additives or preservatives. Cleansing is about taking the load off the body for a few days, detoxifying is about restoring the body to a natural, nontoxic state.” Sam is the chef at Cabarita Ocean Retreat, which many of us would call a detox retreat. But according to her definition, a destination spa doesn’t generally provide a complete detox, though it can kick one off with a powerful cleanse.

A cleansing week at a retreat like Cabarita is often as far as clients go toward detoxifying. They may take some of the lessons home with them, but it’s hard to stay on track with non-toxic restorative exercise, food and mental states when back into the daily grind. So if detoxification takes months, it sounds like there’s a role for day spas.

WHY DETOX?Elizabeth Lipski, in her book Digestive Wellness (now in its fourth edition), explains why it’s essential to divest the body’s toxic load:

We are exposed to toxins everywhere—from the air we breathe to the foods we eat, even as a result of metabolism. These toxins cause irritation and inflammation throughout our bodies. People have always been exposed to toxic substances, but today’s exposure to contaminants far exceeds that of previous times. Our body normally produces toxins as a by-product of metabolism. We call these endotooxins, which means they come from within us. If not eliminated, these endotoxins can irritate and inflame our tissues, blocking normal functions. Antibodies formed to protect us against the harmful effects of these endotoxins often trigger a systemic effect, causing an autoimmune reaction, so our body begins fighting itself. By assisting your body in removal of stored toxins through detoxification programs, your body can more easily heal itself. Removal of waste material—detoxification—is essential to the healthy functioning of our bodies. During a cleansing program, your body more rapidly recycles materials to build new cells, take apart aged cells, and repair damaged cells.

From Digestive Wellness (4th Edition), 2011, pages 189–191. Elizabeth Lipski, Ph.D., CCN, CHN

Do you know the difference between a detox and a cleanse? It’s an important distinction, and one worth educating your clients in. BY ANNE-­MARIE COOK

A detox doesn’t just mean grapfruit and water—there are many ways to support

the body’s self-­cleaning processes. Image courtesy of Urban Remedy.

DETOXvs Cleanse

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Fresh organic fruits and vegetables blended into juices (like those created by Urban Remedy) are easy for the body to digest, giving vital organs opportunity to do some housekeeping.

WAYS TO CLEANSEFirst of all, what is a cleanse? Generally it involves cutting out a bunch of the stuff that’s usual in our western diets (wheat/gluten, sugar, dairy, alcohol, caffeine are the top five on the list) and replacing those foods with more vegetables. But it’s also about reducing other toxic substances—stress hormones like adrenalin and cortisol—and increasing healing activities—sleeping, gentle exercise, breathing and relaxation.

Cleanses come in various forms—such as fasting from solid food and drinking only juices or perhaps even just water—but the point is that they’re temporary. A cleanse, usually from three days up to a month, allows the body to purge some of the nasties in the system and begin to heal itself. But doing a cleanse does not necessarily mean that the body is comprehensively detoxified...it’s just the start.

“Throughout time and in various cultures, people have seen the need for periodic internal cleansing,” Elizabeth writes, citing Native American sweat lodges, Roman bathhouses, Jewish ritual mikvah baths and, of course, the ubiquitous Swedish sauna. She adds that fasting is an important part of many religious holidays and customs as well.

So how can day spas and clinics support a detoxified lifestyle? Whether a client has undertaken a cleanse or not, a long-term detox program that could be supported in a day spa or clinic environment can provide the ongoing support that helps to transform long-held habits into healthier choices.

DETOX DIETSThere are are a plethora of diets, juices and fasting combinations, and your clients are likely to find them fairly bewildering. Some of the options include juice fasting, water fasting, soup diets, the grapefruit diet, lemon detox diet, metabolism stimulating, alkalising, liver cleanse, elimination diets...the list goes on.

So which are fads and which work? Of course that’s a subject for an entire book, but there is scientific validity to many of the approaches. Some

Detoxification takes months—there’s a role here for day spas.

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such diets are designed for very short periods of time while others can be safely and healthfully undertaken for long periods, even for life. Naturopath, herbalist and nutritionist Sarah Luck advises that, for ease of understanding, a diet and the food in it can be devided simply into acid-forming and alkalising, and for long-term detoxification the key is to reduce acid and promote alkalising foods. She offers the following rules of thumb:Acid-­forming foods to reduce or avoid

Alkalising foods to add or increase

To help facilitate a healthy cleansing for your clients, Urban Remedy offers an easy option by delivering freshly blended, personally tailored and nutritionally balanced whole fruit and vegetable juice programs of up to five days. They will deliver anywhere in the country. URBANREMEDY.COM.AU

SWEAT IT OUTThe age-old tradition of applying heat to the body is still helping us sweat out toxins today. In many ways it’s an obvious correlation: raising the temperature triggers perspiration, the body’s inbuilt cooling system. And sweating is one of the ways the body naturally and efficiently expels cellular waste.

