Healing yourself from within requires you to be conscious of the things you’re doing and what you’re putting into your body. It requires you to really think about the stress you’re experiencing rather than carrying it around with you, and to find ways to dissipate it. To heal yourself from within requires a holistic approach; several systems depend on one another within the body for balance and health. When you work to balance your mind and your body at the same time, you’re much more likely to experience better health and healing. The amazing thing is, by starting to tackle one area (for example, your diet), you end up benefiting other areas (your willingness to exercise, for example, or your mind as opposed to only your body).
Toss the Bad Stuff
The first step to healing yourself from within is to give your diet an overhaul. Yes, it has to be done! I know you know that too, but it must be acted upon. Cut out your processed foods, refined sugars, refined flour, and replace those choices with whole foods. Make these changes at your pace so you’re not overwhelmed and standing in your kitchen wondering what to eat in the middle of the day, drawing a blank, and throwing in the towel. But at the same time, don’t be too lenient either- change brings about some discomfort in the transition, but it will pass.
Start out by replacing dairy with other alternatives like almond milk or yogurt, coconut creamer for your coffee, coconut yogurt, vegan cheese, etc. Stay away from soy-based alternatives, which aren’t as ideal as the aforementioned ones.
Remove the processed foods from your diet that are brimming with preservatives, GMOs, gluten, pesticides, chemicals, and other unnatural ingredients. Toss the boxes of cereal and instant oatmeal, the frozen meals, the pudding cups, fruit packaged in high-fructose corn syrup, potato chips, etc. Replace them with whole foods—oat groats, whole fruits and veggies, whole grains like quinoa, millet, amaranth, and buckwheat, gluten-free crackers (yes, these are packaged, but they can be used as a transitioning step), snack bars sweetened with dates or raw honey, etc. Take it a day at a time. Tell yourself each day that you’re not going to have any junk food. Make that commitment each morning until it becomes a habit.
Cut back on the meat in your diet, as it is acid-forming in the body and moves through very slowly. You may choose to stop consuming meat at all, but you don’t have to completely in order to follow the Beauty Detox plan (though I personally do not eat animal products). A little meat is allowed if you don’t want to eliminate it from your diet. Wild-caught fish and eggs are the best animal protein sources, but you can choose organic, grass-fed meats, too.
Replace whole wheat products for other options, like almond flour or gluten-free breads.
Make Your Body More Alkaline
Once you start choosing more alkaline-forming foods and drinks (like lemon water, which sounds like it would be acid-forming but is actually has an alkalizing effect), your body will become more alkaline overall. Disease has a much harder time surviving in an alkaline body and the Beauty Detox diet helps you get there.
Alkaline bodies, in addition to being more resistant to disease, hold on to the minerals you put into your body. As an example, think about calcium. It’s considered an alkaline mineral and it can be used to neutralize acidity in the body. When dairy (which is highly acidic once digested) is consumed, it leaves an acidic residue behind. To neutralize that, calcium is put to work, and sometimes the mineral is pulled from the bones, weakening them in the process and leaving you wide-open to developing or worsening osteoporosis. When you eat less acidic foods, your minerals get to stay where they belong in your body.
So what are some of the best foods for making your body more alkaline?
- Ripe fruits
- Greens
- Sprouts
- Other vegetables
What should you avoid as much as possible?
- Alcohol
- Caffeine
- Animal protein
- Dairy
- Refined sugar
- Processed foods
Reduce Inflammation
Inflammation is the catalyst for a lot of diseases, from arthritis to cancer. By eating foods and digestive probiotics that lower inflammation in the body (foods that leave behind an alkaline residue in the body), you can lower your levels of inflammation and decrease your risk for these diseases.
If you seem to be susceptible to every cold, flu, and other bug that goes around, your body could actually be distracted by the inflammation and unable to fight off bugs that might not make you so sick otherwise. Your white blood cells may already be at work trying to calm down the inflammation in your body. With no one on the lookout for those germs, they can get in and do some damage. Heal your immune system (or at least let it do its intended job more efficiently) by eating the foods that reduce chronic inflammation and avoiding the ones that increase it (in the list above).
What to eat to decrease inflammation:
- Turmeric
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Kale
- Sweet potatoes
- Celery
- Cucumbers
- Pineapple
- Almonds
- Sunflower seeds
- Flaxseeds
- Pears
Meditate
Stress is a health hazard in and of itself because it causes so many side effects that basically wreak havoc on your whole system—mind and body. Being still and focusing on the present can help (unfortunately this does not count the time you spend at your desk staring at a spreadsheet!).
Studies show that those trained in mindful meditation not only exhibit better memory and ability to focus, but they also have less negative emotion after potentially stressful work situations, like the ones where multi-tasking is required or where there are frequent interruptions.
One type of meditation studied, transcendental meditation, has been shown to reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure by significant amounts. If you’re on the path to trouble with your cardiovascular system, meditation could be one of the keys to healing yourself. The catch is, you can’t just do it for a week and stop. Meditation needs to be an ongoing practice if you want to maintain the improvements you experience.
Meditation can also help with anxiety and depression. It can help bring your mind to the present and give you a more balanced perspective, which can play a role in alleviating stress, as I mentioned earlier, and lowering cortisol levels. Prolonged periods of raised cortisol levels are linked to digestive problems, depression, anxiety, heart trouble, and weight gain. Stress is often at the root of health problems, and if you can minimize that naturally, you can begin to heal yourself from the inside.
