Toxin Cleansing Diet

A toxin cleansing diet cleanses the body of any substances that may be considered toxic; this includes any material that has been added to the body through the environment or through a person's normal diet. By cleansing the body of these substances through a controlled nutritional regime, you can begin to feel stronger, more alert, and more energetic. A toxin cleansing diet involves putting the most nutritious foods into your body, in addition to ones that will force out toxins through frequent bowel movements.

Who Is the Toxin Diet For?

• People who are suffering from toxin build-up in their system may experience fatigue, indigestion, poor skin, muscle pain, or even bad breath, caused by hormonal imbalances and poor immune systems. If you are suffering from these things and suspect it might be due to excessive toxins in your system, you should first consult a professional dietitian or other health care professional, who can assess in person whether a toxin cleansing diet is appropriate for your situation. Children, pregnant and nursing women, and people with eating disorders, anemia, and autoimmune diseases should not go on this diet, since it's intensive and requires a number of dietary restrictions. Anyone with a genetic disease or any serious illness of any kind should generally not undertake a toxin cleansing diet.

Food in a Toxin Cleansing Diet

• A toxin cleansing diet tries to rid the body of as many toxins as possible through regular bowel movements. The actual components of your toxin cleansing diet will depend on you, your body type, lifestyle and health. You should consult an alternative medicine practitioner, who can assess what you should be eating and not eating during the diet. Most toxin cleansing diets advocate that you eat a lot of fresh fruits and fresh vegetables. Brown rice, quinoa, lentils and other beans, and extra-virgin olive oil are common toxin-cleansing foods. Mealtimes are small and will generally be soups and salads with fresh vegetables and fruits, and a bean or grain dish. You can eat nuts and seeds, like flax seed, pumpkin seeds, almonds, and cashews, as snacks or sprinkled on top of other foods. You can eat small vegetable and fruit snacks during the day.

  Lots of liquids are the other necessities of a toxin cleansing diet. These can be herbal teas, lemon water and rice milk. You should make sure you are drinking at least eight glasses of room-temperature water each day. During a toxin cleansing diet, you should avoid dairy products, wheat products (such as pasta and bread), and anything containing sugar, including artificial sweeteners.

The General Experience

• Most people experience headaches during the first week of their toxin cleansing diet. Since the diet involves ingesting foods that will increase your bowel movements, it is common to experience diarrhea, dehydration, and a lack of energy. If you undergo a toxin cleansing diet, you should monitor your progress carefully. If a diet is carried out for a prolonged period of time, it could lead to nutrient deficiencies or worsen symptoms. The period of time for a toxin cleansing diet depends on the person, but an average toxin cleansing diet lasts a few weeks. If you're planning a toxin cleansing diet, make sure that you don't have any high-energy activities to attend, since you will feel weaker during the diet itself.

  After the diet is over, you should not immediately revert to your former lifestyle and eating habits. Instead, you should ease back gradually into eating other foods; otherwise, you will probably experience stomach cramps, diarrhea, and other effects of food poisoning as a result. Many people continue to follow many of the healthy food guidelines of the diet after they have completed it, keeping lots of fruits and vegetables in their daily diet.