I know it is a touch early for Spring, but not to early to clean the toxins out of our systems and get ready for a healthy Spring and Summer, maybe with a detox diet.
Start Properly
There are dozens of detox diets out there and some are down right bad for your kidneys and liver. Be careful and use common sense, these diets are not for the faint of heart. It is important to be prepared both mentally and physically for this diet. Detox diets are not intended to cure disease, just to allow the body to run more efficiently, kind of like a car tune up. If you have problems like high blood pressure, kidney disease or heart disease, consult your doctor before starting any diet. Take the Detox Screening Quiz.
What the Mayo Clinic Says about Detox Diets
Detox diets: Do they work?
Do detox diets offer any health benefits?
Answer
from Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
Detox, or detoxification, diets are popular, but they’re not scientifically proven.
Detox diets are touted as a way to remove toxins from the body. Specific detox diets vary — but typically a period of fasting is followed by a strict diet of raw vegetables, fruit and fruit juices, and water. In addition, some detox diets advocate using certain herbs and other supplements along with colon cleansing (enemas) to help empty the intestines. Most detox diets last seven to 10 days.
Some people report feeling more focused and energetic during and after detox diets. However, this may be due to a belief that they’re doing something good for their bodies. There’s little evidence that detox diets actually remove toxins from the body. Most ingested toxins are efficiently and effectively removed by the kidneys and liver and excreted in urine and stool.
It’s also important to consider possible side effects. Among other problems, detox diets can lead to:
- Dehydration
- Fatigue
- Dizziness
- Nausea
If you’re considering a detox diet, get the OK from your doctor first — and remember, the best diet is a healthy diet based on fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean sources of protein.
What is a Detox Diet?
A detox diet is a good idea when you might have been over indulging in the wrong things for a period of time, or if you’d like to get a jump start on losing weight and/or are interested in getting the toxins and chemicals floating around in and on your body, out and off. A good old detox can get rid of that bloated feeling and restore energy. Your body will be able to accept more water and oxygen from the food you eat and your skin will look and feel better. Detox diets generally last from 3 to 21 days.
Why Detox?
As I mentioned before, we ingest an amazing amount of chemicals, pesticides and hormones in the food we normally eat. Even if you are trying to maintain a healthy life style, you are bound to have eaten some processed or canned food. Been sick, having headaches, stomach problems, bloated, had some drugs administered? You need to detox. Our bodies naturally remove toxins that we consume but a detox diet gives that body time to remove more toxins before we put more back in.
How to Start
As with most things, I recommend that you start slowly. If you’ve never been on a detox diet before, start with a 3 day diet and see how it goes.
Juice fasts:
The Master Cleanse – Also know as the Lemonade diet. Nothing but lemonade, maple syrup and cayenne pepper – click here for details
Liquid Diets and Juice Fasting – Nothing but juice – click here for details
Raw Food Diet:
The 28 Day Raw Detox – Basically you can eat anything that isn’t cooked or processed. click here for details
Conclusions and Recommendations
The Fat Farm does not recommend extreme diets of any kind. If you must try these diets, start small and don’t go longer than a couple of days. Here is a link to several more. click here.
