Detox diet: menu, recipes

Thanks to advertising, a short-term detox or detox diet has become popular, various versions of which, as its supporters promise, help cleanse the body of accumulated harmful substances - toxins.

However, it is not specified what specific toxins these body diets can free, and experts have questions regarding the mechanism and the very possibility of achieving this in a matter of days.

Indications

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More useful information about dieting principles for weight loss in the publication -  Dietary correction of obesity and overweight

General information of the detox diets

To maintain biochemical and redox homeostasis, our body was initially endowed with a complex complex of purification from metabolic products and toxic compounds coming from outside. It includes all parts of the immune system, liver, spleen, kidneys, intestines, as well as many specific enzymes that transform harmful substances and facilitate their excretion with natural secretions.

However, not everyone has this system working normally, which is associated not only with ecology, genetics, lifestyle and existing pathologies, but also with an irrational diet: too much meat, animal fats, sugar, processed foods and fast food; lack of fiber and water. Improper nutrition is a source of far from useful chemical compounds for the body, which accumulate and negatively affect health.

Based on this, it can be said that the essence of this diet is to support the organs of the natural detoxification system and, possibly, to motivate to change eating habits and switch to healthier foods.

It should be noted that a strict list of specific foods and dishes daily consumed for breakfast, lunch and dinner with a detox diet, that is, a detailed menu for each day, in most cases has only a recommendatory nature of creativity. ” And recipes - vegetable stew or lean soup, cereal or salad - are known to almost everyone.

3 days detox diet

Every day in the morning (half an hour before eating) should drink a glass of warm water with the addition of a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice. And the main drinks during the day and after eating are green tea and water (naturally non-carbonated).

On the first day for breakfast, you can eat an apple and an orange or fruit salad with dressing from low-fat yogurt, as well as a cup of green tea.

Lunch may consist of vegetable soup or a small portion of cereal porridge with a salad of fresh vegetables with herbs (seasoned with vegetable oil and apple cider vinegar). And for dinner you can cook fruit or vegetable salad. Drink - green tea (if there are no obvious liver diseases) or herbal tea, which is used for medicinal plants such as dandelion root, peppermint leaves, lemon balm and nettle, red clover, yarrow, calendula and chamomile flowers,  ginger root , sandwort, horsetail, echinacea.

On the second day, you can have a fruit smoothie with the addition of flaxseed or the same fruit assortment; dine - vegetable stew with boiled beans or cereal soup with vegetables; For dinner, you can cook brown rice and prepare a salad of fresh vegetables.

On the third day (which also begins with lemon water), breakfast can be buckwheat, rice or oatmeal on the water and something fruit and berry (in kind). For lunch - the menu of the first or second day, and for dinner, fresh fruits, cabbage and carrot salad, baked vegetables are suitable.

Have you noticed that there are no animal proteins in this diet? Apparently, the developers of the vegetarian version of the super-short detox diet remembered that part of the undigested meat in the colon decomposes with the release of potentially toxic substances.

Without a doubt, in this case, you can use the menu for three days, offered by a  non-slag diet .

5 day detox diet

A five-day detox diet is plus two days to a three-day diet with the addition to all of the above (including warm water with lemon juice) one small piece of lean meat or fish (every other day); two boiled eggs (one on the second and fourth day); 400 g of low-fat cottage cheese (200 g each - on the third and fifth day). 

And this is a significant help in overcoming the flaring hunger.

Detox diet for 7 days

It requires drinking a glass of water with lemon juice before breakfast - every morning - and a detox diet for 7 days.

In the first two days, breakfast consists of vegetable juice with the addition of flax seeds. For lunch, too, vegetables: carrots and cabbage in raw form; spinach, broccoli and pumpkin - steamed a little. For dinner - stew from any vegetables.

The desire to eat (and this applies to the entire diet) is limited to products such as walnuts, almonds, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, apples, pears, apricots and peaches, plums and oranges.

On the third day, breakfast involves a glass of kefir or yogurt with berries / fruits; lunch - a quarter of boiled chicken breast with lentils and vegetables; dinner - a salad of fresh vegetables.

Fourth day: for breakfast - fruit smoothie, for lunch - vegetable lean soup with cereals; for dinner - vegetable stew.

Fifth day: breakfast consists of vegetable juice with the addition of flaxseed; lunch - from stewed vegetables and a piece of steamed sea fish; dinner - from a vegetable salad and one boiled egg.

The menu on the sixth day is the same as on the third day, but for lunch - boiled brown rice and vegetable soup. On the seventh day, buckwheat or oatmeal is cooked for breakfast, a quarter of boiled chicken breast and vegetable salad for lunch, and yogurt with fruits and a boiled egg for dinner.

The detox diet of Vysotsky (the permanent leading culinary program "Eat at Home" on one of the TV channels of the Russian Federation) also belongs to the 7-day one. In its interpretation, the first day you only need to drink: fruit juice, water and herbal tea (from chamomile).

On the second day, you should eat fresh fruits and water; in the third - raw vegetables and water; in the fourth, rice and boiled vegetables; fifth, fresh fruits and vegetables and some walnuts; on the sixth day, fat-free yogurt and porridge from whole grain cereals. On the final day, boiled or steam fish is used in combination with rice and a salad of fresh vegetables.

