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A rejuvenating 5-day body detox plan

In today’s world, you can hardly spend a day without meeting some pollution. At work, you may not be completely sure about the cleanliness of the water you drink or the food you eat. Around other people, you can hardly avoid air pollution, be it from smokers, sprays or vehicle exhaust. This can affect health in one way or another, even when your body shows no obvious reaction.

For these reasons, many people turn to a detox plan as a way to support a healthy body, a clear mind and good relationships with others.

How the body cleans itself

Our body has its own system of healing and detoxifying: the liver, kidneys, lungs, gut and skin remove waste every day. There is no evidence that this system becomes ‘overloaded’ in healthy people, but it does work best when you eat well, drink enough water, sleep and avoid smoking and too much alcohol.

Short detox plans are not a medical treatment and cannot remove toxins faster than your organs already do. What a plan like the 5-day detox can do is give you a break from processed food and help you start healthier habits, which many people find refreshing.

What to eat on the 5-day plan

Detox food is the core of the 5-day detox plan. During the plan, certain foods are avoided. Your meals consist mainly of fresh fruit and green, young vegetables. Fried food, processed food and food additives are left out. Meat is also dropped for a day or two; this is a matter of choice, as meat is digested normally by a healthy body.

Good foods to include are garlic, broccoli, beets, and seeds or nuts. Fresh fruit juices can be taken as drinks; if you take medicines, ask your doctor about grapefruit juice, which interacts with many drugs. Drink plenty of water as well, around six to eight glasses a day. Water helps your kidneys do their work, and waste leaves the body mainly in urine and stool.

Although you eat less while on the plan, you should not go hungry. Because your intake is limited to healthy foods, many people find it gives them a lift, but eat enough to keep your energy up.

Safety tips

There is no need to repeat the plan on a fixed schedule; a healthy everyday diet matters more. To make sure a plan is safe for you, consult a dietitian or doctor first, especially if you are pregnant, have diabetes or another health condition, or take regular medication.

After a few days of eating mostly fruit and vegetables, many people say they feel lighter and more alert. These are personal reports; the plan does not flush toxins out or change how much oxygen reaches your body.

Taking care of yourself on the inside matters as much as how you look on the outside.

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Body cleansing and detox for body and mind

What people mean by toxins

When we hear the word toxin, we often think of poison in a labeled bottle. Toxins can indeed be poisonous, but the substances we meet in everyday life, such as air pollution, tobacco smoke, alcohol and chemicals in food and household products, are not labeled that way, and we are exposed to many of them without noticing. This is the starting point of most detox plans.

So what happens when the body is loaded with pollutants? Many detox plans say that toxins block the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to the body and brain, and that this makes your mind sluggish. There is no good evidence for that. If you feel exhausted after hard mental work, that is normal brain fatigue: the brain uses a lot of energy even when you are just sitting. Poor sleep, stress, dehydration and a poor diet are far more likely reasons for feeling sluggish than invisible toxins.

It is true that we do not always take good care of ourselves, and it makes sense to look after the body’s natural defenses. Your body already has its own system for getting rid of waste, which includes the liver, kidneys, lungs, skin and digestive system. You do not need a special detox to switch it on. The best thing you can do is to help these organs work well by living healthily.

A healthy diet is the safest cleanse

The safest way to “detox” is a normal healthy diet. Cut back on junk, which means alcohol, too much caffeine, fatty processed food and foods with a lot of additives, and replace it with easy-to-digest fruit and vegetables. They are rich in vitamins and give you energy, and the fiber in them supports your digestion. Fresh, cleanly prepared food is best.

Some detox plans include a short fast, with only fruit juice and herbal teas, usually under the supervision of a nutritionist or doctor. There is no good evidence that fasting removes toxins, and it can cause tiredness, headaches and low blood sugar. It is not suitable for everyone, for example during pregnancy or with diabetes, so speak to your doctor first. If you do not feel the need to fast, there is no reason to do it.

Some plans recommend supplements as well, for example fermented soy and algae powder. Fermented soy foods such as tempeh and miso can be part of a healthy diet, and algae powder may make you feel full, but there is no proof that either of them cleans the body of toxins. Supplements can also interact with medicines, so ask your doctor or pharmacist before you try them.

In the end, a healthy lifestyle is the real way to look after your body and mind: enough sleep, plenty of water, whole foods, regular exercise and little alcohol. If you feel tired or unwell for a long time, see a doctor rather than starting a detox.

The Tao of Detox: Daniel Reid’s natural way to purify the body

Most people believe that they are completely safe in their homes, or in any other place they are used to. But it may be time to think twice. Why?

Our world is no longer the planet it was a very long time ago. When civilizations were just beginning to form, there was no industrial pollution. Because of the rapid changes that have taken place in almost every part of the world, our air, water and food now carry pollutants that earlier generations never met.

Who would not want to live a long life? Very few people reach 120 years or more, and despite popular legends, people did not routinely live that long in the past either. In fact, average life expectancy today is far higher than it was a century ago, thanks to better hygiene, nutrition and medicine.

Still, modern lifestyles take a toll on the whole body. With the hectic way of life many of us have grown used to, the body takes in more alcohol, additives and pollutants than is good for it. Normally the liver and kidneys clear these substances efficiently. Detox advocates such as Reid argue that when the body cannot keep up, these chemicals stay in the body and form build ups.

According to this view, such build-ups create imbalances in the body, and over time complications may arise. You may wonder how this could happen, but the answer, Reid says, lies in everyday habits.

Look at your daily life. Many of the foods you are used to eating contain additives, and drinks like soda, coffee and alcohol are not good for you in large amounts. Smokers take in harmful substances with every cigarette, and everyone breathes in exhaust from cars, trucks and other vehicles. Some hygiene products and the side effects of medicines add to the load. Note, though, that the idea of an “acid build-up” from these sources is not supported by medical science; your body keeps its acid balance within tight limits.

With so many harmful things around us, it is no surprise that many people get sick and look for a natural way to stay well. The wish for natural healing is shared by a great many people.

A body detox, in Reid’s view, is a way to rid your body of harmful chemicals that have been inside it for some time. A healthier lifestyle and better eating habits can certainly undo some of the damage caused by unhealthy habits, although no detox can reverse it all.

There are many detox resources you can turn to for guidance on the road to a healthier life. The book The Tao of Detox: The Natural Way to Purify Your Body for Health and Longevity, written by Daniel Reid, offers a holistic approach to cleansing the body. Reid argues that we need to clean our insides just as we need to clean our environment (and the whole planet).

The book offers a way to build up and look after your own health, which Reid believes is best achieved through detoxification.

If you want to lead a healthier life, this book may be a helpful guide to detox habits and to changing an unhealthy lifestyle. Talk to your doctor before starting any strict cleanse or fast.

Book: The Tao of Detox by Daniel Reid
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