Dr Campbell-McBride recommends having a detox bath every evening. Her suggestions include 1/2 cup baking soda, or 1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar, or 1/2 cup Epsom salts, or 1/2 cup sea salt, or 1/2 cup of powdered seaweed (specifically that from aalgo.com), rotated. (The rotation has various benefits, not the least of which is avoiding irritation from, for example, the salts.)
At least one member has found increased success having the daily bath in the morning, before 10am.
Have as many baths in a day as you feel the need for. Sit in the bath for at least thirty minutes.
I do not know what temperature NCM recommends. Some websites state that hot water is what opens the pores and allows the toxins to be drawn out. I find hot water critical with a ginger bath (below), but any temperature effective with the others. (Be sure bath temperature is safe; follow standard safety procedures when preparing a bath for another person, such as a child, senior or ill person in your care.)
For me, I can tell when a detox bath is especially effective when the following changes occur in my body 10-20 minutes into the bath: my gums sweat, my heart rate increases, I feel uncomfortable, my feet throb. I get out when I can’t stand it anymore or when the peak of these changes passes. My son displays no discomfort (perhaps because his baths are cooler), and simply plays happily in them for 30-60 minutes.
For constipation, an Epsom salt bath is especially helpful. For relieving detox or die-off symptoms, several have found great results mixing the baking soda and epsom salts in one bath.
Another favourite of mine is a ginger bath, as recommended to me by a naturopath years ago. It can knock a cold or flu virus out of one’s system. Please note: It is generally suggested that, in order to effectively draw the toxins out, the bath water should be hot. This bath gets uncomfortable. Its effects are similar to that of a sauna. I would only recommend it for an adult. Young people, old people and people with significant illness should be supervised throughout, as well as assisted out of the tub.
Into a bath, add a couple of tablespoons of powdered ginger or some fresh grated. Sit in the bath for at least twenty minutes. Close to the twenty minute mark, you may find yourself feeling intensely uncomfortable, sweating, heart racing. Breathe through this until the twenty minutes is up. With great care in case of dizziness, get out of the bath. Dry off, then wrap yourself in a blanket and go to sleep.
For an enhanced experience, follow the ginger bath with a cold shower before laying down. For an alternative to this enhancement, please see the comment from Justine, immediately following.
I was literally just talking with a sick friend and recommending “hydrotherapy” as I sat down (multitasking as usual) to read this!
Our old naturopath used to recommend it with these additions: keep a glass of water and a cool washcloth (for the head) available to ward off the dizziness (and it’s good to have someone else around, if you can, for that reason too). Also, at the end of the hot bath, wrap the kid (or self) in a cold wet towel, cover that with a blanket or larger dry towel and sit quietly until the cold towel warms to body temp. Then bundle up for bed! The hot bath forces the immune system to work harder against the “bug”, creating interferon,
and the cold towel ends up breaking a fever, restoring equilibrium. It works, and my kids used to ask for it–it actually felt good to them. It is also known as “contrast treatment” (as in, the contrast of the hot and cold).
I love your clear and informative writing!
wondering how worthwhile the aalgo is. It seems to be the bees knees for eczema according to their website..but it is expensive. Any thoughts
Hi! Thanks so much for this post! Last night I took my first detox bath (a vinegar one) and felt awful afterward. I have noticed this before, that when I take baths I get SUPER thirsty, dizzy, anxious, and that’s with nothing but hot water. Also I notice when I get out of the tub my legs and ankles feel super stiff, as though there is all of the sudden a huge rush of blood flowing to them that makes it hard to walk. Is this normal? Or could that happen just because of bad circulation? I want to keep taking detox baths but worry about these things a little. (I also got a head ache after the bath last night, just had to go to bed because I was so exhausted. But I slept pretty well!)
Hi Kelsey,
With any concerns about safety or wellness, it’s important to consult with your doctor.
I can comment only generally on detox baths.
1. You said you experienced these problems in regular baths. Is your bath water hotter than is comfortable?
2. It sounds like you are possibly getting somewhat dehydrated. I would sip an electrolyte drink before, during and after the bath.
3. It is normal for people to experience detox in the way of fatigue, sweats, muscle aches, etc. Personally, I have found that for my body, it works to wait for the discomfort (in my case, increased heart rate, sweating gums, agitation) to develop, then to sit through that until it passes, then to get out, hydrate and rest.
4. It is normal to feel exhausted and possibly ache-y (head, limbs) after a detox bath and to sleep well and deeply.
All my best,
Baden
Hi Baden,
I was wondering if there is another product that you could recommend as an alternative to the aalgo seaweed? It’s pretty expensive, so i’m hoping there might be a cheaper alternative that is just as good? What about clay?
