Sweating, Detox and Exercise

DETOX! I keep wondering about a detox, especially when am working away from home and my eating habits tend to go by the way side. Note my "way side" is eating bread, diary products, much more meat than usual, quick foods like chips and biscuits ...

I say this is way side eating as I have changed my eating habits mostly, eating far more salad, fish and drinking plenty of water. This summer was able to grow my own rocket, pak choi, broccoli, tomatoes, beet root, zucchini, beans, and other types of salad leaves.

I have been feasting on salads and my skin has improved significantly. Less skin droppings on the bed; smoother softer skin; less moisturising components being rubbed on. I believe this is partly due to my change in eating.

Sweat, Exercise and Toxins

To me these observations indicate that there are toxins that are being produced. Sweating is a way of bringing these toxins to the surface. The only other way to rid the body of toxins is by the normal toilet method!

When I exercise, I go for a good sweat out. Unfortunately when the skin becomes hot, it becomes irritated. The sweat also has a dehydrating effect and so the itch comes back hard and fast during and after exercise. A cold shower seems to be the best relief I can get. After exercise, my nights are more restful with very little itching.

However, in summer I also observed, for the first time I did not always itch during and after exercise. The sweat appeared and zero itch. This appeared to happen when had been eating salad for at least one meal for a week! My eating discipline was also better, with less saturated fat type foods (such as biscuit and cakes) going into my system.

Saunas: I have read that saunas are suppose to be better than exercise in removing toxins. I have tried saunas and have found they have had a lesser effect compared to exercise. This might be due in part to the release of endorphines with exercise and the known fact that exercise reduces tension and anxiety. Saunas, although they give me a good sweat out, does not reduce my tension and anxiety like exercise.

So I ask myself:are toxins responsible for triggering/inducing eczema?

From observations internal and external toxins can irritate the eczema areas, and so certainly the reduction of toxins can help in reducing the itch cycle, as well as produce an overall "well being" feeling. In part toxins produce "stress" within our bodies and our bodies react by itching.

For example: People I know who suffer from eczema have found having an enema has helped to reduce eczematic symptoms.

So I assume that my liver and kidney functions might not be processing toxins as well as they can. Some foods that produce toxins within us are not being removed as quickly as I would hope. However, this is only part of the picture. I'll be back to write more, but think I need to go for an enema first!

The Environmental Itch

I wonder if the chemicals we pollute our air with have caused more people in the Western world to suffer from more ailments. We see an increase in sensitivities such as with eczema and asthma.

With respect to eczema, I notice that either external factors or internal factors can make me itch.

Food

Yesterday I ate a piece of lotus seed cake. The reaction was very quick. The left hand side of me began to niggle and then the itch soon became intense. So intense that if I did not do something about it, I would have gouged out my eye and dug holes into my skin.

Antihistamine time plus 1 litre of water to dilute whatever toxin was trying to come out plus a cold pack on the itchy areas. I also lay down to calm myself and by the time the itch was over, my head was heavy due to the effects of the antihistamine but at least the itch attack was over.

One reader has reminded me about Liver Detox and I think I will need to schedule this in at some point. Presently I have also been having boils appear all over the body. I thought it might have been shingles but they have been appearing quite dispersed throughout which makes me think my liver and kidney functions are not efficiently removing the toxins my body holds from eating junk food throughout the Christmas period.

For me some foods are fast reacting - the body has an almost immediate response to something it does not like, such as the lotus bean cake, or even MSG (monosodium glutamate) or cherries for me. Others release their toxins slowly as the body breaks down the foods into their respective components.

External Factors

In a dusty environment we all have different reactions. Some will complain about the dust but no reaction happens to them, others will find their eyes streaming and sneeze constantly. When I contact with dust, my skin becomes inflamed and hives appear. Scratch it and I risk:

- infecting my skin

- eczema

Sometimes I can do something about it. This is mostly to wash off the offending substance from my skin immediately and of course not scratch. Other times it is difficult to do anything about it.

Have been in a tropical humid climate for 5 weeks. The first two weeks was terrible. I was flaking, my body was adjusting to the climate change and occasionally no choice but to eat an antihistamine.  Now the skin quality has improved so much and much healing has happened to allow the skin to gain back its protective qualities. However being in airconditioned rooms has a drying effect on me and thus the skin feels irritated unless I am constant apply moisturisers.

In the UK, the heating also sucks up the moisture from my skin. The lack of water vapour in both cases causes itchiness unless moisturisers are constantly applied.

In all cases it is important to keep an awareness of how one's body is reacting to external/internal substances and to do something about it immediately.  Leave it and the substance can have a long lasting effect. 

I had a sports massage in January 2008 and the oils that were applied caused me to feel itchy. I had other things to do, so continued my tasks until 4 hours later. I was really itchy. I tried washing the oils off but my body must have absorbed it by then. I suffered from an all over body eczema and am still healing from it now.