The short answer is yes – there are some colon cleanse products that work extremely well, and can help improve your colon health (and overall health) and boost your immune system. But there are a lot of “colon cleaning” products that are little more than placebos! The trick is finding a colon cleanser that works.

So how can you find a colon cleansing product that actually does what it says on the tin – without risking your health on ineffective products, or spending a small fortune working your way through every colon cleanse product on the market?

The way we see it is that you have two options – either look for a colon cleansing product that can back up their claims with a lot of testimonials from happy and satisfied customers, or find a company who are willing to offer you free trial of their colon cleanse products.

Testimonials are a great way to try and prove to us that a product is actually being used by customers like you and me, and that these customers are happy with their purchase – but some companies have been known to “bribe” their customers by asking for a testimonial in return for valuable free gifts. So testimonials from happy customers are not the ultimate for social proof that a product actually works.

A free trial on the other hand speaks volumes for the belief a company has in its products. If they are willing to “put their money where their mouth is” and let you try their products for free, that tends to suggest they are confident that the product actually works, and that you’ll be so happy with it that you’ll want to come back and buy more.

Colon Cleanse

I’m a big believer in regular detoxing and colon cleansing, which is the main reason I started looking for a colon detox product that actually worked. I found a lot of colon cleanse products that were pretty much ineffective – I won’t go into the details, but if a colon cleansing product works, you’d expect something to happen!

To cut a long story short, I finally found a colon cleanse product called PureCleanse Pro which works for me – in fact I use it all the time. It’s one of those supplements that you can either take as needed (if you want to do a colon detox every couple of months or so), or take a maintenance dose every day to make sure you keep your colon health in great shape. They met my criteria of having testimonials from satisfied (and repeat) customers, and offer a free trial – which meant I could try it without risking any more money on ineffective products. Go get your free trial bottle of colon cleanse today – ProCleanse Pro.

A lot of people that I have helped lose weight in the past have been asking about the lemon detox diet, and whether it is as good as people are saying.

The truth is, any diet that restricts certain foods groups and/or nutrients is not good for you. It may help you lose weight fast in the short term, but long term it’s not sustainable, and therefore not a good idea as it has many adverse health implications (like malnutrition).

Having said that, the lemon detox diet still has some good points that can be incorporated into your normal healthy diet.

The idea behind the lemon detox diet is that you replace some of your meals with water and lemon juice (and perhaps other ingredients like ginger, cayenne pepper and maple syrup).

The benefits of the lemon juice is that it is a powerful detoxing agent which helps cleanse your liver and gallbladder, which in turn makes these organs more efficient at metabolizing and eliminating fat from your food and your body.

The main problems with the lemon detox diet is that you are seriously restricting your intake of health giving nutrients (vitamins and minerals) which are lacking from the diet.

Personally, I love the powers of lemon in helping your detox your body, and this in itself is more than enough evidence to incorporate lemon detox drinks in your diet. Just don’t replace meals with it. For best results, I have a lemon detox drink first thing every morning – some warm water (boiled and cooled, not from the hot water tap), half a squeezed lemon and some root ginger. It tastes great, is very refreshing, and helps detox your body. About 30 minutes afterwards I have my breakfast.

One form of overall body and liver detox supplements you may want to add to your diet are antioxidants.

Antioxidants attack the free radicals whose harmful chemical reactions can damage the body’s cells. It is argued that free-radical damage is the reason we age and, studies have shown, may lead to cancerous cells.

Alpha Lipoic Acid: a highly potent antioxidant and immune booster. Helps to protect the liver and pancreas from alcohol damage, ALA also has protective effects on brain and nerve tissue and shows promise as a treatment for stroke and other brain disorders involving free-radical damage.

Found in spinach, broccoli and brewer’s yeast.

Green Tea: reduces high blood pressure, lowers cholesterol. There are four primary polyphenols in green tea: these are powerful antioxidants that have been shown to fight viruses, to slow aging and to have a general beneficial effect on health.

Lutein: good for eyes, heart, skin and the reproductive system. Protects against cataract formation.

