7 Ways To Make Healthier Diet Choices Before You Detox

Eating healthy is one of those things you have probably been intending to do because you know you should but when it comes down to it you don’t really know where to start or get sidetracked.

And, 7 Ways To Make Healthier Diet Choices Before You Detox Sounds a bit back to front doesn’t it?

The reason is that if you jump head first into a detox you will very likely crash. By that I mean if you suddenly cut out sugar and caffeine your energy will plummet. Added to this you will likely get withdrawal symptoms from avoiding other foods.

Plus, you could get detox symptoms as more toxins are released than your liver can cope with at one time which is likely to put you off continuing with the detox program.

So you see it’s far better to get onto a healthy diet first. It will help replenish the nutrients that the liver detox system needs for optimum function and that you are likely to be lacking.

With all the fads, trends and gimmicky diets out there it can be hard to make sense of it all. Below are some simple and easy ways you can make healthier diet choices right away.

1. Reduce Refined Sugars

Refined sugars are any type of sugar that has been heavily processed, such as white table sugar and especially high fructose corn syrup. Avoid foods that have a high refined sugar or syrup content, choosing unsweetened or naturally sweetened options instead.

It best to gradually reduce your intake of sugar rather than just cutting it out otherwise it’s likely to affect your energy as I mentioned above. You can switch to unrefined sugars, such as coconut sugar, which does not spike your blood sugar, for baking and use liquid stevia to sweeten drinks.

Related Reading: Sugar Detox – Supercharge Your Health In 5 Simple Steps

2. Limit Processed Carbs

You’ve probably heard people talk about going on a low carb diet, or even trying to cut carbs out completely. Carbs, short for carbohydrates, are one of the three basis nutrients that you need in your diet, so you do need some in your diet.

Focus on decreasing the amount of highly processed carbohydrate foods you eat. You may see them referred to as fast carbs because they raise blood sugar more quickly. Slow carbs on the other hand raise blood sugar more slowly and are also known as Low GI foods. Eat whole foods instead.

3. Eat Regular Meals

Sticking to any kind of healthy diet depends on eating regular meals. Skipping a meal deprives your body of the energy it needs to run, and leads to over eating at your next meal.

Start out by making sure you eat a healthy balanced breakfast every morning with two other meals. You can eat a healthy snack in between meals if you get hungry to keep you fueled.

4. Rethink the Drinks                                                                                       

Many sodas contain a high amount of refined sugar, which can not only cause you to pack on the pounds but increase your risk of diabetes. Alcoholic beverages can also lead to unwanted weight gain, liver damage and cause you to overeat later on. Consume these drinks in moderation whenever possible.

Replenish vitamins and minerals with green smoothies instead.

5. Increase Fresh Fruit And Green Veg

We all get the message about eating your 5 a day but many health experts are now saying that we need 7 – 9 portions of fresh fruit and vegetables a day to prevent cancer and be healthy. A portion is about 80 grams.

The majority of people do not even eat 5 a day so if that is you then just aim for increasing your intake to the 5 a day. It’s better to increase green vegetables rather than starchy ones.

Remember white potatoes don’t count as one of your 5 as they are too starchy but sweet potatoes do.

Green veg includes leafy veg like lettuce and kale. A small glass (150ml) of green smoothie can count as 1 of your 5 a day.

Related Reading: 5 Tasty Ways to Get Green Foods Into Your Detox Diet

6. Choose Free Range, Grass Fed Meats

If you eat meat look for grass fed meat if possible and not from intensively reared animals. It contains more omega 3 fatty acids and considerably more antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals than the meat from intensively reared animals.

The latest research tells us that the fat on meat does not give us heart attacks and make us fat but refined carbohydrates do. Fat does contain more calories per gram than either protein or carbohydrates so if you eat more calories than you use on a daily basis you will not lose weight if that is your aim.

Don’t forget to avoid processed meat products. Cancer-causing substances can be formed when meat is preserved by smoking, curing or salting, or by the addition of preservatives. These are the foods that researchers say can cause colon cancer if eaten regularly.

7. Avoid ready prepared meals

The sleeve on a ready-made dish from the supermarket may look tempting but did you know that food manufacturers do little if any preparation of raw ingredients themselves? They buy treated ingredients, mainly frozen or dried, from other companies.

I was shocked to learn not long ago that most of the meat, vegetables and fish in convenience food had been kept frozen for months or even years, but when it is thawed and cooked, it can be marketed as ‘fresh’. If that is not enough to put you off then I don’t know what is!

Related Reading: The Detox Diet – 10 Top Tips For Healthy Shopping

So there you have it. It’s quite a tall order if you have not been eating like this but you don’t have to do it all at once. Far better to delay your detox diet until you have got onto the healthy eating wagon first.

Healthy Food image by Sanguinie