A person’s health largely depends on what and how much they eat and drink. Due to irregular and improper nutrition, poor environmental conditions, and other factors, harmful substances can accumulate inside the intestines. They can cause a range of unpleasant symptoms, from minor to severe, constantly causing discomfort. A detox diet for body cleansing and weight loss promotes their rapid elimination and an improvement in overall well-being.
To achieve noticeable results, one needs to familiarize themselves with the rules of a cleansing diet and adhere to them. Such a dietary regimen is not suitable for everyday life because along with toxins, vitamins and micronutrients can also leave the body. However, within a period of 1 day to a week, harmful substances will be eliminated, and well-being will improve thanks to the nutrients found in the foods of the diet menu. Moreover, the body will not be harmed since it is easy to replenish the supply of essential nutrients by transitioning to a balanced and healthy diet after the cleansing diet.
What is a Cleansing Diet?
The condition of a person’s health is greatly influenced by the state of their intestines. Weakness, sleep problems, discomfort, headaches, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal problems are sure signs that toxins and waste have accumulated inside. Increased fatigue is also an indicator, especially if it is accompanied by weight gain.
Usually, the body can handle detoxification on its own, but sometimes it needs assistance. To accelerate the removal of toxins and waste, it is necessary to reduce their intake and add ecologically clean foods to the diet that promote deep cleansing and intestinal health. This includes natural plant-based foods.
A cleansing diet implies a temporary avoidance of unhealthy foods, not only in the traditional sense. The usual diet of a person aiming to lose weight does not include sweets, fast food, alcohol, and fatty, fried, spicy, or smoked foods. During a detox diet, one should abstain from any baked goods, salt, sugar, meat, and high-fat products, even if they are considered healthy. For example, it’s best to temporarily avoid whole-grain bread and avocados, even though these products do not harm the intestines. However, they can slow down the cleansing process, so it’s better to refrain from them for a while.
Detox Diet for Body Cleansing
There are many different menus for body cleansing diets, but they are all based on common principles. There are three important aspects that should not be ignored. Otherwise, switching to a new diet will not bring the desired results or may even harm one’s health.
- Preparing the Body: It’s not advisable to abruptly give up foods that were previously a significant part of your diet. It’s better to gradually reduce the intake of sweets, fatty foods, simple carbohydrates, and other types of food that you’ll have to avoid throughout the diet. This preparation may take from 2 to 7 days, but sometimes it’s better not to rush and prepare the body more thoroughly. This way, the diet won’t be a stress for your body, and it will be easier to stick to it. Your cravings for sweets or fatty foods will gradually diminish, and your well-being will improve before the detox begins.
- Meal Timing: There are two crucial factors: eating on a schedule and maintaining the right balance of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. You should have 5-6 small meals a day. The fewer hard-to-digest foods that enter your body, the easier it will be to cleanse your intestines naturally. To simplify the calculation of various nutrients in your meals, you can start keeping an electronic food diary. Most of these applications allow you to calculate the proportions as follows: 25–35% proteins, 10-20% fats, and 40-50% carbohydrates. You can also calculate the energy value of each portion with a calorie calculator, although it’s not as crucial during a diet whose goal is to cleanse the body.
- Hydration: If your body doesn’t receive enough plain drinking water without additives, your metabolism will slow down, and your electrolyte balance will be disrupted. During the diet, the sensation of thirst may decrease over time, so it’s essential to carefully monitor your body’s water balance. During the detox period, a healthy adult should drink 2-3 liters of non-carbonated water per day, depending on their body weight. This will accelerate the cleansing process.
Advantages of the Cleansing Diet Plan
In terms of effectiveness, a detox diet is no less effective than colon hydrotherapy, but it is gentler. This method of combating toxins has several advantages:
- Accessibility: The foods allowed during the diet are available in every supermarket, can be grown in your garden, or purchased at the market during the season.
- Convenience: Most dishes in the detox menu do not require lengthy preparation because the diet primarily consists of fresh vegetables and fruits.
- Comprehensive Impact on the Body: A detox diet can improve complexion, digestive health, help shed extra pounds, and normalize sleep patterns.
- Effectiveness: Thanks to the specific dietary components, harmful substances exit the body quickly.
- Speed of Action: Significant results can be achieved in as little as 1 day.
- Safety: When the diet rules are followed, and all contraindications are considered before starting, it is safe for the body.
All these advantages make cleansing diets for the intestines popular. However, it’s important to remember that their effectiveness can only be guaranteed when the rules are strictly followed.
