January comes on the heels of December’s heavy meals, the steady flow of alcohol and the burnout from cumulative stress. It is no wonder why this month is regarded as the reset button of the new year.

From detoxes to resolutions, January is the month for renewal — but how can we navigate all the noise? Part of this reset often includes a focus on recovering our health after the self-infected damage many of us endure over the holidays. It’s time to detox and cleanse our bodies of our transgressions. It’s January: we must now be purified.

Canada’s own Chatelaine magazine offers a quick rundown of tricky toxicity signs and symptoms along with the “best” way to boost your body’s powers of detoxification. Our food, shampoo and environment are poisoning us, but rest assured, with the proper diet detox, we can rejuvenate our organs and excise all those chemicals from our corporal vessels. Or can we?

The article ends with a recipe for raw soup — what appears to be more of a green smoothie than the usual brothy dish.

The wellness and lifestyle brand Goop has had a stranglehold on the detox market for years, with Gwyneth Paltrow hocking all kinds of pricy holistic health hacks like the popular jade egg for optimum vaginal health or a snake ceremony for better sex.

The site gives you several eye-rolling detox plans for the new year. You can choose between a 21-day cleanse or a three-day detox that will allegedly kick the chemicals from your system and leave you vibrant and rejuvenated — or so they boldly claim. Cheers to your liver which can finally lean back and take a load off its portal vein after a hard year of work.

If you’re a drinker, you know that your liver takes the brunt of the damage during December’s binge. And while the hysteria around chemicals is mostly misinformed, chronic alcohol use can impair your liver’s function.

Dry January is a campaign that has become popular in recent years. The initiative involves a commitment to 30 days free from alcohol. It aims to both give your body a break and increase your awareness of your consumption. While I won’t be treating myself to a drought this January, I did quit drinking for finals, and those 10 days really illuminated the amount of indulgence I engage in from week to week.

If you are looking to reset your health in 2019, a glass of warm lemon water and some raw soup might not do the trick, but being mindful of your vices and opting for moderation just might set you up for a better, healthier trajectory going forward.

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Erin Matthews / Opinions Editor

Photo: Riley Deacon / Photo Editor