What is A Detox Diet?
What is a detox diet? It is a method which helps remove dangerous toxins inside our body for optimum health.
There are many types of detox diets around. You can do this by mixing some chemicals together, eating raw food, fruits and vegetables which are all designed to increase the frequency of your bowel movements and urination. Before you try any, it is best to consult your doctor.
You might not buy this if you don’t feel anything wrong but studies suggest that something will go wrong eventually when there is a buildup of these harmful chemicals in your body.
Most of us only take action when we experience a hormonal imbalance, impaired immune function, nutritional deficiency and an inefficient metabolism but why wait when prevention is the best defense against any problem.
In fact, this is the common mistake of a lot of people who decide to visit the doctor only when they don’t feel so good.
The detox diet has a lot of benefits aside from expelling harmful chemicals. It also improves your concentration, digestion and energy. If you like at your body, you will even notice that you have clearer skin.
One thing you should know when you decide to start a detox diet is that there are side effects. The most common happens to be the common headache which occurs during the first few days especially if you regularly drink coffee. You can control this by reducing the amount of caffeine you drink until you no longer consume it.
Another side effect is diarrhea that if untreated, can lead to dehydration and electrolyte loss. The opposite may also happen which is constipation. You can prevent both from happening by drinking lots of fluid. Other side effects associated with a detox diet are acne, fatigue, hunger, irritability and weight loss.
There are a few things people should keep in mind about a detox diet:
First, not everyone can go on a detox diet and this includes pregnant or nursing women as well as children.
If you are diagnosed with anemia, any eating disorder, autoimmune disease, cancer, terminal illness, certain genetic diseases, diabetes, kidney disease, thyroid disease, and other chronic conditions you should only try this diet under the supervision of their primary care provider.
The detox diet is short term because if this is done for a long period of time, it may result in nutrient deficiencies specifically protein deficiency which is why this should only be done once or twice a year.
For those who are taking medication, you should still continue to take them unless this is advised by your doctor.
Once the detox diet is over, you can go back to your old diet with a few changes like eating more fruits and vegetables.
The detox diet is quite new and even if there is little or no evidence that it works, there are people willing to try it if they believe that this can be good for them.
Now that you know what a detox diet is, you can make up your mind whether you want to try this on yourself or not. Before you do it, consult first a doctor to check your overall health condition so you can be sure that it is safe for you.