Photo Credit: womens fitness blog

Sample Cleansing Diet Plan
If you'd like to try a cleansing diet but aren't sure where to start, here are some ideas.

Significance
The theory behind detoxification diets is that one's body usually is able to eliminate toxic substances through waste and perspiration, but sometimes it becomes overwhelmed with the daily bombardment and stores toxins in the colon and body fat. This also happens when people's elimination systems have not been working properly due to an unhealthy diet with too little fiber and too many refined and processed foods. When the toxins do not leave the colon fast enough, they can become reabsorbed into the body.

Detoxifying Your Body
Generally most detox diets will contain the following foods:

The Sacred heart diet is said to have originated in the Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital where it was used for rapid weight loss in overweight heart patients prior to their surgery. This is a soup-based diet and people following this diet tend to lose around 10-17 pounds in the first week itself.
Sacred heart diet plan

7 Day Cleansing Diet
There are different ways to approach a cleansing diet. Some people like to detox by drinking only freshly squeezed fruit juices and filtered water for the duration of the cleanse, which is more like a fad diet, while others say that a seven day cleansing diet is all about cutting out the processed foods and meat and eating only certain kinds of foods for a week. The latter is a much more reasonable and balanced way of dieting. The important thing is that you only eat certain types of food to help clean out your body and do not starve yourself or this will not give results.

Information on The Cleansing Diet
A cleansing diet is based on the idea that when all sources of incoming toxins are eliminated, the body will be able to start eliminating the stored toxins. Now what are toxins? They are mainly chemicals and pollutants from the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. Toxins also include smoke and alcohol. Normally the human body is able to flush all toxins, but when there is too much, it cannot and as a result, toxins get accumulated. Because of this, we experience fatigue, headaches, poor energy levels, digestion problems, constipation, sleeping disorder, unhealthy skin, nervousness, become irritated and much more.

7 day cleansing diet · dieting

Image Source: tone arms fast

If you feel like you have to eat something cooked, try brown rice. This is a healthy, fiber-filled food that will help you feel fuller, and organic varieties are available.
The point of a cleansing diet isn't starvation. Go ahead and eat when you are hungry, again sticking to raw, unprocessed foods as much as you can.
When you come out of the diet, don't go back immediately to eating as you used to. Start by gradually adding in more cooked foods. After a week or so of transitioning back to a more regular diet, you should be able to start eating more meat and processed foods again. But maybe you'll find you don't have the taste for them anymore after your week of healthy eating!

Expert Insight
A number of nutritional experts such as Dr. Andrew Weil state that a detox diet is not very effective for various reasons. These physicians and other researchers believe that toxins actually do not build up in the body as alternative health practitioners claim, and that fasting or cleansing can result in rapid water loss and the loss of muscle tissue. Some people overeat after a cleansing diet because they feel deprived and excessively hungry.

¦Certain herbs such as Psyllium seed, Licorice root, Yucca root, Milk thistle seed, Gentian root, to aid the detoxifying process.
Most detox programs will avoid the following:
¦Alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, and drugs
¦Processed and refined foods
¦Certain supplements (due to the amount of additives).

Today you can consume up to 20 ounces of beef and a can of tomatoes (or 6 whole tomatoes). Do take the soup.
Eat as much beef and vegetables as you want. You can even have 2-3 steaks with green leafy vegetables but baked potato is a strict no. Don’t forget to take your soup at least once today.
On the last day of the diet, you can have brown rice, unsweetened fruit juice and vegetables and the soup.
At the end of 7 days you would have lost anywhere between 10-17 pounds. If you have lost more than 17 pounds, stay off the diet for a couple of days before resuming it again. This diet acts on the principle that you will burn more calories than your intake. The fat-burning soup can be eaten anytime you feel hungry and in any quantity. You can also substitute boiled, broiled or baked chicken instead of beef, though there should be no skin on the chicken.

Nowadays, because of our fast paced and unhealthy lifestyle we consume so much processed and junk food, that our body does not get enough nutrients. Instead our bodies our filled with toxins that come from various sources such as water, chemicals used to prepare food, and in today's world even the air we breathe. Therefore, it is very important to detoxify our body regularly. One of the most popular and effective ways of detoxification of our body is the 7 day cleansing diet. This diet is a good idea if you have overindulged over the holidays and need to get back to a healthy diet.

Information on The Cleansing Diet
A cleansing diet is based on the idea that when all sources of incoming toxins are eliminated, the body will be able to start eliminating the stored toxins. Now what are toxins? They are mainly chemicals and pollutants from the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. Toxins also include smoke and alcohol. Normally the human body is able to flush all toxins, but when there is too much, it cannot and as a result, toxins get accumulated. Because of this, we experience fatigue, headaches, poor energy levels, digestion problems, constipation, sleeping disorder, unhealthy skin, nervousness, become irritated and much more.

7 day cleansing diet · dieting