Found in dark-green leafy vegetables, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts.

Lycopene: said to reduce risk of prostate and lung cancer. Cooked tomatoes are a particularly rich source. Also found in watermelon, guava, pink grapefruit, spinach, peaches and oranges.

Echinacea: anti-viral, anti-bacterial and an immune-system stimulant. Good for colds, flu, chronic fatigue and respiratory problems.

Derived from the purple coneflower herb.

Milk Thistle: a purple-flower member of the sunflower family, the seeds of milk thistle have been used by healers for past 2,000 years. Protects the liver and kidney from toxins and pollutants.

Good for gall bladder problems, boosting the immune system and may protect against prostate and breast cancer.

Zinc: a mineral comparable to vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene in antioxidant qualities. Is essential to the growth and function of the reproductive organs; the prostate gland in men contains an abundance of zinc. It is also responsible for regulation of the oil glands, prevention of acne, formation of collagen and bone, wound healing, and a healthy immune system.

Food sources include: eggs, kelp, lima beans, pecans and whole grains.

It is not essential to add detox supplement to your diet with herbal preparations or vitamins while on a healthy detox diet. They may, however, help you progress a little faster, and give your body the boost it needs, particularly if you are feeling lethargic, suffering from bloating and finding it hard to shift excess weight.

Most of the vitamins and body detox supplements I talk about are readily available from health-food shops, high-street chemists, nutritional websites and homeopathic outlets – as well as occurring naturally in many foods.

For the purposes of a detox diet, there are three major families of body and liver detox supplements of particular interest: amino acids, antioxidants and digestive aids.

Amino Acids

Amino acids are essential to make all cells, hormones and enzymes, and are used by the body to repair and maintain muscle tissue and nerve fiber. Amino acids are found in such proteins as chicken, fish, eggs and soya products.

Glutamine: important for muscle growth and nourishment and for preventing muscle tissue breakdown (anti-proteolytic). Helps maintain the correct acid/alkaline balance of the body. Promotes mental clarity and a healthy digestive tract.

Found in protein such as fish, meat and beans.

Choline And Inositol: good for liver cleansing, formation of lecithin, metabolizing fat, gall bladder and kidneys, also brain function, stress reduction. A report published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition claimed that poor memory could be significantly improved by the intake of foods containing choline.

Found in fish, eggs, legumes.

Phenylalanine: for brain activity, mood and alertness. Also for headaches, muscle cramps and enhancing production of an appetite suppressant cholycystokinin. Not recommended for diabetes sufferers.

Naturally found in fruit, cereals, meat, eggs, bananas.

Arginine: a vital amino acid that causes the body to release essential hormones. Stimulates sexual maturity, increases lean muscle mass and burns fat, lowers cholesterol, boosts the immune system, speeds recovery from surgery and injury by promoting wound healing.

Found in nuts (coconut, pecans, cashews, walnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, hazel nuts, peanuts), seeds (pumpkin, sesame, sunflower), poultry (chicken and turkey light meat), wild game (pheasant, quail), seafood (halibut, lobster, salmon, shrimp, snails, tuna in water), chickpeas, and cooked soybeans.

If you already eat plenty of the foods mentioned above you probably don’t need any additional body detox supplements, but if not, you may want to consider researching some that contain the amino acids mentioned here.

An air purifier or humidifier or ionizer helps to filter impurities from the air you breathe, but even opening a window in your bedroom at night will make a big difference. Keeping the windows shut means you will be breathing in stagnant, polluted air for eight hours.

Opening them will allow the circulation of fresher, less-polluted air during the hours of reduced, night-time traffic.

There are natural cleaning products that will reduce the amount of chemical fumes that you inhale, and natural detergents that will reduce the amount of chemicals being absorbed by your skin through your clothes and sheets. If the detergent is biodegradable, it also means that your body is able to process and eliminate whatever chemicals are used. This is most important for washing sheets and bedding because of the amount of time you spend sleeping in close contact with your sheets and duvet covers, as anybody who has ever developed a rash after changing their detergent will know. Avoiding a toxic bedtime environment also allows your body to recover from all the toxins it has been exposed to during the day.

