Why Your Body is Asking You for Help to Detoxify?

I thought I’d say hi after a long busy summer which I am sure it was the same for you. I woke up early morning the other day. You know those early mornings before the sun rises and I noticed something peculiar. I noticed that the constellation Orion is visible in the sky. For those who don’t know, Orion is a winter constellation (in the northern hemisphere) only visible in the winter months.

While I looked up at the quiet blissful sky, I also started having this bitter sweet sinking feeling because although I love autumn, I also could not believe that summer is nearly over. How fast the summer season can come and go. Those barbecues and pool parties seem like they can go forever yet we are ever reminded of the inevitable. Wether its the leaves that are starting to change their colours or the cool pervasive winds bringing cool nights. Wether we like it or not, summer is coming to an end ushering a new season for all of us. We can see this in nature and also in our bodies.

Today is a special day not only because are we having a full blood moon but we are also having a total lunar eclipse. To me, the timing of this event  represents the end of the peak of the summer as it begins to plateau and slowly wane just like the moon ushering the autumn season as we approach the equinox.

As we plunge into the autumn season, I would like to invite you to pay careful attention to the needs of your body. Perhaps it is getting harder to keep your energy up and is needing more caffeine to keep you awake. This could be a sign of the body’s natural desire to sync with the seasons.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), “late summer” is its own season. It is associated with the earth element and the spleen organ. Earth being dry signifying the end of the growth period into a plateau which is why we can sometimes feel stuck during this time. The spleen organ in TCM  is responsible for our digestion cand the emotions of worry. This is why when we are worried or anxious we may have certain cravings… especially for sweet things to help soothe our racing minds. Your mind may jump from one thing to another, having a difficult time staying focused. As a result of the excessive worry, the digestion is almost always affected. Many people with a “spleen qi deficiency” will tend to experience digestive concerns such as loose stools, gas and bloating or alternating diarrhea with constipation. If you are experiencing these symptoms, they can be synonimous with an imbalance in the spleen qi which is prevalent during this time. The excess indulgence during the summer vacations does not help either! Which is why this is the perfect time to take the body into a “detox”.

As a naturopathic doctor, it is my job to help people get through this time of the year by supporting the detoxification organs of the body. The body handles  the toxins we put into it by separating it from the “good stuff” and does it best to remove it from our body. The organs responsible for this process are the liver, kidneys, lungs and even our skin. During “normal conditions” the body can usually do its job without even us thinking about it! Sometimes however the body can get overwhelmed when we have put too much toxins in our body. This could be because we drank too much, we ate too much unhealthy food, we might have breathed in chemicals such as during a smoggy day from forest fires. Toxins are found everywhere, even places we don’t expect such as the plastic shower curtain. All these accumulation of toxins in the body results in a “toxic load” which overtime begins to affect our endocrine system such as our metabolism and ability to gain or lose weight, our hormones such as our ability to be fertile and have a baby and even affect our mood.

This is why I encourage detoxing at least once or twice a year to help the body rid itself of the “toxic load” it has accumulated over the “fun months”. There are many ways to do this and I am happy to take you through the method that best suits you.

If you are curious about how you can support your body through detoxes, feel free to book a free 15 minute consultation through the link below.

To conclude, I would like to leave you with a list of the “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean 16” which you can take with you the next time you go the grocery store to help you determine which foods are recommended to be eaten organic because they are usually cultivated with the heavy use of pesticides.

P.S Stay tuned for the next newsletter which will arrive to you on September 21st. The autumn equinox. If you find these newsletters helpful, please share them with your friends who you think would benefit and encourage them to subscribe. Please mark my email as “not spam” so that you can receive the content. I spend a great deal of care in writing them in the hopes that they can be a resource for you.

Thats all for now, take care and be gentle with your bodies.

With love,
Dr. Hiraya 💋

🚫 Dirty Dozen (Most Pesticide-Contaminated)

These are the 12 fruits and vegetables with the highest pesticide residues—even after washing:

1. Spinach

2. Strawberries

3. Kale, Collards & Mustard Greens

4. Grapes

5. Peaches

6. Cherries

7. Nectarines

8. Pears

9. Apples

10. Blackberries (new this year)

11. Blueberries

12. Potatoes (new this year)2

🧠 Note: Bell peppers, hot peppers, and green beans were just outside the Dirty Dozen—so consider buying those organic too.

✅ Clean 16 (Least Pesticide-Contaminated)

These are the safest conventionally grown fruits and veggies with little to no detectable pesticide residue:

1. Avocados

2. Sweet Corn

3. Pineapples

4. Onions

5. Papayas

6. Sweet Peas (frozen)

7. Asparagus

8. Honeydew Melon

9. Kiwi

10. Cabbage

11. Mushrooms

12. Mangoes

13. Watermelon

14. Carrots

15. Bananas (new this year)

16. Cauliflower (new this year)