Can Learning To Detox Your Body Boost Your Natural Defenses

I've been fortunate enough to enjoy good health for pretty much all my life. I've hardly ever been ill, and colds and viruses never seem to latch on to me - or certainly not that lasted more than half a day or so. So it was quite alarming when I realized I was becoming very lethargic and out of energy, and getting out of bed in the morning was becoming quite a chore. I'd visited the doctor several times and had quite a few blood tests, but they couldn't find anything wrong with me.

A friend of mine, who also happened to be a physiotherapist, advised me that I was in need of a natural detox, and take some time to learn to detox your body and see how toxins accumulate in my body and impact my wellbeing and energy levels. I didn't know the first thing about detoxing, so I decided to learn all about it, and try to understand why alternative health therapists say it's so popular and advocate regular detox dieting and suggest getting started with the 7 day detox diet so avidly.

Something else she recommended I try was a foot detox. I now use a foot spa about twice a week, but if you don't have one of those, the detox foot pads can be just as good - but doing it this way you miss out on the relaxing foot massage at the same time

Here's some healthy detox diet tips I discovered.

Herbal teas are just as good as water

One of the most important things you need to is drink lots of water while you are following a detox diet as it will help your body flush out all the toxins. Drinking plenty of water also has other health benefits like promoting regular bowel movements, helps your internal organs function more efficiently, and improves your complexion. You should aim for about 2 to 3 liters a day, but increase that when the weather is hot.

As a guideline, for every hour that your exercise each day, drink an extra 2 glasses of water. Tap water which has been filtered to remove the chlorine and impurities is the best option. Keep your water at room temperature as it's more refreshing that way. If you don't always fancy water, herbal teas - loose leaf tea is the better option if it's available. Green tea, horsetail, camomile and roibosch (or redbush) in particular are great choices as their hidden ingredients help boost the detox process. Roibosch and green tea is especially healthy as it is a rich source of natural antioxidants.

Choose Organic Food Where Possible

You do not need to switch to a totally organic diet on a detox diet, unless you can afford it, but a little organic produce will go a long way to getting you started.

If you can't find or afford organic fruits and veggies, it's not a problem. Concentrating on eating fresh (and ideally raw) fruit and veg is the main point - even if they are non-organic - rather than not get enough of them. Having said that, there are some very beneficial health reasons of eating organic food on a healthy detox diet.

Artificial fertilizers and pesticides are banned from production of organic foods, so they contain the lowest possible amounts of artificial, potentially toxic chemicals (such as nitrates). It's also a very controversial subject as there is evidence that the build up of man made fertilizers and pesticides are linked to some of the serious health conditions of today.

There is a lot less processing of organic produce on its journey to your kitchen. The end result being that organic foods are free from artificial additives and hydrogenated fats. On top of that, organic foods usually taste better too.