The detox diet is split in 7 stages and if you want to try just a week long diet, each stage will last only a day, while in 2 weeks detox diet each stage will last 2 days and so on.
The longer the plan the greater the effect! If this is your first time practicing detox diet, than 7 day detox diet is the right lasting diet.
After a month you can practice 2 weeks detox diet, but start only with a week long detox diet.
The 7 Stages in Detox Diet are:
Stage 1 Liquids only
Stage 2 Liquids and fruit only
Stage 3 Add raw vegetables
Stage 4 Add cooked vegetables and brown rice
Stage 5 Add beans, lentils, nuts and seeds
Stage 6 Add grains and live yogurt
Stage 7 Add fish
Stage 1 Liquids only
Usually this would be just water, which is the quickest and purest means of flushing out the body. But adding a squeeze of fresh lemon to warm water helps to neutralize acidity and stimulate the bowels. If you find this too restricting, there are other liquids that have supplementary benefits – freshly made fruit and vegetable juices, herbal or spice teas and the final option is broth.
Stage 2 Liquid and fruit only
Fruits are generally alkaline foods (although they have acidic taste), so they help neutralize the acidic waste that is produced when you begin to detoxify. High fibers in fruits make them good laxative. Buy only organic fruits because non organic contain toxins and you will do nothing.
Following fruits have detox properties:
Apples – contain a lot of pectin, which help too remove toxins, and tartaric acid which aids digestion.
Pineapple – contains the enzyme bromelin, which helps to produce acids that destroy bad bacteria in the gut, encourage the growth of “good” bacteria that are important for digestion and support tissue repair.
Mango – also contains bromelin, and enzyme called papain, which helps to brake down protein wastes.
Grapes – help to counter the production of mucus, which can clog up tissues and cleanse the liver and kidneys. Their high fructose content also provides instant energy.
Watermelon – is a diuretic and therefore speeds the passage of fluids carrying toxins through the system.
Stage 3
Add raw vegetables in your detox diet
Include bean sprouts (best grown yourself), as sprouting increases the nutritional content of seeds five-fold. Use raw garlic which is excellent blood cleanser. Vegetables share many of the properties of the fruits and some of the once that can be eaten in salads have particular detox powers.
Fennel – helps to improve digestion in general and also prevents flatulence.
Watercress – contains betacarotene and sulphur, both of which are liver tonics.
Dandelion leaves – are a liver and kidney tonic and also act as a diuretic.
Parsley – is a mild diuretic and contain zinc and trace minerals that aid liver function.
Stage 4
Add cooked vegetables and brown rice
Cook the vegetables with as little water and for as short time as possible to retain their maximum nutritious value. Steaming is the best method.
Leafy green vegetables are good for overtaxed liver. The rice should always be brown short-grain as this kind is by far the most absorbent. It soaks up toxins from the gut and is the easily digested and contains the most fiber.
Among the spices you can cook with include cayenne pepper and ginger, both of which stimulates digestion and encourages the elimination of toxins trough the skin.
Vegetables normally eaten cooked that have detox properties include the following:
Leeks – onion and garlic contain sulphur compounds that bind to and speed the elimination of toxic metals.
Globe artichoke – stimulates the liver’s production of bile, which speeds up digestion.
Jerusalem artichoke – contains inulin, which aids the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut. But beware of their deserved reputation for flatulence.
Beetroot is an acidic food. Which stimulates the production of enzymes that aid digestion in the stomach.
Stage 5
Add beans, lentils, nuts and seeds
Beans and lentils are a good source of protein but should not be eaten with rice at this stage since mixing starch and protein can slow down digestion. Try to leave four hours between the consumption of the two types of foods.
Nuts should be eaten raw and unsalted. Like seeds, they provide useful calories in the form of essential fatty acids, which are needed by all cells in the body but which it can not manufacture.
Stage 6
Add grains and live yogurt
The yogurt should be goat’s or sheep’s, which are easier to digest than live cow’s yogurt but have the same beneficial action on the gut.
The grains should always be wholegrain, which provide fibre to help move wastes through the intestines and trace minerals useful for liver function. Choose from rye, buckwheat, barley or oats – anything but wheat.
Stage 7
Add fish
Any fresh fish will do but your skin will benefit from the essential fatty acids in oily, cold-water fish. By this stage, you should begin to feel more relaxed and not in a hurry to eat everything you have been missing.
Ideally, introduce excluded food types with at least a day between each. By this stage you should be more in tune with your body, which will help you to decide what and when.
We aware that after 7 day detox diet you will have 2 benefits – you will clean your body and you will lose weight.
Adapted from: women-workout routines