Cleansing Beverage Yasmin Sadikot, OmVeda founder, suggests that combining an internal cleansing with a spa detox treatment can significantly enhance results for your clients. Sadikot recommends the following simple but powerful Ayurvedic tea:To a litre of freshly boiled water add a teaspoon of freshly grated ginger and the juice of half a lemon and steep for half an hour. The combined benefit of the ginger and lemon helps to increase the metabolism, move fatty deposits and kick-­start the elimination of toxins from the body.

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Doing a cleanse doesn’t mean that the body is detoxified...it’s just

the start.

So if detoxifying is as simple as getting hot and sweating, why are there so many different types of saunas and heat experiences availableon the market? Technology such as far infrared and broad spectrum infrared is changing how we apply heat to the body and enhancing the therapeutic benefits. Infrared heaters emit a spectrum of radiant heat that is absorbed directly into the body, unlike traditional saunas which heat the body indirectly via air or steam. Far infrared saunas tend to be tolerated better by most people than the high temperatures of the standard humid hot air saunas because far-infrared rays do not heat the air inside the sauna but still heat the body, which means more comfort and more effective heat.

The answer as to whether dry heat or humidity best aids detoxification is, ‘it depends’. There are proponents of both

methodologies, and contention as to which more effectively induces perspiration—something very difficult to measure in a humid environment where moisture is constantly settling onto the skin from the air. Ultimately, any environment that heats the body is effective at inducing sweating; however some people find the dry heat of a sauna irritating to their sinuses and respiratory tract and prefer the humidity of a steam room. The higher temperature of the sauna is believed by many to have a more beneficial effect upon the cardiovascular system and has also been said to aid lung purification in asthmatics.

Personal physiology comes into play as well, as some people find they are able to bear one type of heat longer than the other (better

enabling them to work up a sweat). The ultimate adjudicator is personal choice.

Of course, if you do decide to install steam, the chlorine in city water will counteract detoxification, so you’ll need to route water through a purification system.

Programs such as the RealWell integrated wellness system can give spas and salons effective tools to help clients make major changes to their overall toxicity levels. The program incorporates the ongoing, monitored use of a full spectrum infrared sauna and a nutritionist-supervised course of certified organic, fermented food-based, gut-balancing DetoxMe supplements that are proven to help the body rid itself even of heavy metals. SUNLIGHTEN.COM.AU,

DETOXME.COM.AU

Sunlighten’s mPulse saunas produce heat broad spectrum infrared rays and can even track biological markers of toxins over time.

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MOVEMENT IS ESSENTIAL Key detoxification processes—perspiration, oxygenation, circulation, digestion—are all enhanced by exercise. Lymphatic waste removal, perhaps the body’s number one method of detox, can’t function without external motion. While exercise is sometimes contra-indicated during cleansing, especially fasting, daily exercise is an essential component in long-term detoxification. While it seems that any sort of exercise helps, there are certain types that will really jump-start a cleanse.

Think of the organs directly involved in exercise: respiratory (lungs, throat, sinuses), skin (sweat and sebaceous glands), circulatory (blood taking oxygen to the muscles, lymph fluid collecting waste). All these systems are also key to detoxification. A key difference between blood and lymph is that blood has the heart to circulate it through the body, whereas the lymphatic system does not have a pump to aid in its flow. This is where physical exercise comes to the fore. The primary way to stimulate the flow of the lymphatic system is through body movement. The contraction of the muscles and motion of the limbs stimulates the flow of the lymph through the capillaries toward the nodes, sweeping toxins on its way.

So which style of exercise takes the detox crown? Whether you’re a fan or not, yoga accelerates the result of any detoxification program by boosting circulation and metabolism through deep breathing and posture. Bikram yoga, also known as hot yoga, especially promotes sweating as well, as the room is heated to around 40 degrees.

Inversions, or upside-down poses (any asanas that lift the feet

above the head) help to drain accumulated lymph fluid from the legs and re-circulate it through the body. Well-known inversions include shoulder and head stands, but even lying on the floor with legs on a chair will have a similar effect.

Twisting positions have a direct impact on the stomach and intestines. The organs are compressed during a twist, pushing out blood filled with metabolic by-products and toxins. When we release the twist, fresh blood flows in, carrying oxygen and nutrients. Yoga twists stimulate digestion and facilitate the elimination of impurities and waste products from the body. Doing twisting exercises in the morning can help bring on a strong bowel movement.

RELEASING STRESS Stress is one of the key reasons that people head to retreats, according to Sharon Kolkka, general manager of Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat. Reducing the anxiety load is a key component of detoxing. Sharon explains that stress creates an environment in the body that is more susceptible to disease and a major contributor to degenerative diseases—two circumstances that can benefit from detoxing.

One of the physiological functions of stress is the creation of adrenalin and cortisol, two hormones that directly oppose the chance to rest. And it’s during rest mode that the body’s ability to carry out detoxification processes is at its peak.

Help clients achieve relaxation through retailing programs like Stress Less guided meditation CDs, facilitating stress reduction courses, or encouraging them to get started with a cleanse at a retreat like Gwinganna. GWINGANNA.COM, THE BODYGUARD.COM.AU

Mindful exercise like a yoga practice helps the body process physical toxins and gives the mind relief from stressful thoughts.

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