The post-Christmas detox – a Nutritionist’s Guide

The come down after Christmas can often bring the urge to reach for detox smoothies, green juices and detox drinks – you won’t find any juice cleanses, detox teas, restriction or crazy diet ideas here. Instead, we’re focusing on providing your body with the fundamentals it needs to naturally cleanse and detox your body to help rid bloating, brain fog and that continuous sluggish feeling.

Detox your body of the waste and excess toxicity that’s accumulated there, to boost your energy levels and in turn, your sense of wellbeing. This isn’t a way to shift excess weight, but rather a wellbeing reset - to focus on making you feel better in your body, heading into the new year with clarity and positivity, from the inside, out.

Foods to support natural detoxification:

Your body has all the right resources that is needs to naturally detox and rid of waste. So, providing the nutrients to support this is important. Including a range of wholefood, fruits and vegetables and lean protein sources support our liver’s natural detoxification pathways, whilst also helping digestion. Look to cruciferous vegetables such as Broccoli, Kale and Brussel Sprouts which optimize our liver detoxification too – and we’re sure you’ve got lots leftover from the festivities.

Remember liquids are your best friends during this time. Try to make a conscious effort to regularly sip warm or room temperature liquids – warm water, cleansing herbal teas such as Nettle, Green and Ginger are soothing and refreshing. Incorporating Aloe Vera Juice into your daily diet is another easy way to help cleanse and soothe the digestive system. 

You could incorporate these nourishing ingredients into a cleansing green detox smoothie with thanks to Iza Szyszko @iza_szyszko

• Water
• Banana
• Spinach
• Celery
• Kiwi
• Lime
• Parsley
• Wheatgrass
• Hemp seeds
• Chia seeds
• Aloe vera

Optimising natural detoxification pathways such as daily bowel movements, urinating and sweating are also key here.

Consider introducing Tongue Scraping

The Ayurvedic practice expresses the tongue is the map of our organs and is thought to be cleaned daily and therefore benefit of ‘gently massaging’ our natural detoxification organs as each area of the tongue represents an organ in the body. This where the idea of tongue diagnostic reading comes from.  The scraping of the tongue removes ama or toxins, bad breath, and tastelessness.

Including this ayurvedic tradition is a simple and quick addition to your morning routine:

1. When brushing your teeth, morning or night - stand in front of a mirror, open your mouth, and stick out your tongue.
2. Gently set the rounded end of your tongue scraper at the back of your tongue.

If you’re worried about gagging, begin in the middle of your tongue and gradually start from farther back as you get used to scraping.

1. Gently pull the scraper forward, toward the tip of your tongue. Never push the scraper from the tip of your tongue back, always go from the back of the tongue to the tip.
2. After scraping, use a washcloth or tissue to remove debris from the scraper.

Wholefood and warming diet

Ayurvedic principles demonstrate that cooked foods are much easily digested, so focusing on wholefoods that are freshly cooked rather than reheated food. Freshly cooked foods provide the most amount of prana (life force energy) which is then removed when we reheat, so opting for a flask of your leftovers is favourable over the microwave.

Also, make sure to choosing a cooking method that retains nutrients and increases food’s bioavailability. Frying, sauteing and microwaving foods deplete them of their nutrient value. Whereas steaming, baking and roasting vegetables in Organic Ghee is a more beneficial cooking method to retain nutrients whilst also providing vitamins A, D, E and K and nourishing our digestive system.

Keeping your body moving

Quite often, our body holds on to excess waste that would otherwise be eliminated from the system which is why it is important to keep our lymphatic fluid moving and increase our blood circulation to our natural detox organs such as the liver and kidneys.

Dry Body brushing manually moves our lymphatic fluids, whilst exfoliating away dry and dead skin. Complimenting topically with circulation promoting herbs such as Gotu Kola and compounds found in Green Coffee Beans to absorb into the skin. Fushi’s Really Good Cellulite Oil is formulated to both smooth and tone the skin whilst also boosting circulation – an added bonus if you’re struggling with cold extremities too.

In Ayurvedic principles, slow and calming movement is favoured, rather than intensive exercise that can add additional stress to your bod. Take a walk in nature, add 10 minutes of yoga and breathwork to your morning routine or find a restorative vinyasa yoga class.

Show your gut some love

High sugar, alcohol and frequent grazing can leave us feeling a little burdensome and bloated, which is why nourishing your gut health is at the forefront of any ‘detox plan’. Leaving 3-4 hours between meals, hydrating consistently and ensuring regular, calming exercise all contribute to gut motility, to keep things moving and keeping you away from that bloated feeling.

Soothe and replenish with a morning Aloe Vera Shot followed by a high potency, nutritionist approved Vegan Probiotic – Biotic Balance to calm and rid of upset gut bacteria and to introduce friendly bacteria.

Nutrients, Herbs and Compounds

Famously known to help following an evening of too much alcohol is Milk Thistle – a traditional Ayurvedic herb with research showing its benefit in liver support, which is what has given it its reputation for helping to ease a hangover. Additionally, naturally diuretic herbs and foods such as Dandelion, Ginger and Artichoke should be included into the diet to naturally boost and support our cleansing ability.

These foods can easily be included into the diet, but if you’re struggling to add these daily, an easy solution is to supplement the body with a wholefood synergistic blend such as Detoxipure – a wholefood, plant-based purifying supplement with vitamins and minerals to aid body's natural detoxification process.

Providing your body the resources it needs to optimise it’s natural cleansing abilities will help to build your body up, nourish & strengthen it rather than taking part in harsh detox cleanses that strip and deplete our bodies. Incorporating these daily practices and ingredients can be added to your long term daily wellbeing routine, not only throughout January but in everyday life to ensure you’re always at optimum wellbeing.