Support your body’s natural detoxification process
While not a category to themselves, eating good, healthy proteins and fats as a general part of your diet will help you have a gut environment conducive to passing toxins and waste more easily. Combined with the detox-friendly foods above, you can provide your body with an environment that fights toxins naturally and helps you maintain optimal health on a regular basis.
1. Avoid processed foods. It’s best to minimize or avoid processed foods. Even foods that claim to be made from healthy sources can be a problem when they end up in a wrapper, container, or a box. Remember that processed foods are located in the interior aisles of the grocery store, while the perimeter houses most of the healthier foods.
2. Eat more raw fruits and vegetables. Most of the time, raw foods provide high levels of nutrients along with essential digestive enzymes that help you get the most from what you eat. Although cooking can still be very healthy and I encourage you to eat cooked veggies to lessen the digestive strain while you heal your gut, overcooking raw fruits and veggies can destroy essential nutrients and reduce the available enzymes.
3. Eat at home as much as possible. It’s an obvious truth that when we eat at home, we have more control over what we consume. Although more and more restaurants cater to healthy choices, it
is almost always better and less expensive to prepare meals at home.
4. Control your sugar intake. Sugar is added to nearly everything these days. It can be very tempting and addicting once we begin to allow it into our diet. Next thing we know, we’re having something sweet after most meals. Always be aware of your sugar intake. I recommend eliminating it entirely from your diet so that you don’t allow it to get its grip on you. Certainly, there are times when you will enjoy a sweet treat, but let those be exceptions rather than the norm. It’s amazing how many reasons we can come up with to eat something sweet.
5. Consider long-term supplementation. Because of the depletion of nutrient-rich soils, it is necessary for most of us to take basic supplements on an ongoing basis. These include vitamin D, essential vitamins and nutrients, omega 3s, and a probiotic. It would also be highly beneficial to include antioxidants and detoxification support as well. Be aware of the source of your supplements. Because of the large demand for supplementation, there are many poor-quality products marketed to the masses that do not provide the quality that is necessary for healthy function.
