Practical detox guide: The gut

by for the Ageless Team May 12, 2025

For almost a decade at for the Ageless, we've carefully listened to customers to share lifestyle tips and learn about how these affect their health journeys. One thing has become clear: those who nourish themselves well and aim to maintain a low toxic load are healthier and respond more quickly to natural remedies.

Effective detoxification isn't about deprivation or extremes. It’s about practical, sustainable choices that empower your body's natural ability to cleanse and repair.

The goal is to lighten the toxic load, cleanse and nourish gently, giving your liver, kidneys and gut the breathing space they need to thrive.

Our practical detox approach, drawing from years of real-world feedback and expert insights from pioneers in integrative health, features 5 mini-programmes or steps designed to build on each other:

1. Gentle gut cleanse (Weeks 1-4)
2. Targeted liver cleanse (Weeks 5-6)
3. Kidney support (Weeks 7-8)
4. Deeper detox (Week 9)
5. Maintenance (Weeks 10+)

Why a structured detox plan?

A structured detox reduces the incoming load and provides each filter with the necessary nutrients, movement, and rest at the right time.

Your liver, kidneys, gut, lungs, skin and lymph continuously neutralise or shuttle toxins out. Processed foods, synthetic chemicals and modern stress add an extra load on those organs.

Guided by customer results and by the organ-by-organ roadmap laid out by Dr Joseph Pizzorno – a pioneer in environmental medicine and toxicology – in The Toxin Solution, we’ve learnt that a set sequence delivers four clear benefits:

• supporting each organ in turn, avoiding “detox overwhelm”;
• energy and mental clarity rise steadily instead of riding roller-coaster swings;
  
• reducing chronic inflammation, a root driver of many age-related conditions;
• helping new, healthier food preferences take hold.

Remember: if you’re on prescription medicines or have a diagnosed condition, speak with your GP or a qualified nutritional therapist before starting any supplement programme.

Step  1 – Gentle gut cleanse (weeks 1-4)

Your intestinal lining is only one cell thick. Years of consuming gluten, added sugar, seed-oil-rich snacks, and dairy can quickly tighten and loosen these cell “junctions,” but rebuilding them properly can typically take a month. This is why we focus on gently cleansing the gut for a period of four weeks.

In work led by Dr Joe Pizzorno – a pioneer in environmental medicine and toxicology – a colourful, largely organic, allergen-light diet slashed urinary pesticide metabolites by ~90% in two weeks. Our audit of over 500 food diaries showed that inflammation markers dropped by a third simply by eliminating gluten, sugar, dairy, and seed oils for just four weeks.

Additionally, avoid alcohol or any recreational drugs for the full four weeks; this gives the liver room to process stored toxins.

Why do gluten, dairy, sugar and seed oils slow detox?

• Gluten from wheat, rye and barley can loosen the tight junctions that seal the gut wall; this “leakiness” lets unwelcome compounds slip back into the bloodstream and piles extra work on the liver.
• Large hits of added sugar push insulin sharply upward and, over time, reduce glutathione (your master cellular antioxidant) while upsetting the balance of friendly microbes: both changes compromise the gut barrier.
• Common seed oils, such as sunflower and rapeseed oil, are rich in fragile omega-6 fats. Frying or roasting with them creates toxic aldehydes that contribute to your detox load and exacerbate inflammation.
• Many adults have difficulty digesting lactose or react to casein in conventional dairy, and in most cases, they are unaware of this. Dairy intolerance can lead to bloating and ongoing gut inflammation, which slows the repair process.

Considering the above, it is sensible to give gluten, sugar, seeds, oil and dairy a four-week break to let the gut cleanse and heal, allowing the wall to reseal and reduce inflammation as much as possible.

5 keys to cleanse your gut gently

Now that you’ve identified and removed major culprits for inflammation and leakiness from your diet, here are the 5 keys to follow to cleanse your gut gently:

1. Eat organic and eat colourfully

Prioritise organically grown food and aim for approximately 225 g of cruciferous vegetables daily, such as broccoli, kale, cabbage, and watercress.

Their glucosinolates activate phase-II detox enzymes and boost glutathione activity, both essential for priming the gut for cleansing.

2. Respect your circadian clock

Aim to eat at the same times each day, restricting your eating window to at least 10-12 hours.

Once you manage this, you can reduce it further to between 8-10 hours, which researchers led by Prof. Satchin Panda have found is the ideal eating window to provide the body with plenty of time to repair and heal.

