10 Detox Plants for a Natural Body Detox: Best Plants to Cleanse Your Body

Heather Campbell
 min read

With people seeking to detox naturally, detox plants are regaining their popularity.

10 Detox Plants for a Natural Body Detox: Best Plants to Cleanse Your BodyThe arrival of good weather is often a prompt for an internal and external clean-up of ourselves.

As a general rule, spring and fall are often ideal to start detoxing to eliminate toxins and get our bodies ready for a fresh start. Detox plants are usually available in herbal teas, ampoules, or capsules, and some of them may already form part of your daily diet.

Adopting a healthy lifestyle accompanied by physical exercise and a hypotoxic diet are suitable bases to start this detox cure.

Moreover, you can also accompany it with simple and natural detoxifying elements such as charcoal, clay, or plants.

Detox plants: Introduction

Our body has organs whose role is to filter and eliminate the toxins and waste that we absorb daily.

These organs are called emunctories, including the liver, intestines, lungs, kidneys, and skin.

In fact, each emunctory is responsible for eliminating one or more types of waste.

However, sometimes the latter becomes saturated and no longer allows for the effective removal of undesirable elements.

In this case, a detox cure can be helpful! Many plants are both draining and detoxifying.

In addition, some plants are simply found in everyday food, such as artichoke, black radish, or fennel.

This article will discover the best detox plants that will allow you to reset your body to “zero.”

Why use plants to detoxify your body?

Several detox cures range from juice cures to forming part of intermittent fasting or even mono diets.

In addition, some cures include the consumption of herbal teas or the taking of food supplements.

Infusions are less concentrated than food supplements and offer the advantage of a gentle and light detox, ideal for purifying the body and perfect as a skin detox as well.

Food supplements can contain a single plant or several for a more effective synergy of plants, depending on your needs.

In naturopathy, before embarking on a detox, we advise you to first define your vital energy level to not tire the body.

Generally, it is not recommended to drain all five emunctories simultaneously but target them according to your problems.

For example, if you have transit problems, choosing plants known to clean the intestines would be helpful.

Often, the liver is also targeted in detox to improve digestion. Indeed, it is the most critical emunctory in our body!

Some plants can target only one emunctory or several.

What are the best plants to detoxify the liver?

There are two types of depurative plants to detoxify the liver:

Plants that promote liver regeneration

These plants are recommended for people with a diseased liver, such as hepatitis or cirrhosis.

They can also be helpful to support the liver during cancer chemotherapy without the risk of weakening the effects.

Milk thistle, desmodium, and Chrysanthellum americanum are all plants that promote liver regeneration.

Bitter plants that facilitate digestion

These plants increase the production of digestive juices, bile, and pancreatic juice and support the gallbladder’s action when it contracts to release bile.

Foods that facilitate digestion include asparagus, artichokes, celery, endive, and black radish.

We recommend artichoke leaves, dandelion, boldo, fumitory, lime sapwood, and rosemary among the bitter plants.

The best detox and purifying plants

Detox plants are often offered in capsules, ampoules, or candy.

They can be a great help if you want to detoxify your body, whether during a change of season or after a period of overeating.

Taken as a cure, these plants help you find lightness, digest better, and boost your vitality naturally.

Here is a list of plants to adopt in a detox cure:

Black radish helps the normal functioning of the liver

Star of the detox and depurative plants, the black radish has, like the artichoke, an action on the liver by facilitating bile secretion.

It helps to maintain the normal functioning of the liver but also to evacuate residues of drugs, pollutants, and alcohol.

Because of its choleretic action, black radish also facilitates digestion and increases intestinal motility for better transit.

Nettle as a diuretic and purifying plant

Suppose you want a detox cure focused on the kidneys. In that case, nettle is one of the most recommended plants to eliminate toxins, liquids and other waste present in your body while fighting against water retention.

Nettle also positively affects the skin’s beauty thanks to its detoxifying and purifying properties.

It is ideal if you have combination skin, oily and prone to imperfections.

This plant also has diuretic and depurative properties, therefore, it is recommended during detox cures.

Nettle is mainly consumed in the form of capsules or cooked in soups.

