2011 is outta here! It’s time to clean up your act and clean out your system. You’ve been a happy passenger on the highway of holiday binges for quite some time and now you probably feel like you’re headed straight to Slugville. It’s time to hit the brakes on this toxic road trip and get back on a better path to cleaner living. Welcome to Detox City. As you enter the new year, you get another chance to see the light and get it right. Like it or not, the leftover sludge from last year’s sins may still be hanging out in your internal engine. The food you ordered from a window instead of a table is probably one of the culprits (remember the KFC half-spicy crispy chicken meal with macaroni and cheese, potato wedges and biscuit you thought was a good idea on that late night run?). Then, of course, there’s the hotdogs and beer at the sports games, nachos and drinks containing “artificial flavors,” and on and on. All these “sins” may still be hanging out in your gut, slowing you down, making you feel crappy and keeping you from experiencing the best YOU you can be. Let’s do away with the sluggish and gnarly digestive tract you may have acquired over the year and instead of systematically flushing your resolutions down the drain, let’s flush your system resolutely. Most holistic health professionals say digestion is the key to maintaining health and longevity. A strong digestion system means a strong body while weak digestion can result in the accumulation of toxins. Some signs of poor digestion and toxins are fatigue, lack of mental clarity, weight gain and recurrent infections. If you want to improve your digestion, you need to get rid of processed junk food. For some that won’t be easy, so take it one step at a time. No soda, no fast food and no cleverly packaged items pretending to be food (Cheetos are not food). And let’s cut out the alcohol for at least a few weeks, really. The celebrations are over, anyway. The next thing you have to celebrate will be a clean intestine. YEAH! Many experts, like those at the Harvard School of Public health, advocate eating raw foods like vegetables and fruit as part of a balanced diet to keep your digestive tract running smoothly and performing optimally. One way to consume a healthy amount of fruits and vegetables is juicing. Cheryl Cason, owner of the new Detox Lounge in East Village, swears by the three- to five-day Renaissance Juice plan she offers her customers. “Each day of juices are packed full with 15-20 pounds of organic, raw fruits and vegetables, providing more nutrition, minerals and enzymes than the average American consumes in a year’s time,” she said. “To add even more power to your juice punch, all of our juices are freshly pressed, producing 70 percent more nutrients than the common cylindrical method of juicing, and are digested easier and faster.” The juice cleanse consists of six 12-ounce bottles of juice, consumed every two hours throughout the day. Each juice is formulated to release the toxins of a different organ at certain times of the day. The six juices contain varietals of fruits and vegetables, which guarantee optimal nutritional value and a sense of well-being. “A healthy juice cleanse can give your digestive system a much-needed break and by eliminating added sugar, saturated fats and alcohol,” Cason said. “It also rids your diet of things that can worsen health issues.” Another detoxifying process is sweating. Sweating removes harmful chemicals through your skin and is a great way to detox naturally. The skin is often referred to as the third kidney, because it is believed to be responsible for eliminating 30 percent of the body’s waste. You can start sweating simply by exercising more often. Focus on aerobics-based exercise, like running and cycling. These activities encourage blood circulation rather than building muscle mass and are great sweat producers. Saunas and spas are another popular way to sweat. The Detox Lounge offers infrared saunas for your sweating pleasure. Infrared heat has some distinct advantages over traditional steam heat saunas as they warm the body in the same manner as natural sunlight. Traditional steam saunas raise the temperature of the air to a very high level within the chamber to warm the body. Infrared saunas work differently. Instead of heating the air within the enclosure, they heat the body directly. The result is deeper tissue penetration. One 30-minute session can burn as many calories as running 2 to 3 miles. Oprah is a big fan of the infrared sauna and it was the topic of one of her shows with medical expert Dr. Mehmet Oz. He and Oprah actually sat in the infrared sauna while he talked very specifically about the unique health benefits infrared saunas provide. Oprah said she was starting to feel the heat and Dr. Oz responded that the high temperature helps lower blood pressure and increases blood circulation. “It gets your heart to beat faster and it burns calories,” he said. “It raises your metabolism a little bit, and also when you sweat, you sweat out toxins through the skin.” If you’re considering a detox plan, then that’s one step in the right direction to a more efficient digestive system and a revitalized and energized you. Be sure to get the OK from your doctor before you start any cleansing program. Enjoy the new year and enjoy your health.