New Year's hangover

How to Detox After the Holidays

(Qualifier: If you’re strictly hungover and need a suggestion ASAP, just jump to the bottom. Good luck to you, my friend.)

How to detox my bodyOverindulging during the holidays is hardly a unique phenomenon, so if you’re looking to clean up your habits in the New Year a little detox might be the kick-start your body needs.

Here are a few easy tips that might help get you started. I wish I could tell you it’s a magic pill or just taking down shots of cayenne peppered lemon water, but it’s not. The best advice is exactly what you would think…

1) Hydrate
Wash out your system! Drinking an adequate amount of water (not soda, not flavored water, just good old H2O) helps almost every system in your body. Digestion, kidneys, liver, skin, heart all of these organs and systems suffer if you’re dehydrated. If you’d like, you can heat up the water and add lemon for something a little different.

2) Eat Fiber
Fiber is the scrub brush of the gastrointestinal system. Certain foods get bogged down in your gut, eating enough fiber can help (ahem) move things along. Some great sources of fiber include black beans, artichokes, green peas, broccoli, steel cut oats and raspberries. According to the Mayo Clinic, “Women should try to eat at least 21 to 25 grams of fiber a day, while men should aim for 30 to 38 grams a day.”

3) Get Enough Sleep
Your brain has a system that allows it to flush out toxins, but it only works while you’re sleeping. National Institutes of Health research found, “that the space between brain cells may increase during sleep, allowing the brain to flush out toxins that build up during waking hours. These results suggest a new role for sleep in health and disease.” So don’t feel guilty about that nap and get a good night’s sleep. For an average adult, 7-9 hours per night is recommended by the National Sleep Foundation.

4) Stretch
If your muscles are left unused, there’s less fresh blood flow to cleanse those muscle fibers. Mild exercise or stretching can shake the dust off those muscles and help you become stronger, more limber, and likely less achy. You can adapt these yoga poses to suit your ability, or just follow your body’s natural lead for a feel-good stretch.

Just Straight-up Hungover?
BLT with a fried egg and a glass of room temperature water. STAT!
Fried Egg, Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Waffle SandwichAccording to How Stuff Works “Eating eggs the morning after provides energy like any other food, which is the primary benefit. But eggs do also contain large amounts of cysteine, the substance that breaks down the hangover-causing toxin acetaldehyde in the liver’s easily depleted glutathione. Therefore, eggs can potentially help mop up the left-over toxins.” Researchers at Newcastle University will tell you that bacon helps too. So, a BLT sandwich with a fried egg and a big old glass of water may get you on the road to recovery a little faster.

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