Can detoxing taste good?

It sounds like an oxymoron, but it is not. I promise. You can take good care of your body, which is what a daily dose of healthy food that helps support the natural detoxification process does, AND you can have a treat too.

Daily detoxing.

Our bodies detox for a living. Your body has an amazing system of sorting, processing, filtering, and eliminating. But whatever cannot be easily processed and eliminated will build up in your body as toxins and will continue to accumulate in your tissue, fat cells, organs and blood. This is why we feel increasingly tired the longer we have been eating poorly and not caring for ourselves. Eating poorly means eating processed and refined foods high in additives and unpronounceable ingredients — and eating too much of them. We do NOT have to go through a detox, a fast, or a cleanse to get or feel better. Simply eating better helps create change. What is important to realize is that each day, our food choices add to either our dis-ease or to our health and emotional well-being. The way you live each day either supports or hinders your body’s detoxification and cleansing processes.

In my online program, I teach WHY WE EAT WHAT instead of just telling you what to eat. I believe that when we know why we eat, we will make choices that take better care of us in a more natural self-care kind of way, rather than following a diet approach of good and bad, we learn when, what and how to choose the foods that our body needs.

An entire step, out of the 9 steps, is focused on learning how to support our bodies’ natural detoxification process as part of our daily way of eating. It is a bit like keeping a clean house: rather than having to undertake a massive cleaning because we’ve accumulated piles of junk mail, paperwork, newspapers and dust, we need to clean our homes on a daily basis. It’s similar with your body. If we allow toxins to build up, they tax us more and more. There are many symptoms that indicate we need to detoxify our bodies: fatigue, headaches, soreness in the body and joints, mood swings, even depression. Other symptoms may include: skin redness, rashes or puffiness; puffy eyes, thinning hair or hair that is falling out; bad breath; poor digestion with gas and bloating; inflammation and disease. The process of reversing inflammation requires some patience when the toxin accumulation has been going on for a long time, but we can start feeling better even just a couple of days after changing our habits and choices.

You might recognize that a day after consuming excess sugar and alcohol, the extra strain on your system will tax your energy, mood, and general well-being. This is one of the reasons you may feel more irritable, angry, and impatient the day after a binge. In Step 3 for example, I taught that when the liver is working too hard it gets tired and worn out — you feel more tired and worn out as a result. Your liver is also involved in the production of many of your hormones, which affect your mood and well-being from moment to moment.

When we feel “hung-over” or moody from food, or when we feel both physically and emotionally bad for days after a sugar binge, it’s because our bodies needs time to detox. As part of learning how to take charge of our health, in Step 6 I teach about how withdrawal from certain foods is just like withdrawal from other addictive substances, and as a general rule of thumb it takes about three to five days before the toxins are out of your system. (This does not mean that after just three to five days your body will be in pristine shape; toxins leave residue that builds up. But the sooner you start to help your body, the sooner it can be restored to its ideal healthy state.)

So let’s get to that detoxing treat I promised you.

– and by the way; the online program tons of more recipes for you and the entire recipe section is based on learning how to use different ingredients in different dishes, so that you learn a more intuitive, or casual and easy, approach to cooking.

Detoxing Popsicle

Ingredients for 3 Popsicles

• 1 peeled grapefruit
• 1/2 apple (include skin)
• 1 inch of peeled turmeric root (it is intense so more is not better, but you can adjust the recipe as you desire)
• 1/4 cup of water

Mix the ingredients in a blender and poured in a mold that is left in the freezer until the popsicles are frozen.

This recipe was featured as part of my Nordic Nourishment column for ASPIRE DESIGN AND HOME MAGAZINE.