These are all very easy lifestyle changes to make yet they will have an enormous effect on your wellbeing. By reducing the amount of poison that you eat, inhale and absorb every day, and by cleaning out the toxins that are already stored within your body, you will vastly improve your elimination pathways. This, in turn, will allow your body to cope better with both its internal and external environment, keeping itself healthier and thereby reducing the potential risk of disease.

Your first job, on a detox diet, is to rid your body of all the toxins which are congesting your system, slowing down your metabolism, clogging up your digestive tract and polluting your blood.

With the help of a natural detox program, you will also be cleaning your cardiovascular system of plaque (the fatty deposits which cause narrowing and hardening of the arteries, restricting your blood flow) and working at dissolving away the calcium and mineral deposits contained within your muscles.

By combining your detox diet with supplements specially chosen for their cleansing properties, you can return your body to a happy, detoxified state in just three weeks. These supplements work alongside amino acids, your body’s own ‘cleansers’. Amino acids are chemical compounds that make up the proteins needed to build all living cells. They also play a vital role in purifying your organs and helping you re-establish a normal metabolism. Vitamins are another essential element in the optimum functioning of your metabolism. To be assured of a thorough spring clean, everything must be working well together.

At the end of your detox you can expect to be rid of mood swings and lethargy, you will feel revitalized, have a refreshed and replenished energy store and a new spring in your step. Because your whole internal landscape will be so much cleaner, nutrients will be able – far more quickly and efficiently – to reach and nourish your organs, muscles and brain. One of the results will be a greater clarity of thought which will enable you to take control of all the external factors in your life (work, family, friends etc.) and cope much better with the constant demands of today’s fast-paced world.

Life is about creating positive changes and I want to show you how, with a detox diet, you can make lasting changes that will greatly improve and enhance your life’s potential and create a much calmer, more peaceful and more organized you.

The job of the liver’s filtration system is to keep the blood as pure as possible. To do this, it has to sort out the good stuff from the bad and filter off the toxins. You can detox your liver by nourishing yourself with nutritious, freshly prepared foods, and avoid fizzy drinks, alcohol and processed foods, then you will give your liver the best chance of eliminating any poisonous chemicals that it does encounter. You’ll also be giving it the time to deal with the backlog of toxins it has had to store in its own liver cells.

Another of the liver’s problems is that many of the toxic chemicals that enter the body will not dissolve in water. They are fat soluble. The liver, therefore, having difficulty breaking them down, sends them to the fat stores. But until the body needs these fat cells (for conversion into energy), they will just sit there filling up with more toxins that can cause problems later. This is one of the main reasons why people find it difficult to lose weight. It is also why, during a natural liver detox diet, I recommend exercise – and also massage and manual lymphatic drainage – to break down the fat stores so that they are released along with the toxins.

One of the reasons I suggest avoiding fruit during a natural liver detox diet is to encourage the body to convert those stored up, fatty, toxic cells into energy, rather than draw that energy from the sugar in fruit. Because it is easier to derive energy directly from sugar, the liver will always opt for that route rather than the more laborious process of converting energy from fat. This is also why many people report a reduction in cellulite when following a natural liver detox diet, as these subcutaneous fat cells gradually get broken down.

Why You Must Detox Your Liver Regularly

Every drug, virus, bacterium, artificial chemical, pesticide, hormone (both taken in or self made) has to be broken down (metabolized) by the enzyme pathways inside the liver cells. This is a massive job for any organ to have to do. If your beleaguered liver becomes completely overworked and congested, it will itself eventually break down and could lead to liver disease. You must, therefore, respect this vital organ and look after it. After all, you only have the one.

Cleansing the liver is fundamental to a body detox, so help this process by eating plenty of raw vegetables (40 per cent of your diet should consist of raw vegetables). Dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach, cabbage, greens and broccoli are especially good to detox your liver as they are an excellent source of the B vitamins and minerals that the liver needs to cleanse its detoxification pathways.

