Every time summer comes around do you find yourself feeling a little down because you didn’t lose as much weight as you planned to lose during the Fall, Winter, and Spring.  Does the warm weather remind you of how much you let yourself down by not sticking to your exercise and diet regimen?

When this season comes around most women start thinking of quick fixes to solve their weight problems. Ever thought of detoxing your system to help you drop the weight you failed to lose? I have. But will a detox help you lose weight?

Brierly White, a registered dietician and nutrition editor at EatingWell.com,  is asked this question all the time. “A detox diet, whether it’s all-liquid or based on supplements or allows just a few foods, is a fancy name for a crash diet, which according to a December 2010 study in the Journal of Neuroscience can raise stress hormones and make you more likely to binge later. You may feel lighter and less bloated because the detox evacuates your gastrointestinal system. But this can lead to dehydration—and the weight lost is mostly water. When you return to your usual habits, you’ll likely gain back those pounds.”

Following a detox regimen isn’t bad for your body when done properly, but don’t follow a detox regimen with weight loss as your goal. Instead, focus on getting your mind, body, and soul centered.

10 Ways to Help Your Body Detoxify

1. Eat plenty of fiber, including brown rice and organically-grown fresh fruits and vegetables. Beets, radishes, artichokes, cabbage, broccoli, spirulina, chlorella, and seaweed are excellent detoxifying foods.

2. Cleanse and protect the liver by taking herbs such as dandelion root, burdock and milk thistle, and drinking green tea.

3. Take vitamin C, which helps the body produce glutathione, a liver compound that drives away toxins.

4. Drink at least two quarts of water daily.

5. Breathe deeply to allow oxygen to circulate more completely through your system.

6. Transform stress by emphasizing positive emotions.

7. Practice hydrotherapy by taking a very hot shower for five minutes, allowing the water to run on your back. Follow with cold water for 30 seconds. Do this three times, and then get into bed for 30 minutes.

8. Sweat in a sauna so your body can eliminate wastes through perspiration.

9. Dry-brush your skin or try detox foot spas/foot baths to remove toxins through your pores. Special brushes are available at natural products stores.

10. What is the most important way to detoxify? “Exercise,” says Bennett. “Yoga or jump-roping are good. One hour every day.” Also try Qigong, a martial-arts based exercise system that includes exercises specifically for detoxifying or cleansing, as well as many other exercises with specific health benefits.

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