A Cuppa with Adelaide Poschelk

Hi Ade, can you please tell us a little bit about yourself and your background in naturopathy?

Hi!! So lovely to be here! My name is Adelaide or Ade for short. I am originally from Brisbane & have lived on the beautiful Gold Coast for the past 6 years and love it! Life at the moment is busy work weeks and slow weekends. My husband and I recently purchased our first home so we’ve loved working in the yard and planting our dream veggie garden. Work for me is as a Clinical Naturopath and founder of a supplement brand, Begin Again. I feel so lucky to love what I do and be able to support people with their health.  

 

What sparked your interest in naturopathy, especially in detoxification?

My interest in naturopathy definitely stemmed from my own health concerns. Many years ago, I suffered from chronic fatigue and tonsillitis. Each health concern came with its own complications but most of all, suffering from fatigue really impacted my quality of life. Over the years of learning about my health concerns and studying, I became really interested in the importance of detoxification after understanding how many ways our bodies are burdened with toxins and how this can present in symptoms. We’re exposed to toxins through the food we eat, the water we drink, the clothes we wear, cosmetics, medications, different occupations and our environment.

 

Before we dive into all things detox, I think it's important to acknowledge that while 'detox' has been a popular term in the health and wellness industry, there's been a shift away from its frequent usage due to concerns about scientific evidence, potential misinterpretations, and the promotion of unsustainable practices. How do you address these challenges when discussing detoxification?

Such a great point! I think for such a long time, ‘detoxing’ has been such a popular term in the wellness industry but for all of the wrong reasons. Often people’s minds jump to detoxing being a quick fix, a way to “quickly” lose weight, acutely erase a bad decision and so on. This mentality unfortunately creates such a bad relationship with oneself and dismisses the fundamental importance of detoxing. Rather than focusing on the misconceptions, I really love to educate and highlight the importance of detoxing. First and foremost, detoxification is best done in a slow and steady manner. If done too quickly, then this can cause a burden on our essential organs. As I mentioned above, we’re so easily exposed to toxins and our body has many filtration systems so gentle and daily detoxification support is important and beneficial for everyone! 

Could you explain how toxins impact our bodies on a holistic level?

Absolutely - this can occur in so many ways. Breaking it down, if you were to look at each organ of the body and if they were burdened by toxins, they’re not going to function optimally. Our organs are so incredible and function synergistically with one another. Long story short, minimising exposure to toxins and aiding detoxification pathways is vital when considering holisitic health to maintain balance.

 

How do these hidden toxins accumulate in our bodies over time?

Let’s use heavy metals as an example. If your body isn’t detoxifying properly, heavy metals then find a “safe place” and once they’re in, they are stubborn to remove! Arsenic, a known neurotoxin is often found in rice, chicken, cereals, water and toddler foods. Arsenic loves soft tissue so finds safety in places like your brain. Lead can be found in our environment, poor quality ceramics, soft drinks and wines. Lead is osteophillic (i.e. loves your bones) so therefore can draw important nutritional elements like calcium out of your body and weaken bone integrity. 

It can all seem a little bit overwhelming but my advice to clients is that you can’t be 100% perfect, nor can you completely avoid toxins (no matter how conscious you are on avoiding them) so the best practice is to minimise exposure where you can. Ways that you can do this from the examples above would be:

• Rinse rice thoroughly (e.g. ideally overnight or a few hours at least) 
• Purchase good quality meats
• Filter your water
• Throw out cracked ceramics 
• Don’t cook with aluminium foil 
• Reduce canned food intake 
• Reduce meats like flake due to high mercury content 

 

Many people underestimate the extent of their toxic burden and its symptomatic presentation. What are some common symptoms or indicators of toxic overload that our readers should be mindful of, even if they believe they have limited exposure to toxins?

Great question, especially because common symptoms may often be attributed to something else. 

I would recommend looking out for things like:

• Brain fog
• Nausea
• Poor memory
• Hair loss 
• Low energy
• Headaches
• Low libido
• Painful/heavy periods
• Weight gain/loss  

 

What are some naturopathic approaches or practices you recommend to our readers seeking to support their body's natural detoxification capabilities?

