Thinking about a detox diet?
Once spring arrives, many people start thinking about getting rid of toxins accumulated during winter. Chinese medicine supports this belief and suggests spring as the best time to perform a cleansing and detoxification of the liver.
Detox diets or detoxing is the practice of cleaning your internal organs and tissues. It is claimed to improve health, revitalize and rejuvenate the body along with ridding the body of symptoms and protecting the body from diseases. After a detox cleanse some say their body feels more energetic and their mind feels clearer.
Many people are hesitant about detoxing as they fear that they will get hungry or have lowered energy levels, others are worried about ending up with headaches. Some are worried about interrupted digestion and think that they will need to be near a bathroom at all times. Apart from this, most people simply do not know where to begin. Those who’ve tried it say to smoothly sail through your first detox without getting hungry, having headaches, upset digestion or low energy levels is to keep the detox diet plan simple. First time detoxification should be done in small steps to avoid shocking the body. The following are three simple steps to a first detox:
1. Do it in stages. The first detox should last for 1 to 3 days and should be done during the night. For a thirty six hour detox, the regimen should be started at night, preferably after dinner and continued through the next day, with the detox ending in the morning of the following day with breakfast.
2. It is advisable to ease into and out of the detox. A healthy diet should be maintained not less than forty eight hours before and after the detox. Junk food, alcohol, coffee and sugar should be avoided. Be kind to yourself and avoid shocking your body.
3. A lot of water should be drunk to aid removal of toxins.
Beginners could try the following detoxification programs to find one that suits them best.
1. Remove junk food from your diet. This is the first level of detoxing. Junk foods contribute a lot of toxicity to the body. Sugar, soda, processed foods, alcohol and coffee should be avoided. Regular meals devoid of junk foods should be taken.
2. Remove meat, grains and dairy from your diet. The second level of detoxification is to put more emphasis on plant based meals which are nutritious. Intake of fiber and nutrients should be increased. Foods that appear higher on the food chain should be avoided.
3. Lemon cleanse. This is a tougher form of a beginner detox program. The lemon cleanse, also known as the master cleanse is an excellent beginner juice fast. It is prepared by mixing two tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice with a tablespoon of maple syrup, a bit of cayenne, preferably a pinch in a glass of fresh spring water. 8 to twelve glasses of this should be taken daily for up to a couple of weeks. It is okay to start with a shorter time. It’s said that the lemon juice in this drink acts as a great detox, particularly for the liver. The cayenne is meant to promote digestion, stimulate circulation and purify the blood. While the maple syrup is said to provide the body with the energy needed to keep it running throughout the day.
All in all, many swear that detoxing is good for overall health, however it can get very challenging for beginners. Strict detox diets are not for the faint hearted!