Symptoms You May Encounter During A Liver Cleanse

Once you start a detox diet and your re-energized liver begins to release the toxins in your body into your blood stream, during the first 48 hours you may experience such symptoms as headaches, stomach pain, nausea, fatigue and even mild palpitations. If this happens, drink herbal teas with honey to maintain your blood sugar levels – and drink lots of water.

Remember too that when you have learnt how to take care of your body, your mind will also become clearer and more focused and you will feel less anxious, more relaxed and will sleep better each night.

You will be ready for some wonderful ways of promoting physical and mental wellbeing – such as yoga, meditation exercises and massage.

If you decide to chart or monitor your progress through a natural liver detox diet this will help you to monitor your detox symptoms and maintain your new-found vitality. As well as being fun to use, they also offer practical information about your health, personality and behavior, give you an idea of your metabolic profile and indicate areas which may not be working as well as they should.

Your goal is a healthy balance in all things, and these charts are excellent tools for learning about your own particular balance – and for keeping track of your natural liver detox diet progress.

If you know there is a possibility that you will over-indulge on alcohol one day or evening then you should at least prepare your body before hand and have a hangover cure ready for the day after.

Protecting Against Dehydration

The main side-effect of drinking too much alcohol is dehydration. Drinking at least 1.5 liters (3 pints) of water in the several days leading up to the big night out (you should be drinking this amount every day as a matter of course) will help your body with the alcohol detox in two main ways.

Firstly, it will completely hydrate your body in preparation for the alcohol detox – as all that alcohol will increase the rate of fluid loss. Secondly, it will help your body go through detox cleansing by leaving it fully purged and ready to deal with flushing through the alcohol to come. All the effective hangover remedies include drinking lots of water.

Protecting Your Liver

The liver is the organ for alcohol detox cleansing and purification so, over the next days, you need to keep it fully cleansed and ready for the overtime to come. There are many hangover cures and liver detox tonics that you can make to help prepare your liver. Include plenty of beetroot, black grapes, fresh garlic and garlic pills (odorless are best). Eat carrots or drink carrot juice – you can combine this with some lemon detox diet juices but make sure you include plenty of carrot and/or beetroot. Fennel and dandelion tea should also form part of your alcohol detox diet for the days preceding a big night out.

Protecting Your Stomach

There are also things you can do to prepare and even ‘line’ your stomach to help the alcohol pass through without too many problems. All good hangover cures start with this type of preparation. Blood sugar levels should be maintained and extremes should be avoided. Eat full meals during the day and don’t have your first drink on an empty stomach. Make sure your meals consist of plenty of vegetables, brown rice, salads, fruit, etc. If there is no healthy food available – often the nibbles are dips or fried food or are high in salt to make you drink more – just make sure you eat something, as drinking on a full stomach is much healthier for your stomach and will probably mean you drink less.

During The Evening

You can also take steps throughout the festivities that will help to affect a quick alcohol detox and ensure minimum damage the following day:

When choosing your drink remember that mixing sugar with alcohol – sweet spirits – will speed up the absorption of the alcohol, making you get drunk quicker. For this reason you should avoid spirits and sweet sugary drinks like alcopops or pre-mixed bottled drinks. Sugary drinks will also make you drink more as the sugar high you get will soon fall and you will reach for another drink just to keep your energy up.

Keep your hydration levels up by matching every alcoholic drink with the same amount of water. Water is still one of the best hangover cures. This doesn’t mean you have to dilute your drinks but it does mean that every other drink could be water. If you think that drinking water is not possible because the host will pressurize you to have a good time then fake it. A sparkling water with ice and lemon in a spirit glass can look like a gin or vodka and tonic and no one need ever know the difference. Barmen are very good at not giving the game away.

You can make a long drink out of white wine by creating a spritzer – more fluid, less alcohol.

Remember how you will feel the next day. Cutting back or stopping when you feel you’ve had enough is the best answer. Even then there is probably still enough alcohol in your system to have done quite enough damage and some that hasn’t even had time to take effect. Stopping when you feel jolly is probably already too late but will at least guarantee a fun evening and a clearer head the next day.

