Detoxification Diet

Millions agree that to live a healthy life you should consider a healthy and active lifestyle. You should also consider detoxification diet plans and programs. Many detoxification diet plans have been proven to be effective. However, it is also important to know how and why these detoxification diet plans work. It is a fact that at some point in their lives, about a third of people residing in the western part of the world will develop some form of cancer. The list of cancers can be awfully long- from breast to colon to prostate to lung to blood. The point is that accompanying these cancers are millions of molecules of bacteria and toxins that we encounter every day.

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The objective of going on a detoxification diet is simple. It is to improve the body’s capability to flush out those wastes and toxins and help in the repair process. Detoxification diet plans and other detoxification programs have been used for over thousands of years to treat various health problems. Although detoxification is not widely accepted by mainstream medical practitioners, natural health care doctors on the other hand regularly recommend this. Every day, our body works to flush out the toxins. These toxins are produced during normal process in the body such as digestion. However we also get toxins as a result from food that we ingest that contain harmful chemicals such as dyes, preservatives, chemicals from pesticides and hormones. We also get these toxins from exposure to pollution, smoke, taking drugs and being in contact with heavy metals, household cleaners and other toxic chemicals. The body is composed of an intricate system that converts toxins into less damaging compounds. The kidneys, liver, lymphatic system, skin and lungs are included in this process. These toxins are flushed out of the body through our stool, urine and sweat.

This is the reason why a detoxification diet and complete detoxification program are necessary to ensure that we do not get sick. There are many ways to detoxify the body from toxins and other harmful substances. However, the foremost consideration would be your daily eating habits and a detoxification diet to get the maximum results.

Types of Cleansing and Detoxification Diet Plans

A detoxification diet may include several factors such as a specially planned out diet, fasting, drinking liquid juices, including herbs and supplements, exercise, colon cleansing, chelation and even sauna sessions. There are a lot of programs today that focus on specific organ systems that aid in the detoxification. The primary ones are the following:

You may consult a natural health care doctor to come up with a detoxification diet program that best suits your lifestyle needs. People who are focusing on an initial cleansing are the perfect ones to start a detoxification diet. This would involve taking steps to change their daily diet and the avoiding harmful toxin rich foods. Fasting is another way to go. This too is very effective but is more difficult to do. Below are a few tips if you are looking at a detoxification diet.

Detoxification Diet Recommendations

Detoxification diet programs created for a specific period of time. Their objective is to eliminate toxins and waste products that have accumulated in the body. Based on the concept of naturopathy or the alternative medical thinking that focuses on nutrition as a means to improve and restore the self-healing properties of the body, detoxification aims to focus on digestion and elimination. Detoxification diet programs concentrate on the following:

It is recommended that you eat 3 to 4 meals that are high in nutrients that aid in detoxification. Go for organic foods as much as you can to avoid those harmful toxins. Chew your food well and go for smaller portions. Hydrate well by drinking a lot of purified water or at least eight to ten glasses a day. Water is a good aid to flush out wastes from your body. The duration of the detoxification diet will depend on the state of you current health. A detoxification diet once or twice a year to improve your total health and prevent certain diseases would be a good idea. Do consult your health professional for more information.

Recommended foods to INCLUDE in your detoxification diet:

Recommended foods to AVOID in your detoxification diet:

If you constantly feel exhausted and tired, if you don’t get enough sleep at night and if your energy levels are always low, then you might want to consider going on a detoxification diet. You can prepare for this by gradually reducing your caffeine intake, a week to 10 days before you start the actual diet so as to avoid headaches from the abrupt elimination of these drinks from your diet. You should also lessen your ingestion of foods high in sugar, alcohol, chocolate, dairy, fat, food that contains yeast or wheat and grains that contain gluten or the elastic protein that can be found in rye and barley.

Foods that are highly recommended for detoxification diet plans are organic vegetables and fruits, grains such as quinoa, millet, buckwheat, and rice- both brown and basmati, rice pasta and cakes, beans, peas, lentils, seeds, nuts, herbal teas and olive oil. You should also make sure that you take at least eight glasses of purified or filtered water daily.

Towards the end of the detoxification diet, you should gradually reintroduce a full diet. Steamed vegetables or vegetable soup on the first day off the detoxification diet would be recommended. Do not add fruits or vegetables into your diet until the second or third day.

