The Tummy Whisperer

S2: EP 3 - Detox Done Right: Breathing, Digestion & Daily Habits That Heal

• Renee Barasch

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Feeling sluggish, bloated, or just “off”? In this episode, Renee Barish, your Tummy Whisperer, breaks down the facts and myths around detoxification—and why digestion is the key to true cleansing. From simple breathing exercises you can do at a stoplight, to lemon water rituals, gentle lymph movement, and anti-inflammatory eating, Renee shares practical ways to support your liver, kidneys, and lymph every single day. She also tackles common skin issues, hydration struggles, and explains why sweating, movement, and mindful eating windows are your body’s best detox allies. If you’ve ever wondered whether you need a detox, how to do it safely, or why quick cleanses can make you feel worse, this episode gives you the tools to reset without the overwhelm. 


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For a FREE Gut Health consultation, visit us at  https://thetummywhisperer.com/.

Contact Renee:
Email: Nhsolutions@sbcglobal.net

Speaker 1:

Here we are and we're live. Thanks as always, janine. Welcome everybody to the Tummy Whisperer podcast. I am your Tummy Whispering host, renee Barish. I'm excited to be here with everybody today, on this beautiful day today. What kind of weather do you have in Florida?

Speaker 2:

It's summer weather in Florida tends to rain every day at the end of the day, but right now it's beautiful.

Speaker 1:

Okay, we'll take it. We'll take it. Yeah, we're getting that kind of really cold overnight where it's trying to move into the fall weather, but then still sunny and hot during the day. So I'm still waking up early to walk the dog and get him his three miles and he's been passed out ever since we got back. But it's good he's sleeping.

Speaker 1:

Yeah he's such a good boy. Well, I'm excited to be here with everybody today. I wonder how everybody's doing. I know, for everybody watching, you've got questions scrolling in your mind. And today we're going to talk about a really fun subject, something that most people are aware of and familiar with and most people not quite sure how to step into it. We're going to talk about digestion and detoxification, because they go hand in hand. So a lot of people will find me they'll call me thinking that they need a good detox because they feel awful. And while that's not completely wrong, detox is okay.

Speaker 1:

There's a lot of information out there. That and a lot of detox is a lot of things you can buy, but you don't know what's right for you. And I want to kind of go through some of these facts and myths about detoxification, what it means, what it can look like in terms of just eating the right foods and digesting it properly. That in and of itself is detoxifying, and we're going to try to kind of like pick apart these sort of different segments of detoxification. So I think how we'll start is you know, how do you know if you need to detoxify? I'm just going to go out on a limb and say everybody needs gentle cleansing for their organs, their lymph, their liver, their kidneys. What is a good way to detoxify? There's a million things that you can do that are free, like breathing, for now, until I start charging us for air. So breathing is a great way to detoxify.

Speaker 1:

So what I recommend for my clients is, even after a meal or when you can take 30 seconds and just take a deep breath in and lift your chin up. You're going to open up that rib cage and then you exhale. When you drop, the chin Starts to open up the neck, it starts to open up the cranial lymphatic pump, it starts to open up the rib cage. So you have better digestion and you don't have to do that after mealtime. It's helpful for good digestion. But you can do that first thing in the morning. You can do it in your car at a stoplight. You literally can do it up. Am I missing you? Oh, there you are. Okay, you can do it in your car at a stoplight. You can just take one minute at home and just start your day with three, four deep breaths in, inhaling chin up, exhale, chin down, and you can use your own rate of respiration whatever feels good. So that's one way to start just kind of grounding yourself and detoxifying.

Speaker 1:

Another way to detoxify is a little warm lemon water with a little salt. In the morning that's a great way to give the liver a little gentle push. And just a little pinch of salt, a little squeeze of lemon, a little warm water, just half a coffee cup full. Sip it slowly, do your breathing. You've already started a bigger detox than you can take with any other supplements. Truly because you're using your body's own natural resources, your electrolytes, your salt, your water things that your body needs and is made of right. So that's a good way to start in terms of what can you do to detoxify Breathing, moving, walking.