Key Diet Rules of Cleansing Diet Plan
Within the framework of a diet promising a gradual removal of toxins and waste from the body, it is not necessary to adhere to a specific menu. You can include your favorite foods in your diet as long as they are not on the list of prohibited items. However, there are some general rules:
- All foods should be fresh. If you have the opportunity to purchase farm-fresh or seasonal fruits and vegetables, it’s advisable to do so.
- Plant-based foods should dominate in the detox menu, and you can include berries and nuts. It’s especially good if the products have not undergone any heat treatment.
- Temporarily exclude salt, sugar, and spices from your menu.
- If you need to cleanse the intestines, fresh juices, infusions of fresh and dried herbs, mineral water, and herbal or green tea are suitable.
- Eat regularly and in small portions. It’s advisable to create a meal schedule and stick to it.
- Minimize the consumption of coffee and black tea, avoid sweet sodas, alcohol, and tobacco.
The success of the diet depends not only on adhering to the dietary regimen. It’s also essential to eliminate any stress during the detox period, incorporate moderate physical activity into your schedule, and take walks in fresh air.
There are comprehensive rules that apply to the stages of detoxification. These rules should be followed shortly before the start of the diet, during it, and during the exit phase.
Preparation Period for Cleansing Diet Plan
Before starting the diet, it’s advisable to spend a day strictly following a specific diet with specified foods, most of which are beverages. The menu for this cleansing day looks like this:
- 08:00: 250 ml of unsweetened green tea and a sour apple.
- 09:00: 200 g of a mixture of grape juice and cereal tea in a 1:1 ratio.
- 10:00: 500 ml of green tea without added sugar.
- 11:00: 200 g of a mixture of ripe carrot juice and cereal tea in a 1:1 ratio, and 100 g of white grapes.
- 12:00: 200 ml of grape juice and 100 g of grapes.
- 15:00: 500 ml of unsweetened green tea.
- 16:00: 200 g of a mixture of carrot juice and cereal tea in a 1:1 ratio.
- 17:00: 200 ml of plain non-carbonated water, possibly mineral water.
- 18:00: 3 red or yellow bell peppers.
- 19:00: 200 g of a mixture of apple or pear juice and cereal tea in a 1:1 ratio.
- Before bedtime: 250 ml of unsweetened green tea.
This sequence of meals should be strictly followed, so it’s best to set aside a day when nothing will distract you from the diet and spend it at home.
Cleansing Diet Plan
The menu should consist of plant-based foods and contain a minimal amount of protein. It’s advisable to minimize fat intake during the detox period. Vegetables, fruits, and berries in the diet should be consumed raw, although some heat processing is allowed when preparing tea and infusions.
You can diversify the menu by adding nuts and seeds as a source of plant-based protein, but they should not be consumed in large quantities. It’s better to focus on freshly squeezed juices, smoothies, fruit and vegetable purees without sugar, salt, or spices. They contain many more beneficial nutrients and help cleanse the intestines.
Exiting the Cleansing Diet
You should exit the cleansing diet gradually to minimize stress on the body. Avoid adding fats and proteins, spicy, salty, and sweet foods abruptly to your diet. During the first four days, consume minimal amounts of items such as meat, baked goods, and fried vegetables.
Common Cleansing Diet Plans
There are numerous different menus for cleansing diets, but some of them are time-tested and more popular. Their effectiveness is confirmed not only by regular individuals who have tried and experienced their benefits but also by medical professionals. These are mono-diets based on specific types of foods.
Buckwheat Buckwheat
is a quite filling and calorie-rich but beneficial for the intestines and rich in vitamins and minerals product. On a diet mainly consisting of buckwheat, you can gradually lose weight without experiencing severe hunger. To eliminate toxins and waste from the body, you should eat buckwheat for at least 2 weeks. This diet is one of the gentlest for the body, but it does not guarantee rapid results.
Buckwheat should be prepared in a gentle way: it should be soaked in boiling water overnight in a ratio of 100 ml of buckwheat to 100 ml of water to preserve more beneficial substances. Besides soaked buckwheat, you can also eat vegetables and dairy products, but the porridge should remain the basis of your diet. One of the important rules of this diet, in addition to those common to all cleansing diets, is no food intake after 18:00.
Rice
The rice diet is quite similar to the buckwheat diet. The calorie content of white rice is much lower than that of buckwheat, so the duration of this diet should not exceed a week. The rules are the same: no sauces, sugar, salt, alcohol, or starchy vegetables like potatoes. Only fruits, vegetables, and seafood are allowed, and for seasoning, you can use a little soy sauce or good quality olive oil. White rice contains important amino acids that are beneficial for the body, making it a good choice for a dietary meal. You can add various dried fruits to the rice, making it a complete dessert.
