Looking after mine and my familys health has always been very important to me. I don’t get ill, and can’t remember the last time I had a cold or virus of any kind – or certainly not that lasted more than half a day or so. So it was quite alarming when I realized I was becoming very lethargic and out of energy, and I was even finding it hard to get up in the morning. I’d visited the doctor several times and had quite a few blood tests, but they couldn’t find anything wrong with me.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I bumped into a old friend one day who advised me that I was in need of a natural detox, and put some effort into learning how to detox the body and understand the impact of toxins on my health. I didn’t know the first thing about detoxing, so figured it was a worthy investment of my time to at least check it out, and get to grips with what is really involved and why the natural health industry recommend regular detox dieting and in particular the 7 day detox diet so avidly.

She also hinted to me to try a relaxing foot detox. I have a foot spa two or three times a week now, if I have the time, if you don’t want to invest in a foot spa, the detox foot pads can work just as well – but with the patches you don’t get a relaxing foot massage at the same time

There are some very simple things you can do to help detox your body.

Herbal teas and water and plenty of both

Making sure you take in plenty of fluids is very important while you are following a healthy detox diet as it helps to eliminate water-soluble toxins from your body. It also helps to prevent constipation, helps your internal organs function more efficiently, and hydrates your skin which improves your skin tone. Your goal should be to drink about 8 glasses (or 2 liters) of water each day, and more when you exercise.

A general pointer is to for every hour that your exercise each day, drink an extra 2 glasses of water. The best water to drink is home filtered tap water, or boiled water which has cooled, or bottled water. Try to store your water at room temperature rather than in the fridge. Feel free to substitute herbal teas if you can’t face all that water – preferably loose leaf rather than tea bags. Peppermint, camomile, dandelion root, horsetail and yarrow are particularly good as their essential oils assist in the detox process. Roibosch (Redbush) tea has other health benefits too as it is a rich source of natural antioxidants.

Should You Go Organic

You do not need to switch to a totally organic diet on a detox diet, especially as the cost can be very high, but a little organic produce will go a long way to getting you started.

If you can’t buy many organic foods, don’t worry. It’s more important that you eat plentiful amounts of fresh foods – even if they are non-organic – than skimp on quantities. However, there are some good reasons for going organic on a healthy detox diet.

Artificial fertilizers and pesticides are banned from production of organic foods, so they contain the lowest possible amounts of artificial, potentially toxic chemicals (such as nitrates). Although it’s a controversial area, there is mounting evidence that the ‘cocktail’ effect of these pesticides may be related to a lot of the serious health issues we face today.

By comparison, organic foods are processed much less than non-organic. The end result being that organic foods are free from artificial additives and hydrogenated fats. On top of that, organic foods usually taste better too.