And what is the difference between a 10-day detox diet and a 7-day diet? By the set of products - nothing, by the menu for every day - practically nothing. Therefore, just add 7 + 3, and what is in these three for - your choice from the menu of the same diet for 7 days.

Detox diet juices

The use of three to five days of exclusively  freshly squeezed juices from fruits and vegetables for weight loss is considered a detox diet on juices with a very low calorie content (about 600 calories per day). So, in addition to general weakness, lethargy and thoughts about food, such a diet, despite the powerful vitamin component recognized by leading nutritionists as the least healthy form of cleansing nutrition systems, will lead to constipation and flatulence.

Nevertheless, a drinking detox diet based on fruit and vegetable juices can slightly reduce weight. However, this result does not last long and is achieved not at all by reducing fat deposits: the intestines are simply emptied and diuresis rises.

Ginger Detox Diet

Given the many-sided, including general strengthening, immunostimulating and cleansing effect of ginger root on the body, the ginger detox diet has received the status of almost the most effective.

This is a detox diet based on ginger tea, which is drunk for two weeks, two or three cups a day - with the simultaneous rejection of harmful and the use of healthy foods (which were discussed above). Read:

• Ginger Tea
• How to cook ginger
• Useful Ginger Slimming Drinks

It should be borne in mind that ginger root impairs the absorption of iron and can give a laxative effect.

Benefits

It is argued that a detox diet at home can help to naturally cleanse the body, strengthen its defenses, maintain an optimal state of health and improve well-being. Although the compliance of these statements with truth is not clinically confirmed, and the effectiveness of the detox diet continues to be the subject of debate.

The indisputable benefit of the diet is the rejection of harmful products and the use of healthy ones, as well as a temporary reduction in the load on the digestive system and a kind of “reset” of the general metabolism.

What can and what can not?

Some detox diets begin with a short-term complete exclusion of food and the use of only vegetable and fruit juices and water. Also, there are options involving preliminary cleansing of the intestine with an enema. Both of them are controversial recommendations, and not all nutritional professionals welcome them. In fact, even the lists of allowed and prohibited products have some differences, especially they relate to the possibility of consuming animal proteins.

• What can I eat?

You can and should eat vegetables and fruits with a low glycemic index rich in antioxidant vitamins (A, C and E) and flavonoids. Any kind of cabbage (including pickled white cabbage), onions and garlic is very useful, and green vegetables, asparagus, carrots, beets, bell peppers, tomatoes, pumpkin, dark berries (cherries, cranberries, lingonberries) are used to cleanse the kidneys.

The second most important component of the diet is cereals from whole grains (brown rice, buckwheat, oatmeal, barley) containing vegetable proteins, fiber and B vitamins. And the third is water, which you need to drink 6-8 glasses a day.

Vegetable oils are used, which  contain omega-3 fatty acids , low-fat fermented milk products, eggs, as well as ginger, turmeric, rosemary and other  products for cleansing the liver .

To ensure that the body does not lack glutathione (a peptide compound that helps the liver enzymes bind and remove hydrophobic toxins), you need to use low-fat white meat and fish, legume vegetable proteins. By the way, the synthesis of endogenous glutathione contributes to vitamin C.

Many nutrition consultants advise in small quantities to eat dried fruits, nuts and seeds (as a “snack”), but some nuances should be taken into account. So, despite the unique biochemical composition and benefits of nuts and seeds, they are digested for a long time and slow down the metabolism. And dried fruits - so as not to spoil longer - are processed with sulfur dioxide, which, when ingested, destroys vitamins B1 and B12.

• What can not be eaten?

Detoxification diet completely eliminates: processed foods with preservatives, dyes, synthetic flavors and sweeteners, flavor enhancers (in particular sodium glutamate); salt and sugar; white bread and pastries; red and fatty meat; fatty dairy products and cheese; animal fats; pasta and confectionery; convenience foods and fast food; sweet carbonated drinks, coffee and alcohol.

A categorical “no” to everything fried and smoked: this cooking method leads to the formation of heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons harmful to the body.

Contraindications

In the presence of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and cardiovascular system, tuberculosis and cancer, chronic diseases of a degenerative nature, diabetes mellitus and hypoglycemia, as well as eating disorders, detoxification diets are not recommended.

Absolute contraindications relate to the age of up to 18 and after 65 years, pregnancy, lactation and the need for regular medication.

Complications

Most detox diets are excluded from the diet or significantly limit the use of many healthy foods, and the risks associated with the diet are seen as violating generally accepted norms of nutrient intake. See - Slimming for more details  : what is the danger of rejecting fats, proteins or carbohydrates?

And possible complications include general weakness and fatigue (due to lack of calories and lack of energy); Depression, irritability and anxiety (as a result of increased synthesis of the stress hormone cortisol due to a low-calorie diet); headache (due to irregular blood pressure), nausea, abdominal pain and bloating, diarrhea, a drop in blood glucose.

Reviews

Some report that after a detox diet they feel better - lighter and more alert. Adherents of detox-gives are considering what are the positive results of refusing processed foods containing many chemical additives, as well as a good “refueling” of the body with missing vitamins and other useful nutrients.

Nevertheless, negative reviews are also quite numerous - complaints about the deterioration of well-being during the diet and / or at the end of it. And this confirms the opinion of qualified nutritionists about the dubious inefficiency or time-limited effect of short-term cleansing diet programs and the need to improve the nutrition system as a whole - on a long-term basis.