Drink plenty of fluids before you go to bed. If you’ve ever done a lemon detox diet you know that putting some fresh lemon juice in your water works wonders to detox your body from alcohol – lemon juice is alkaline-forming and will decrease the acidity of your stomach.

Each time you wake in the night to go to the toilet, make sure you replace what you have lost. The last part of the alcohol detox cleansing process means having a glass of water beside the bed and take six mouthfuls before you drift back off to fitful sleep.

The good things is, with the detox diet tips I’m going to share, you don’t need any expensive body detox products, as most of these detox foods you’ll probably have in your cupboards already. And the ones that you don’t have aren’t expensive.

Getting the balance right is very important when you detox your body, simply because if you cut down too much and eliminate too many nutrients from your diet you’re risking your health by leaving your body susceptible to all the colds and viruses that are around during this time of year.

You’ve no doubt heard the phrase “you are what you eat” – what is more accurate is that “you are what you digest”. A lot of people have ineffective digestion system without knowing it. So what we need to do in learning how to detox your body is to boost our digestive organs – including the liver and kidneys.

A lemon detox diet is very popular way to detox your body – all you need to do to get started is drink a cup of ginger and lemon in hot water first thing in the morning. This is a very powerful liver detox drink and a great way to start your day. It’s refreshing and really hits the spot.

Your liver needs vitamin C (from the lemon) to help filter out the toxins from our bloodstream, and the ginger helps increase blood flow so your blood circulates quicker and is therefore detoxified quicker by the liver.

Other great detox foods that will help improve digestion are any that are rich in antioxidants – like fruits, vegetables, herbs and good quality dark chocolate (so chocolate is good for you after all!). One square of dark chocolate (so long as it is “bitter”) will help digestion.

Another free tip on how to detox your body is skin brushing. You need to brush your skin when it is dry – so ideally just before taking a shower. Always brush towards the heart which helps increase circulation and lymphatic flow.

As you start to detox your body, be aware that some people can experience headaches for a short while (could be over 1 or 2 days), so when learning how to detox it’s always best to start when the stresses in your week will be at their lowest – usually the beginning of the week. I’d also recommend not starting a body detox when you have some heavy social events planned – like a Friday night out for example.

Plan a relaxing bath on the first day you start your detox, and to really boost your body detox program, consider swapping your aromatic bubble bath with some bicarbonate of soda. Bicarb softens the water and works great as a gentle cleanser.

There are three ways to get more liquid foods into your diet:

• juicing
• liquidized meals
• soups

Juicing

If you are looking to get the maximum concentrations of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and phytonutrients from fruits and vegetables, juice provides them in a form that’s easy for your body to absorb. Juicing usually removes fiber, which means minimal digestive effort is required and nutrients can reach cells quickly.

When you have more time to digest, get the fiber you need from whole grains and raw fruits and vegetables. You can add bran or wheat germ to your juice if your fiber count is falling behind.

To make smoothies for detox drinks, try adding yoghurt, milk, banana, un-juiced fruit flesh or frozen fruit to your base fruit or vegetable juice to provide a yummy, creamy consistency.

Liquidized Meals Make Great Detox Drinks

These are blended foods that may contain fruit and vegetables together with a form of carbohydrate such as wheat germ, porridge oats, rice flakes or protein powders. They are generally richer in nutrients than juices and smoothies alone.

Soups For Detox Drink Recipes

These are great liquid meals. Making your own soups minimizes the amount of sodium and carbohydrate, and you can boost the nutrient value by adding other top nutrient-dense ingredients.

Liquid meals can be delicious, satisfying and very filling. You can warm them in winter, add ice cubes for extra refreshment in summer, and incorporate your favorite ingredients to create your own bespoke liquid meals. They are highly portable and can be made so quickly there’s really no excuse. To my mind, this is one of the essential rules to apply.

Colonic irrigation has been used since as early as 1500 BC for colon cleansing. It still seems to be a relatively new and experimental therapy for most people despite being a healthy and effective method for a colon detox.

