January 10th, 2018 | Posted By: Magdalena Wszelaki | Posted in Adrenals, Anti-Candida, Articles, Estrogen Dominance, Menopause, PCOS, Thyroid | Tagged ,

6 Ways to Evaluate a Detox Program

6 Ways to Evaluate a Detox Program

8 years ago, I felt like I needed to press the reset button. I had never fasted, done colonics or taken anti-parasitic herbs. I found a place in Thailand I trusted and went for it. There, I met Jody, the detox guide. The experience was life-transforming.  For the first time ever, I felt light, energized, rejuvenated, and clear.

I understand that most people can’t take the time or funds to travel all the way to Thailand, so I decided to re-create the experience in the closest fashion possible and bring it to you in your own home.

I partnered up with Jody who helped me create one of our most popular and life-transforming programs: the Thyroid Detox.

Over the years, I learned that there are many detox programs out there. If you are considering doing one, I recommend you EVALUATE THE PROGRAM USING THESE 6 FACTORS:

1.  Preparation

Does the program prepare you for the detox phase, so you are eased into it?  Many detoxes start on day 1, not allowing your body to adjust to the lack of caffeine, sugar, meat, processed foods and smaller portions. This can shock your body and lead to adrenal exhaustion. Not to mention a barrage of unpleasant and sometimes dangerous side effects.

Going straight into a detox without a preparation is like going for a 10-mile run if you have never been running.

2.  Emphasis on Supplement Sales

Does the program cover diet and lifestyle changes or does it only want to sell you expensive products? Taking a bunch of pills without any diet modifications makes little sense and won’t give you the full benefit.

You may not need to fast per se but you will need to make a few nutritional changes to let your gut and liver do their “thing.”  More on that below.

3.  Reviews

Does the program have unbiased reviews? I’ve been told by many detox program participants how shakes make people outright sick—and you won’t know about it until you actually start.  

Do your homework before committing. 

4.  Amount of Sugar

Many of the detoxes use shakes or fruit-based juices that bring in way too much sugar.

For example, a 12-ounce orange juice contains 28 grams of sugar which is 7.4 teaspoons of sugar. I’ve seen detoxes based on 3 fruit juices per day—that’s a whopping 22 teaspoons or nearly 1/2 cup of sugar. With all the fiber taken out, this is a dietary suicide. 

Sugar balance is one of the 3 pillars of hormonal balance (the other two are gut and liver health). Fruit juices can spike your blood sugar levels immediately—causing more hunger, adrenal exhaustion, depression, anxiety, pancreatic stress, an increase in candida yeast overgrowth and mineral and vitamin depletion (especially B vitamins and magnesium).

5.  Guidance and Support

 Are you left all on your own to do the detox or do you get support from the program’s team?

It’s important to have the support of real people when going through the experience. Your body will be going through a transition and having someone who can provide answers to your questions will contribute to how successful the experience will be for you.

6.  Weight Loss is the Leading Promise

Personally, this concerns and upsets me the most. The purpose of the detox should be to help your body recalibrate, get back in balance, and not promote a culture of starvation to lose weight.

When a detox’s key premise is to lose weight, you will most likely gain it all back in a couple of weeks.

So, if you are considering doing a detox, I recommend you use these 6 factors to evaluate the program.

In our signature program—the Thyroid Detox, you will learn about the toxins that impact your hormonal balance.

One more thing: even though it’s called Thyroid Detox, it benefits all women with hormonal imbalances. We just made the detox thyroid-friendly (which none of the other detoxes, as far as I know, offer).

Here is How Our Thyroid Detox Program Meets the 6 Criteria

1.  Preparation

To ease you into the experience, we divide the detox up into manageable chunks.

  • 5 days of Pre-detox—you are eating but start reducing the portions and weaning off caffeine, sugar and inflammatory foods .
  •  5 days of Detox: The two options are Gentle—includes light meals/real food smoothies—or Deep—only juicing.
  •  2 days of Post-detox to help you integrate into your regular diet.

2.  No Compulsory Supplements

You don’t need to buy any supplements from us. We do recommend to start the anti-parasitic protocol which is optional and you buy your own products (we only recommend the brands).

