It can be helpful to take a few moments to reflect on the last decade and think about what you would like to change to help your overall well-being. So often New Year resolutions are all about weight loss, but oftentimes weight loss is a by-product of other conditions within the body like toxic overload, inflammation and stress. We asked functional medicine expert and author of The Inflammation Spectrum, Dr. Will Cole, for tips on how to recover from holiday overindulgence. His advice can help you get on the right track for feeling your best for the decade ahead.
Dr. Cole: One of your liver’s main responsibilities is to filter out toxins from your food and environmental exposures. When your liver is overloaded with a constant onslaught of toxins, it can’t get rid of them fast enough which ultimately leads to a cascade of systemic inflammation. This inflammation continues to perpetuate your liver’s ability to rid itself of these toxins creating a vicious cycle.
Dr. Cole: The holiday season can be extremely stressful. Since stress can contribute to inflammation and inflammation can inhibit your body’s ability to detox, Sunlighten infrared saunas are a great tool to destress and lower inflammation. Plus, they promote sweating which also helps rid your body of toxins through sweating. Sunlighten has a built-in detoxification program in its mPulse® 3 in 1® saunas.
Dr. Cole: Other than helping to lower inflammation and rid your body of toxins from the alcohol and not-so-healthy food, infrared saunas like Sunlighten’s work to mobilize fat by heating your core temperature to promote sweating. This increases your blood flow, heart rate, and metabolic rate – similar to moderate exercise without going to the gym!
By reducing your toxin exposure and supporting your liver’s natural ability to detox, you can break the cycle and lower inflammation. I love Sunlighten saunas because they help my body to detox by reducing my overall toxin load.
Dr. Cole: One of my favorite ways to detox is by upping my intake of detoxing foods like cilantro, blueberries, and spirulina. I also like upping my intake of dark leafy greens like spinach and kale since they help support my methylation pathways that are responsible for supporting detoxification.
Watch Dr. Will Cole on other benefits of infrared saunas here.
We love Dr. Cole’s passion for wellness and hope you found his advice helpful as you develop your wellness goals for the new year. His Future Health Blog is an amazing resource for a variety of topics that can keep you feeling your best.
Happy New Year!
