New Year’s resolutions may be out of your grasp already, but there’s never been a better time to start a detox. Bryan Hoare’s guidelines walk you through a total detox diary from nutritional and lifestyle cleansing practices, including a pre-cleanse, cleanse, and post-cleanse regimen.
By Bryan Hoare
PRE-CLEANSE
It is important to begin a pre-cleanse one week prior to beginning any cleanse to avoid any negative side effects of changing lifestyle and dietary habits.
If you follow these recommendations, the process will be easier:
- Reduce caffeine consumption including coffee, black tea, and caffeinated herbal teas such as green tea; if caffeine consumption is high, please gradually reduce for a few days.
- Reduce consumption of refined sugar, such as biscuits, cakes, sweets, white bread, sugar, and alcohol.
CLEANSE (3-7 days)
Be aware: focus on eating
- nutrient rich foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains.
- fresh and recently prepared for optimal nutrient value.
Avoid
- meats
- processed foods
- re-heated leftovers
- Smoking or alcohol consumption
Tip: It is best to grocery shop during the pre-cleanse phase so that nutritious foods are readily available.
A cleansing menu to support your shopping:
|
Breakfast |
Mid-Morning Snack |
Lunch |
Afternoon Snack |
Dinner |
Option 1 |
Fresh fruit, yoghurt, nuts (walnuts & almonds) or seeds, agave syrup to sweeten |
Fresh fruit or vegetable juice |
Cooked brown rice and vegetables with almonds or walnuts |
Fresh fruit or vegetable juice |
Fresh vegetable broth |
Option 2 |
Oatmeal or porridge, dried fruit (dates, figs, raisins), nuts (walnuts & almonds) or seeds, agave syrup to sweeten |
Fresh vegetable broth |
Salad with vegetables, almonds, avocado, and coconut oil. |
Fresh vegetable broth |
Fresh vegetable soup with gluten-free grains such as quinoa or millet |
* Garlic and herbs may be added to meals, but no salt, pepper or spices.
** While your body is cleansing, it is normal to experience symptoms such as headaches, nausea, skin eruptions, abdominal bloating, fatigue and bad breath. These are all positive signs that your body is detoxifying and removing wastes. These symptoms are temporary and will pass in a few days, leaving you with greater energy, mental clarity, and relief of previous symptoms.
While cleansing be sure to drink a minimum of 8 glasses of filtered water per day or 0.3 litres per kilogram of body weight (if you weigh 60kg x 0.30L = 1.8L per day).
- Adding a squeeze of lemon or lime juice to water in the morning will help to stimulate the cleansing process. Additionally, unsweetened herbal tea or Kanji (rice water) may be taken throughout the day to help curb appetite.
POST-CLEANSE
Reintroduce foods gradually. While cleansing, the body becomes adjusted to digesting readily metabolised foods. Therefore, it is best to follow the recommendations below to avoid discomfort during the next few days.
- Slowly introduce whole foods such as fish and legumes (lentils, chickpeas, and soybeans), and additional grains to your vegetables and fruits.
- Continue to avoid coffee, tea, alcohol, refined sugars, red meats and very spicy foods.
- Gradually keep introducing foods until a balanced whole food diet is achieved.
Do not undertake a cleansing program if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, have diabetes or other serious medical condition. This 3-7 day cleanse is not a weight loss programme, and should not be extended for more than 7 days unless advised by your Naturopath or Nutritionist.
LIFESTYLE
This week of detoxification is a good time to focus on reducing emotional and environmental stress in your life. Stress can appear in many forms in daily life and it can also be removed as easily.
However, stress accumulates when we do not continually address and eliminate the negativity. This stress may manifest in many ways from muscle pain, to skin rashes, to voiced anger, to high blood pressure.
Following are a few recommendations to remove daily stress and lifestyle habits that can promote general wellness.
- Aim for 8-hours of sleep per night – ideally from 10pm to 6am
- Start the day with a relaxation technique such as deep breathing or meditation
- Aim for at least 30-minutes of daily exercise whether it is running, walking, swimming, yoga, or stretching
- End the day with a relaxation technique such as deep breathing, quiet reading, or a slow evening walk to enjoy the sunset.