IT’S winter and this means that you probably just want to eat heavy meals to warm up. This first of all will not only pile up the kilos but it will also make you a little sluggish.
A detox diet is basically you giving your body a break from all the toxins, alcohol, and processed sugars which are found in food.
Detox itself is the body’s natural process of neutralising or eliminating toxins from the body. Toxins are anything that can potentially harm body tissue and can be produced naturally, ingested through our diet or inhaled from our environment.
While our bodies perform the detox process by themselves, it is thought that certain food types and herbs can assist the process, and even help to speed it up.
Some people go all the way into a fast mode-type of detox but for the faint-hearted here are some foods and tips that you can use when you do decide to detox.
Lemon diet is quite famous and touted around as being one of the most powerful and simple body cleanses around.
Firstly because each fruit has lots of vitamin C and because lemons are thought to aid the restoration of the body’s acid-alkali balance, thus keeping your insides at a steady pH.
This means that your body is better able to support healthy bacteria and assist the removal of environmental and dietary toxins in the body.
Try drinking the juice of one lemon in a mug of hot water as a morning beverage, and see if it makes a difference.
You need to eat a lot of dark green leafy vegetables because not only are they high in dietary fibre, which aids digestion and therefore the excretion of toxins, but they contain high amounts of vitamins A, C and E, iron, beta carotene and calcium, all of which are essential nutrients aiding the body’s natural detoxification process.
Try blending them raw into a green smoothie and see the change in your body. Reduce the amount of meat and dairy products that you are eating just to give your body a break. Meat has low water, little fibre and requires plenty of energy to digest and then dairy on the other hand is mucus-forming, and many people lack sufficient enzymes to properly digest it.
Drink a lot of water (minimum two litres a day) because water flushes out your system and keeps your kidneys, liver, colon and lymph nodes (organs that filter waste products from your body) running properly.
You know you are hydrated enough if you are peeing every couple of hours, and your urine should be fairly clear.
Garlic is a miracle and for various reasons, each clove is packed not just with toxin-battling antioxidants, but also a natural chemical called allicin.
According to glamour magazine, “allicin reacts with the blood to create a product capable of killing off many harmful bacteria and viruses that your body may be harbouring.
“Garlic is also thought to be effective in lowering cholesterol, regulating blood pressure and encouraging a healthy heart. Add a finely-chopped raw clove to a salad, or pop into a hot meal towards the end of cooking time to make the most out of it.”
Onions – particularly red and green ones – are also great because they have amino acids, which help your body to flush toxins out of your system by making them water soluble.
They also contain the building blocks for an essential liver compound called glutathione, which it needs to carry out your body’s natural detoxification process. Sprinkle them raw on your veggies.
Flax seeds are packed with omega 3 fatty acids which, rather than sticking to your waistline, support healthy cell development and promote a healthy heart.
Flax seeds also help the body’s natural detoxification process by helping digestion.
Swapping out processed white carbs for brown wholegrains is a good move health-wise, whether you’re detoxing or not.
Stock up on brown rice because it is full of nutrients such as B vitamins, proteins, manganese, selenium and magnesium as well as several potent antioxidants which are thought to help protect against disease, as well as boosting the skin’s vitality.
Apples are very fibre-rich and you might want to stock up on them as they are great for a detox diet, vitamin E, folic acid and vitamin C are just a list of the magic apples contain.
Carrot juice is a favourite among detox devotees, because the root vegetables are full of antioxidant vitamins, minerals and beta carotene.
Blend them with apples, aloe vera cinnamon and some flax seeds.
That’s it for this week, next week we continue with this series on detox diets. Let’s chat some more in my divadiarys@gmail.com mail box and on my blog divadiarys.blogspot.com.
You can also follow me on twitter @Arushapot.
Have a beautifully healthy week and stay warm.