FitnessCrew

The party season is coming to an end and maybe you’re just finishing the last chocolates in the box. It was fun while it lasted but I’ll bet, like me, you’re feeling the effects and nothing could be better than a good detox diet to get you feeling great and clearing away the harmful effects of all that rich food and drink. It should trim away a little weight if you’ve put the kilos on and also increase your energy to exercise.

Critics of detox diets say they aren’t really necessary because the body is good enough at eliminating anything we don’t need, but whenever I’ve tried a detox diet I’ve noticed the effects immediately. Softer skin, improved energy, clarity of mind to focus on work, weight regulation and no feeling of a sluggish bloated tummy are all signs that it has had the desired effect.

I do agree with the critics that there’s no need to spend money on expensive detox products unless you want to. Here I have to admit that I prefer cabbage soup pills to actually eating too much of the stuff! But you can have an excellent detox diet just by buying the right healthy food, and although it’s only recommended to go on this kind of diet occasionally to cleanse your system you’ll probably find that it helps you to build the habit of eating better. Once you feel the benefits of a detox you don’t want to damage your system again with all the toxins you usually put in.

Detox is short for detoxification, or clearing out all the toxins our bodies can accumulate from our environment, pollution, unhealthy eating, and bad habits like smoking. I find that a week or two of healthy eating, concentrating on the right foods (preferably organic) and cutting out the nasties leads to a dramatic change. At first you can find that you feel very sleepy if you’ve been used to a lot of caffeine and it might be necessary to wean yourself off the coffee gradually.
You might get headaches, which are a withdrawal symptom from various toxins and especially caffeine. A detox diet can also help the system to flush out toxins so you might get diahorrea or need to urinate more often, and it’s especially important to drink enough water as you’ll be eating more fibre and can dehydrate. Constipation would be the sign this is happening.

It’s vital to continue taking any medication you need during a detox diet, and not to think it could be a cure which would substitute anything your doctor has recommended. In fact it’s essential to ask your doctor’s advice before going on any kind of diet if you have a medical condition. If you have an eating disorder this isn’t the right diet for you as it’s an occasional cleansing diet and excessive fasting is not recommended. A detox diet lasts for a temporary period and then you return to normal eating – it shouldn’t be continual.

So how does a detox diet work? To start with it minimises the amount of toxins we take in – for example, by eating organic food we can avoid the chemicals used to grow other types of crop. Unhealthy foods are replaced by a concentration on healthy foods: the sort of food that gives the vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants our bodies need for natural detoxification. There are also more high fibre foods in a detox diet, plus plenty of water, and this leads to toxins being drawn out of the system and eliminated more rapidly.

Although some experts feel our bodies can do this without help, it would always depend on a healthy, balanced diet and a detox diet can redress that balance and teach us to eat the right way. Other nutrition experts believe the chemicals we ingest from our polluted environment are deposited in fat cells in our bodies and that they can build up, while our bodies are becoming less able to eliminate them. This could lead to various illnesses, tiredness, indigestion, bad breath, poor skintone and muscle pain if the theories are correct. Whichever school of experts you believe, a good healthy detox diet certainly can make you feel better so I think my vote goes for that side of the argument!

The temporary detox diet can only be carried on short term as it doesn’t usually contain all the nutrients needed for an ongoing healthy diet. However, many of the healthy foods contained in this sort of diet plan can still be included in a long-term diet. If you want to try a detox diet with me this week then watch for my next post where I’ll set out the ingredients necessary for a good system clean! I don’t know about you, but I partied quite hard this year, and a detox is just what I need.