When following a body detox program, in order to get a healthy spread of nutrients you must choose items from all the food groups every day. Missing out on a food category may mean that you begin to feel lethargic as something is missing from your daily requirements.
You do not need to have everything for every meal but a sensible combination might be: fruit for breakfast, fish and salad for lunch, roast vegetables and rice for supper, nuts for a mid-morning snack and goat’s cheese and rice cakes for dessert. Try to vary this as much as possible but make sure you eat it all! It is important to include raw foods as well as lightly cooked foods as part of your detox diet. Raw foods provide bulk and roughage which will increase your body’s ability to detox.
Drink A Cup Of Hot Water And Lemon Juice First Thing Every Morning.
The biggest organ of detox is the liver. Starting the day with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice in a cup of hot water will not only refresh and revitalize you but will also cleanse your palate and help to flush out your liver.
Fill the kettle with cold water – bottled or tap. Make sure the water has come to the boil. Then allow to cool a little before adding the lemon juice. The lemon is alkaline-forming, which will help to balance the pH in your system during detox. Drinking this mixture every morning will also help you meet your new daily water intake target and prevent you reaching for the usual tea or coffee.
Drink At Least 1.5 Liters (3 Pints) Of Water During The Day
Our bodies are around 75 per cent water and our brains about 85 per cent water, and we need to keep that level stable. We can go without food for many days but just one or two days without any liquid will result in dehydration and death.
We lose water throughout the day, through our skin, our breath, and our kidneys. Water regulates the temperature of our bodies, it keeps our skin moisturized from within, it helps food move through the gut, it flushes out toxic materials, it prevents kidney stones and helps the body avoid urinary infections such as cystitis. Water replenishes, cleanses, rejuvenates and restores and is probably the most important single item in a detox diet program. Do you need any more reasons to take the next sip?
In hot weather or during exercise you lose more water than normal so you should increase this amount to cover the deficit. If you detox your body in the summer or do more exercise, you may require even more. At first this may feel like too much and you will spend a lot of time going to the bathroom! But after a few days your body will become used to the amount and will start to make you thirsty for more. You must be sure to spread this water over the whole day. Drinking it all in one go will put pressure on your internal organs and is not healthy. Reduce the amount you drink leading up to bedtime, as this will prevent you having to get up during the night.
