THE DETOX DIET

Adapted from my book The Detox Diet, 2017 published by Penguin Random House) 

As a health practitioner I feel most people take detoxes very lightly. Tons of my clients call me to go on a detox to get into a bikini and to lose weight. But a detox or cleanse is not about being so frivolous; it’s a more serious approach to health and wellness. I could make it all very ‘lad-di-da’ and pretend these things could indeed happen overnight, but then I am setting you up for something worse on an immune system front for later. That’s why never just go on a juice detox, or a cooked detox that is not monitored by a health practitioner who is qualified to deal with you. 

You detox because you need to balance your inner ecosystem and repair your gut. If you feel you are healthy and not suffering in your gut, this is where I am; then you can also go through a detox (every 6 months) as it will only help you get even cleaner. The principal behind doing all the programmes highlighted in this book is to repair, reverse leaky gut, inflammation, rejuvenate and then get onto a healthier eating plan. If you feel you fall in any of these categories please go-ahead a follow all the phases of this detox. However, if you feel you’d like to just do a mini-cleanse or have come back from a vacation or have somewhere to go and would like to feel and look better; then you can do the juice or cooked detox phases of the plans in this book. 

From a Macrobiotic perspective, eating sticky foods make for sticky blood condition. Dairy, sugar, white flour, additive, processed foods, refined oils are culprits in causing sticky blood condition. By sticky, I mean blood which is not viscous in nature, but sludgy and thick-you can say more acidic as well. Detoxes achieve cleansing of this blood condition, therefore they become essential at least once a year. Let’s not forget sustaining yourself after as well.

How to DETOX?

I would have been happy calling this book ‘The Good Gut Detox Diet,’ and in a sense that’s just what it is. Detox – the very word in itself means to cleanse oneself of toxins. I have played on this word ‘Detox’ to make it easier to focus on the phases of a detox and divide our approach towards a detox into five phases. These are – 

REDEFINE
CLEAN
REJUVENATE
TOP IT UP
OXYGENATE

What does each phase involve?

REDEFINE (one week) 

1. Keep a food diary
2. Check for food insensitivities
3. Analyse why you are craving 

CLEAN (one week) 

1. Clean up dairy
2. Clean up sugar
3. Clean up gluten
4. Clean up unhealthy fats
5. Clean up alcohol
6. Clean up eggs
7. Clean up table salt
8. Clean up yeasted foods
9. Clean up stress
10. Clean up antibiotics
11. Clean pain cleaners 

REJUVENATE (4 weeks) 

Add – 

1. Whole grains
2. Vegetables
3. Fruits
4. Legumes
5. Nuts and Seeds
6. Healthy fats
7. Fermented foods
8. Prebiotics
9. Sprouts
10. Bone broth (for non-vegetarians) 

TOP IT UP 

1. Antioxidants
2. Coloured vegetables
3. Vitamin C
4. B Vitamins
5. Raw turmeric
6. Bitter foods
7. Coconut oil
8. Ghee
9. Sea vegetables (spirulina)
10. Apple cider vinegar (Not suited for all conditions) 

OXYGENATE

Add – 

1. Pranayamas (breathing exercises from Yoga)
2. Movement (Dance, workout, cardio, anything that makes you move)
3. Massages
4. Body scrubs
5. Yoga 

LIFESTYLE PRACTICES 

1. Cultivate an ‘attitude’
2. Have ‘gratitude’
3. De-clutter your life
4. Examine emotional baggage
5. Set boundaries
6. Use body work therapies
7. Meditate
8. Sleep
9. Fast
10. Eat at regular meal-times
11. Add oil pulling

What kind of detoxes can you do?

A detox should be tailor-made to suit your condition, for example a raw juice detox may not work for certain conditions. Like in a irritable bowel syndrome a juice detox may aggravate your condition. You can choose between the ones I have highlighted in my book 1. Raw detox 2. Half cooked and half raw 3. Master detox cooked plan. 

A detox can be fun, but is definitely a time to cleanse. Like Ramadan which the Muslims community engages in; or Paryushana like the Jain community does annually. Detoxes, are meant to be ‘spiritual’ as well. 

They are usually done in March (Spring) as this is the time for the liver to cleanse, during the Spring equinox (March 21st). Or then during September equinox (around September 22nd).

Happy DETOXING!!