Colonic irrigation is an internal bath that helps to cleanse the colon of accumulated poisons, gases, faecal matter and mucous deposits. The practitioner will gently pump filtered water into the rectum and this will start to soften and flush away any unwanted build-up of toxins and waste.

Colonic irrigation is extremely effective during any body detox program. When you detox your body you eliminate all toxins from your diet. There will still be a build-up of toxins within the body from before the program but foodstuffs such as brown rice, nuts and pulses all help to break this down. Colonic irrigation is a colon cleanser procedure that will speed up this breakdown process and will actively flush out any waste matter.

The colon hydrotherapy practitioner will ask you to lie on a couch or plinth, with your lower body covered with a towel or sheet. Filtered water at a carefully regulated temperature is introduced under gentle gravitational pressure through the rectum and into the colon. The practitioner will use massage to help the water soften and cleanse the colon of faecal matter and waste, which will be flushed away with the waste water.

The colon is worked on in stages; each time water is pumped in and flushed out until the whole area is complete. The treatment will last less than an hour and the modesty of the client is observed throughout – practitioners are totally aware of the ‘unusual’ circumstances that they place their clients in. It is usual for the practitioner to advise on how many further treatments are required and also which supplements are needed to replace natural bowel fiber and flora.

The after-effects of this colon detox procedure are similar to those of a total body detox program: a sense of well-being, lightness, mental clarity, increased energy, loss of bloated feeling, relief from constipation and clearer, glowing skin.

Colonics may not immediately spring to mind as a complementary or natural colon cleanse therapy – we normally think of massage or aromatherapy – but if you have ever wondered about trying this treatment for a colon detox, now’s the time! It’s painless, it’s different, it makes you feel great and it helps to detox your body.

Imagine a portion is the same as a heaped tablespoon. Each meal should include a combination of at least 3 portions of either rice, vegetables or miscellaneous foods (like fresh fish, lean chicken etc). Each meal should be a plateful or bowlful. If at any stage you get hungry, then you must eat something, especially in the first half of your body detox program as your body adjusts. You will probably think that you are eating more than you should – this is quite normal and correct.

Vegetables, fruit and rice provide great sources of carbohydrate and fiber, whilst fish, oil and nuts are good sources of protein and fats. You must make sure that at least two portions of foods such as olive oil, cashew nuts and oily fish are included every day, otherwise your detox program will lack the necessary balance. You are not eating any of your normal fats so adding these oily foods is crucial. If you just eat vegetables, rice and fruit you will become tired and your body detox process will slow down to a standstill!

The best detox diet is not calorie counted but calories are a good way of demonstrating how much you need to eat. Calories are the method we use to measure energy in our food. The average female should eat around 1,600 calories per day and never go below 1,000 calories even when dieting.

If the calorie intake is reduced below 1,000 calories we are not providing sufficient energy for our bodies to operate and we go into starvation mode – our bodies store fat for times when they need it, our metabolism slows down, and we become weak and lethargic. It is imperative that you do not let your intake go below the recommended 1,200 calories per day. A body detox diet will only work if you keep all your organs and systems functioning healthily.

Cooking techniques

Try to cook your food as little as possible. The less heat the food is subjected to, the more nutrients will remain – and nutrients are essential on a body detox program. Obviously all fish dishes need to be cooked thoroughly but vegetables should always be eaten slightly crisp or ed dente. Techniques such as lightly steaming, parboiling, stir-frying or (lash-frying and grilling are far preferable to boiling or slow cooking as these will reduce both flavor and nutrients.

While are some hard and fast rules about what not to eat on a detox diet, when it comes to “what can I eat on a detox diet” it’s largely a case of eating small regular meals of fresh fruits, vegetables and lean meats. Ideally, your detox diet should be made up of organic detox foods as much as possible. There are lots of foods that detox the body, but the main criteria is organic where possible, and as fresh as possible.

