Natural Spring Detox: Cleanse

With the arrival of spring, it is time again to get rid of all your clutter, fix that peeling paint on the outside of your house and do a little bit of cleaning. In addition to fixing up things around your home, this is also a perfect time to do a little cleaning on the inside. In this four-part series, you will discover the basics of how to cleanse, boost metabolism, optimize digestion and eat to lose weight and boost energy.

Part 1: Cleansing

I am often asked about the benefits of fasting in order to improve health, reduce inflammation and optimize digestion. For the majority of people, I am not an advocate of fasting. Most people do not have the proper blood sugar control to fast and end up feeling dizzy, hungry and may even find it difficult to participate in everyday activities. Part one of the natural spring detox series focuses on cleansing, not fasting. Why cleanse you ask? In essence, digestion is one of the major keys to health and wellness. By following a cleanse filled with high fibre and nutrient-dense foods, you give your body the opportunity to “clean out the pipes.” When thinking of doing a cleanse or a detox, I recommend a five-day period from Monday to Friday. Weekends are often a more difficult time to make nutritional changes. If following the recommendations properly, you should not feel hungry or deprived while cleansing. There will be enough selection of low glycemic index, high-fibre foods to fill you up and keep you going.

Get the key steps for the five-day cleanse outlined in The Natural Makeover Diet (Wiley, 2005) from Canadian Living.

A 3-Day Spring-Cleaning Detox

Excerpt:

You know your closet is ready for Spring cleaning, but what about your body? Why is it that we always think of Spring cleaning in terms of going through our closets? We toss out all of our no longer stylish, necessary, or wanted items of clothing that we use to cover our bodies — but we don't always think about doing the same for what we put inside our bodies.

Life is a toxic process, one way or another. Even the cleanest of lifestyles leaves its residue, and to be honest, we can't always live that clean of a lifestyle after all. A refined sugary pastry, saturated fatty pizza, or deliciously intoxicating cocktail is bound to sneak in every once in a while. The occasional treat is most certainly understood and easy to forgive as long as you remember to take care and clean up your diet every so often.

What Is the Perfect Detox Combo?

As the lead writer at Eat, Drink, & Be Skinny! and the creator of The Color Yourself Skinny 21-Day Diet Detox, I know a thing or two about clean eating. In the process of all of this, I have developed a three-day detox that gives your body a bit of a rest, lets you shed a few pounds of "fluff," and gets you ready to jump back into your skinny jeans.

Read more at PopSugar

Nicky Park: A Taste of the Latest One-Day Detox (+WIN)

Excerpt:
Goodness knows my body deserves a little TLC from time to time. While I'm mostly good to myself, I tend to have the wholesome buzz Monday to Thursday then by COB Friday I slide in to a world of wine and canapes. This is a wonderful world which I love to pieces, but I equally love feeling fresh, nourished and revitalised.

So I was very excited to hear about the latest project from the healthy nuts at Little Bird Organics - the one-day Spring Clean cleanse. Little bird co-founder, Megan May, has been living the raw food life for a while now. The fast-moving food company she created with her husband has extended from pre-packaged raw goodies to two "unbakeries" in Auckland and a "cooking" school.  The latest brainchild has come at a perfect time as the social agenda starts to heat up and the body needs a little more lovin'.

Read more from The New Zealand Herald