As well as giving your cupboards a good spring, set aside a weekend to spring cleanse your body, ready for summer.
Detox diets and juice fasts attract great debate from experts on both sides of the fence. Your organs naturally detoxify your body every day by eliminating or neutralising substances you do not need or which are toxic. So if your colon, liver, kidneys, lungs and skin constantly do this, why bother with ‘detox’ at all?
Those who are pro detoxing claim that abstaining from processed, refined and difficult-to-digest animal products for a set period allows your elimination processes to rest and become more efficient. The 21st century lifestyle is so fast-paced that you may not always take the time to eat properly. If you bombard your body with junk food, fizzy drinks, crisps, sweets, chocolates, coffee, tea, alcohol and energy drinks, you overload your organs of elimination with work. Taking a break from a diet that so many studies are linking to the degenerative diseases (diabetes, obesity, cancer, arthritis, cardiovascular disorders etc) and filling up on healthy fruit and vegetables is surely not a bad thing?
Though there is little scientific research to back up the health benefits of this process, it has remained a part of human life since civilisation began – most religions and cultures recommend periods of fasting or abstinence. Most people who take part also notice improvements in how they feel when avoiding an over-processed diet that’s high in salt, sugar and fat. Extended periods of fasting should be done under supervision of a health expert, but just see for yourself what three days of eating nutrient dense, delicious foods can do towards putting that spring back in your step.
3-Day Cleansing Plan
It’s best to start this on a Friday morning. Prepare by getting all the ingredients you need before you start. If you work on the Friday, plan to have salads/smoothies that you can make and take with you.
During these 3 days, don’t have:
Coffee, tea, fizzy drinks etc – only drink water, freshly made vegetable and fruit juices or herbal infusions.
Grains – bread, oats, rice, pasta, biscuits, cakes etc
Dairy – milk, cheese, yoghurt etc. Nut and seed milks are fine.
Animal Products – no meat, fish or seafood.
What to Eat:
- Morning – instead of tea or coffee first thing, have an infusion of warm water with lemon and fresh ginger. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon into a cup with 1-inch piece of fresh ginger grated. Add water that has been boiled. Leave to cool and have when drinkable.
- Breakfast Smoothie – Have a fresh fruit and vegetable smoothie like the Super Green Power Cleanse Smoothie below. Use a strong smoothie maker/food processor to blend ingredients. You can use coconut water, almond milk or homemade coconut milk. Make sure you have 50% Super greens like spinach, watercress, kale, rocket, coriander and parsley. You can add any combination of fresh ingredients like cucumber, apple, pear, melon, grapes, kiwi, lemon, lime, avocado, banana, peppers and such. Add healthy fats by putting a tbsp flaxseed oil, or a mix of flaxseeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds and/or pumpkin seeds.
- Mid-Morning Snack – Have vegetable sticks (carrot, cucumber, celery and peppers) or a sprouted bean and seed salad. If you don’t sprout your own, buy pre-sprouted bags like moong, alfalfa, aduki bean mixes and serve with chopped fresh herbs and lemon juice.
- Lunch – Have a large salad of fresh or lightly cooked vegetables and sprinkle with natural nuts and/or seeds. Make your own delicious dressings by blending apple cider vinegar, extra virgin olive oil with cleansing ingredients like fresh basil, parsley or coriander and garlic or ginger.
- Afternoon Snack – Handful of activated almonds. Soak 1 cup of almonds overnight in water. Strain and store in the fridge in an airtight container. Divide into 3 portions for each day.
- Dinner – Large bowl of homemade soup like our potassium rich Super Cleanse Miso Vegetable Soup.
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