Hi Christine,
I really don’t know, but I know you can do GAPS with just the other baths (skipping the aalgo one).
I suggest asking on the support lists, too, for other baths or ingredients folks have found helpful.
All my best,
Baden
Hi Baden. I’m on stage 3 GAPS and I completely forgot about detox baths. Both my 3 yr old and I are doing it. How long will you feel bad after taking detox baths? Will it go away after doing it so often? I remember I had kind of horrible die-off during the first month on GAPS,I don’t want to go through that again.
Hi Scarlet,
I’m not 100% sure what you mean about the baths. Are you or your child feeling poorly after detox baths? Generally one feels tired and sleepy but relaxed, calm and better after these.
Intense die-off feels awful, yes, and should be avoided as much as possible. The baths won’t trigger die-off, but should relieve it. (Though one member of our community did just note that a seaweed bath increased her son’s gas and hyperactivity.) Minimizing die-off is a multi-pronged approach. The many tips for this are set out in your GAPS Guide book.
Also, are you still on Stage 3 after a month?
All my best,
Baden
Hi Baden, no I meant I thought it causes die off, the detox baths. Am I wrong? We never did the detox baths, I completely forgot. I thought the detox baths would trigger more die-off.
Actually I’m feeling so discouraged because DD and I started 3 months ago and we’re still on stage 3…well hovering between 3 and 4. I’m sad about this, I don’t want to give up yet but the past few weeks she would react to foods that I would introduce. This is depressing for me.
Also now that it’s very hot here in the south, she doesn’t want to drink broth. But she really needs it because we’re still on this stage.
Thanks and have a nice weekend.
Hi Scarlet,
The baths relieve die-off symptoms. It’s important to do them daily. You might find your child having excellent progress upon including this essential part of the program.
If your child reacts to a food, take it out, wait four days, move to the subsequent food in the list. Keep doing this.
For more broth tips, search my blog for ‘broth kids’.
All my best,
Baden
Hi Baden, that’s what I do, I even wait a week or more. There’s not many foods to try that she hasn’t reacted to.
I did read the Bone broth article you posted a while back.
Just tried the epsom salt bath last night, hope this helps her. Thanks.
just took my 1st detox bath and it feels great! thank you soo much for the post. You have so very helpful and honestly I wouldnt know what to do with out your guidence.
Another question, I ust resolved from a severe bout of diarrhea for 5 days last night. I didnt have a proper BM today just a soft stool of very small amount. I am not ready to use an enema as I feel that I am going to go back to diarrhea, especially since i am still following the intro diet. Is that ok?
Thank you for all your time and your advice.
sincerely
Nadia
I was having a horrible couple days of die off symptoms, and, being new to GAPS, I had no idea what was happening. I am so grateful I Googled till I found you site. I took a bath with apple cider vinegar last night, slept like a rock, and I feel amazing today! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Oh, Hillery! Wonderful!!! I’m so glad you’ve found us!
All my best,
Baden
I’ve struggled with mononucleosis for nearly 10 years. In high school, I went from dance team captain to home bound learning. In college I had my wisdom teeth, tonsils, uvula, and adenoids removed. Recently, I’ve had terrible pain in my spleen for at least half a year, as well as, rashes that would appear and disappear on my torso, terrible acne on my face and back, depression, anxiety, just an overall feeling of being I’ll. After a week of a vegetarian diet and trying techniques like dry skin brushing, I am thrilled with my increasing wellness. Tonight I will be adding detox bathing to my regimine. Are there any other readily available solutions which modern medicine has failed to inform me? Almost 10 years I’ve been told to essentially ‘sleep it off’ while being ignorant to simple lifestyle changes that are so simple it’s maddening.
Hi Jillian,
Wonderful about your results to date, even with a different program!
All my tips are presented in my book GAPS Guide, which you can learn about here: http://gapsguide.com/book/ (At close to 200 pages, there are simply too many tips for me to reiterate here.)
All my best,
Baden
Hi Baden,
Glad to have found your site.
I have been reading about health and practicing a healthy lifestyle for over twenty years and just recently discovered the gaps diet and am super excited.I consider this diet book to be the most important book out of the hundreds that I possess.
I would like to comment on what I have learned regarding baths and hydrotherapy. First thing, I would recommend the book hydrotherapy by Chaitow. I read the book many years ago and thought it was excellent, I must reread it to refresh. I am recommending it over other books.
As for taking baths (and showers too) I think it is important to mention for those that may not know it that it is a must to remove chlorine and other chemicals. I would suggest a backwashing tank with carbon or other media installed before the hot water heater so all the water gets filtered.
