Refresh Your Body: A Guide to Detoxing

Last week, we touched on the importance of detoxing the body. Now, let's explore how to actually do it.

Detoxification is a dual-part process. Toxins are released from organs, tissues, and cells, processed by the body, and eliminated through the excretory organs. Our program gradually transitions you to a detox diet and includes nutritional supplements to help you carry out both parts of the detox simultaneously. This approach helps avoid discomfort and optimizes long-term health benefits.

Who should avoid detoxing? Pregnant or nursing women, individuals experiencing extreme fatigue and weakness, cancer patients, insulin-dependent diabetics, and those on prescription medications should steer clear.

The program involves reducing foods that are hard to digest, allergenic, or cause dependencies and insulin spikes, such as coffee, refined carbs, gluten, dairy, alcohol, and animal products.

Opt for more wholesome, fresh, seasonal, and plant-based foods. It's best to consume organically grown vegetables and fruits in a rainbow of colors, either raw or steamed/cooked. Broccoli is a standout veggie for detox due to its chlorophyll, which makes it a strong antioxidant. Soups are also excellent for detoxing.

Leafy greens are crucial to integrate into your diet. They are packed with minerals and vitamins, rich in chlorophyll and plant enzymes, and are wonderful in smoothies, salads, and with steamed veggies. They're vital for detoxing. Examples include kale, lettuce, parsley, celery leaves, spinach, cilantro, Swiss chard, and more.

Fruits—most fruits are healthy to eat due to their nitrate content. It's better to choose fruits with a low glycemic index—those that are less sweet. These fruits could include avocados, apples, lemons, grapes, blueberries, berries, kiwi, bananas, strawberries, pears, dates, papayas, watermelon, melons, pineapples, mangoes, and tart cherries. Red berries have a low glycemic index and are high in antioxidants, helping protect cells from oxidation damage.

Consume gluten-free whole grains like quinoa, buckwheat, brown rice, amaranth, millet, oats, legumes, and beans, which are excellent sources of plant protein. Beans have a unique quality—they absorb and eliminate lead, so it's important to include beans in the main meal of the day as we avoid animal protein, incorporating plant protein instead. It's advisable to soak legumes and beans for about 10-12 hours before cooking, and they can be sprouted.

Spices and herbs—use ginger (z'ingiber), turmeric, cilantro, mint, basil, dill, black pepper, parsley, thyme, cinnamon, and garlic.

Healthy drinks include green tea, herbal teas, coconut water, freshly squeezed fruits and vegetables, and filtered water.

Here's a special recipe for a body detox tea: Create a cocktail of leaves—20 grams of each type from the following: dandelion root, nettle, fennel, red clover, licorice root, milk thistle seeds, and ginger. Boil one liter of water with 5 teaspoons of the leaf cocktail for 10 minutes. Drink about half a cup up to 3 times a day.

Recommended healthy fats include olive oil, flaxseed oil, tahini, and various nuts. Consider taking spirulina and blue-green algae supplements, which help cleanse the body of toxins and remove toxic metals.

Vegan milk and cheese based on nuts and soaked almonds blended with water make for the most delicious, rich, and satisfying milk available.

It's important to consume healthy fats and avoid hardened, oxidized, or fried fats.

Besides diet, daily walking for 45 minutes, relaxation exercises, and slow breathing are recommended.

Good luck.

To book home workshops with Rabbanit Rachel Bazri, call 073-2221240 or 052-9551588