Detox Q & A

"I'm looking for an easy detox that won't leave me hungry."

 

Question: I work and have three kids and low blood sugar. For these and other reasons, a juice fast is next to impossible for me. What do you recommend I do? I'm looking for an easy detox that won't leave me hungry."

Answer: There are many different kinds of detox methods. One of my favorite approaches is a weekend detox diet, a great alternative to juice fasting and is ideal for anyone who needs to maintain stable blood sugar levels.

The weekend detox diet is a super simple detox. It's essentially a fresh fruit and vegetable diet. This a great choice for those who are new to detoxing or haven't done a detox in quite some time. I recommend this diet detox instead of juice fasting, which can bring on too rapid a detox response in the body.




Rapid detoxification can be more than unpleasant. It can be dangerous. It causes high levels of toxins stored in fatty tissues to be released into the bloodstream. You may have experienced this in a small way as the jitters you feel when dieting. At high levels, those toxins can cause oxidative stress to your body. Oxidative stress ages tissues. There is really no need to be overly ambitious in an effort to improve your health. As I like to say, "detoxing can be harmful to your health" – if you do it improperly.ese pages. That's why we don't advocate a particular one. You're the one who needs to decide what will work best for you.

In place of a juice fast, I recommend a fruit and vegetable detox diet, in which you restrict your food intake for two or three days to only fruits and vegetables. Within those parameters, you have many food options, depending on your preferences and the season. I also strongly urge you to use certified organic produce. Have raw fruit in the morning and vegetables in the evening. You can have your vegetables raw in a salad, lightly steamed or cooked in a soup.

The quantity of fruit and vegetables you eat during the weekend is up to you. I would eat about one piece of fruit every hour in the morning, then have a big salad for lunch. I would have more fruit and freshly squeezed juice in the afternoon. And then I would have some soup or steamed veggies for dinner and go to bed early.

A note about fruit: opt for fruits that are not too sweet so your blood sugar levels don't swing out of control. It is very important that you have a little green superfood protein with your fruit (spirulina or chlorella). Take them in tablets, sprinkle them on a plate of sliced raw apples, blend them in a banana smoothie or add some to a little fruit juice (unsweetened!).




Make this an enjoyable experience. Buy wonderful fruit and savor it. Try new types of fruits and vegetables. Make an incredible salad and enjoy it. Be extravagant and playful.

Detox doesn't have to be an experience of deprivation. And detox should not be a painful experience. A too aggressive approach to detox will produce side effects that can wreck your health, state of mind and overall attitude about detox as a preventative health measure.

Treat yourself to a detox weekend with this detox diet, and you will get the benefits of a detox without unpleasant detox side effects or inevitable food cravings that a juice only detox can stimulate.