A New Year Detox Plan for Seniors

It’s a new year! And, there’s no better time than now to reset your body to ensure it stays strong and healthy. For seniors, it’s especially important to keep toxins out of the body. High consumption of toxic food and drinks can weaken the immune system and lead to organ failure and disease.

The word “detox” can often be a scary and misleading word. But, I assure you it doesn’t automatically result in a diet comprised of questionable, murky liquids. Instead, let’s focus on a diet that reduces toxic foods and increases clean foods.

Toxic Foods to Reduce/Avoid:

• Sugary Foods and Drinks: I recently shared the “not-so-sweet” truth about sugar and highlighted sobering truths: sugar is eight times as addictive as cocaine and it causes weight gain, which can increase the risk of disease, such as cancer. These reasons alone are a big, sour wakeup call.

• Coffee: Coffee can certainly offer benefits such as alertness, but at what cost? Example negatives include insomnia, nervousness, anxiety, stomach irritation and gastro-intestinal problems. And, coffee beans are often grown with toxic pesticides (like many crops), which brew a “not-so-clean” java.

• Alcohol: High alcohol consumption can take a toll on the body. One well-known negative effect is mental disruption (mood, behavior and thinking). Beyond mental complications, it can increase the risk of cancer and liver failure and lead to pancreatitis.

• Processed Foods: Foods that are highly processed are void of many important nutrients that help fight disease. Even worse, most processed foods are loaded with sugar, artificial ingredients, chemicals and other questionable ingredients that can increase the risk of disease.

Clean Foods to Increase:

• Water: Pure water is one of the most powerful detox agents as it flushes out the body and helps clean toxins out.

• Organics (produce/meat/dairy): Organic foods prohibit the use of many commonly used toxins, such as pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, hormones and antibiotics. The cleaner the food the better as we are what we eat.

• Fruits and Vegetables: It’s important to eat real, nutrient-dense plant-based food. For example, dark leafy greens are loaded with vitamins and minerals that help purify your blood, prevent cancer and improve circulation. And, many fruits such as blueberries are high in antioxidants, which also fight disease. Remember organic produce is best. Also see the Environmental Working Group’s Pesticide Shopper Guide of the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen; it lists produce with the highest and lowest pesticide levels.

By focusing on removing toxic disease contributors and adding clean health promoters, seniors can make a dramatic improvement to their health and happiness. Start the year off with a clean slate, ahem, plate!

Natalie Drugan

Natalie Drugan is a nutrition and lifestyle health coach. Natalie is dedicated to helping others make healthy choices centered on clean food, toxic-free environments and happy living. Natalie received her nutrition health coaching certification from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in NYC, the world’s largest nutrition school. As a Certified Nutrition Health Coach, she studied over 100 dietary theories and learned from world-renowned experts and doctors including Andrew Weil, MD, Walter Willet, MD, Mark Hyman, MD and Deepak Chopra, MD. Natalie is board certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners (AADP). Additionally, Natalie received her BBA in Marketing from Texas A&M University.