Daily Detox Diet
Detoxing not only happen when we take a week out of our busy lives and pop off to a luxury spot somewhere tucked away in the mountainside or by the ocean… although just the thought of that makes me feel lighter and brighter!
Our bodies in fact have built-in cleansing processes operating every day of every year.
Eating a clean diet that nourishes the major detox organs - liver, kidneys, lungs and skin - whilst minimising toxic input, is the most powerful way to positively impact your health and reap the benefits of daily detoxing.
Eating clean means buying raw ingredients and cooking at home for the majority of the week. As soon as you start stocking up on packaged products, or eating take away, you begin loading the body with toxic compounds that then need removing.
When the body gets overloaded and can’t keep up with toxins coming in, excess compounds are stored in cells. Cellular toxicity affects every organ of the body, causing a whole range of illnesses and diseases that we as modern humans are all too familiar with.
Short term, this might look like fatigue, irritability, brain fog, skin breakouts and rashes, joint pain, menstrual disruptions, bloating, gas and other digestive problems. Left unchecked, toxicity can be the underlying trigger of inflammation, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, infertility and cancer, to name but a few.
It is easy to make a few changes to your daily habits, that not only avoids toxic exposure, but removes that which we have inevitably accumulated along the way.
Keep it simple We are not designed to eat rich gourmet meals every day. Mix it up with some vegetable-only meals, fabulous soups, stews and simple salads dressed with lemon juice, fresh herb and best olive oil. Plan ahead, cook in batches and freeze where possible.
Keep it interesting Eating too much of the same thing can cause food sensitivities and allergies. Rotate foods so that you only eat the same ingredient every 3 days. This means exploring and experimenting with different grains, vegetables and protein sources.
Keep it SLOW… Seasonal Local Organic Wholefoods Our abundant earth provides what we need, when we need it. Antioxidant-rich berries and summer fruits, for example, are naturally plentiful in sunny months and help hydrate. Winter roasts with root vegetables provide us energy to help keep warm. Spring leafy greens help sweep the colon after a relatively stagnant winter.
Keep it raw Packed with essential enzymes, minerals and vitamins, make a point of eating raw foods everyday. Add a vegetable juice to breakfast and raw salads and soups at lunch and dinner. Think fresh herbs like parsley and coriander, sprouts and home made sauerkraut or kimchi.
Keep it super As science progresses, it confirms what many successful cultures already know and live by: that many everyday foods are super healthy! Consciously add these to your meals everyday. - anything and everything green - nuts&seeds such as chia seeds, flaxseeds, almonds, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, walnuts, Brazil nuts. Be sure to soak or grind seeds before eating - seaweed is packed with minerals that are particularly alkalising and cleansing - anything fermented to help re-colonise your beneficial microbiome. Sauerkraut, kimchi, well made yoghurt.
Keep it real There is an abundance of organic, fresh foods to keep us well nourished, and our taste buds satisfied. Unfortunately there are also plenty of ‘products’ legally masquerading as food. The main contributors to internal pollution include sugars, sweeteners, flour and processed vegetable oils all of which are found in pre-packaged and canned foods. To our primitive brain, these sweet, salty and fatty processed foods are powerfully rewarding and, therefore, addictive.
POLLUTION SOLUTION: The only way around it is to re-train the taste buds and the mind. A detox is a perfect time to work on habits and reset our desire of sweet treats and processed foods. The first few days can be tough, depending on your existing diet and detox capacity, but give yourself a week of clean eating, and I can guarantee, your tastes for these lifeless processed stuff will give way to a desire for fresh, flavourful foods.
Keep it fluid Hydrate with filtered water, vegetable juices, young coconut water and herbal teas. Particularly cleansing are nettle, dandelion, calendula flower, fennel and beetroot.
Keep it fat Use only coconut oil or animal fats for cooking at high heat. Never heat any other fats. Use olive oil and add hemp or flax seed oil to dressings. Regularly eat small oily fish and if you do decide to take a fish oil, please make sure it is therapeutic practitioner grade.
Keep it in mind Practicing mindful eating means taking time to stop, relax, chew and enjoy!! It’s not eating on the run, in the car or in front of the television. It’s not shoving down a big dinner after a long day and going straight to bed. It’s preparing a meal with the best ingredients that you can afford, and enjoying every mouthful.
Keep it personal Our nutritional needs change with our own personal rhythm; with the seasons of the year and the seasons of our life. The best advise I can offer is to listen to your body for it will tell you, loud and clear, what foods it prefers, what it easily digests and what is causing allergic or sensitive reactions.
Toxic overload can be as obvious as headache, fatigue, weight gain, bloating and other digestive issues or as vague as respiratory or skin reactions, irregular menstrual cycle, trouble sleeping, low energy, anxiety and irritability.
If you know it's time for a nourishing detox, or if your health is suffering but you can't quite put your finger on it, I can help you figure out if toxins or the food you are eating are the underlying cause of your concerns. Together we can create a nourishing way of eating, so that you can feel alive and energised again.