Speaker 1:

If you have a little rebounder at home, that's also a good way to kind of move your lymph. There's a lot of devices that move lymph. There's so many things that move the lymph, but anything is helpful. Another thing that we look at for detoxification is proper diet and digestion. That's one of the things that back up our organs of detoxification the kidneys, the liver, the lymph. If we're not digesting an anti-inflammatory diet, we're backing up those on-ramps on the expressway where we need all the traffic to be moving. So in the job of the kidney. The kidney's job is to clean and filter the blood seven to 10 times an hour. It's a very busy organ. Well, what happens when there's undigested food particles, bacteria, toxins, pollutants in the environment, in your beauty products, all the things that the kidney cannot filter out? We get a backup in the kidney. What does the backup in the kidney look like? Could look like dark circles under the eyes, could look like nausea, could look like a little bit of skin inflammation. There's a lot of things related to how the kidney gets backed up.

Speaker 1:

Fast forward to the liver. The liver is not just an organ of detoxification. It's an organ of digestion. The liver is responsible for making the bile. The bile is what squirts and regulates by the gallbladder. The gallbladder regulates. It helps degrease and digest our fats. Putting in those fats are helpful, but if we can't digest them, we're going to back up the liver. So you guys see where I'm going with this. It's kind of a cat chasing its tail. How do we know if we have liver insufficiency and liver backup? Dr Anneke Vandenbroek, first order of business your skin. Your skin is your emergency exit for the liver If you have eczema, psoriasis, rashes, hives, zits, fungus all that, anything related to your skin, your nails, your toenails, you know that the liver is overwhelmed and we need to change that garbage liner.

Speaker 1:

You wouldn't leave your garbage can in your kitchen full for years and if you would, I'm never coming to your house. So we have to do the same thing for our liver, and one of the ways we help the liver is by digesting a good anti-inflammatory diet. Of course you guys knew I'd relate this back to digestion, because if you're putting in things the body can't digest, of course I've just painted a picture for you of what happens with the liver and the kidneys. Now let's take it a step farther. If the liver and kidneys are already backed up, the lymph system is going to start to get involved and some people can feel swollen lymph nodes and that's where your bad stuff is heading. If you're swollen in the lymph, you're heading toward a bad diagnosis that you don't want to hear from your doctor.

Speaker 1:

So breathing, walking, moving, digesting a good anti-inflammatory diet, keeping that lymphatic system moving and clean, keeping that liver clean, is helpful. I mentioned how to clean the lymph earlier. I I mentioned breathing, walking, moving arm raises. If you want to actually accentuate that breathing exercise I gave you in the beginning of the podcast. When you take your breath in chin up, you can bring your arms up and then, when you exhale, bring your arms down, so you're making a half snow angel. So inhale up, exhale down, making a half snow angel. So inhale up, exhale down, use your own rate of respiration.

Speaker 1:

It does not have to be slow. It can be slow if you enjoy that. I find some people get a little dizzier if they do it too fast. But you don't have to do it super slow. Find your speed and don't over hyperextend your neck. Go to your comfort level of where your neck can just slightly your chin can move up. If your neck is stiff like mine, you need your chiropractor. I'm going tomorrow, anyway. So those are physical things as well.

Speaker 1:

A lot of people will look at doing cleanses. You know I love the Olaveda, the IO1 and the I70. It's probably next on your list, janine, for gentle liver, lymph kidney cleansing, not so much a hard, heavy hit of detoxification, but you want to cleanse your organs. Every day you wash your face every day, you shower at least hopefully a few times a week. You cleanse your skin. You want to cleanse your organs as well, and those are a great way to do it. So what I do in the morning, I make Mark and I our little shots with our lemon water, our salt, the IO1, the I-70, and we just drink it down If we have time, do our breathing, and it's a great way to just cleanse the organs, and cleansing is very, very important.

Speaker 1:

So if people are thinking about doing like a parasite cleanses detoxification, you always want to make sure that what I'm talking about here is in place, because if you start trying to detoxify, if you're still eating a diet that isn't being digested properly and you have a microbiome that's out of whack, you're going to feel awful. And I can't tell you how many times in 22 years people have come to me saying you know, I did a detox and I felt worse, and they did it because they felt bad and they thought they'd feel better. But because we didn't have a good anti-inflammatory diet in place and digesting it properly, they felt awful and you can detoxify too quickly. You really want to? Yeah, go ahead, janine.

