As toxicity has become a growing concern within our society, the need for detoxification has become greater. With newer, stronger chemicals in the air, water, drugs, medicines, and food, the risk of exposure is much higher than in the past. Other factors, such as lifestyle, also carry the risk of exposure to pollutants, irritants, and toxins. Food plays an important role in the body’s ability to eliminate toxins and chemicals. The body requires essential nutrients through food, supplements or vitamins to maintain metabolic balance.
However, a poor diet consisting of foods with additives, flavor enhancers, food coloring, artificial preservatives, and refined and processed foods can compromise the body’s ability to eliminate unnecessary chemicals. Fresh, organically grown foods help cleanse and detoxify the body. Foods rich in fiber, high in water, and full of vitamins and minerals help remove impurities. Detox foods stimulate the excretion of toxic chemicals and replace them with nutrients the body needs to restore health. When you have digestive problems, constipation, a distended stomach or slow elimination, watch your diet and replace fast food, sodas and empty calorie snacks with these detox foods.
1. Water: Water naturally removes chemicals, toxins, and impurities from the body through sweat, breath, and urine. By adding an extra liter of water to your daily water intake, you can quickly cleanse your system of ingested irritants.
2. Fruit: Fresh fruit is full of water, fiber, antioxidants, and vitamins. Fruits are easily digested and are high in nutrients. The fruits can be eaten fresh, dried, frozen or juiced. Fruits with a high liquid content help eliminate toxins. The list of fruits that can be eaten includes apples, pears, oranges, grapefruit, bananas, raisins, pineapple, mango, kiwi, raspberries, strawberries, black currants, melon, sultanas, nectarines, and peaches.
3. Lemon: Lemons have a wonderful detoxifying effect on the body. Adding lemon to the water can help stimulate digestive enzymes. Also drinking hot water with squeezed lemon can help in cleansing the liver. Also, lemon is full of vitamin C and antioxidants, which help remove toxins like free radicals from the body.
4. Green Leafy Vegetables: Although eating raw vegetables is great for your health and can aid in detoxification, green leafy vegetables increase detoxification through chlorophyll. Leafy green vegetables such as blue-green algae, barley, wheatgrass, kale, spinach, spirulina, psyllium, cabbage, parsley, cilantro, watercress, alfalfa, Swiss chard, and Arugula contain chlorophyll, which helps remove environmental toxins from the body. Chlorophyll is a plant-based compound that can remove smog, heavy metals, herbicides, cleaning products, and pesticides from the liver. These vegetables have a diuretic effect on the body, which causes toxins to be expelled through excretion. Leafy greens are most often used in salads, which are full of fiber and contain fewer calories, helping to flush toxins out of the system.
5. Raw Vegetables: Eating raw vegetables helps to naturally cleanse the stomach, intestines, and bowels. Raw vegetables also purge the liver of toxins. Vegetables are full of vitamins that are essential for health. Sulfur and glutathione are found naturally in many raw vegetables and help cleanse the liver of toxic chemicals. Good detox vegetables include broccoli, cauliflower, beets, radishes, onions, artichokes, seaweed, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, and many more.
6. Broccoli – Broccoli is a great detox vegetable as it helps stimulate digestive enzymes, which encourages weight loss during detox. However, broccoli sprouts are more effective than their adult counterpart; They are rich in antioxidants, which promote the removal of waste from the body.
7. Garlic: Garlic is a great option for any detox. In addition to being a blood cleanser, garlic is a natural antibiotic. It can reduce blood fat and lower blood pressure. Garlic stimulates liver cleansing and helps cleanse the body of toxic chemicals and impurities. Garlic can be added to food dishes or taken as a supplement to prevent odor.
8. Green Tea: Green tea helps to remove toxins from the body. Green tea is full of antioxidants and stimulates metabolism. Green tea contains catechins, which speed up liver function.
9. Seeds and Nuts: Seeds and nuts are a great way to detoxify the body. They are easily digested and help and protect the liver in cleaning out toxins. Seeds and nuts that are good for detoxification include flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, cashews, walnuts, hemp seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, Siberian cedar nuts, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds. . Remember to eat unsalted nuts during detox, because salt can impede the detoxification process.
10. Beans: Beans are an important source of protein and fiber. Vegetables are easily digestible and should be part of any detox program. Beans cleanse the stomach of residual toxins and help the body get rid of unwanted impurities. Include kidney beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans, soybeans, and mung beans which are great for detoxification.
11. Omega-3 Oils: Foods rich in omega-3 are not only healthy for you, but also help detoxify the system. Hemp, avocado, olive oils, and flax seed oil are food sources of omega-3s. When consumed, they lubricate the walls of the stomach and intestines, allowing toxins to be eliminated through the body’s natural elimination systems.
12. Figs and Plums- Figs are high in fiber and contain calcium and essential nutrients for the body. One or two figs a day can help improve elimination. Prunes help cleanse the digestive tract. Prunes are high in fiber, but they also contain a natural laxative that aids elimination and stops constipation. Prunes can be consumed as dried fruit or as prune juice.