Nutrition Articles

Detox diets can be quite strict and so they aren?t for the faint hearted. Many of your favourite food groups are not allowed including wheat (bread and pasta), dairy (milk, cheese and yoghurt), meat and fish, eggs and all those lovely processed foods that are so convenient. In addition you have to give up alcohol, caffeine, sugar and salt.

So, you may ask, what exactly is left?

You may not think it now but there are still a lot of foods left including:

• All fresh fruit and vegetables. Obviously organic is best if you can afford it and in particular broccoli, cauliflower, onions, garlic, beetroot and artichokes are great detox vegetables.
• Beans. All kinds of beans are great for you including mung beans, kidney beans, adzuki beans and pinto beans but unfortunately not baked beans. Also in this category are split peas, chickpeas and lentils.
• Rice products. Basmati and brown rice are preferable for detoxing however products made with rice such as rice cakes, rice crackers and rice pasta are also allowed.
• Grains. Buckwheat, millet grain and amaranth are available from any health food store and make a great alternative to potato products.
• Nuts and seeds. These have to be unsalted so no peanuts. You can enjoy sesame, pumpkin and sunflower seeds though in addition to nuts like almonds and cashews.
• Condiments. You may not think about things such as salt but a detox diet requires that you have sea or vegetable salt as apposed to normal table salt. Vinegar is ok as are most herbs and spices.
• Tea. Herbal teas make a lovely alternative to coffee and as long as they are decaffeinated they are fine. They come in a huge range of flavours so there is bound to be one you like.
• Other beverages. Water is important to a detox diet however you may wish to substitute simple water with lemon water, natural fruit and vegetable juices and even rice milk.

When all of these ingredients are mixed together they can produce extremely tasty meals and for the majority of your detox diet you won?t even realise you have given up your favourite foods. At the end of the diet you will feel better, look better and be very tempted to cut out the bad foods for good.

More information on Detox Foods