How Important Are Organic Foods In A Detox Diet

Leading up to the birth of our second child I was very low and rundown and feeling tired all the time and quite lifeless. I'd lost count of how many times I'd been to see the doctor, but each time was told that there was nothing medically wrong with me.

Fortunately a friend of mine is a dietician and she advised me that I needed to detox my body, and generally learning about how to detox and understand the impact of toxins on my health. It looked like detoxing had a lot of health benefits, so I decided to learn all about it, and get to grips with what is really involved and why the natural health industry advocate doing a detox and suggest getting started with the 7 day detox diet so strongly.

Another thing she suggested to me was to try a foot detox. I now use a foot spa about twice a week, if you don't want to invest in a foot spa, the foot detox patches can be just as good - although your don't get the relaxing foot massage at the same time

Here's some healthy detox diet tips I discovered.

Herbal teas and water and plenty of both

One of the most important things you need to is drink lots of water while you are following a detox diet because it will help purge excessive toxins from your body. It also helps to prevent constipation, improves concentration, and encourage clear skin. Drink 6 to 8 glasses of water each day (about 2 liters), although you will need more in hot weather or on days when you are exercising.

As a rule of thumb, 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. Ideally drink water that is at room temperature. Feel free to substitute herbal teas if you can't face all that water - preferably loose leaf rather than tea bags. Green tea, horsetail, camomile and roibosch (or redbush) are particularly good as their essential oils assist in the detox process. Green tea and redbush is especially healthy as it is rich in antioxidants.

Some Tips To Help You Drink Your Quota

Fitting in 6 to 8 glasses of liquid a day isn't difficult once you get into the habit. Start your first glass of water with some fresh lime or lemon juice as soon as you get up - this is great for kick-starting your metabolism and bowel then try to drink another glass each time you take a break from your work.

Each time you eat something have a glass then, have a couple of herbal teas during the day, have another drink mid evening and one more glass when you're getting ready for bed. Feel free to substitute some water with herbal teas.

Eat Foods As Close To Their Natural State As Possible

Try buying farm fresh food and juice or blend them for maximum benefit or just eat them raw, in salads or as snacks or appetizers. Raw fruits and veg are still full of all their natural enzymes, vitamins and minerals. If the food stays in the fridge or on the shelf for long periods, or when it is cooked or preserved, its nutritional value plummets.

Buy locally grown produce if you can, preferably at farms and markets in your area - imported produce is usually harvested under ripe (before it has developed its full vitamin quota) and will have a longer time to lose nutrients on it's trip to the supermarkets.

Choose Organic Food Where Possible

Buying organic produce where possible is better for your health but not totally necessary, as organic produce is normally higher priced than non organic equivalents, but a little organic produce will go a long way to getting you started.

It's not a major problem if you can't get hold of any organic produce. All you need to worry about is eating enough fresh foods - even if they are non-organic - than skimp on quantities. Nonetheless, there's a lot of health benefits to having as much as possible of organic produce on a healthy detox diet.

The use of artificial chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers are not allowed when growing organic foods, which means they are very low or even free from toxins like man made chemicals and toxins. It's also a very controversial subject as there's a lot of evidence that the cumulative impact of toxins from man made chemicals and bug sprays are linked to some of the serious health conditions of today.

By comparison, organic foods are processed much less than non-organic. That means they contain no hydrogenated fats, artificial additives, preservatives or genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The taste and flavor of organic food is usually much better as well.