Have you allowed yourself to indulge in sugar and spice and everything unhealthily nice? Over-eaten lots of tasty unhealthy foods lately? Or have you simply taken a nice long deep breath in your lovely and lets be real, polluted city?
Answer yes to any of these and yeah, your body is dirty and could use a little detox, we all can. Toxins hide everywhere, in our air, water, shampoo, laundry detergent, and mostly our foods. It’s good to detox our bodies every now and then.
One clear way our bodies cry out for a detox is through our skin. When your liver is overloaded with toxins you can experience many skin conditions like acne, eczema, psoriasis, dark circles under the eyes, forehead wrinkles and dull complexion. It is the ugly result of a toxic bod. You could also just be feeling bloated, tired and achey.
Detoxing does NOT have to mean starving, no way Jose!! To gently Detox, you simply eliminate the foods that build toxins in your system while nourishing your body with foods that help flush those nasty toxins out.
Detox Pro-Tip
Wholesome, natural and nutrient dense foods are the most important part of your detox plan. In fact, that’s all you really need. You can create a successful plan just by changing the foods you eat.
The benefits of cleaning your system are huge! Besides cleansing your major organs you may also experience increased energy, improved sleep, glowing skin, shinier hair, looser jeans! Your liver will rejoice! You’re body will give you an internal high five!
Start your detox on the weekend
You want to give yourself a couple days to adjust. How long do you want to detox? One week, two, three? You choose… most people start with one week.
Planning makes perfect!
Buy your week worth of groceries, wash and prep all your veggies and fruits.
Move your body
For at least 20 minutes a day.
Sweat it out!
You can use a sauna (ideal), or a hot steamy shower. Sweating eliminates a lot of waste from our systems.
Drink Water
Drink a minimum of 60 ounces of water a day (pure, clean, filtered, bottled). You can also drink herbal teas, feel free to add lemon as it has great detoxing agents.
Drink Fresh Juice
Drink 16 ounces of fresh squeezed or juiced organic fruit and vegetable juice daily, mixed with 1/3 water. Add grated ginger and lemon to help cleanse your system. No sugar added, not from concentrate, if there is a cartoon on the bottle, put it down. If you don’t have access to fresh organic juice, then eat the fruit instead.
Foods to INDULGE in:
- Organic Fruit – the most detoxing fruits include fresh apricots, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, plums, goji berries, acai berries, cranberries, apples, kiwis, papayas, peaches, mangoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, red grapes, lemon, lime, oranges, and grapefruit. Fresh is best frozen is fine, just be sure there are no added sugars.
- Organic Vegetables – especially good are ALL dark green leafy vegetables, ginger, garlic, artichokes, bell peppers, hot peppers, beetroot, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, baby broccoli (broccolini), red cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, cucumber,kale, pumpkin, sweet potato, tomatoes, zucchini, watercress and bean sprouts.
- Fresh Herbs like basil, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, thyme, and fennel seeds.
- Organic Spices – cinnamon and cayenne. Superfoods like chlorella, spirulina, wheatgrass, maca root powders.
- Check out lots of other healthy food ideas and our full fat burning foods list.
Foods to Eat in moderation:
- Grains (2 servings per day max) – wild and brown rice, quinoa, and millet.
- Wild caught organic Fish (1 serving per day max) – salmon, mackerel, sardines, orange roughy and tuna.
- Organic Legumes (1 serving per day max) – Beans, mung beans, lentils, and split peas. (thoroughly rinse all beans to help rid the gas causing agents.) Use fresh when you can, if you must use canned buy only organic.
- Healthy Oils – use extra-virgin olive oil for cooking and in place of butter, and cold-pressed seed oils and organic coconut oil for dressings.
- Avocado – high in healthy monounsaturated fat. If you are trying to lose weight, limit this fabulous fruit to one a day.
- Nuts and seeds – a handful a day of raw, unsalted nuts and seeds should be included. Almonds, Brazil nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds and flax seeds are your best choices.
- Honey (2 tbsp daily) – Raw, unprocessed and unfiltered (preferably local).
- Limit both banana and potato to one serving every other day.
Foods to Avoid:
- Caffeine – coffee, black tea
- Alcohol – wine, beer, and spirits
- Gluten containing grains – wheat, barley, rye, spelt, kamut, couscous, bran & farina
- Wheat products and corn
- White flour and all foods processed
- All meat – beef, pork, poultry, game and non organic fish
- All Dairy – eggs, milk, yogurt and cheese
- Salt and any food containing it
- Hydrogenated (trans) fats
- Artificial sweeteners & sugar – all carbonated beverages (diet & regular), flavored water, sports drinks, all desserts
- Food additives and preservatives
- Fried foods
- Dried fruit
- Juice (unless it is pressed fresh, organic, pure and unsweetened)
- Canned food (including coconut)
Choose Organic!
We are trying to get RID of toxins here, not add more in with the pesticides, hormones and other chemicals and junk added to our food.Don’t be surprised or get discouraged if for the first few days you feel worse. This is normal as toxins are leaving your system, especially for coffee drinkers.
What do you do after a detox?
Many of the foods you eliminated can be allergenic. You may want to slowly reintroduce food groups like wheat, dairy, gluten and corn and note reactions to identify the food groups that may be aggravating health conditions such as sinus congestion, fatigue, skin conditions, arthritis, bloating and constipation.
Use your detox plan as a learning experience to make YOU the best you can be!
Always consult your Health Care Practitioner before you detox, especially if you suffer from terminal or malignant illness, genetic disease, liver disease, cancer, autoimmune disease, hyperthyroidism, mental illness, diabetes, alcoholism or drug addiction, eating disorder, are chronically underweight, take regular medications or are pregnant.
For more cleanse and detox information and meal ideas, read these other articles – 7 day cleanse and detox plan – why you should cleanse and detox your body (and how to do it).
