Well tis the season to now watch what is going into our bodies. During a quick break or a lovely holiday over the Christmas/New Year/School Holidays we tend to give ourselves a break from being strict and allow ourselves more drinks and food than usual. Round about now we are usually in a frame of mind to correct those overindulgences or perhaps start a new year with healthy body resolutions in mind. Detox information tends to be everywhere due to this trend as it's often a good way to start off a new healthy or weight loss regime. Due to having so many different detox programmes and info available on this topic, I thought I would give a quick break down of doing a detox safely.

Detoxification is simply the removing of some of the toxins that accumulate and can store in our body. The longer you 'detoxify', the more toxins you can remove. We become 'toxic' from our lifestyle choices. Smoking, drinking alcohol and/or caffeine drinks, consuming foods high in sugar, salt and bad fats, consuming too much food for the body's energy needs and therefore carrying extra body fat, working around or being in an environment of pollution and chemicals and stress are just some of the ways we can accumulate toxins.

So, just with that information, you could detox by just removing those elements. A detox can simply be a period of time (the longer, the better) where you don't smoke, drink alcohol or caffeine and don't consume foods high in fat, sugar or salt (any processed food basically). Of course it may be harder for some to cut out all that at the same time so a good way to get started is to stop one at a time at weekly intervals so eventually you give your body a break from them all at once. You can also take certain supplements to aid the detox of your body. An excellent herb you can take in tablet form is St Mary's Thistle also known as Milk Thistle. This herb helps your liver (our main detox organ) to more efficiently clear toxins out of your body (they leave via our sweat, bowel motions, urine and breath). Increasing fibre in a detox is also a good idea, so along with your fruit/veg and legumes, take more fibre in the form of slippery elm and/or psyllium husks to keep your bowels moving which help keep clearing toxins. Also plenty of water is required on a detox, at least 2 litres a day to keep the kidneys flushed and ridding toxins via the urine. A good amount of time to 'detox' your body is for around 6 weeks but any time shorter than that will still be an improvement and of course longer is even better – it will all depend on your level of toxicity which is of course dependant on your previous lifestyle choices.

Now there may be a few symptoms on a detox that aren't very fun but they are usually quite mild and some people don't suffer from them at all! Because you are cleaning your body up by giving your liver a break so it can cleanse your blood unencumbered by what you are eating and drinking you may feel or see the toxins leaving your body. This could be a foggy head or slight headache, or some pimples but eventually your skin will be glowing, your eyes and hair will be shining and your energy levels will increase so much, not to mention feeling lighter and less cranky!

Detox Do's

Do drink 2 litres of filtered water daily

Do eat foods in their most natural (and unprocessed) form

Do eat plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit

Do eat some protein in the form of eggs, chicken and fish

Do eat plenty of fibre in the form of chickpeas, all beans, brown rice etc.

Do choose wholemeal or wholegrain breads and pasta

Do get fresh air daily by walking for 30-40 mins or some outside activity

Do reward yourself by getting a massage, having an epsom salt bath etc.

Do take any natural supplement that may aid your detox journey (milk thistle, fibres, liver cleanse tabs, chlorophyll, vitamins and minerals, amino acids such as taurine)

Do drink herbal teas, freshly made vegetable/fruit juices or water with fresh lemon as your beverages

Do realise that you will sleep better, have more energy, lose weight and feel fantastic!

Detox Dont's

Don't drink alcohol, caffeine drinks or sugary drinks

Don't smoke or take recreational drugs

Don't eat foods that are fried or red meat (higher in fat)

Don't eat processed foods (anything packaged) or 'white' foods such as sugar, white flour, white rice and pasta etc.

Don't eat more than you can burn off with exercise

Don't starve yourself or 'fast' as your body needs fuel to do its detox properly

Don't put yourself in social situations during your detox that will make it hard for you to stick to it (pubs, clubs, any people or environment that would compromise your good work)

Don't stay up late at night, the body heals itself while we sleep so get plenty of it!

Don't worry! Relax whenever you can and remember how good you are going to feel.