New Year 3 Day Detox!

Happy New Year all! May the year 2012 bring you all joy, peace and fabulous health.

Now the year has started, it’s a good time to think about our health and what we have indulged in over the holidays. Many of us would have pigged out on a lot of food both good and bad and drank a heck of a lot of alcohol to sink a ship, so now it’s time to clean and clear out the gunk we put in our bodies.

How do we have a clear out? Detox!

I am starting a 3 day detox on the 3rd of January which consists of juicing raw fruits and vegetables and exercise – so join me on this journey if you are looking to cleanse your system and start the year with a cleaner body and clearer mind. I do this for three days because it takes the body about that length of time to realise toxins are being eliminated and replaced with nutrients and cells to regenerate. But first, let’s get into what detox is and the benefits.

So what is detox?

Detox or detoxification is the process of getting rid of toxins and bacteria in your body. It is true the body detoxifies itself naturally but that’s if it is given the chance to clean itself – it doesn’t do so effectively if we constantly feed it processed foods, thereby overworking our digestive systems. Our digestive systems need a little time off from being over-worked trying to digest processed foods.

What are toxins? Toxins are anything that can be potentially harmful to our body’s tissues, including waste products that result from normal cell activity. Our liver, intestines, kidneys, lungs, skin, blood and lymphatic systems work together to ensure that toxins are transformed chemically to less harmful compounds and eliminated from our bodies.

These toxins and bacteria can be destructive to the body’s cells and tissues and over time, may lead to serious health problems. We can get exposed to toxins and bacteria through the foods we ingest, water or our environment. We can’t always help the toxins in our environment but we can do something about the food and water we consume.

Apart from reducing the amount of toxins in our bodies and promoting healthy eating and nutrition, detoxing also:

  • improves our immune system by replenishing with the minerals and vitamins from fruits and vegetables
  • scavenges free radicals which are the cause of infections and diseases in our bodies
  • strengthens the body’s fight against cancer cells
  • generates healthy cells
  • cleanses mucous, congestion and inflammation in our digestive tract
  • purifies blood
  • enables us to think more clearly
  • enables our body become more alkaline
  • helps reduce cravings for junk foods
  • increases our desire to eat and drink more healthily
  • improves the skin and makes it clear and bright

Different types of detox

There are many types of detox regimes out there – a lot of which you can find online or through good detox books.

Some examples of detox regimes I would recommend are:

Raw food detox – here eating and juicing raw fruit and vegetables for the duration prevents the loss of vitamins, minerals and other essentials caused by cooking;

Hallelujah detox – for those who cannot eat raw all the time this detox enables you eat 85% raw and 15% cooked – I tend to fall into this category sometimes as I need to eat/chew food towards the end of the day;

Diuretic detox – will help the body release fluids which you can get from certain herbs and vegetables like parsley, celery, cucumber, asparagus etc.

There are also many other detox programs you can embark on but best to do your research properly and check with your doctor it is safe to do them.

Here’s what I tend to do and will be doing – I start my day with a glass of warm water and a slice of lemon which starts the cleansing process, eliminating toxins from the body and kick-starts the body’s metabolism. I follow this with my detox juice, water and green tea throughout the day. I will also have steamed fish/chicken and vegetables in the evening or sometimes just a salad will suffice. I will be posting the juice and food recipes I will be using during the three days.

While detoxing, I also exercise – yoga. I think yoga is probably the best exercise as you do not overly exert yourself. Yoga helps you detox, breathe deeper to open out your lungs, clear the nasal passage and calms the nervous system. Yoga also helps calm the mind, improves your alignment and posture, and relieves stress.

I have been detoxing for a while now and I’m now quite tuned in to what my body needs so my detox juices tend to change according to what my body needs at that point. Whichever way you choose to detox, make sure it’s the right plan for you. Do your research and find out the benefits of the ingredients you will be using and most of all, go into it with the right attitude – the aim is to clean out your body, renew yourself and get healthy for 2012 and beyond.

Look out for my juice and food recipes.

Happy Detox!

 

Leave a Reply


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

TwitterPinterestFacebookEmail