Homemade Detoxification Diets

In an ideal world, everyone would have at least one bowel movement a day, digest everything they eat completely and experience no stomach upset and sleep soundly every night. In reality, many people skip breakfast, eat refined food on the run, experience occasional bowel irregularity, and receive headaches, gas or bloating from poor food combinations. To help reestablish normal bowel movements, reduce the likelihood of gastrointestinal discomfort, improve digestion and assimilation, consider utilizing a detoxification diet. Consult your physician first if you have any serious health issues.

Hot Lemon Juice

Encourage regular morning detoxification by drinking hot water with the juice of half a lemon squeezed into it daily, as recommended by Vasant Lad, author of "The Complete Guide to Ayurvedic Home Remedies." Ayurveda is a traditional healing science from India; ayurveda means "science of life." Lad also recommends consuming triphala, a supplement that helps to cleanse the colon. Made of three dried fruits, amalaki, bibhitaki and haritaka, triphala is widely available and safe enough to take daily.

Vegetables and Fruits

Cleansing the colon is generally the first step in removing waste from the body in a safe way. Since the point of a detoxification is to move toxins out of the body through the internal organs, it is best to clear the colon before targeting other internal organs. Eat more fiber from whole vegetables, fruits of all kinds, and whole grains such as quinoa, brown rice, millet and oats, as recommended by Elson Haas, MD and author of "The New Detox Diet." He also recommends sprinkling ground flax seeds on salads, grains or fruit to help improve elimination.

Herbal Detox Teas

Drink herbal teas that are designed to assist the body's natural detoxification processes. Consider senna and cascara sagrada for colon cleansing, milk thistle for the lungs, beet juice for the liver, wheat grass to cleanse the blood, and burdock, licorice and dandelion root to help cleanse the liver and kidneys. Many commercial detox teas combine several of these herbs together. Generally, it is recommended that you consume one to three cups a day. Drink plenty of water between meals. The American Cancer Society recommends drinking about eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day; drink more if you exercise heavily, live in a very hot climate or have a job that has high physical demands. By undergoing a targeted detox, you are clearing away waste and toxins that have accumulated in the body from exposure to environmental pollution created from pesticides, cigarette smoke and car exhaust, and from eating refined foods that do not have fiber.