What Can I Eat On A Detox Diet – Eat At Least Three Meals Every Day

During your detox program you must eat a minimum of three meals and a maximum of five meals every day from your suggested detox foods list. It is all too easy to skip a meal due to lack of time or the unavailability of a particular food. But skipping meals will lead to much lower dips in energy and much higher surges that last just a few moments.

Eating five or six smaller meals throughout the day is much better for our bodies. Over the course of your detox diet, you should never go longer than four hours without a small meal. Leaving yourself hungry or your stomach empty for long periods will result in your body being exposed to digestive acids. If your hunger becomes too strong you are more likely to crave fatty or sugary foods – none of which are on the ” what can i eat on a detox diet” list.

Ideally, you should have breakfast before 9 a.m., lunch before 2 p.m. and your evening meal before 7 p.m. This gives your body sufficient time co digest and absorb the foods that detox your body before your next meal. It also allows your body to process all foods each day before the following day starts. (In a healthy body, foods should normally take less than 24 hours to go from eating to elimination but most people take more than twice that length of time.)

What Can I Eat On A Detox Diet? You must have at least one portion of short-grain brown rice every day. Rice is one of the most absorbent carbohydrates we have in our diet. It also seems to avoid the problems of allergic reactions and intolerances that many wheat-based carbohydrates cause. Brown rice promotes good bowel health and keeps blood sugar levels balanced (bread and potatoes give a much sharper rise in blood sugar, resulting in an inevitable drop). Its absorbency means that it can act as a ‘plunger’ for our lower intestines, and the shorter-grain varieties seem to scour and clean the intestine more thoroughly.

Imagine your household pipes after 30 years of use – it is likely mat they have either corroded or you have had to call in a plumber to sort out all the minor and major blockages. Brown rice acts like a sponge that travels through your gut, collecting all the silt and waste on the way and then flushing it out. As you detox your body, each time waste is removed it is not replaced. This means that each time you eat absorbent rice it will break away a little more of the waste until your gut is completely cleansed. Short-grain brown rice is the most absorbent and should be used through out a detox program.

What Can I Eat On A Detox Diet? Have at least three portions of vegetables (one should be raw), three portions of raw/fresh or dried fruit, and three portions of salad.

Fresh and/or raw vegetables, fruit and salads contain many, many essential nutrients for a healthy and balanced diet. Raw fruit and vegetables contain active ingredients that protect against cancer, heart disease, immune deficiency, deteriorating eyesight and brain dysfunction.

Fruit and vegetables contain large amounts of essential vitamins, ammo acids and minerals. They have high fiber and high potassium. They contain very little waste and very few calories. Fruit and vegetables are nearly entirely goodness. You should attempt to eat fresh fruit and vegetables when they are really fresh. The longer you store them, the more nutrients are lost. And as soon as you begin to process or cook them, the goodness starts to disappear. Raw food equals raw energy, it cleans the gut more efficiently and contains high levels of dietary fiber. Try to eat as much as possible of your fruit and vegetable quota in its raw state. Or at least make sure that a high percentage is raw (e.g. raw salad and lightly steamed vegetables). Raw vegetables can also be mixed with cooked vegetables – why not try grated carrot and beetroot over a bowl of grilled vegetables?

Hopefully that will help answer your question of “what can i eat on a detox diet” – it’s all about eating healthy and eating often.

Artichokes, especially the hearts, are perfect for a liver detox as they contain powerful antioxidants known as flavonoids that protect the liver’s cells and tissues. Artichokes are also good for the secretion of bile, which helps the body better digest and assimilate fats. The artichoke is a close relative of milk thistle, queen of the liver protectors and known as the milk thistle liver detox, which offers major defense against free radicals and is especially good for people with compromised immunity or alcohol-related liver problems.

Asparagus contains high amounts of vitamin A and potassium, another mineral on which the liver depends during detox.

Beetroot is full of betaine, which helps protect the liver against the damaging effects of alcohol. Betaine also thins the bile and helps it move freely within the bile ducts.

Dandelion root is another powerful liver detox food as it stimulates liver function. It also contains inulin, a fiber-like substance that functions as a probiotic – an element that helps nourish the friendly bacteria in the gut. As if that weren’t enough, the humble dandelion root is also good for lowering blood sugar.