Speaker 2:

I have a question because I've always had skin issues my whole life. Is that because I'm not drinking enough water?

Speaker 1:

That's one of the reasons, and what would you say your skin issues are.

Speaker 2:

And what would you say your skin issues are? I get a little bit of acne, but I've always had that. I mean, I'm 43 years old and I'll still get zits if I I mean I still get a little bit of nothing like rosacea. I don't have a skin disorder, but I've always had pimples and blackheads and my skin's never been where I want it to be.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I know the topical olivate is better. It's helping, but you're still getting little breakouts here and there.

Speaker 2:

And I know I don't drink enough water, I just know it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you know what you could do. You can get. I'll have to order you my favorite electrolytes and they'll make you drink water, because usually one of the reasons people don't't drink water because boring like it doesn't taste like anything you're not inclined to drink it. I love water. It's probably a job hazard for me, but I also like to put my little electrolytes in and it makes me drink more water. So that is definitely something for you to look at. But two for you, janine, probably liver. Do you find that it's like around hormonal time or is it not necessary? You're not really sure both oh, in between.

Speaker 2:

So ovulation more so, ovulation more so. Uh, more so at that time.

Speaker 1:

But yeah, I mean the hormones are definitely shifting. At ovulation and menstruation I mean there's a. There's a dip and a plummet and a peak and a steady, and I mean there's a. You know there's an ebb and flow for sure, but if it's really for sure peaking for you at menstruation and ovulation time, I can already tell you that the liver is overwhelmed and hydration would be a great way for you to move into getting some of that stuff moved out, and the IO1 and the I7 would be great for you. We'll talk when we're done, see if we can get a balance you out, carry on, carry on. Well, I'll carry on.

Speaker 1:

So, in terms of diet again, everybody finds their sweet spot for what is good for your diet, myself included. It's like you know, I've been eating a little bit more dairy lately, for whatever reason. My body's wanting it. I'm I like to intuitively eat and also be respectful of what I know is going to be okay for me and I've been feeling just fine, so I'm grateful there. We'll kind of see what blood work shows in a month or two. But use your intuition and your guidance and if you're not sure what to eat and you're not sure what any of this looks like in terms of wanting to feel better. Of course I'm always available. You guys can find me at thetummywhisperercom.

Speaker 1:

And there's so many moving parts to healthier living and it really starts with just one thing. And if you can start with one thing and make it a habit by taking a couple deep breaths after a meal, you know it could be a conversation starter. Can you imagine being at a restaurant and then all of a sudden, what are you doing? Digesting my food better? It is just a way to help the body open up those detoxification pathways. The best way to open up detoxification pathways are movement, breathing, hydration, good digesting. Course everybody knows I'm a fan of supplements. The right ones at the right time Doesn't have to be a big, ginormous cleanse. When I do get my stool test results back from my clients, we certainly do work on cleansing because I'll see how backed up the liver is from the stool test in terms of the microbiome and in terms of what's not moving. So it's cool because we add in liver sauce, a product called liver sauce. We add in things to help the liver push those things out, metabolites that we see on testing that are causing more liver backup.

Speaker 1:

So remember all the environmental pollutants, air purifiers. In fact I just got the Wellis air purifier Just got it last week and I've had the big, expensive ones that work fine. They're HEPA filters but they're loud and I'm glad that I'm breathing cleaner air but the noise factor is a little bit of a deterrent. So I love the Welles Air brand. It was developed by Suzanne Summers' son, who I have a lot of respect for. Suzanne Summers she was a wonderful advocate for good health. She made her product line. I never had the Thighmaster but I could probably use it now. But she was really a real pioneer for good, healthy products and I liked a lot of the stuff that she had for people to have healthier living.

Speaker 1:

So the Wallace air purifier it's small, maybe this big. It's quiet and it mimics what you would feel in a forest, because it mimics that hydroxyl ion that you get coming off of leaves in the forest and what I've noticed is even downstairs. So I have it downstairs. It covers about a thousand square feet. When I go downstairs the air feels really thin. I don't feel like there's any particulate in the air. It's nice, you know. So I'm saving for one up here because I got my big HEPA ones up here, but I'd like those to filter the dust particles. Do you notice?