I also would like to mention that it is very beneficial to alternate the temperature between hot and cold in the shower, but at first don’t go to the extremes, gently change the temperature and slowly you will be able to take the temp. changes to greater ranges. This will help with the hot baths.
Another suggestion is to take a look at Dr. O.G. Carroll and his therapeutic cold sheet treatment or constitutional hydrotherapy. I have tried this in the past and highly recommend it. It is similar to the post Justine left. After sitting in a hot bath with ginger or other herbs the person comes out and gets wrapped in a towel wrung from cold water and then covered with wool blankets and put to sleep. There is mention of the towel getting stained from toxins getting released. Sounds like it would work well with the gaps protocol.
Thanks for the great website.
Peter
Peter: Wonderful to have you with us!
Thank you so much for sharing these recommendations -I appreciate them, and I know that many readers will, too!
There is definitely agreement within the GAPS community that bath/shower/drinking water is ideally purified. A question that comes up frequently, though, is, “How??” Many people cannot afford filtration systems, having to choose between those and good food. Others rent their homes, and do not have the option of installing whole-house systems, etc.
All ideas for cleaning water -especially with budgets and renting in mind- are always welcome!
I look forward to hearing more from you, Peter.
All my best,
Baden
Hi Baden,
Thanks. I will share how I have purified the water.
For showering I use a backwashing filter and ozone generators.
For drinking water r/o (reverse osmosis) de-ionization and ultra violet to bring the water down to 0 total dissolved solids. This is considered aggressive water that will pull minerals off pipes and anything it comes into contact with including the body therefore I use 2 cartridges to remineralize the water. I recently checked the ph of this water and it is nice and alkaline.
After searching for answers and speaking with many experts the r/o was what most agreed as the best choice, but one must remineralize. There are many sites that now sell these remineralization cartridges as opposed to the recent past which didn’t sell those cartridges.
The other options are carbon block or granulated carbon, but they don’t pull the flouride out, which for most of us is a major concern hence the r/o which does it successfully.
There are even other options, such as spinning the water with crystals, magnets lights shining on the water and stones. I lean towards this idea that came from Viktor Schauberger on how water needs to splash and vortex.
I say go with natural, and water in its natural environment does these things.
One more option is ionized water which I have had good experience but need to drink more of it to say with certainty.
I read a lot but only believe in what I have tried and noticed a difference with.
In the end we need to make a decision.
I would take my time before making a decision. Speak to some experts from the websites and do some reading.
I devoted a lot of time into water because I feel it is most important. I don’t think a detox could be as good if the water is not pure.
Hi Peter,
Thanks so much for all that!
And I 100% agree with the approach of believing only what we’ve tried and noted to make a difference. Well said!
All my best,
Baden
Oh! I am so glad that someone had an idea how to filter the water! someone said the little filter balls but its got really bad reviews. I will look into this as I LOVE my baths.Weird that it goes through seasons. when I feel ok the baths are overwhelming and too hot and uncomfortable but when I started detoxing on GAPS I started craving them!
I’m gearing up to start both my son (6 yrs old) and I on the GAPS diet as soon as I’ve adequately prepared for it. I’m most of the way through NCM’s book, and next I’m going to read yours. This discussion of detox baths brings up a question I’d like to ask. Last summer, our family joined a local recreation center that has an amazing pool. My son and I went swimming most days throughout last summer. It’s my favorite form of exercise because it is gentle on my joints. However, I worry about the effects of the chlorine on our systems. If we’re working so hard to follow the GAPS diet, will we just be negating our efforts if we go swimming regularly? My sister-in-law said, “Well you could just go sit in the sauna after swimming to sweat the toxins out.” But I know that with chlorine, part of the problem is that it’s killing off good microbes. No amount of “sweating out toxins” is going to restore that (at least not in my mind). Plus, my son wouldn’t be able to do the sauna (you have to be 18). What is your recommendation on this? We both really need the exercise, and it’s difficult for me to get it any other way. But if it’s going to cause more harm than good, I’d rather not do it. Thanks!
Hi Suzie,
Unfortunately, you are correct to be concerned about the levels of chlorine in public swimming pools, and for the reason you state.
Avoiding heavily chlorinated public pools is a temporary loss -after sufficient healing these can be accessed again in moderation (eg. once a week). In the meantime, see if you can find natural waters to swim in or an ozonated (usually reduced-chlorine) pool, and consider movement such as NIA or yoga, which are also gentle on the joints. In the early stages of healing, though, your body may ask you not to exercise at all, in which case it will be most effective to honour that. I suggest starting with diet, allowing some healing to take place then, if the body indicates a specific craving for movement, taking on one of the ideas mentioned above.
All my best,
Baden