Eating with the sun helps your body reset: it supports circadian rhythms, gut repair, and balanced metabolism. Aim to stop eating and drinking (except water) at least 3 hours before bed. This gives your gut time to rest, repair overnight, and lets you wake up with more energy.

3. Hydrate & move

Sip 3-4 litres of filtered water and enjoy a brisk 10-minute walk after each meal to keep your lymphatic system flowing.

We have more than twice as much lymph as blood in the body, and unlike blood, it doesn’t have a pump. It only moves when we do.

Extra hydration is especially important when increasing fibre intake, as water helps fibre sweep and cleanse the gut effectively.

4. Feed & sweep with soluble fibre

Take 6-8g of inulin, acacia or konjac daily. Soluble fibre feeds Bifidobacteria and binds fat-soluble toxins so they exit in the stool.

Be mindful not to overuse insoluble fibres like psyllium husks. While popular, they can be too abrasive for sensitive guts when taken in excess.

5. Targeted support

Raw garlic, goldenseal, a broad-spectrum probiotic, liquorice, and quercetin provide gentle antimicrobial protection and soothe the gut lining: full details are provided in the supplement section below.

2-day sample gut detox meal plan

These two daily menus are just an example of how you could organise your meals during this 4-week period: 

Why these meals matter:

• Warm water plus citrus or sea salt “switches on” digestion and bile flow.
• Protein-rich breakfasts stabilise blood sugar while supplying amino acids the gut lining needs to repair.
• Mid-morning juices and fruit-seed snacks deliver glutamine, sulphur and polyphenols that feed friendly bacteria and calm inflammation.
• Colour-packed lunches add slow-release energy, fibre and minerals, while the afternoon nut-and-tea break brings healthy fats and catechins that guard the gut wall.
• Evenings centre on wild oily fish for anti-inflammatory omega-3 and generous crucifers to nudge detox genes.
• Constant hydration keeps stools soft and helps the kidneys flush water-soluble waste.

Supplements for gut detox

These supplements support a balanced microbiome, a resilient gut barrier and smoother downstream detox work by the liver and kidneys:

*Typical adult dose, adjust if advised by a practitioner. Always follow the label and check with your GP if you take prescribed medicines or have a medical condition. 
**Increase gradually until you reach 5-6g after each meal and work up gradually to avoid bloating.

If you experience strong die-off symptoms (fatigue, headache, bloating), reduce the garlic and goldenseal dose by half, but keep the fibre and water intake high.

Why these supplements matter:

• Soluble fibre acts as a physical “sponge”, trapping fat-soluble toxins that the liver pushes into bile, while simultaneously feeding the very gut bugs that strengthen your intestinal wall.
• Saccharomyces boulardii is a hardy probiotic yeast that survives stomach acid, crowds out troublesome yeasts and reinforces the gut barrier, giving resident bacteria the space to flourish.
• The antimicrobial support of garlic and goldenseal keeps over-zealous bacteria and yeasts in check without wiping out friendly strains.
• Quercetin calms histamine-driven irritation so the lining can knit together.
• DGL provides a silky protective layer, shielding tender tissue from acid and digestive enzymes as it heals.

Gut, where emotions and digestion meet

We’ve all felt “sick to the stomach” from regret or tension at some point in our lives, and what better time than now to work through any unresolved issues in this area. As we clear and heal the gut, we can create space for more positive gut feelings.

In Chinese medicine, the small and large intestines, stomach, and spleen are believed to hold emotional states like overthinking, grief, guilt, and joy. An accumulation of any of these can cause an imbalance in the gut.

Western modern science agrees: A 2023 study found that people with more diverse gut bacteria reported feeling more joy and love, while those with less variety tended to carry heavier emotional states like grief and guilt. It’s another reminder that a healthy gut can be a real ally for emotional balance and vice versa.

Extra tips and progress markers

Now that you’re on such a good path, here are a few more tips to keep on top of the programme:

• Replace commercial toiletries with phthalate-free, fragrance-free options.
• Use only unrefined sea salt and keep the overall salt and sugar levels low.
• Don’t forget to drink about 3 litres of water per day.
• Expect a flatter belly, steadier mood and regular, easy stools by day 10.
• Keep a simple journal, noting sleep, bowel movements, and energy levels twice a week. Small wins will motivate the next phase.
• The more you lean into good practices, the more your body responds with energy and balance.

Looking ahead: Once the gut is calmer, cleaner, and better sealed, weeks 5-6 shift focus to cleansing the liver. This step supports gentle detoxification using specific nutrients and mild bile movers to aid digestion and give the liver a much-needed break. We’ll explore this in the next instalment.

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