Detoxification Diet Sub-Groups

Detoxification diet plans can be divided into a few sub groups namely- raw food diets (based on the idea that raw foods do not accumulate toxins in the digestive system), mono diets (where you are only allowed to consume one or two foods, sometimes in liquid form for a specific period of about 10 to 14 days), juice fasting (where you are allowed to consume huge amounts of vegetable and fruit juices together with water and some herbal teas for 1 to 3 days), semi-vegetarian or vegetarian detoxification diet plans (where you are  allowed to eat a variety of steamed vegetables, whole grains, fresh fruits, and small portions of protein together with several glasses of water and some herbals teas daily).

Juice fasting

Here you are told to drink anywhere between 32 to 64 ounces of vegetable or fruit juice daily together with 6 glasses of warm water that has been filtered. Some juice fast detoxification diet plans allow small portions of steamed vegetables but a lot of them are liquid diets for a short-term period only. So health practitioners recommend around 1 or more cups of herbal tea to be taken daily together with the juice and the water. All juices should be fresh, sourced from organic vegetables and fruits, processed using a juicer, consumed within 30 minutes after extraction and cannot be refrigerated. Juices that are prepackaged are not allowed because they have undergone pasteurization.

Raw food diets

Raw food detoxification diet plans are those foods that have not gone through heat above 92 to 118 F or 33 to 48 C. Raw food diets are based on the theory that they contain more nutrients and contain certain enzymes that aid in digestion which enables the other enzymes in the body to control other biological processes. Patrons of the raw food detoxification diet believe that it could actually prevent the risk of obesity because it lowers too much food intake and the high fiber content helps eliminate waste and harmful toxins in the body by hastening the digestion and elimination processes.

Mono diets

A mono diet is a kind of detoxification diet where you concentrate on one particular kind of food. These would usually be grapes, apples or another kind of vegetable or fruit, or a liquid for a particular time, usually from 10 to 14 days. Miracle Grape Cure is the oldest mono diet around. It is credited to Johanna Brandt. She hailed from South Africa and made a claim that eating grapes has cured her cancer of the stomach. She published a book in 1928 where she said that she alternately ingested natural water and purple grapes or grape juice from purple grapes every 12 hours. The recent diet has now been modified to still recommend Brandt’s plan for a period of 5 weeks and then followed with a raw food vegetarian diet plan for one week.

Detoxification Diet Supplements

Do not fall for the many unknown and untested detox supplements available today. Carefully read the packaging information so that you can be sure that you are buying a product that is natural, effective, safe and contains no harmful chemicals with zero side effects. You may try Bowtrol Store, Native Remedies or Naturally Direct as they are tested and proven to work naturals detox formulas.

Detoxification Diet and Fasting

One of the oldest and most efficient ways to cleanse the body is fasting. It allows the body to rest from digesting and having to deal with the continuous ingestion of harmful toxins. It gives the body time to focus on the flushing out of waste products and improve its repair process.  Fasting has been done for over thousands of years. It has been adapted by many cultures all over the world to improve their health and to help cleanse the body.

It is recommended that you seek advice from a health provider if this is your first time to fast. The length of your fasting period will depend on how healthy you are. Doctors would commonly recommend a one to three-day fasting period. The perfect time to go on a fasting detoxification diet is when you are fully rested. Do not engage in any vigorous physical exercises while you are fasting. Paced walks a little stretching is allowed.

There are some who opt to drink water only while there are those who choose juices from vegetables such as carrots, beets, barely or wheat grass or from elderberry. What is important is that the body receives the nutrients and hydration that it needs in order to eliminate the toxins from the body. It is necessary to drink at least 8 to 10 glasses of water every day to prevent dehydration. You may start eating lightly several days before you start to fast. Opt for small portions of vegetables and fruits only. A day before the actual fasting, eat foods that are easy to digest like fruits, salads, soups or vegetables. On the day of your last fasting day, just eat light meals in small portions the gradually increase it to go back to your normal healthy diet.

Detox Diet and Precautions

Take time to consult your doctor before starting any kind of detoxification diet to make sure that it is the one for you. The detoxification diet programs are not for nursing or pregnant women or children. People with serious health problems should not attempt to go on a detoxification diet unless it is one that is recommended by a health professional. Detox diets are also not meant to be done over long periods of time because it may result to protein and nutrient deficiencies. Any medication or treatment should not be stopped without prior consultation with your doctor.

Possible Adverse Effects

It is common to experience headache, tiredness, nausea, bad breath, flu-like symptoms while the body is flushing out the toxins. These happen during the first few days but will soon go away.  Withdrawal symptoms from caffeine will also be apparent. It will manifest through headaches and irritability, which last for a few days. It would help if you slowly cut down on your caffeine intake before starting with your detoxification diet.