3.  Reviews and What to Expect

I’ve run this detox for over 7 years now and it never fails to surprise me how many life-transforming stories we get from participants.

Here are a few:

“I successfully completed the thyroid detox with my hubby.  We are both feeling amazing “
Aleksandra Medic

“I did the thyroid detox in the spring and felt amazing.  Can I do it again in the fall?”
Lisa Jones Garcia 

“Day 11 of Thyroid Detox, down 10 lbs.  And feeling GREAT!  Thank you, Magdalena.”
Janis E. McKinstry

4.  Amount of Sugar

Thyroid Detox meal plans are very low in sugar. We only use low glycemic fruit such as berries and green apples. Our juices are 80% vegetable-based and are thyroid friendly.

5.  Guidance and Support

The program comes with pre-recorded calls guiding you through the process—what to expect, how to listen to your body’s signals and when to pivot between Deep and Gentle.

You also get the support of our helpful online members-only community. Past detox participants and my team are here to support you.

What Women Experience After the Detox Program

  • Mental clarity, lifting of brain fog

  • Feeling energized and focused

  • Sustained weight loss (as a result of body’s rebalance)

  • Better sleep

  • No food cravings

  • Feeling light

  • Regular cycle returning

  • Less to no PMS (cramps, bloating, mood swings)

  • Possible reduction in thyroid medication dosage

  • Skin conditions like eczema disappear

  • Reduction or disappearance of hot flashes

  • Reduction or disappearance of many pesky symptoms

Yup, that’s what the participants of Thyroid Detox have been experiencing after completing the program.

If you are currently living in a cold climate, the meal plans have been designed to warm you up.

Got any questions? Send an email to [email protected] and my team will take care of you.

For a full list of FAQs, scroll towards the bottom of this page.

If You Have No Time/Interest in Doing a Detox…

Don’t have the time to do a full detox program?

No problem. I know many of you are in this boat; kids, work, travel, lack of time, too many obligations, stress, etc. The last thing I would want is for you to feel stressed with doing a program you can’t complete. 

This is why I want to offer you another option that is non-fasting but is based on a highly anti-inflammatory diet combined with a few amino acids, vitamins, liver, and gallbladder nutrients to support detoxification.

The way to do this cleanse is:

Part 1: Get on a Highly Anti-Inflammatory Diet

This means that during the next 30 days you would need to make these dietary changes:

  • Get off gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, and corn
  • Limit your sugar intake to no more than 20 grams (5 teaspoons), includes sugar found in food
  • Wean yourself off any form of caffeine (coffee, black and green tea, sodas)
  • No alcohol in any form
  • Reduce meat and fish intake to 2 servings per week
  • Incorporate an abundance of green leafy vegetables; at least 4 servings per day; raw or cooked— depending what your body likes better
  • Sip plenty of vegetable broths and herbal teas
  • Drink 16 to 20 ounces of filtered water

Without these diet changes, you won’t enjoy the full benefit of the below Detox Kickstart.

Part 2: Get the Detox Kickstart

The Detox Kickstart contains a 3-part support for detoxification from daily exposure to pollution, toxins, drugs, alcohol, hormones, and chemicals for support during amalgam removal or chelation therapy.

Each packet contains nutrients and amino acids for both phase 1 and phase 2 liver detoxification and antioxidants to protect cells from the free radical damage caused by this detox process.

The packet also contains a liver and gallbladder complex to aid in further breakdown and removal of toxins and binding of the antagonistic hormones.

This complete detox cleanse is great for first-time users or for those that need ongoing support.

Made with non-GMO ingredients. Free of gluten, dairy, soy, yeast, sugar, and colors.

Start off the new year with this detox option. Get the Detox Kickstart here.

Please remember that the effectiveness of the Detox Kickstart will increase significantly when you incorporate the dietary changes.

How Can a Liver Detox Help Your Hormonal Balance?

It may come as a surprise to you that the health and efficiency of your liver is directly co-related with your hormonal balance.