Whey is a rich source of the amino acid L-cysteine, which, like vitamin C, is a precursor to glutathione. Remember, the liver’s own two-phase detox process uses up huge amounts of glutathione, so it’s up to us to replenish it daily. Whey also contains methionine, glycine, glutamine and taurine – amino acids that are crucial to phase 2 of the liver detox process. I recommend Fat Flush Whey, made from milk that is hormone free.

Nutritional yeast is a complete protein that contains eighteen amino acids and fifteen minerals and is a stellar source of the B vitamins that are so necessary in both phases of liver detox. Vitamin B1 helps decrease the effects of alcohol, smoking and heavy metal toxicity. Vitamin B2 is used in the production of glutathione. Vitamin B3 is used in phase 1 detoxification. Vitamin B5 also known as pantothenic acid, helps detoxify acetaldehyde produced from alcohol and by Candida overgrowrh. This wonder yeast also includes vitamin B12. Because vegetarians aren’t getting this crucial element in meat, they need to make sure they get it another way – and yeast is a terrific alternative.

Nutritional yeast is not to be confused with the old-time brewer’s yeast, a by-product of the process of making beer. Brewers yeast is very bitter and contains wild yeast strains from the brewing process. It also tends to encourage Candida and yeast overgrowth.

Nutritional yeast, by contrast, is a primary product grown on strains of mineral-rich molasses or cereal by-products. The best kind is grown on molasses or maple syrup, because the yeast absorbs the minerals from its host, making it perhaps the best natural food form of minerals available for humans. It’s pasteurized to avoid the use of living yeast, so, unlike brewer’s yeast, it won’t give you gas or lead to bloating. It also won’t encourage Candida or other yeast-related problems, which would counteract the benefit of doing a liver detox in the first place.

Tips: Liver detox drinks – you can use a tablespoon or two of the nutritional yeast flakes in tomato sauces and soups, dust it on popcorn, or stir a spoonful into sauces or gravies. When I’m feeling depleted, I like to take some nutritional yeast between meals for a quick get-up-and-go – a pick-me-up that’s especially useful for people trying to stop drinking coffee or to avoid a sugar crash. The nutty flavor of the yeast flakes actually tastes pretty good when you mix a tablespoon or two into a glass of water. It’s very good for a liver detox and I guarantee you’ll get a boost of energy within 10 minutes. Or take some nutritional yeast right before a meal to take the edge off your appetite.

On your healthy detox diet you need to drink lots of water – see the article about how much water to drink on a detox diet for a more detailed explanation of how much you should drink each day.

How to detox your body naturally can be achieved by making some simple food choices. These choices will help you with a full body detox, by detoxing your liver and colon and reducing some of the toxin load on your body.

Don’t Cut Out Protein On Your Detox Diet

Each day, make sure you have at least two servings (the size of the palm of your hand) of protein in the form of lean organic beef, veal, lamb, skinless chicken, turkey or fish or, if you’re a vegan or vegetarian, at least 2 tablespoons a day of a high-quality blue-green algae or spirulina source

You already know you need protein for energy, muscle building and many other vital functions – but did you know that protein is also crucial to your body detox process? Protein activates the production of the enzymes that your body’s natural detox system needs to break down toxins into water-soluble substances so they can be eliminated from the body. So when you’re preparing for your detox diet, don’t forget the protein.

How To Detox Your Body Naturally – Water, Water, Everywhere . . .

I wouldn’t exactly tell you to avoid bottled water, if only because I want to help make learning how to detox your body naturally as easy I can for you. But you should be aware that quality-control standards for bottled water are often less rigorous than those for tap water.

‘Mineral’ waters are tested for thirteen chemicals and bacteria – less than a quarter as many substances as tap water. There are also no requirements, as there are for tap water, for mineral waters to be tested daily or even weekly. For ’spring’ waters, there is no legislation at all.

So if you’re really concerned about high-quality water, and want to know how to detox your body naturally, your best bet is a home filtration system.