Another common cause for disease is obesity. Meditation won’t make you lose weight directly, but by helping you to become more mindful in all areas of your life, it could indirectly influence what you choose to eat. Meditation can also give you the time and focus to work through any emotional issues that are causing you to have the powerful cravings that can derail your attempts at a healthier lifestyle. Despite my very busy schedule, I strive to meditate half an hour in the morning and evening, because it makes everything else function better. You make time for the things that are most important to you. However, to start, just a few minutes first thing in the morning could be all you need. I practice the Kriya yoga meditation techniques of my guru, Paramahansa Yogananda, which I highly recommend if you are looking for an authentic, systematic meditation methodology. It has done wonders for me.
A Healthy Gut
You wouldn’t think your intestinal health would have such an impact on your health overall, but when the good and bad bacteria in your gut aren’t balanced, you can face more than just bloating, constipation, or diarrhea (though those are definitely uncomfortable side effects of an unbalanced, unhappy gut).
By healing your gut, you can help heal your mind (and experience better digestion, of course). The bacteria in your gut produce the majority of the serotonin in your body, which can affect your mood.
Probiotics have also been shown to decrease anxiety and depression in healthy human volunteers when administered for 30 days. There is also a link between stress levels and the number of good bacteria in the gut; during stressful times, there tends to be less friendly bacteria present. Decreased stress levels could reduce inflammation and set a cycle in motion that will improve your mental and physical health. More good bacteria could be one key to feeling less stressed, and less stress allows the good bacteria to flourish.
Please be sure to check out my unique probiotics, Probiotics+, which I just launched!
Take It One Step at a Time
Healing yourself takes time. Breathe. Clean up your diet. Learn to love yourself and make mindful decisions that will demonstrate that you do love yourself (you deserve it!). In time, you’ll find that you’re looking and feeling better than ever.
Sending you love and peace.
Kimberly
please advise what is your suggextion for clearing a yeast infection.. I have started your program.. and suddenly am expereinceing a yeast infection I do use a probiotic….
Kimberley,
You left out cinnamon in your wonderful list of foods (or spices) that reduce inflammation. I think your readers would be helped to know more about cinnamon. Thank you!
Hi Kimberley,
I have been following your diet and I have felt amazing and seen great changes. I however am diagnosed with Cluster headaches, I get them about once a year and the episodes last for about a month. The cause of Cluster Headaches are unknown and there is no known cure (says my doctor). Do you have any experience in treating someone with Cluster Headaches?
Hi Kimberly
Just wondering if you make any distinction between pasteurized dairy – the kind found in the grocery stores – and unpasteruized farm fresh dairy. I have heard that pasteurized milk isn’t good, because all the healthy bacteria is killed off, but that unpasteurized milk from cows that are grass fed and organically raised (free of added hormones, etc) is very healthy.
What’s your take on this? Is the reason you advise cutting out dairy due to the fact that most people don’t have access to unpasteurized dairy? Or do you believe all dairy is unhealthy, whether pasteurized or unpasteurized?
(I think I tried to post this question to a previous post but wasn’t successful)
Thanks!
Dear Kimberly,
I’ve been following your program for a few weeks now. Although I have more energy and feel better, my skin has never looked this bad before! I always ate a healthy diet, maybe some junk food once a month, but overall lots of vegetables, no meat, no dairy. I did eat a lot of fish, maybe 5-6 times a week, I love salmon, but have reduced my fish intake now to once a week. Could my bad skin be caused by eating less fish? Or maybe because I’m eating lots of oils like avocado (1/2 a day), brazil nuts and olive oil? But I have always been eating this and had a pretty healthy skin.
I hope you can help me!
Thank you,
Iris
Spot on aritcle Kimberly. In my opinion this one of your best post. I love all of your post but this one is spot on.
Have Sterling Day!
Hi Kim!
First of all, I fell on your website randomly by googling “green smoothies” because of my newly purchased Vitamix a month ago. Been a biggest blessing since then! I bought your book and read every page of it ! The abundance of knowledge you have provided is astonishing that it was so hard to put the book down! (similar to my hunger games/HP books :) ) Since then, I been incorporating little things like, hot water with lemon and GGS every morning. Needless to say, it has completely transformed my dry flaky skin (that I have been battling with on my face for years now!) to velvety soft skin! Your Probiotics+ has been another life savior for me! Literally jumped for joy when I got the package and had to share it on Instagram! Truly and amazing product! Cant wait to continue my new lifestyle and so excited for all the good to come from now.
PS: – I just absolutely adore you, follow your blogs, instagram, books and the list goes on and on!! Kim, your such an inspiration and also my girl crush :)
xoxo
Very nice. Well-rounded and informative for being so short, great job. At least 80% of this I already practice, but for me personally this is yet another reminder that I need to attempt to incorporate meditation as well. Thank You
I really enjoy and practice the information that is provided. Thanks you make it easy !
I have fibromyalgia and in great deal of pain will your diet help me
I have gotten a itchy rash since taking the detox probiotics. What should I do? Is this part of detox?
I like your website, but the constant pop-ups and what-not to subscribe and sign up and whatever are kind of annoying. Any way around that? I don’t ike it.
Hi, I am all about healthy eating. I will never say that I am perfect at it but I try my best. The only problem I have is that your products are not sold outside of the USA. I currently live in Dubai and I have searched but can’t find your books. I am very interested in your probiotic as my kids and I consume it on a daily basis. Hope to see your books and products sold in other countries. My next goal is to master meditation. Wish me luck.
Health days always
Tahira
I tried for years to increase my healing power but I would always somehow “mess up” and end up trashing my health with bad choices. Then I found out about these simple herbs and now I feel healthier than I have in 20 years:
https://www.healthwise101.com/
Best of luck!
Thanks for sharing James and so happy you are taking care of your health! Lots of love!;)