Time for a detox? Give your detox a boost with Super foods
Big weekend, end of an indulgent holiday or just feel like its time to give your body a break? Looking for ways to detox but struggling to incorporate it into your every day life – well its not as hard as you may think. Super foods are packed full of nutrients to support detoxification and recharge our body, and they are super easy to incorporate into our diet.
Why do we need to detox?
Every day we come in contact with numerous amounts of harmful chemicals in the air we breath, food and beverages we consume even the products we put on our body (one study revealed that the average woman puts at least 500 chemicals on her body daily.) These chemicals all put a strain on our bodies leaving us feeling tired and unwell. During a detox we are supplying our body with nutrient dense food to help process and eliminate these toxins,improving our energy, digestion, immune system and overall health. Once or twice a year its good to give our body a break from these toxins and help kick start its ability to remove them.
Nourish your body with super foods
Start the day with Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll is found in all plant life and cleanses your body from the inside out. Full of vitamins and minerals Chlorophyll has purifying qualities, helping the body eliminate heavy metals and toxins. It nourishes your your red blood cells which improves your circulation. It has an alkalising effect on the body which helps to decrease inflammation.
Take 1-3 teaspoons mixed with water before breakfast in the morning.
Boost your antioxidants with Acai
Acai berry is a new superfood high in antioxidants- its has 23 x more antioxidant power than blue berries! The antioxidants and plant sterols of this super berry help to strengthen your immune system, protect your cells against damage and boost your energy.
You can take Acai as a supplement or use Acai + berry powder into your cereal, juices, smoothies or baking. An easy way to boost your daily antioxidant intake.
Support your liver with Beetroot
This superfood is particularly important for detoxifying the liver. Our liver is responsible for filtering our blood, it detoxifies chemicals from the body and processes nutrients and regulates our metabolism. The liver can is susceptible to damage from fat accumulation, excessive alcohol, viral infections, iron or copper accumulation, toxic damage and cancer. Beetroot has a protective effect on the liver. It also relaxes blood vessels, improves circulation and helps the livers detoxification process.
Beetroot is naturally sweet and can be added to smoothies, juices, cereal, baking, soups and yoghurt. You can also just mix with water and drink it straight.
Vitamin rich Spirulina
Natures multivitamin – packed with more than 100 nutrients. Spirulina is an algae that is rich in protein, vitamins, minerals and essential amino acids. Spirulina is another green superfood great for boosting your energy and supporting heart eye brain and immune health.
Spirulina can be added to your shake or juice. It can also be incorporated into your soups sauces or salad dressings
Whole food smoothie
During a detox its nice to give your digestive system a break from processing food. Whole food smoothie easy to digest and full of nutrients for long lasting energy. You can use this to replace a main meal or as a morning or afternoon snack, with 17.8g of protein per serve this superfood shake wont leave you feeling hungry. It provides 7 serves of super greens and vegetables perfect for cleansing and alkalising your body. It contains fibre and probiotics for healthy digestion and is packed full of antioxidants to protect you from free radical damage.
Quick and easy to make, just mix with you favourite type of milk or water and shake well.
Hydrating Coconut water
This tropical superfood is full of electrolytes. Electrolytes are minerals in your blood that are responsible for the proper functioning of our nerves and muscles. Coconuts are great substitute for those colourful sports drinks which a full of sugar, artificial colours, and flavours. preservatives
The main ingredient to a great detox is to hydrate and get things moving throughout your digestive system. Great way to rehydrate and cleanse your digestive tract.
Coconut powder can be mixed with water or add to juices, smoothies. You can also use in cooking, baking, on cereals and yoghurt.
Where to start
Choose a week in the diary, clear the pantry of temptation and stock up on all nutritious food you need and you will breeze through your detox in no time. It is beneficial to do a detox twice a year but you can still incorporate healthier habits into your day to day lifestyle.
What to skip
– Caffeine – tea, coffee
– Alcohol
– Grains – wheat, bread, pasta, rice, biscuits
– Dairy – except natural yoghurt
– Sugar and artificial sweeteners
– Processed and fried foods.
– Meat – beef, lamb and pork
Foods that nourish
- vegetables
- fruits
- water (up to 2 liters a day)
- lean protein (chicken, fish, tofu)
- legumes (beans, lentils, chick peas)
- organic eggs
- super foods listed above
- Raw nuts (almonds, cashews, brazil nuts, macadamias, walnuts) and seeds (chia, sesame and pumpkin)
- Herbal teas – green tea, dandelion, red clover
Not sure how to incorporate some of these items into your diet? There is an abundance of delicious, whole food recipes available online.
For those caffeine addicts – be prepared to feel headaches and lethargy as your body detoxes from the caffeine but you will feel an improvement in a couple of days.
For more information on superfood products follow the link below.
http://www.bioglan.com.au/superfoods-2/
