What is a detox diet meal plan ?

Detoxification is a hot topic and for good reason. Integrative practitioners understand that your body is constantly exposed to many pollutants and chemicals and needs some serious support. Chemicals are found in the air, water, food, personal care and cleaning products, clothes, furnitures, etc.. basically everywhere.

To clear these nasties from you system you require an optimal working organism. One that is not dehydrated, nutrient deficient and stressed. Unfortunately this is the majority of people, which means we all need to be on top of this and help our system cleanse regularly.

Depending on your genetics you can be a slow, intermediate or fast detoxifier. Further your ability to detox is greatly influenced by your nutrient status, microbiota, hydration and proper oxygenation of your tissues. This means that a fast detoxifier can end up clearing toxins very slowly if nutrient deficient, dehydrated, has an unhealthy gut and doesn't know how to breathe.

What is a detox diet meal plan?

As you know there is not such thing as a one size fits all and your detox strategy will vary depending on your current health condition. If you suffer from a medical condition, inflammation and have a toxic gut and liver, then you should go slow and work with a an integrative dietitian who understands your presentation. If otherwise healthy you should aim to detox every 2-3 months following a program where both gut, liver, nutrient status, breathing, movement and genetics are included.

Keep in mind that the best detoxification strategy is still avoidance which means that you should focus on minimising your exposures and supporting proper system functioning.

Overall you should aim to

• Stay well hydrated everyday... even one day when you become dehydrated can be a spanner in the works. Avoid feeling thirsty and ensure your pee is clear with preferably no smell.... this communicates good hydration.
• Start your day with 1 big glass of lemon water to support faster detox.
• Eat 2-3 regular meals every 3-5 hours.
• Eat 1 big salad daily and 3-4 pieces of fruit.
• Drink some dandelion root, lemon balm and hibiscus tea which can help liver detox.
• Keep your fat intake and particularly saturated fat intake low (definitely avoid keto diets).
• Keep to 1 animal protein per day... to many people eat excess protein and animals which burdens the liver and kidneys.
• Eat only organic to avoid nasty pesticides which impact gut and liver function and disturb your gut bacteria.
• If you have gut problems (bloating, constipation, reflux, diarrhoea etc) work with an integrative dietitian to have this fixed.
• Learn how to use breathe using diaphragmatic nasal breathing
• Change to natural and organic personal care and housefly cleaning products
• Avoid plastics in all form and receipts
• Get natural sunlight every morning and day to help balance hormones and neurotransmitters.

Hope this helps,

Anca

Anca Vereen is an Integrative Dietitian and Nutritionist, Psychotherapist, Breathing Coach and Latrobe University Nutrigenomics Lecturer who specialises in gut health, autoimmunity, weight loss, stress management and creating a balanced lifestyle. For more details on gut health please visit https://www.ancavereen.com/gut-health

For more info on detox please visit https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-to-detox-your-body