What Makes A Foot Detox Good For Your Health

Posted on October 1, 2008
Filed Under Diet |

A few years ago I felt very low on energy feeling completely out of it virtually all the time. I’d seen my doctor several times, but the answer was always the same - nothing medically wrong.

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 how to detox your body 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 why so many alternative and complementary health practitioners recommend detox diets and in particular the 1 week detox so avidly.

She also hinted to me to try a simple detox foot patches. I now use a foot spa about twice a week, but if you don’t have one of those, 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.

Lots of water and herbal teas

Drinking plenty of fluid is absolutely vital while you are following a detox diet as it helps to eliminate water-soluble toxins from your body. It also helps to prevent constipation, improves concentration, and encourage clear skin. Your goal should be to drink about 8 glasses (or 2 liters) of water each day, and more when you exercise.

As a rough guide, increase your water intake by about half a liter for each hour of exercise. Filtered or bottled water is best as tap water contain chlorine and other toxins. Ideally drink water that is at room temperature. Feel free to substitute herbal teas if you can’t face all that water - loose leaf tea is the better option if it’s available. Peppermint, camomile, dandelion root, horsetail and yarrow are especially great in a detox as their additional properties naturally support the detox process. Roibosch (Redbush) tea has extra punch as it is rich in antioxidants.

How Can I Possibly Drink So Much?

Fitting in 6 to 8 glasses of liquid a day isn’t difficult once you get into the habit. Have a glass of water with a little root ginger or some fresh lemon juice as soon as you get up - this is great for kick-starting your metabolism and bowel then have more water whenever you take a coffee break.

Whenever you sit down to eat drink a galss of water first, have a couple of herbal teas during the day, have another drink mid evening and a final glass before you retire to bed for the night. Remember, some of these glasses can actually be herbal teas or freshly squeezed juices.

Try To Eat Food Which Is As Fresh As Possible

Try buying farm fresh food and either juice them or eat them raw, for example as snacks, crudites, salads, and juices. When raw, food still has all its enzymes and nutrients intact. Once food has been kept too long, or when it is cooked or preserved, it loses a lot of its nutritional value.

Buy locally grown produce if you can, ideally from farm shops and local markets. Food from other countries is generally harvested before it is ripe (before it has developed its full vitamin quota) and will have lost much of its nutritional value during its journey to your supermarket.

Do You Need To Go Organic

You do not need to switch to a totally organic diet on a detox diet, 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.

If you can’t buy many organic foods, don’t worry. Concentrating on eating fresh (and ideally raw) fruit and veg is the main point- even if they are non-organic - than skimp on quantities. Having said that, there are some very beneficial health reasons of having as much as possible of organic produce on a healthy detox diet.

Organic foods are free from artificial pesticides and sprays, which means they are very low or even free from toxins like man made chemicals and toxins. The practice of organic farming is very contentious due to the fact that there is growing 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.

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.

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