Speaker 1:

any difference with the filters. This Wellis one I do and my ion filters I I do. So I have both. Um, but I do love that wellis, wellis, um, wellis brand and I think I actually have a coupon link. We could put it in the. I'll text it to you and you can throw it in the comments there. Um, but yeah, wellis is a great company, breathing clean air guys. That's a. It's it critical.

Speaker 1:

It's hard to do these days we're just surrounded by all the things all the stuff in the sky, all the stuff on the ground, all the roundup, all the pollutants, all the chemicals, all the construction. Mark and I were just driving home yesterday around Route 12, and we see this big black cloud and Mark said do you know what that is, mark? My husband and I looked up. I said no, and he said because there's no wind. That black cloud is all the car pollution collecting right above us. And then right in front of us was the diesel truck. Everybody hates diesel, right. It smells disgusting, it's gross, and the truck just let out a plume of smoke that was like in the car for almost five minutes. I was so happy I didn't have the dog with me and I was almost going to turn off the road and like go a different direction, because I can't stand that stuff and it's really hard on your body. So an indoor air is super polluted. I was talking about outdoor air, but people mostly are indoors. So if you can have clean air indoors, you're really helping your detoxification pathways. So just to recap, we've covered a lot of things Better detoxification through better digestion, moving, breathing, walking.

Speaker 1:

Smaller meals can also be helpful too, not having such a big meal and really I'm really trying to be fanatical about this one. Give yourself two to three hours. Three hours at least two is okay from your last meal till the time you go to bed. If you need a little tiny piece of fruit before bed, that's totally okay, like a hard-boiled. If you wake up with a blood sugar issue and you need a little protein, that's fine.

Speaker 1:

But your last chewing meal should be three hours or more. Two hours is okay. Eating right before bed is the worst. So that makes for bad cortisol shifts and poor sleep and just dysregulation throughout the body. So it's another thing that you can do to help your body detoxify is giving yourself a nice eating window between your last meal and bed and even resting your digestive system in the morning, if you're not really hungry, a very small intermittent fast could work as well too, and that could look like maybe a 12-hour fast. If you go to bed at 9.30 and you wake up at 7, don't eat till 9.30. If you can go longer in a 14-hour fast, that's great. Doing that a couple of days a week would really give your digestive system a rest, which also, in turn, rests the rest of your detoxification pathways, because you're not asking your organs to try to metabolize and filter all the debris from what we eat. Anyway, that was a lot to unpack today.

Speaker 2:

It's a lot, and when you detox too, you know you sweat is an integral part of that.

Speaker 1:

Oh, yeah, yeah, oh, big time. I mean, sweating is great. I can't believe I even forgot about that. Saunas they make sauna blankets you can lay. It looks like a sleeping bag. You can just lay in your sauna for half an hour and sweat to the oldies. My hot flashes for menopause have been like my own form of detox. That's been great. Every time I have a hot wash I'm like I'm detoxifying as I'm sweating. I love it. But yeah, sweating is great. If you do some sweating, make sure you're rinsing off with a cool water afterwards. Sweating is great. One of the best ways you can detoxify for sure Probably the best way via sweating for sure. Yeah, well, as always, this has been fun.

Speaker 1:

Um, short but sweet today, cause we don't want to hit detoxification, you know, over the head with a hammer. It's something that you kind of want to lean into. You want to kind of give yourself the idea of what it looks like to detoxify and start with very small baby steps. Just the intention of detoxification is also helpful too. If you kind of just set your intention for a clean body, you know you naturally your body will just want to follow suit. So you can put on a little bit of ambient music or a little meditation, whatever you like.

Speaker 1:

Give yourself permission and a moment to sit, breathe before you answer that next email, before you check your text message, before you figure out what the heck's for dinner. Right, I'm talking about me and everybody that I'm talking to. Right, give yourself permission to take a moment. It's critical. We're in overdrive all the time. Our bodies can't get a rest and we need it for better health. So, with that, I hope everybody takes some time to breathe, drink a little more water, use your electrolytes, get sweating, walking and moving and, of course, if anybody has any questions, I'm always here, remember to follow, like and share.

Speaker 2:

Go to the Tummy Whisperer. You can find her on all platforms Apple, spotify or wherever you digest your digital content.

Speaker 1:

I see what you did there, Isn't that great. Thank you, Janine. You're welcome. Take care everybody. We'll see you soon.