🌿 Detox Pathways: How Your Body Actually Gets Rid of Stuff
The word ‘Detox’ has been completely hijacked.
Somewhere between juice cleanses, flat-tummy teas, and charcoal shots that taste like shitttt, we forgot what detox actually means.
No worries, lets learn together!
Your body is amazing, in soooo many ways! One of them being that your body already has a detox system built in. In fact- Multiple of them!!
And its doing the work, every minute of every day, without needing over priced ‘detox’ products.
The thing is you don’t need to make your body detox.
You need to stop blocking it, and to support it to do what it’s designed to do.
So, let’s break down your detox pathways! What they are, how they work, and how to actually support them (naturally, duh).
🧠 First Things First: What “Detox” Really Means
When you hear the word detox, think ‘elimination’ or just ‘getting rid of’
Every hormone, chemical, medication, and toxin that enters your body has to eventually leave.
Your body does this through a series of “pathways” clever systems that filter, neutralise, and excrete waste through your liver, gut, kidneys, skin, lungs, and lymph.
Each one has its own job, and they all need to be open and flowing for you to feel energised, clear-headed, and hormonally balanced. If not, things get stagnant. Trust me, you will know when you’re not detoxing.
💚 The Liver
Your liver is like the project manager of detoxing.
It takes everything that comes in: hormones, alcohol, food additives, medication, etc. It and decides what stays, what goes, and what needs ‘neutralising’.
Your liver works in two main phases:
Phase 1: Breaks toxins down into smaller, sometimes more reactive compounds.
Phase 2: Neutralises those compounds and packages them up for removal.
Think of Phase 1 as your body’s rubbish collection, and Phase 2 as the bin men actually taking it away. You need both.
If Phase 1 is in overdrive (think caffeine, meds, alcohol, stress) and Phase 2 can’t keep up (because you’re low on protein, B vitamins, or sleep), those half-processed toxins hang around and make you feel ugh, tired, bloated, foggy, moody.
Support your liver with:
🥦 Cruciferous veg like broccoli, kale, cauliflower, and cabbage
🥚 Quality protein like eggs, chicken, chickpeas ( this is needed for Phase 2 binding)
💧 Plenty of water
🥑 Healthy fats (avocado, olive oil, seeds)
😴 Rest (your liver does most of its work overnight)
💩 The Gut
Once your liver has done its job, it sends waste products into your gut via bile.
Then this is packaged up and sent into your intestines to be excreted.
If you’re not eliminating daily (yep, I’m talking about frequent pooping), all that “used” oestrogen, hormones, toxins, and cholesterol (to name a few) can get reabsorbed back into your bloodstream.
This is where things like bloating, PMS, and breakouts can sneak in. Your body’s trying to get rid of stuff, but it’s stuck in traffic.
Don’t underestimate how much constipation can affect your body. Ideally, you should be going at least once, if not twice a day. If it’s been more than 24 hours since your last doomscrolling bathroom session, it’s time to up your fibre, hydrate properly, and get things moving again.
Support your gut with:
🥕 Fibre (aim for 25–30g daily, from veggies, oats, chia, flax seeds)
🥒 Fermented foods (sauerkraut, kefir, kombucha, yoghurt)
🚰 Water (hydration keeps things moving)
🚶 Movement (literally helps bowels flow)
💧 The Kidneys
Your kidneys quietly filter your blood 24/7, removing waste through creating urine.
They don’t get enough credit! These two bean shaped organs are your second detox ‘dream team’.
Support them with:
💧 1.5–2L water a day (more if you sweat alot or drink caffeine)
🥬 Potassium-rich foods like leafy greens, bananas, and avocados
🍋 Lemon water! It supports hydration and adds a mild alkalising boost (also makes you feel better than everyone else drinking plain water)
Avoid overloading them with:
Excess caffeine
High-sodium (salt) processed food
Protein powders without proper hydration
💨 The Lungs
Every exhale is a type of detox.
You literally breathe out carbon dioxide which is a waste product of metabolism.
If you’re stressed and shallow-breathing all day (hello, shrimp posture), you’re not optimising this pathway.
Support your lungs with:
🌬 Deep breathing (try 5 slow breaths, just twice a day)
🌳 Fresh air or time in nature
🚭 Avoiding candles, aerosols, and synthetic fragrance sprays (yep, those Yankee candles do you no good!)
🧖♀️ The Skin
When other detox pathways are sluggish, the skin steps in! Through sweat mainly, but also
through breakouts, rashes, and body odour, its your body telling you that theres some internal congestion going on. The signs are there, you just need to start speaking the same language!
Support your skin with:
🧼 Dry brushing or gentle exfoliation
🏃♀️ Exercise or sauna sessions (sweating = excretion)
🥗 Clean diet, less processed food, more plants
🧴 Natural skincare without parabens, sulfates or synthetic fragrances
💧 The Lymphatic System
Your lymph system doesn’t have a pump like your heart, it moves only when you move. Which is why movement is so important. Do 30 star jumps every morning and lmk how you feel- you would be surprised!
The lymph system collects waste and immune debris from your tissues and carries it to your detox organs.
When it’s stagnant, you can feel sluggish, puffy, or inflamed.
Support your lymph with:
🪶 Dry brushing toward the heart
💦 Staying hydrated
🚶♀️ Walking or light movement daily
💆 Lymphatic massage or gua sha
🌸 The Real “Detox Routine”
Forget expensive cleanses, juices, products.
Real detox looks like this:
Drink 2L of clean water a day (pls not tap water)
Eat cruciferous veg daily (at least 4 times a week!_
Move your body (just jump!)
Poop every day (non negotiable)
Sleep at least 7–8 hours
Keep endocrine disruptors to a minimum
Your body already knows how to detox, it just needs you to stop getting in its way.
✨ Final Thought
You don’t need to buy your way to wellness.
You just need to support the systems you already have.
Because your body isn’t dirty, it’s designed for balance.
You just have to work with it, not against it.