Many people assume that a cleansing diet involves strict fasting or rigid dietary restrictions. The best approach however is a diet that supports the body’s natural daily pathways to detoxification. The following steps will help you avoid dietary stressors while providing the body with needed nutrients.

• Eat organic foods as much as possible to avoid harmful environmental chemicals. The fewer chemicals ingested the fewer toxins the liver has to process. Have minimally processed foods to avoid unnecessary added ingredients.

• Drink pure water whether spring water or filtered water to decrease exposure to chemicals added to public water. Drink 8 glasses of water daily to help the kidneys filter out toxins.

• Protect your cells with nature’s bounty. Fresh fruit and veg contain a variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other nutrients that protect cells from damaging toxins. For optimal daily detoxification, eat 10 servings of fresh fruit and veg daily. Every day have a fruit with bitter flavour e.g. watercress. The bitterness stimulates digestive juices and bile flow which cleans the liver.

• Have 30 -35 g of fibre daily. Fibre speeds the removal of wastes from the body and cleans the intestines.

• Avoid toxic foods, including polyunsaturated oils, hydrogenated fats, refined and processed foods, sugar and caffeine.

• Detoxify with super foods. Many foods are rich in nutrients that aid detoxification. Sulphur containing foods such as onion, garlic and eggs help remove heavy metals from the body. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and fruits rich in vitamin C such as citrus fruits and kiwi help produce glutathione, a potent detoxifier. It is also found in asparagus, avocados and walnuts. It is better absorbed from food than supplements.

• Create a healthy internal environment. One of the simplest and effective ways to detoxify is to regularly consume foods rich in probiotics. Probiotics are the friendly bacteria that inhabit the gastrointestinal tract. They keep the intestine function healthy and detoxify the digestive tract. They are found in foods like yoghurt.

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