We live in a world where we’re always exposed to harmful toxins in the form of pesticides, pollution, and second-hand smoke. These are entered our bodies without our control and cause severe damage to our organs.
Pollutants from vehicles that we inhale every day on the way to work contain carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and oxides of sulfur. These harmful chemicals can cause deadly diseases including cancer.
We need to build an efficient lifestyle to remove these toxins from our bodies. We need to Detox.
How does detox help?
Detox simply means consuming food or juice that can help your body flush out toxins. Many food items that we consume contain contaminants such as flavor enhancers, preservatives, and food coloring, that can harm your body. On top of it, external substances that we inhale involuntarily, have detrimental effects on our bodies.
A detox diet results in the elimination of fat from your body which naturally leads to weight loss. This also helps with various abnormalities like digestive issues, bloating, skin inflammation, and fatigue. Although you should detox while you’re actively working as it causes fatigue.
Remember that detox is not the solution for every health concern and you should consult a doctor first. You can also make an appointment with online doctors if you want to avoid hospitals due to COVID-19. Moreover, you can now get medicines and other medical products for home by ordering them online.
Note: People who’re on some form of medication should never do detox without a doctor’s advice.
How to detox?
Our bodies are beautifully built machines that can filter out toxins themselves. It uses the liver, kidney, and skin to flush harmful contaminants out of your body. They’ve been doing it forever but during a detox, you push it to do better. Moreover, it’s important to keep the organs healthy so that they can do this process effortlessly.
There’s no single way to detox. One can try multiple things to do a cleanse. Here are different ways to detox:
- Fasting
- Drinking only vegetable juice, fruit juices, and smoothies.
- Completely eliminating processed food items from your diet
- Removing addictive substances like coffee, tea, alcohol, and cigarette
- Drinking only salted water and lemon juice
Creating a Detox Diet
Before beginning your detox diet, cut out food items like meat, dairy, processed, and junk food. Then, you should supplement with as many fruits and vegetables as possible. You don’t want to starve yourself in the name of detox.
Also, you must focus on hydration since you’re cutting calories. Drink enough water with lemon to stay hydrated throughout the day. You can drink juices, coconut water, and green tea. This is very important to maintain balance in the body as you’ll feel weak during the first few days of your detox diet.
Here’s a diet plan for you:
- Begin your day with a glass of lemon water
- Follow up with a fruit salad
- Before lunch, have a glass of carrot and tomato juice
- Make yourself a bowl of salad lunch.
- Follow up with another glass of lemon water
- In the evening, if you get hungry, make yourself a fruit salad and have it with nuts
- Have green tea
- For dinner, have a bowl of bean and vegetable salad
What to expect
There’s a lot of noise around what detox does and doesn’t do. It is said to help you with weight loss but there’s something you should know about this. You will lose weight during your detox but that’s simply because you’re eating less. You’ll gain all the weight back when you resume your normal diet.
During the first few days, you’ll be tired. Since you’ve cut down carbs, sugar, and dairy, you’ll be low on energy. Also, you’ll experience mood swings in the beginning. But don’t fret. Your body will adjust to these changes in a few days and then you’ll feel light and active.
Who shouldn’t do it?
Since this diet is quite severe on the body, it’s not meant for everybody. Pregnant women, diabetic people, and people with an eating disorder should steer clear of this diet. A detox diet is also not recommended for teens since there are their growth years. During this time, the body requires all the nutritional goodness that it can get. Detox demands to cut down on a major chunk of calorie intake which can be harmful to growing kids.
This was everything you need to know before starting your detox diet. Keep all the pros and cons in mind before beginning your detox. The most important thing in any diet is to begin consistently and don’t let cravings stop you from achieving your goal. Also, consult your doctor in case of any problems.
