Nutrition for Cleansing and Detoxing
The body's detoxification processes are "driven" by vitamins, minerals and amino acids. If the correct chemical facilitators, in balanced amounts, are not supplied by a nutritionally rich diet or through supplements, the body has no way to alter most toxins so they can be excreted.
As important as taking these supplements are, they're still not a substitute for a healthy diet, because an unhealthy diet of high fat, low fiber food (i.e. the typical American diet) places such an extra load on the liver that mere supplementation won't allieviate. For more information, see essential supplements, how the body detoxifies and healthy diet.
The Life-Giving Benefits of Drinking Water
Water is the essence of life and is needed by every cell in your body. Approximately 60%-70% of your body is made up of water. It is the main ingredient of all body fluids, blood including lymph, digestive juices, urine, tears and sweat.
Knowing that it makes sense to understand that water is involved in almost every bodily function such as, circulation, digestion, absorption and the all important elimination of wastes to the point where drinking enough water makes a huge impact to constipation with almost immediate effects, especially during pregnancy!
How much water should I drink a day?
The amount you need varies from person to person depending on size, climate, diet and activity levels, but I would say its safer to have more than less!
Dehydration causes stress on the body and that stress will cause even more dehydration so its better to keep everything bouyant and drink at least 2 litres of good naturally cleaned water each day. If you are a mad runner or athlete then you would need more than that but on average 4 pints or 2 litres of water per day is what the average person needs.
What type of water is best?
I would recommend that you avoid tap water. Tap water has been known to be safe to drink but the cleaning process may not clear many environmental pollutants that can cause harm. If you are drinking tap water please use a home filter.
I would say that bottled water is a much better option than tap water, but watch the sodium content level in these waters, you don't want that to be too high! There are of course more expensive options and such as Reverse osmosis, whole house filters and distilled water filters, these are investments worth every penny!
Do tea, coffee and flavoured water count?
In short NO! Although they are fluids they are not hydrating drinks, most of these are dehydrating and are causing more stress! The flavoured drinks are unfortunatley sweetened with artificial flavours and sugars that are again stressful and not hydrating! Stick to the real stuff... its worth it!
DRINKING WATER
Is fizzy water ok?
Fizzy water contains carbon dioxide and as we know thats what the body needs to get rid of so why would you want to put it in? in that case, I certainly wouldn't recommend that carbonated water be the main water that you drink, occassinally it won't hurt you but too much may make you pop!
Benefits of Drinking Water
Benefits of drinking water include increased Energy, more life vitality, Natural Weight Loss, Natural Detox, glowing and clearer skin, better digestion, better concentration, less painful menstruation, good regular bowel movements and more!
Important Tips
If you are not drinking any water at the moment then take it slow and gradually by adding in more and more daily until you reach the recommended 2 litres. If you start to drink 2 litres immediately, from not drinking any, it may make you feel sick and unwell as your body will go immediately into a detox and cleanse by releasing lots of toxins that will make you feel unwell. Take small steps and build up to 2 litres gradually, that way the body will not become shocked.
Supplements
Here is a list of recommended vitamins, amino acids and herbs to include in your supplementation:
Vitamins:
Vitamin C (buffered or Ester-C), 500-2000 mg.
Vitamin E (tocopheryl acetate), 200-400 mg.
Vitamin A 5,000-7,500 IU
Beta Carotene 15,000-30,000 IU
Bioflavonoids 200-1000 mg. (Possibly in a product that combines these with Vit. C)
B Vitamins (ideally in a B compound tablet)
Thiamine (B1) 10-25 mg.
Riboflavin (B2) 10-25 mg.
Niacinamide (B3) 50 mg
Niacin (B3) 50-2000 mg.
Pantothenic acid (B5) 250-500 mg
Pyridoxine (B6) 10-25 mg.
Cobalamin (B12) 50-100 mcg
Folic acid 400-800 mcg.
Minerals: (ideally in a mineral tablet or solution that includes)
Zinc (picolinate or oxide) 10-30 mg.
Magnesium - 500 mg.
Manganese (gluconate) 5-10 mg.
Copper (gluconate) 1-3 mg.
Molybdenum (sodium molybdate) 50-200 mcg.
Selenium 50-200 mg.
Amino Acids: 500-1,000 mg.
(probably in a general blend that includes)
L-cysteine 100-300 mg.
L-glutathione 50-200 mg.
L-methionine 250-500 mg.
Herbs:
Garlic
Silymarin (milk thistle)
Pycnogenol
Ginkgo biloba
Decaffeinated green tea or green tea extract
More herbs for detox
Other:
Flaxseed oil (extremely important) 1-2 tablespoons or 2-4 caps
Psyllium seed 2-4 teaspoons or 8-12 caps