The nettle loses all its sting when cooked.

Dandelion is a purifying plant

Rich in lactones and potassium, dandelion has diuretic properties that help prevent kidney problems.

We advise this plant in detox to stimulate and calm the liver and find comfort in case of difficult digestion.

To boost its properties, combine it with black radish or milk thistle.

Birch as juice or sap

In the spring, birch is often consumed in juice and is one of the most used plants in detox. It is known for its diuretic properties, which help eliminate winter toxins.

In gemmotherapy, we can also find the buds of birch, which have all the plant’s virtues.

They are recommended to strengthen the body’s purification capacities and prevent gallstones’ formation.

Burdock for beautiful skin

Suppose you have skin problems like acne or psoriasis. In that case, burdock has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that will help improve the appearance of your skin.

Depurative and detoxifying, this plant is used in infusion as in food complement for a cure detox on measure.

Fennel for digestive well-being

Fennel is widely used to help support digestion. Indeed, in phytotherapy, fennel is used to fight against digestive disorders such as bloating and help open the appetite.

In detox, fennel is often associated with other plants for more global action.

Cherry stems for detox and slimming

Combine a balanced diet, physical activity and cherry stems. You will eliminate toxins and waste from your body while losing weight naturally!

The cherry stems are consumed in infusion or maceration. They offer slimming and diuretic properties ideal for finding lightness after a period of food excess.

Peppermint for good digestion

To support the proper functioning of the liver and intestines, peppermint is one of the most effective plants! Indeed, it is consumed in infusion or in the form of essential oil.

Peppermint drains the liver while promoting bile secretion, which helps eliminate toxins more efficiently. Its benefits on the transit are advised after a food excess.

Artichoke for digestive disorders

Used in the kitchen, the artichoke is a formidable plant to help promote digestion and regulate transit.

Indeed, it has choleretic and cholagogic properties, which stimulate the secretion and elimination of bile.

The artichoke has a draining action that is also appreciated when one wishes to lose weight or maintain it.

Meadowsweet for kidneys and slimming

Often used in phytotherapy, meadowsweet has many active ingredients, including salicylic acid, flavonoids, tannins, vitamin C, and iron.

In detox, it will be used to contribute to the good functioning of the kidneys thanks to its diuretic properties and to find comfort in case of gastric disorders.

Like cherry stems, it is also believed to have slimming properties that help fight against water retention and cellulite formation.

How to use detox plants?

These plants are available in different galenic forms in the trade, i.e., in herbal teas, ampoules, or capsules.

Mother tinctures are not recommended because they contain alcohol, which is toxic to the liver. Ideally, infusions are preferred.

To be effective, these herbal teas should be taken as a one-month treatment, with two to three cups in the morning and evening and before meals.

Two cures a year can be carried out to prevent liver disorders, preferably in spring and autumn.

Example of a detox recipe

Here is a detox recipe for a three-week treatment to prepare:

  • Mix 1.7 oz of lime sapwood, 1.7 oz of rosemary leaves and 1.7 oz of dandelion leaves.
  • Allow 1 tablespoon of this mixture for every 85 oz. cup of liquid.
  • Pour cold water and the plants into a pot.
  • Boil covered for 7 minutes.
  • Remove from heat and let infuse for 12 minutes before straining.

Precautions when taking detox plants

In times of crisis, people suffering from gallstones should avoid plants that act on bile production.

However, to prevent recurrences, lime tree sapwood can be helpful.

After removing the gallbladder, it is better not to exceed two cups of depurative infusion per day.

Detox plants: Conclusion

There are many natural solutions to eliminate toxins from our bodies and facilitate digestion.

Indeed, detox plants in infusions or food supplements seem to be good ways to put our bodies on a good footing!

However, it is essential to permanently adopt a healthy lifestyle by combining a healthy and balanced diet with regular physical activity during detox.

Of course, before using these plants, it is always recommended to ask for advice from a specialist in order to know the adequate dosage.

About Heather Campbell

As a nutritionist, my field of specialization is science-based nutritional advice but more importantly, it is my goal to share capturing and inspiring stories, examples and solutions which can help plus-size individuals overcome their specific difficulties. Read More