3 Practices I would recommend are: 

1. Eat mindfully - eating while distracted means that your body is focusing on anything but digesting the food you’re eating. Digestive enzymes are then impacted and toxins slip through! 
2. Sweating is good for you! This is a great way to eliminate toxins. Ways to do this would could be exercise, sauna, hot yoga. 
3. Ensure you are drinking sufficient amounts of water as it is a wonderful way to support elimination of toxins. Minimum 2 - 3L of water per day & more if you enjoy coffee/soft drinks.

What advice do you have for our readers who are interested in reducing their toxic exposure but aren't sure where to start?

5 simple and achievable practices would be: 

1. Daily movement to reduce stagnation and promote movement of toxins to find their way to the exits! 
2. Install a water filter for drinking & tap water! For our drinking water, I use Alkaway and Kyn & Folk Filters. For our shower, we are currently using Hydrogen Health. You can also install a complete filtration system on your house however this can be costly. The Sydney Morning Herald recently posted an article that said “Australian drinking water allows carcinogen 140 times the US rate” - if that doesn’t make you want to filter your water…!
3. Eat foods that are easy to digest and reduce foods that trigger any upset as this may cause stress on the body and impact digestive capabilities.
4. Gradually swap house products to low-tox options e.g. throw out your aluminium containing deodorant, store food in glass containers, switch your dishwasher and laundry powders. Opt for cosmetic products without fragrances as they’re filled with nasty chemicals! Did you know that manufacturers don’t need to disclose ingredients listed under “fragrances” as this may be classified as their trade secrets. Alarming! 
5. Wash/soak your food! I once read in a study that ultrasonic cleaning helped to remove 16 pesticides in strawberries!!! 

If you feel you’re needing additional guidance on making these important changes, I highly recommend working alongside a practitioner who specialises in this area. Often when discussing with clients, 9 times out of 10 everyone says they’re not exposed however when delving into questioning, it’s like a lightbulb moment. Definitely a rewarding experience when people make the lifestyle shift.

 

Herbal remedies have long been used to support detoxification. Could you share some specific products that you often recommend to clients seeking to enhance their body's detoxification pathways and reduce the toxic burden?

As this is such a passion of mine and something I consistently notice in a clinical setting that people need support on, I created 'Detox & Replenish' which are two powdered products that can be taken individually or together. For first-time customers, I would recommend starting with Detox for 4 weeks, followed by Replenish for 2+ weeks. This is a really great way to have a 6 week reset for yourself and the results have been so amazing (less bloating, improved skin, more energy, less sugar cravings, reduced period pain and so on). I’d also recommend the Mayde Tea Cleanse Tea - the ingredients in this are so amazing and the beauty of tea is you can have it absolutely anywhere, hot or cold! Both of these products focus on gentle and daily detoxification support so it’s not only achievable to take but they also fit into your daily lifestyle. 

 

If there's one aspect of detoxification and toxin reduction you wish more people understood, what would it be, and why?

One aspect would certainly be that toxic burden accumulates. When you’re young, you’re often much more resilient so you don’t necessarily notice the impacts as much or you can adapt to them. As you get older, these concerns become much more prominent and unfortunately, this is where your quality of life can be really impacted. Always remember, prevention is better than cure! 

 

What Mayde Tea product are you currently loving?

Absolutely lovinggggg the Iced Tea Bottle and Adapt Tea. Life can be so on the go so anything that supports my nervous system and help my body to adapt to any stress is always a win for me. Approaching winter, I am also so ready for a delicious hot chocolate in my new Willow Mug!

 

What are you currently...

Listening to: I currently have Mariella by Leon Bridges on repeat - such a beautiful song!

Reading: Darling Girls, Sally Hepworth

Watching: Nothing at the moment actually!

Eating:  Lots of pesto made fresh from our garden!

 

If you can find more about Ade at here or on Instagram.