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Saturday, September 23, 2006

Detox Diet - The 24 Hour Detoxification Diet

All of us need some bodily detoxification from time to time, and here is a tried and tested 24 hour detoxification liquid diet.

If you have overdone eating or drinking, have smoked too much, here is a 24 hours detox solution for you.

You will need a mixer or food processor, the list of greens and vegetables below and also some filter fresh brewed coffee or tea.

Yes, it is proven that coffee (and tea) are more powerful anti-oxidants than Vitamins C and E combined.

Preparation

You will need about 1 kilo of fresh spinach, 1 kilo of ruccola, 1 bunch of parsley, 1 bunch of fresh coriander, and filtered or bottled water.

Each dose of the liquid is to be made fresh before consumption, no mixing and storing in the fridge is allowed.

Detox Method

For the 24 hour period, no solid food is allowed. Coffee or tea can be consumed in the morning upon waking, again at mid-day, and a third time at early evening.

Starting from one hour after your morning coffee or tea, mix is equal amounts the spinach, ruccola, parsley and coriander. You may not add any salt…or other seasonings. Mix the herbs with water, and drink one large glass.

Repeat this every hour till you sleep.

Results and Benefits

You will find yourself quite a bit in the bathroom, with constant urination and perhaps some more than usual defecation. This is quite normal, as your body is ridding itself of pollutants. Your kidneys will be very active, and accumulated solid particles will find their way out of your intestines quite quickly.

After the 24 hour period, you will feel very light, clean and refreshed.

It is helpful if during the period you can take a sauna or at least bath frequently in your shower, scrubbing your skin with a shower brush to aid the skin also to expel accumulated toxins.

Ask your Doctor

This diet is completely safe for use on a 24 hour period, but just in case, ask your doctor if you can do this diet before you begin. You may have some conditions that would not allow a liquid fast.

How Frequently Can One Detoxify?

Normally not more than one or two days a month should this diet be followed, but in some cases, and with a doctor’s permission, the diet can be followed one day a week.

Unexpected Benefits from the Detox Diet

Should you be on a diet, or wishing to lose weight, the detox diet is great to give you diet a needed boost. You will find that after 24 hours on a liquid fast, you will be lighter, no question about it.

Post-Diet Diet

On the day following your detox diet, do not drink any alcohol or eat any heavy food such as meat or fish. It is best on the day after the fast to have salads, some light soups, and for protein, simply cooked chicken.

Juice Detox: Understanding How It Works and the Difference from Juice Fasting

A juice detox is very similar to a juice fast with one essential difference. You continue to eat certain foods while you drink your juices. Many of you may be thinking that this therefore constitutes a normal detox diet but it doesn’t – the majority of what you ingest over the specified timeframe is simply fruit and vegetable juice but occasionally, generally towards the end of the detox, small amounts of food are also allowed.

This type of detox is great for those of you who are trying detox for the first time. A juice detox offers all the benefits of a juice fast i.e. it quickly eliminates toxins from the body and gives a great feeling of well being, but it is made that little bit easier because of the food allowance.

Basically many juice detox programmes consist of a semi-fast which is based on a fruit and vegetable juice fast with whole fruit, raw vegetables and a few nutritional supplements thrown in as well.

A good example of a juice detox is as follows:

  • Day 1 – drink freshly squeezed fruit or vegetable juice every four hours. If you feel thirsty in between juice drinks you can have filtered water or herbal tea as an extra drink.
  • Day 2 – as day one but you can add up to 1lb of grapes and three bananas.
  • Day 3 – as day two plus a serving of raw vegetables and another fruit choice.
  • Day 4 to 7 – as day three plus a mixture of whole grain cereals, beans, nuts and seeds. This is essentially a detox diet based around juice.

Alternatively, you may want to drink your fruit juices throughout the day and have a bowl of clear vegetable broth in the evening. The length of time you remain on the juice detox is entirely up to you however it is not advisable to continue for more than a week or two at most.

A juice detox is a great way to start off your detoxing career or for those of you who are veterans of the diets then this is a fantastic little fill in between those 30 day fasts. Either way the benefits will be felt within days of your first juice drink and they will continue to be felt for months after you finish.


Detox Diets: What Exactly it is?

The world today is full of toxins; they’re in the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe. Toxins are harmful to the body when they are allowed to accumulate however by embarking on a detox diet you can help to eliminate many of the toxins from the body’s systems. This will inevitably leave you feeling more alert, less tired and in better over all condition.

There are literally hundreds of detox diets available all of which are slightly different in terms of what you can and can’t eat and how long they last. In general a detox diet involves you temporarily giving up specific food groups that contain or are thought to contain a high number of potentially harmful toxins. In this way you purify your body, firstly by purging yourself of already present toxins and secondly by restricting the food stuffs you eat so that new toxins are not ingested.

Most detox diets involve an initial 24-48 hour liquid diet, also known as a fast. Following this you reintroduce a number of specific food groups over the course of four or five days. The food groups that are normally allowed as part of a detox diet include:

  • Fresh fruit and vegetables. These should ideally be organic as fertilisers, pesticides and insecticides are known to contain many toxins.
  • Beans such as kidney beans, mung beans, split peas and chickpeas.
  • Nuts however they should be unsalted and not peanuts.
  • Seeds including sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds.
  • Herbal teas. These must be naturally caffeine-free and preferably green tea although black tea is also an option.
  • Water. Water is probably one of the most important ingredients in a detox diet however ideally your water should be low-aluminium. It is recommended that at least 8-10 glasses are drunk every day to get the full benefits.

The list of food groups and other substances not allowed include wheat, meat, fish, dairy, caffeine, alcohol, salt, sugar and all processed/fast foods. It is also recommended that you never return to eating a number of the food groups even when you have successfully completed the detox diet and so embarking on a detox diet requires willpower and determination.

The end results however easily outweigh the hardship and as many detox diets only last 7-14 days, this is a small price to pay for an all over feeling of health and wellbeing.

Understand more about Detox Foods

Copyright 2006, Leroy Fong and Detox-Guide.com