Nutrition is important, but there are some other great detox strategies I’d also like you to consider. Here are my favorites: However, saunas are not for everyone. Do not use saunas if you are or could be pregnant. Many people with MS and other chronic health issues can be severely intolerant to elevations in body temperature. Do not use a sauna until you can tolerate it well. I needed to recover remarkably before I was able to tolerate taking a sauna—this didn’t happen until six months into my recovery. When I was finally able to stand the heat, I purchased an infrared sauna for my home. It sits next to the Endless Pool I swim in each day. I began taking a sauna four days a week as part of my detox protocol. You can also make these masks yourself. A wide variety of clays can be found in health food stores or through online stores. Mix the clay or activated charcoal with chlorella and sea salt to make a paste, apply to your skin, and allow it to dry. Leave it on for 30 minutes, then rinse it off. Another way to use clay is to make a diluted clay bath in a bucket for soaking the feet. It’s quite relaxing to mix this with magnesium salts. (Afterward, dump the muddy water in the yard so it doesn’t clog your plumbing!) Or make a very diluted clay/water mixture and soak in the bathtub for 30 to 60 minutes. If you ever get the opportunity to go to a spa that offers mud baths, take advantage of this effective detoxifying therapy. However, a warning: If you are going to use algae, I suggest you use only chlorella. Wild algae and spirulina are more likely to be contaminated with harmful cyanotoxins that can cause neurological damage. These algae cyanotoxins are a variation of the noxious toxins produced by algae in the red tide algae blooms associated with fish die-offs and beach closures in polluted coastal waters. A very simple way to improve lymphatic drainage is to practice simple inversions. If you invert yourself using an inversion table or lie on the floor with your hips next to the wall and your legs elevated vertically along the wall, you will increase the return of blood and lymph from your legs, where it can pool, back into your circulation. Inversion is an excellent way to reduce swelling in the legs if you are experiencing swelling related to decreasing physical activity (or airline travel). Start with brief amounts of time and very gradually increase the time with the legs elevated. If you experience swelling in the arms due to decreasing activity of the arm(s), elevating the involved arm(s) overhead can also be quite helpful. Another way to improve lymphatic return is dry brushing. The Wahls Protocol: A Radical New Way To Treat All Chronic Autoimmune Conditions Using Paleo Principles by Terry Wahls, M.D., is available now.
