A detox diet is a way to quickly lose a few extra pounds without exhausting the body with nutritional deficiencies. This is the best option if you want to get in shape after the holidays, vacations, or, conversely, a difficult period when you could eat only processed products.
For all its effectiveness and the whole complex of benefits, a detox diet is not suitable for everyone. They create positive stress for the body, but in some cases, this effect is extremely undesirable. Therefore, they are not recommended for people who have not reached the age of 18, as well as for pregnant and lactating women.
How does the detox diet for weight loss work?
The concept of detox was created in the 19th century by an Austrian doctor. It was a time when science was rapidly developing, scientists put forward many new hypotheses, but only some concepts were subsequently confirmed. Felix Mayer was unlucky in this regard: his theory did not find confirmation, but it had great commercial success – and not without reason.
Dr. Mayer suggested that the cause of poor health, rapid fatigue, and excess weight is in toxins and metabolic waste products that accumulate in the body. Toxins poison a person so much that a special purification is needed to bring him back to normal. The cleansing program proposed by the doctor included a variety of water treatments, physiotherapy exercises, massage, and of course, a fruit diet.
Toxins, that is, poisons, are dealt with in a separate area of medicine: toxicology. If poisons really accumulate in the body, the person no longer needs water and a diet, but urgent medical care.
However, supporters of the purification theory may object. Every day we breathe in polluted air, and consume food containing more than simply useful components! Indeed, potentially hazardous substances constantly enter the body. But if a person is healthy, the body itself successfully copes with their elimination through the liver, kidneys, and other “participants” of the metabolism and excretory system. If for some reason, the liver and kidneys cannot remove excess from the body on their own, the person again needs medical help, and not cleansing with a diet.
The theory of slags in the body is today recognized as pseudoscientific as having no basis. It is impossible to “cleanse” the liver and cleansing the body as a whole from certain toxins is meaningless. That is, with justification, Felix Mayer hit the sky with his finger. But he came up with a good way to improve overall well-being, lose weight, and put the body in order.
Detox diets do not rid the body of toxins, because there are no toxins. However, they create a slight calorie deficit while still providing a full complement of nutrients. Therefore, a person does not suffer from a lack of vitamins, amino acids, his working capacity does not decrease, his state of health does not deteriorate, but he loses weight. For a more effective diet, it can be combined with additional detox treatments.
What is included in the detox program?
- Diet.
- Massage.
- Sauna or bath.
- Physiotherapy exercises, stretching.
- Body wraps, lymphatic drainage.
Also, many recommend putting enemas, taking special solutions for “cleaning”. However, such things should not be done without the recommendation of doctors. And many items on the list have contraindications. For example, a sauna or bathhouse is contraindicated for people with high blood pressure, hypertension, heart disease, and many other health problems. Massage should not be carried out in the presence of inflammatory processes, fever, skin diseases.
A more or less universal supplement is light stretching or physiotherapy exercises, they have a minimum of contraindications. In addition, regular, lightweight activity benefits the body, so it is useful to do exercises in parallel with the diet. They should not be too heavy or exhausting, this is not working for a record, but rather a warm-up.
Basic principles of a detox diet
- Gradual preparation and withdrawal from the diet. The preparatory period for detox diets is always longer than the main stage. This is due to the fact that a radical change in the diet is a serious shake-up, and if you try to completely redraw your menu at one point, your well-being can dramatically deteriorate. In addition, in case of drastic changes, the risk of “breaking off” is too high.
- Rejection of bad habits. During the diet, you should exclude smoking, alcohol, as well as coffee, black tea, chocolate. We’ll have to give up on unhealthy sleep patterns: it is necessary to sleep 6-9 hours a day, depending on the need. You will also have to add light physical activity.
- Selection of herbal products. Already in the preparatory stage, you gradually give up food of animal origin. But if the diet lasts longer than 7 days, periodically you need to eat some steamed fish or goat cheese.
- Refusal from heat treated food. Detox avoids frying, baking, and other aggressive heat treatments, including microwave cooking and the use of factory and home processed foods. You can pour boiling water over the products, cook them in a blender.
- Fractional meals throughout the day. One of the features of detox diets is the structure of such diet allows food to be easily and quickly absorbed. For this, the daily portion is divided not into 3 meals, but into 5-6 meals. In addition to breakfast-lunch-dinner, you must have at least 2 snacks.
