See a licensed alternative healthcare practitioner before beginning any cleansing or detox diet. This is particularly important if you have a chronic health condition and or take medication.
Some of the Benefits from a Detox Diet:
- Improved digestion, better elimination, less constipation, gas, bloating and indigestion.
- Freedom to breathe more deeply.
- Less allergic or reactive responses to foods. You will likely experience less mucus and congestion and a clearing of sniffles and coughs.
- More energy, better nutrient absorption, overall improved health.
- Balanced pH; improved alkalinity, less acidic.
- Weight loss and the realization that you can enjoy a lighter style of eating.
- A sense of satisfaction, greater vitality and a desire to choose better foods and develop better eating habits, permanently.
- A deeper understanding of how to take care of yourself with these new found skills.
Basic Five Day Detox Diet
1. Drink 6-8 glasses of water per day.
2. Exercise for at least 20 minutes per day- make sure it has your body sweating as this will actually allow you to excrete many toxins through your sweat. e.g power walking, bike riding, swimming.
3. Drink one large glass of freshly squeezed mixed green vegetable juice per day e.g. broccoli, cabbage, celery, cucumber, green beans, snow peas, parsley etc. OR take a supplement like Broken
Cell Wall Chlorella (We know that green juice doesn’t taste that pleasant but the benefits outweigh the taste and its only for one week).
4. Eat (preferably organic) unprocessed foods free from additives and sugar. e.g. foods that remain the same as they are in nature. Examples include brown rice, grilled fish, eggs, grilled lean chicken, vegetables (including steamed
vegetables and salads), fruit and nuts. Try using olive oil, balsamic or apple cider vinegar and or lemon juice for dressing. Try to avoid gluten and dairy for one week. Alternative grains that are free from gluten include, amaranth, buckwheat, rice, millet, and quinoa.
5. Stretch — light stretches before bed will enhance mobility. Stretching stimulates target=_blank>endorphins . It is an excellent way to relax and it feels really good.
6. Search for things in your life that you are grateful for and the things you love. Spend time each day thinking about these things and focus on the positive.
7. Diaphragmatic Breathing — The way we breath has an impact on how well our body functions and eliminates toxins. Diaphragmatic breathing increases oxygen levels and breathing capacity by increasing air volume by two or three times or more. There are many documented accounts showing that physical symptoms disappear in clients with chronic illnesses after practicing. It is conclusive
medical evidence that air and oxygen play an important role not only in staying healthy but also in treating and eliminating diseases. How do I diaphragmatically breathe? “Improper breathing is a common cause of ill health. If I had to limit my advice on healthier living to just one tip, it would be simply to learn how to breathe correctly. There’s no single more powerful — or more simple — daily practice to further your health and well-being than breathwork.” ~ Andrew Weil, M.D.
8. Ensure you are going to the toilet at least once a day (passing poop). The elimination of waste (and toxins) from the body needs to happen daily. If you aren’t going to the toilet daily you probably aren’t eating enough fibre and or drinking enough water. This is essential when detoxing, as well as general well being and health. You may not be aware there is a problem. I had chronic constipation in the past and did not even realise because I was still going to the toilet daily but every few days I would skip a day. However, I did have constant stomach pain. Over time this caused a big build up. I finally discovered the problem after having an x-ray which showed backed up faeces in the large intestine. I increased my fibre and water intake and it all came out over a two week period. It was painful to get rid of. I now go 1-2 times a day. I consume 2 pieces of fruit per day, 2 serves of whole grain bread and or rice, and 2 cups of veggies per day. I also take one teaspoon of slippery elm bark which you can buy at any supermarket. I vowed never to have the problem again. Also be aware medication and cause a problem as well. Increase your fibre intake to 30 grams per day and water intake to 1.5 to 2 liters per day. This will help you detox much faster.
Other Detox Diets Include:
Candida Cleanse/Detox Colon Cleanse/Detox Liver Detox For more information on cleansing and detoxing go to and join up for a free 1-week membership.
You can then access the above cleansing/detoxing diets and important information regarding cleansing and detoxing e.g. Pre-Cleanse Guidelines, kitchen supplies, shopping list Information, cleansing foods, cleansing recipes, daily cleanse plan and cleansing tips.
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Detox Foods
The top 10 detox foods: Green leafy vegetables. Eat them raw, throw them into a broth, add them to juices. Chlorophyll present in green vegetables is a natural chelating agent which can help remove heavy metals and pesticides from the body. It is also a liver protector.
Lemons. Are high in vitamin C. Its vitamin C — considered the detox vitamin — helps convert toxins into a water-soluble form that’s easily flushed away.
Watercress. Put a handful into salads, soups, and sandwiches. The peppery little green leaves have a diuretic effect that helps move things through your system. And cress is rich in minerals too.
Garlic. Add it to everything — salads, sauces, spreads. In addition to the bulb’s cardio benefits, it activates liver enzymes that help filter out junk.
Green tea. This antioxidant-rich brew is one of the healthiest ways to get more fluids into your system. Bonus: It contains catechins, which speed up liver activity.
