Detoxifying Your Body: How To Make A Detox Bath for Your Body.

Detoxifying Your Body: How To Make A Detox Bath for Your Body

How to Detox at Home with this Decadent Detox Bath Recipe.

At Open Space Healing we know that it’s essential to deeply ‘rest’ and detox regularly to maintain optimal health.

We also know that to carve out alone time to de-stress and unwind in our busy schedules can be tough. The constant juggle of family and work leaves little time to “indulge.”

That being said, if you do not take time for yourself and become a ‘self-care’ master, then every facet of your life will suffer.

Welcome to one of our favourite Open Space Healing health hacks, Detox baths!

These beauties are one of our secret weapons to staying in peak performance. We love to start a regime of nice hot detox baths to maximise our health and relaxation levels!

What are detox baths?

Detox (or cleansing) baths have been used for thousands of years in traditional cultures. We know the ancient Egyptians, Romans, Turkish and Japanese cultures have utilized and revered them as a staple for good health.

Toxins are poisonous substances that negatively affect our health. We are exposed to toxins on a daily basis through our environment. Some sources to think about are air pollution, household products, toiletries, processed foods, radiation and chemicals such as pesticides. Our toxic load has massively increased with the industrial revolution.

Our body is constantly detoxing through many pathways of elimination, such as our gut, breath and skin (thank you liver!). When our body is burdened with too many toxins or ones that are really hard to get rid of, it’s reflected in our health and how we feel throughout the day.

While there are many ways to detox one of the most gentle, easiest and relaxing way is through a detox bath. The best part? They’re super cheap and easy to do and all in the comfort of your own home.

Why you should use detox baths?

As mentioned earlier, we all are burdened with a toxic load and the more that we can help our body facilitate detoxification the better.

According to nutritional pioneer Dr. Hazel Parcells, 65% of body cleansing is achieved via the skin (our largest organ)!

If your pores are clogged, it is harder for you body to expel the toxins it has been processing.

Plus (detox baths are):

  • Affordable
  • Simple to make
  • Relaxing
  • Gentle

Contraindications and tips:

Check with your doctor to see if detox baths are safe for you to try. Pregnant women, children, and people with impaired kidney function should not take detox baths. (Your body may not be able to rid itself of excess magnesium if your kidneys are impaired.)

Always drink plenty of water before, during, and after a detox bath. Also, get out of the bath immediately if you’re shivering, or feel dizzy or faint.

Note that sometimes during or after bathing, you will notice the skin exfoliating. If you find this happening to you, try dry skin brushing before your next therapeutic bath. While not suitable for everyone, it can be a helpful step to encourage additional detoxification when done immediately before a cleansing soak.

Watch this:

How to take a detox bath?

  • Run the bath water as hot as can be tolerated as this will draw toxins to the surface of the skin and aids any absorption.
  • Reduce the amount of chlorine in the bath water if possible (the best is a mains filter).
  • When chlorine is used as a water treatment, it combines with organic matter to form compounds called trihalomethanes (THMs). One of the most common THMs formed is chloroform, which is a known carcinogen.
  • Start out with a shorter period of time in the bath (12 to 20 minutes) to see how your body reacts to the detox bath. If you find them relaxing and don’t have any additional negative reactions, you can increase the time of your detox baths and work up to three baths per week. The longer you stay in the better – we like to soak for 40-60min.

There are different recipes for detox baths, depending on your symptoms. You can take detox baths once a week to start. Watch for signs such as dry skin or dehydration.

Our Fav Detox Bath Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 2 Cups Magnesium Chloride (or Epsom Salt)
  • 1 Cup Aluminum free Baking Soda
  • 1 Tablespoon Bentonite Clay
  • 20 Drops of Essential Oils (Optional – We love Lavender)

Instructions:

  1. Mix salt, baking soda and bentonite clay together.
  2. Add essential oils and pour into hot bath water.

The Ingredients:

  • Magnesium chloride and sulphate are readily absorbed through the skin, making Epsom salt baths an easy and ideal way to enjoy the amazing health benefits. Magnesium plays a number of roles in the body including regulating the activity of over 325 enzymes, reducing inflammation, helping muscle and nerve function and helping to prevent artery hardening. Sulfates help improve the absorption of nutrients, flush toxins and help ease migraine headaches.
  • Baking soda is another household ingredient commonly used for rapidly detoxifying the body. In fact, it has been used to treat radiation exposure by binding with dangerous elements like uranium, which tend to stick around in our bodies on the surface of our bones. As a bonus, baking soda also has an alkalizing effect on the body, which is beneficial for a variety of ailments ranging from bone loss to back pain.
  • Bentonite clay is a clay composed of ash from volcanoes. Similar clays have been used by cultures worldwide as a digestive aid and to remove unwanted pathogens like parasites, however it also binds to toxins in the body. The secret to Bentonite clay’s toxin-binding powers lies in its negative ionic charge and absorption abilities, which pull positively-charged ions from the bloodstream for elimination. Pesticides, heavy metals, and harmful bacteria are all positively charged, making them susceptible to the clay’s pull.

Don’t Have a Bathtub? Do This Instead

If your residence doesn’t have ready access to a bathtub to take your cleansing baths, try one or more of these soothing recipes for a foot detox instead. All you need is a large bowl or basin about a foot deep.

Go ahead and give this one a try today and let us know how you went in the comments below!

And as always, if you feel like a loved one would benefit from this detox bath recipe, please make sure you share it with them. 

Happy bathing!

Until next time…

Yours in great health,

Dr Andy & Dr Jacinta

Andy and Jacinta