Are you wondering if you could benefit from a body-cleansing detox diet? A simple, non-scientific question can help you decide: Do you have a daily bowel movement? If the answer is no, you could help reestablish normal detox patterns with a sensible cleansing program. Consider how much food you eat daily and this will help you determine if a daily bowel movement is a good idea for you. If you have any serious health issues, check with your doctor before undergoing a new detox diet of any kind.
Sip Herbal Detox Teas
Drink detox herbal teas that are designed to help the colon, kidneys, liver and other internal organs cleanse. For example, senna, cascara sagrada and buckthorn root are often consumed as teas to help clear the colon. Dandelion root tea can help cleanse the liver and red clover, burdock root and yellow dock are powerful blood cleansers. Many detox herbal teas have many of these herbs in a single tea so that you get the benefits of more than one cleansing herb.
Consume Fruits, Vegetables, Grains, Nuts
Consume a high-fiber diet that includes a wide variety of whole vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, low-fat dairy foods and non-saturated fats, as recommended by Elson Haas, M.D., author of The New Detox Diet. Rather than relying on expensive bulk fiber products, eat at least two cups of fruits and also two cups of vegetables a day to provide the roughage needed to help clear the colon, as recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in its nutritional matrix, My Food Pyramid.
Eat whole grains such as brown rice, quinoa, millet, oats that provide complex B vitamins and the fiber that acts as an "intestinal broom" to move waste through the gastrointestinal tract.
Eat Ground Flax Seeds
Add ground flax seeds to foods for more dietary fiber. To get the heart-healthy essential fatty acids, flax seeds must be ground: Eating them whole does not provide the same benefits. You could sprinkle them over oatmeal, cooked grains of all kinds or vegetables; you could also add them to any whole-grain bread, cookie, pancake, waffle or quickbread recipe. They can be added to breakfast cereal, too.
By eating this way, you will find it is nearly impossible to "overeat" on a whole foods detox diet and will be eating foods that are "high satiety"---very filling. The high fiber content will help you return to a daily bowel movement without relying on coffee or other means to move the bowels.
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