Whether it is the beginning of the year or a new season or you’re listening later to this episode, cleanses and detoxes are prevalent topics. Do you need a detox? I may have answered that very differently 10 years ago. This episode follows two recent episodes on detox and answers some of the questions from our community about what it is why it might be needed and it’s not what you think.   But once you know something you can’t go back. In the last two years, I’ve done 3 liver detoxes. I have a recent episode on biohacking, and admit I have disliked the word hacking forever. Yet, many of us are biohacking as we gain insight into the what and why of the body. We didn’t label it.  We do elimination diets, we sauna, steam, sweat, and those all help us naturally detox. But does the body need a detox boost from time to time? And if so why?  Why am I answering this question? Because when a woman asks, why am I gaining weight when I’m doing everything right? Or someone asks why they can’t lose weight… I’ve had to have an explanation for that.  While the After 50 Fitness Formula and Flipping 50 methodologies taken from science can support an updated version of “healthy for you” that replaces healthy for all, there are stubborn cases. I’ve witnessed them for 40 years. And would say, I’ve had to solve my own mysteries along the way-  this last 5 years more than ever. Many fitness pros do and it’s what leads them to the Flipping 50 Menopause Fitness Specialist. Questions We Answer in This Episode: What is detox? Do you need a detox? What could interfere with natural detox?  How can we support our natural body detox processes? What is a detox experience like?  Is there a difference between a cleanse and a detox? What is Detox? A process of clearing toxins out of the body. The body does it well automatically. Except at a tipping point.  Tipping points are one cause of cancer. Combine genetics, and don’t blame your parents – we all have potential cancerous cells within us but they don’t all express – with two other factors.. The saying goes, genetics may load the gun but  lifestyle habits pull the trigger. And the environment is the third. So consider this, maybe genetically you’re more predisposed. Your environment is contaminated, because say you live in a location where air quality or water quality is loaded with heavy metals and weren’t aware of it. And let’s say in effort to do the right thing you clean within an inch of your life and always have. But if this was true before toxin-free products were even discussed and you’ve used all kinds of products promoted to kill germs, eliminate odors, sanitize your kitchen where you eat, the bathtub where you and your family bathe. This could be enough to reach a tipping point. When families endure cancer, they begin to learn this.  Often before that, we ignore or figure that it’s just someone trying to sell us a product or service. We collectively ridicule something that we aren’t ready to accept. If it’s too far from beliefs we’ve always had, it feels threatening. That’s often the human reaction to something. Judgment. Skepticism. To anything that makes us uncomfortable with knowledge we thought we had, about habits we thought were good. When those  are challenged we first get defensive. Curiosity isn’t unfortunately our first response.  But the heavy metals in your fillings, from tuna or other fish high in mercury, in drinking water; chemicals in cleaning products, hair and body products, things we’ve thought were good like fluoride in drinking water… and the BPA in plastics we all not only ate food or drank from but often also microwaved food in and stored it for days in the refrigerator. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Toxins make fat loss hard and are hormone disruptors. Tweet What Could Interfere with Natural Detox?  Your body can deal with toxins. But one way is removing them from your bloodstream and storing them in fat. That makes fat loss hard as the