Your liver performs about 200 vital functions, most of which are key for overall health and hormone balance. It metabolizes drugs and alcohol and assimilates and stores fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) and minerals such as iron.

Liver and Your Hormones

The liver converts the inactive T4 thyroid hormone to the active T3 hormone and eliminates fat-soluble toxins such as pesticides, preservatives, food additives, heavy metals, pollutants, plastics, and other environmental chemicals.

The liver also produces bile, which is critical to fat digestion (good fats and cholesterol are the precursors for steroid hormones).

The bile also helps evacuate steroid hormones such as estrogen metabolites, progesterone, and testosterone.

A sluggish liver can be a big contributor to estrogen dominance because of a buildup of harmful estrogenic metabolites that are the leading causes of estrogenic cancers, among other symptoms.

Your liver needs to eliminate metabolized or “used up” hormones to make space for new ones. The liver’s detoxification happens in two phases.

Phase 1, known as “oxidation,” breaks the toxins up into less harmful compounds. Key nutrients needed in phase 1 detoxification are cruciferous vegetables (in a concentrated form they are in a DIM supplement, adequate proteins, vitamin Bs, choline (found in eggs and avocado), magnesium, iron, milk thistle, glutathione, and flavonoids (such as catechins found in green tea).

In phase 2, known as “conjugation,” the toxins are combined with another compound that will safely evacuate them by six detoxification pathways. Vitamins B6 and B12, folate, and beets (root and leaves) support the methylation pathway that clears estrogen, dopamine, histamine, and heavy metals.

Sulfur, found in cruciferous vegetables, onion, garlic, and eggs, supports the sulfation pathway that clears estrogens, progesterone, thyroid hormones, DHEA, melatonin, histamine, and dopamine. In a supplemental form, it comes in the form of MSM

The other detoxification pathways are supported by compounds such as glycine (found in bone broth), calcium, magnesium, vitamin B, d-limonene (found in citrus peel), vitamin C, selenium, milk thistle, and N-acetylcysteine (NAC; the precursor for glutathione, the master detoxifier) to clear a myriad of hormones, neurotransmitters, and toxins, including bacteria, parasites, heavy metals, and pesticides.

Calcium d-glucarate contains highly bio-available glucaric acid needed by the glucuronation pathway which clears estrogens, cortisol, androgens, NSAIDs (aspirin, Tylenol, etc) and benzodiazepines (anti-depressants). 

Molybdenum (also found in the Detox Kickstart) is an important compound that helps produce a few enzymes; including aldehyde oxidase & Aldehyde dehydrogenase which help the liver in neutralizing and evacuating the yeast, candida, mold, and alcohol.

We use molybdenum glycinate—the most bioavailable form of molybdenum. The bounded glycine helps with sleep and provides a calm feeling.

If either of the detoxification phases is not working well, you will experience compromised detoxification and hormonal imbalances.

The Detox Kickstart from Wellena has been formulated in a way that supports both the detoxification pathways (hence your hormones) and bile production (one packet contains ox bile).

The Detox Kickstart contains the key amino acids (glycine, NAC, glutamine), vitamins (C, B6 and B12), minerals (zinc, selenium, calcium d-glucarate, sulfur in MSM form ), and herbs (such as beets, artichoke, milk thistle) to help with Phase I and II liver detoxification pathways and the production of bile (which binds harmful hormones).

If you have no time to do a semi-/fasting detox, then the Detox Kickstart (+ diet changes) can be a great way to amplify your liver detox.

To learn more about how to balance your hormones with supplements (and which to take), you can download our FREE Supplement Guide here.

2 Comments to 6 Ways to Evaluate a Detox Program

  1. Hello!!
    I purchased your book recently. I am a vegetarian. I would like to know how substitutions would work in your recipes.

  2. Hi Chitra,
    Much of the cookbook is plant based but Magdalena does use animal ingredients. For those that are easily substituted like duck fat or ghee you could use coconut oil. For the meat based recipes, your substitutions would depend on whether you are following the Elimination Diet or a particular protocol. You might find that sticking to the veggie based recipes is the easiest approach. – Lori HB team

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *