The festive season means indulgence and excessive consumption, resulting in toxic overload and strain on the body. New Year is a good time for resolutions and there is no better way to shake off the excesses of the holiday season and get healthy than with a detox diet. Detox is a shortened version of the word ‘detoxification,’ which means the elimination of toxins from the body. It is one of the basic foundations of natural healing.
Typically, our bodies are designed to deal with a certain amount of overloads and naturally dispose of them through the process of urination, excretion, and perspiration. However, when we push our bodies to the brink by consuming too much food that is high in caffeine, sugar, trans fats, additives, gluten, food colors and alcohol, toxins tend to accumulate. This is the root cause of many chronic health complaints such as migraine, malaise, fatigue, digestive problems, and obesity.
A detox diet conducted over a period of few days results in significant improvements in health and vitality. A good detox diet purges toxins from your bloodstream, liver, kidneys, and intestines and gets the body back to a healthful, fresh state. Detox is not a time of deprivation but a time of good nourishing food and inner cleansing. It helps people adjust their eating habits more permanently, resulting in improved nutrition, good health, and sustained weight loss.
There are many methods of detoxing, all vital for surviving the toxic overload from adulterated food, polluted air, and chemically treated water. Below are some simple ideas to maintain a satisfactory level of detoxification that will rejuvenate and revitalize while reducing the load off an overstrained system.
Foods To Eat And Avoid While Detoxing:
Detox – What to have and what not to? If detoxification is one side of the coin, eating right is the other. Refer to the table below for detox food rules.
Foods To Eat When Detoxing:
- Gluten-Free Grains – millet, quinoa, wild rice, brown rice, buckwheat, amaranth
- Non-Dairy Milk – soy milk, almond milk, rice milk
- Water, herbal tonics or floral teas
- Vegetable juices and fresh fruits
- Extra virgin and virgin olive oil, ghee
- Vegan foods
- All seasonal and local whole foods
Foods To Avoid When Detoxing:
- Wheat – bread, cakes, pasta, pizzas, Rotis
- Dairy – milk, cream, butter, cheese
- Caffeine or caffeine-containing beverages
- Alcohol
- Trans fats/hydrogenated fats
- Meat
- All processed and refined foods