- Short cycle. Detox diets cannot be long-term. The main period is no longer than 10 days, otherwise, instead of the health benefits and quick weight loss, you risk getting health problems.
- A varied menu. You’ve probably heard of mono diets, when a person is asked to eat one or two basic foods. For example, only kefir or only buckwheat. In the case of detox, such restrictions are absolutely prohibited. The diet must be varied, otherwise you will feel nutritional deficiency.
- Preparation for the main stage lasts 3-4 weeks. Before starting, you must make sure that you feel good: there is no fever, exacerbation of chronic diseases, and no stomach pains. After that, you gradually give up bad habits, processed products and fast food, as well as fried, fatty, salty foods, and all foods high in fast carbohydrates. Gradually, you should also give up animal foods, including eggs, milk and fish.
The right choice of products
There are many prohibited foods for detox:
- Food of animal origin, including meat, sausages, eggs, milk, kefir, yogurt.
- Sweets: baked goods, chocolate, muffins, cookies, candies, sugar, honey, syrups.
- All foods with a low content of nutrients: chips and other snacks, fast food and the like.
- Acidic foods, including fresh oranges, lemons, limes, and orange juice. Lemon or lime juice can be added to salads, or water.
- Fatty, fried, salted, smoked, as well as everything that has been heat-treated at home or in a factory.
- Carbonated drinks, coffee, black tea, alcohol, high sugar drinks.
- Ketchup, most sauces, mayonnaise, dressings.
Everything you eat should contain a maximum of nutrients: vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids. But if all of the above is impossible, then what is possible? For example, fresh salads flavored with fresh lemon juice, fruit and vegetable smoothies. They can be made delicious by adding apples to the composition. You can also eat nuts and berries in small quantities.
To avoid bloating, fresh fruit is eaten half an hour before the main meal. But at the same time, we exclude oranges and grapefruits, since they have too high a content of acids. It can be bad for the stomach. You can also make seaweed miso soups. Be sure to drink a glass of green tea or water half an hour before meals and half an hour after. Drinking herbal tea is helpful before bed.
Cereals are also not prohibited, except for barley and unsprouted wheat. But we do not cook them; instead, pour boiling water over them. Sprouted seeds of flax, wheat, oats will also be an excellent addition to salads.
You need to adhere to such a specific menu on average for a week. But, as a rule, three days are enough to achieve the result. After that, you smoothly add foods to the diet, leaving the diet cycle. The more difficult it is to digest a particular food, the later it should be reintroduced into the diet (or perhaps you will change your mind about returning it to the menu altogether). In order not to gain weight again, you should reconsider your eating habits and physical activity.
Who is the detox diet for?
Detox is a good solution for an adult man or woman without chronic diseases who want to get in shape quickly so that they can maintain their shape later. However, detox is not a universal weight management tool. This option suits you if, in addition to excess pounds, you also notice rapid fatigue, apathy, and lack of energy. If the condition of your skin and hair has worsened, and you want to put yourself in order without depleting your body with strict diets.
Contraindications to a detox diet
Detox programs are prohibited for people under 18, pregnant and lactating women, and those who experience an exacerbation of chronic diseases. You should not resort to such measures to normalize weight in the presence of diabetes mellitus, inflammatory diseases of the digestive system, as well as in case of disturbances in the work of the heart. Such recipes for losing body weight are prohibited after surgeries, severe shocks and stress. You cannot use them before significant physical exertion such as sports competitions.
Benefits of a detox diet
This approach to normalizing weight not only allows you to become slimmer, but also significantly improve overall well-being. You give your body a break from unhealthy food while getting enough vitamins and minerals. You’re creating a slight calorie deficit, but you’re starting to feel energized. Eternal fatigue is replaced by energy, you do not get tired from physical and mental stress.
It is also a great way to improve the condition of your skin and hair. With many strict dietary diets, they suffer, but in this situation the opposite is true: the skin is cleared of acne and other rashes, it becomes smooth and radiant. Many even say that such programs contribute to rejuvenation.
If you do everything correctly, your sleep will normalize, you will need less time to recuperate. In addition, you will become calmer, although with other approaches to weight loss, people often become nervous and irritable.
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