Detoxing has become a good way to prepare the body for a diet, or simply to get over a period of particularly bad food or drink intake such as Christmas. It involves cutting out foods that are bad for the body, in particular the digestive system, and eating a diet containing only certain foods. Whilst it is up to the individual how many types of food they will eat during the detox, the most important factor is the foods that are cut out. It is usually harder to give up the foods that are bad for you than it is to introduce healthier foods to your diet.
Perhaps one of the hardest things to give up is sugar and sugar based products. These can be hard to give up as almost everyone has their favorite treat, more than likely containing sugar. Whilst foods containing natural sweeteners are ok, artificial sweeteners are also worth avoiding. Other treats to avoid include potato chips, salted nuts and chocolate. It may also be hard to give up foods such as ready-made meals, processed foods, and take-away meals. A lot more people rely on these than in the past due to changing working patterns and family lives. Unfortunately, these foods are often the worst type of food for the body as they can be extremely hard to digest. These types of food are often found to have a high salt intake which is another reason to cut them out, with all salt intake reduced or stopped during the detox.
Another type of food to avoid when detoxing is red meat. Whilst some people choose to give up all meat during a detox; chicken and turkey are not as bad for the body as red meat. If you do decide to give them all up quorn and tofu can be a good alternative. Gluten should also be avoided, often found in foods that contain grains such as wheat and rye barley, for example bread and pasta. This is due to the fact that gluten can cause bloating and wind because of the way it is digested in the body. It is also a good idea to stop using sauces and dressings such as mayonnaise during a detox as these often contain ingredients such as salt and sugar, and replacing them with extra virgin olive oil. In terms of drinks, it is pretty obvious that alcohol and fizzy drinks should be cut out. However it could also be a good idea to cut out tea and coffee, although herbal teas could be used as an alternative.
Although it may be hard to cut out a lot of the foods listed above, the body does get used to not having them. In some cases, after cutting certain foods out of the diet people can find it hard to start eating them again, either at all or just not as much as before. Plus, the fact that most detox's only last a few days to a week means that it's not as hard as first imagined, and it may only be 7 days until that next bar of chocolate!
