Detox Your Body - Detox Diet Food

After the heavy eating periods of Christmas, New Year etc, and before the onset of spring, is a time when most people start to think about detoxing, or 'spring cleaning' the system. So how you start to detox your body?What's the best detox diet food?

Obviously the first thing is to cut out all the 'toxic' foods, especially junk food, red meats, pork, fats, bread and cakes, and drinks filled with sugar.

What does that leave? Actually, we are left with not only the most nutritious and healthy foods, but very often the most tasty.

First and foremost, make sure you stay well hydrated, lots and lots of water, fresh juices, and green tea. Stay away from caffeine and too much sugar.

You can make your own juices from a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. Herbal teas assist in the detox, especially green tea.

There are plenty of foods which are very good in the detox process, and you can make your own meals and menus accordingly.

Some of the richest detox diet foods are: green vegetables; especially spinach, broccoli, cabbage and brussels sprouts. Also cauliflower, red cabbage, tomatoes, beetroot, cauliflower, garlic and onion.

Beans are important to the detox diet, they are a major source of fibre, and of protein. The best for this are chickpeas, kidney beans, Pinto beans, and soy beans. Add plenty of these pulses to your diet, you cannot overdo it.

Mung beans are an especially beneficial bean to eat if you are to detox your body. It is very easy to digest, and is useful in detoxing, as it will absorb any toxic residue from the internal walls of the intestines.

Try experimenting with different detox diet food meals and menus, using a selection of the suggested vegetables, fruits, pulses, etc.

Substitute your regular pasta and rice, with whole wheat pastas, spinach pasta, and brown Basmati rice or wild rice.

Raw mushrooms are excellent; they can be added to salads, or just eaten as a garnish. Lightly cooked, especially in garlic, they're wonderful. Even cream of mushroom soup can be used as a basis for casseroles.

A side dish of tomato salad is another good choice, dressed with just a little olive oil, and vinegar, or better still fresh squeezed lime.

As with any diet, the toughest times are in between meals, when one tends to reach for the snacks. In place of salty snacks, cookies and candy, keep plenty of the following at hand:

Nuts; especially walnuts, almonds, and cashews (the natural kind, not roasted or salted)

Seeds, such as; pumpkin, sunflower, flax.

Celery is great for the body in all respects. As well as having virtually no calories, we actually burn calories digesting it! Plus it is a diuretic and thus helpful for detoxing.This is another great snacking substitute; keep some cut pieces beside you while watching TV, you will be surprised how they are just as satisfying to munch on as crisps and other junk food, and every bit as crunchy.

Substitute butter with healthy spreads, preferably made from olive oil. Eat baked food in preference to fried.

Eat as much green vegetable and salads as possible, but without dressings, except olive oil, squeezed lime or lemon, or a little vinegar.

Lots of baked or steamed fish are very helpful with detoxing.

Use an absolute minimum of salt.

Lemons and limes, with their vitamin C content, help to convert toxins to a state where they are easily flushed out of the system.

Watercress is another very good detox diet food. They have a diuretic effect, and are rich in minerals. They can be added to salads, as well as cooked into soups and casseroles.

Garlic. USE IN ABUNDANCE! Raw or cooked, it is an extremely important element to detox your body. It activates enzymes in the liver that help to clean it out, as will as keeping the heart healthy, and cleaning the blood.

Green tea is rich in antioxidants, and contains catechins, which accelerate liver activity. It is one of the most useful drinks during detoxing, a very healthy way to introduce fluids to your system.

As well as broccoli being a good green vegetable to use, broccoli sprouts are better still. They can be bought at any health food shop, and each mouthful can have between 20 and 50 times more benefit in stimulating enzymes, and fighting cancer.

Sesame seeds protect the liver cells from the damaging effects of chemicals and alcohol. They can be eaten as they are with salads, sprinkled over any food, ground up and added to food, or used in paste form. The paste can be bought from any Asian ingredients supplier, known as' tahini'.

The more fruit and green vegetables you eat, the better. Following this diet for a month or so, will certainly cleanse your system. You should find that you enjoy this food, so where possible, continue to eat this way, you can only do yourself good. Turning to the occasional red meat etc, will be counteracted by the excellent food you're eating otherwise.

Happy eating!