Oatmeal
Oatmeal is rich in vitamins, and during detox, it’s essential to replenish these nutrients. That’s why oatmeal is suitable as a dietary food. It’s important that the porridge is without flavor additives: salt, sugar, flavorings, and other substances that are contraindicated during intestinal cleansing. In a week of an oatmeal diet, you can lose 3-5 kilograms of excess weight and eliminate toxins and waste from the body.
During breaks between meals, you can have not only oatmeal but also fruits and fresh or boiled vegetables. To prepare the perfect dietary oatmeal, you just need to soak it in boiling water overnight. During this diet, it’s important to pay attention to your fluid intake: you can drink a glass of still mineral water only one and a half hours after meals.
Vegetable
This diet involves a gradual transition to raw and boiled vegetables while excluding other food products. Its advantage lies in the variety of vegetables available, as well as the diversity of dishes you can prepare with them. Of course, during detox, it’s not advisable to indulge in stewed potatoes with sunflower oil. However, you can grill, steam, or boil vegetables and make smoothies using a blender.
It’s easier to maintain a body cleanse on a vegetable diet, and many people report feeling energized and in a good mood throughout the week. You should consume up to 1.5 kilograms of vegetables per day, with 40% of them being processed and 60% raw. This is the main rule of the diet, and it’s crucial to adhere to it. Bread and dairy products are not prohibited, but it’s better to minimize their consumption.
Fruit
This diet can be considered similar to the vegetable diet, although it has its own characteristics. Instead of fresh and thermally processed vegetables, you should consume fruits and berries. Fruit diets can be divided into two types:
- Mono: You can eat only one type of fruit or a single fruit (such as only watermelons and melons or only peaches, apricots, and plums).
- Mixed: Any fruits and berries are allowed in reasonable quantities, except for high-calorie ones. A fruit diet can last from 3 to 12 days. Depending on your initial weight, you can lose 3-7 kilograms on such a diet. One of the undeniable advantages of this diet is the absence of time restrictions. If you feel like eating an apple or orange at night, it won’t be considered a violation of the rules. Another plus is the simplicity of preparation. Most fruits should be consumed raw, and they just need to be peeled or sliced.
10 Day Cleansing Diet Plan
The ten-day cleansing diet is one of the most popular, although it’s quite challenging to stick to. However, the results are worth the temporary avoidance of favorite foods. One of the important rules of this diet is to drink a glass of warm boiled water with a few drops of lemon juice every morning. This helps the intestines work more actively and cleanse. The menu includes:
- Sliced sour apples and green tea for breakfast. You can add a spoonful of honey to the tea for sweetness.
- The same as the first day.
- Oatmeal cooked without seasonings in water for breakfast. For lunch, 200 g of lean beef and a ripe tomato. For dinner, 200 g of brown rice with soy sauce or good quality olive oil. Before bedtime, you can drink a cup of warm tea.
- For breakfast, you can have oatmeal again. You can also add a cup of black coffee without sugar to the meal. For lunch, two apples and a glass of detox water. Dinner is the same as on the third day.
- For breakfast, you are recommended to eat low-fat cottage cheese (no more than 150 g), which you can also replace with plain yogurt without flavor additives. Breakfast also includes a salad made from grated carrots drizzled with lime or lemon juice. Lunch is more substantial: a vegetable salad and a baked potato with two eggs. Dinner is the same as on the third day.
- You can drink only a cup of coffee for breakfast. Lunch consists of vegetable soup, 150 g of cottage cheese, and an apple. For dinner, you can drink 250 ml of 1% kefir.
- For breakfast and lunch, oatmeal is recommended. You can add a cup of black coffee to breakfast. For lunch, 200 g of rice with dressing.
- Breakfast includes oatmeal cooked in water. You can also have an apple and an orange with it. For lunch, you can drink low-fat kefir. In the evening, you can eat boiled fish and two ripe oranges for dessert. Before bedtime, you can drink a cup of tea.
- In the morning, you can drink a glass of 1% kefir. For lunch, you can have boiled fish and a cup of sugar-free tea. For dinner, you can prepare 200 g of lean beef steamed and a bit of rice as a side dish. For dessert, there will be three small-sized apples.
- The last day of the diet should start with a glass of kefir. Lunch consists only of tea, sweetened with a small amount of honey. For dinner, you can have steamed brown rice. For dessert, there is a ripe orange and a cup of hot tea. This diet helps not only cleanse the body but also lose weight. Due to the low calorie content of the diet, specialists do not recommend combining it with physical activities. To replenish lost vitamins and minerals, a multivitamin complex can be helpful, and it’s important to gradually exit the 10-day detox diet. It’s recommended to add a bit more food each day, focusing on protein and fats, and gradually increase calorie intake.