If you overate during the holidays or have returned from a vacation and ate more than you normally would, you might feel it's time to do a cleansing fast. You can do it by eating whole foods that will provide nutrition and calories to still be able to go to work or school. Unlike a liquid fast that is more difficult to sustain, you can eat a whole foods detox diet for a week to 10 days. Eating a variety of fruits, vegetables and whole grains will help you cleanse the bowel and all the internal organs. Keep protein to a minimum during the cleanse or if needed, eat small amounts.
Step 1
Eat fresh whole fruits, nuts and whole grains for breakfast. Consume two small apples chopped with 1 tbsp. of chopped walnuts for breakfast. Or, if you don't like raw fruit, place the fruit in a stainless steel pot with just enough water to cover and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes. Grind 1 tbsp. of flax seeds and sprinkle it over the fruit.
Step 2
Steam a variety of whole vegetables for lunch and cook whole grains, including brown rice, millet, oats, quinoa or basmati rice. For example, steam a cup of broccoli, carrots, cauliflower and lacinto kale. Cook ½ cup of brown rice with chopped ginger root for digestion. Drizzle 1 to 2 tbsp. of flax seed, olive or safflower oil over the vegetables and grain for heart-healthy fat.
Step 3
Dine on more legumes, grains and vegetables. For example, cook ½ cup of quinoa and steam a cup of green curly and red curly kale, collard greens, chopped garlic and season with olive or hemp seed oil. Roast 1 tbsp. of almonds for extra fiber.
Step 4
Eat yogurt, eggs or small amounts of poultry, beef or seafood if you feel weak from eating the cleansing diet. You could eat ½ cup of yogurt at breakfast, 3 oz. of salmon at lunch and the same amount of chicken at dinner.
Step 5
Sip detox teas made with buckthorn root, dandelion leaves, burdock, yellow dock, red clover, senna or cascara sagrada, believed to help cleanse the colon. Drink in the morning before breakfast. Drink water between meals.
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