Cleanses can be a powerful way of detoxing your body to improve health and lose weight. However, it is not always necessary to do the typical cleanses of liquid only diets or smoothies to achieve results.
Typical cleanses drastically reduce calories and can leave you feeling very hungry and not willing to continue. They can also lower your blood sugar and make you feel dizzy, tired, and irritable.
An all-liquid diet or shakes can leave you without enough protein which the liver relies on for detoxification. Some of the amino acids from the protein are used in Phase II liver detoxification. The liquid cleanses may also lack essential vitamins or minerals.
Although they can help with detoxing your body cleanses are not easy to stick while you work or take care of a family.
Detoxing Your Body Without Cleanses
Thankfully, you can detox without consuming liquid diets or numerous green shakes. Instead of a typical cleanse, you can simply reduce or eliminate certain foods and drinks. You can also add other foods and drinks to strengthen the detox pathways.
These tips can help you detox:
1. Avoid sugar
Eliminating sugar is a key step in detoxing your body. It contains no nutrients so has no place in the diet. It actually robs your body of minerals that are used up as it is metabolized. Sugar is linked to many health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
Related reading: 10 Top Reasons to Drop Sugar from Your Diet
Sugar lurks in many foods and drinks under various names. It can hide in bread, cereal, juice, soda, alcoholic drinks, flavored water, and many other items. Be vigilant and check labels carefully.
Sugar occurs naturally in some foods such as fructose in fruit and lactose in dairy. Although most dairy products apart from live yogurt are avoided on most detox programs fruit is allowed in moderate quantities but it’s best to eat mainly lower fructose fruit like berries.
2 Eat more fruits and vegetables
They can provide you with important vitamins and minerals the are needed for the optimal function of the detox system.
Citrus Fruits
Citrus fruits contain limonene a phytochemical that is a strong inducer of the Phase 1 & II liver detoxification enzymes. According to Dr Bernard Jensen, a naturopathic doctor and pioneer of natural medicine, they are the strongest of all cleansers and may cause detox symptoms if you are not used to cleansing.
Grapefruit is actually an inhibitor of Phase 1 detoxification so should be avoided. It is for this reason that some medications have warnings on the instructions that they are not to be taken with grapefruit juice. Because the juice inhibits the detoxification of the drug it would build up in the blood stream.
Garlic
Garlic is a good detoxifier. It contains organo-sulfur compounds which boost the detoxification enzymes and sulfation, one of the Phase II liver detox pathways. You’ll get the most benefit from garlic if you eat it raw. Allicin, one of the organic sulfur compounds, is destroyed by heat.
Broccoli
Broccoli and broccoli sprouts and other cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower are a good source of antioxidants and can help your during a detox. They contain several compounds that improve the function of liver detox. The flavonoids and carbinols increase the activity of Phase II glutathione-s-transferase detox system.They are especially useful in preventing cancer.You can add them to salads or cook with them.
Related reading: 5 Delicious Summer Detox Salads
3. Drink green tea
Catechins in green tea have been found to boost the production of the glutathione S-transferase family of detox enzymes. It’s believed that these enzymes are crucial to the body’s defense against cancer-causing chemicals and other toxins. Green tea has antioxidant properties and antioxidants are also needed as part of the liver detox process which creates free radicals.
Related reading: Green Tea Detox : Can You Really Detox with Green Tea?
4. Add Smoothies
Make your own smoothies especially green smoothies. While you don’t have to live entirely on smoothies having one every day is a good way of getting more fruit and leafy greens into your diet. They help boost nutrients in your body.
Any deficiencies of the vitamins and minerals involved in the detox process can lead to a slow or impaired detox process.You can add protein and fat to your smoothie too so your body stays balanced and healthy.
So you see restrictive cleanses aren’t the only option for detoxing your body. You have other choices that you can select to detox like my Recharge and Energizing Detox Program that are kinder to your body and lifestyle and still have an effect on your health