Broccoli sprouts. Get ‘em at your health-food store. They pack 20 to 50 times more cancer-fighting, enzyme-stimulating activity into each bite than the grown-up vegetable.
Sesame seeds. They’re credited with protecting liver cells from the damaging effects of alcohol and other chemicals. For a concentrated form, try tahini, the yummy sesame seed paste that’s a staple of Asian
cooking.
Cabbage. There are two main types of detoxifying enzymes in the liver; this potent veggie helps activate both of them. Coleslaw, anyone?
Psyllium. A plant that’s rich in soluble fiber, like oat bran, but more versatile. It mops up toxins (cholesterol too) and helps clear them out. Stir powdered psyllium into juice to help cleanse your colon, or have psyllium-fortified Bran Buds for breakfast.
Fruits, fruits, fruits. They’re full of almost all the good things above — vitamin C, fiber, nutritious fluids, and all kinds of antioxidants. Besides, nothing tastes better than a ripe mango, fresh berries,
or a perfect pear.
Detox Naturally
If you have the basics right (food and exercise) your body will do a great job at detoxing by itself. The old style food pyramid is out of date. The new food pyramid is based on the latest scientific evidence produced by the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. Your body will naturally detox by eliminating toxins via sweat when exercising and going to the toilet regularly.
The benefits of chiropractic care during a detoxification program. By Jessica Read, D.C.
The effectiveness of any detoxification program or (detox diet) will depend a lot on the efficiency of your digestive system organs. In turn, the function of your digestive system’s individual organs is highly reliant on the nerve supply they are receiving. This is where chiropractic treatment comes in. Every organ in the body receives nerve supply via an intricate system of nerves. Messages from the brain travel to these nerves via the spinal cord. Any interference to this nerve supply will affect the quality of the nervous impulse that reaches a said organ. The nerves exit the spinal cord between the vertebrae of the spinal column. Any slight pressure on these nerves, or a pulling on the sheath that covers them, will and does affect the quality of the nerve supply to the organ at the other end of the nerve.
Chiropractic adjustments are aimed at correcting any misplacement of the vertebrae, however slight, that might cause pressure on the nerve exiting at that level. (A vertebral misplacement of this kind is called a ‘subluxation’ in chiropractic terminology.) For optimum digestive function, it is important that each digestive organ should receive optimum nerve supply. Chiropractic can really help with this.
So it is highly recommended that you attend a chiropractor, who is prepared to help maintain the healthy nerve supply to your digestive organs during your detoxification program. The level at which the nerves to each digestive organ exists from the spinal column is known. Below is a chart depicting these levels. You will find that people often experience pain in areas of their spine that correspond to organs in trouble i.e. organs that may not be functioning at their best. I will give examples of this.
The seven cervical vertebrae are in the neck and will be abbreviated as C.
The twelve thoracic vertebrae are located from the base of the neck to the last rib and will be abbreviated as T.
The five lumbar vertebrae are in the lower back and will be abbreviated as L.
The sacrum is a flat bone at the base of the spine. It is made up of four fused segments and will be abbreviated as S.
During a detoxification program, your digestive system will be made to work harder to eliminate toxins. The organs most involved will be the liver, gallbladder and large and small intestine. So you could experience pain at the level of the nerve supply to these organs. The table here above will tell you where these areas are. This is a normal reaction and is called referred pain (another chiropractic terminology). Referred pain is pain that is felt in one area of the body but has its cause in another area. For instance, during detoxification, your liver is working harder and this could cause referred pain to the area of your eighth thoracic vertebra (T8) which is situated at about the level of the bottom tip of your shoulder blade.
There are several things you can do to help alleviate referred pain to the back:
- Drink more water to flush the liver and help it dilute the toxins it is working at cleaning out of your system.
- Have your chiropractor adjust your spine as required.
- Have a gentle massage to help release the muscular tension that may have built up in the muscles around the spine as the result of the referred pain.
- Have a foot reflexology session and ask for the digestive system, in particular, to be worked on. This is a great way to enhance your detoxification program.
- Apply Simply Flower Power Pain Relief & Moisturising Cream to the area of pain in the back or neck and also over the organs themselves (applying cream over the whole abdomen will reach most of the digestive organs). This will help release the stress in the cells and enhance your own body’s healing power.
Detoxifying your body is an important part of any health enhancement plan. It may be uncomfortable and even trying at times if you have a lot of toxins in your body. You may feel physically ill and emotionally up and down as the toxins are released into your blood system to be excreted in the most efficient way your body chooses (this can be via bowel movements, via the urine, or even via
the skin and breath). However, detoxifying your body is worth all the discomfort you may go through. The end result is a feeling of cleanliness, bountiful energy, youth and a general sense of feeling happy to be alive.
The last step in the program is the most important: take measures to avoid returning to that toxic state! Keep up the healthy eating patterns, exercise regularly, breathe lots of fresh air of varying kinds (sea and forest air contain different ions and cleanse your lungs and blood system in different ways) and you will be able to maintain your new found health and vitality with much less effort than it takes to detoxify!
Last Updated on March 27, 2023 by Katie Sisel Distributor
