If you thought that detoxification was meant only as a system for bringing drug or alcohol abusers down from their chemical dependencies you would be only partially right. However, this is not the case with detoxifying diets.  Formulas for detox diets are meant to clean your body’s elimination system of impurities from the food we eat and even the air we breathe.  Generally, detoxification diets are designed to clean the colon and liver, where impurities tend to accumulate.

The key to most blueprints for body cleansing diets is to include lots of fiber, lots of water, and eating veggies, nuts, fruits, and beans.  What is missing from the above lists of foods? Meat! Meat intake needs to be reduced.  What else is missing? Processed starches! Bread and pasta are notoriously absent when you are cleansing your bodies’ digestive system.

Cleansing drinks are a great way to give another boost to the healthy detoxification your body needs.  Simply get some of your favorite fruits – berries are especially nutritious and delicious – and throw them in the blender with some purified water and ice.  Whip them up until they are a thick-but-drinkable consistency, and you have an awesome breakfast or snack that will help your colon get rid of the yucky stuff that resides there.

Soups of various kinds are also some of the recipes for detox diets that you can find.  Gazpacho soup and alkaline diet soups are very frequently used for body and colon cleaning diets. Alkaline diets are those that rely heavily on vegetables, nuts, and legumes, all of which help move things along in the digestive system and thus, are beneficial ingredients for any soup recipe.

One particularly popular and tasty alkaline soup recipe is for a vegetable broth. You simply chop up celery, broccoli, spinach, and a zucchini into tiny pieces. Add them to a big pot of distilled water, and simmer for about a half an hour.

Then, run the ingredients through a strainer or colander, reserving the broth.  All those natural vitamins remain in the water when you boil those veggies, which is why you should minimally steam your vegetables when eating them.  In this case, you are after the broth, so it is okay to boil the heck out of the vegetables.  Discard the chopped vegetables and drink the broth.

Each of these recipes for detox diets contain viable ingredients for helping you to lose weight and keeping your body’s elimination system working as it should.

With all the preservatives, hormones, air pollutants, pesticides, and even fat (think fast food) that gets into our bodies every day, it just makes sense to clean the temple from time to time. You wouldn’t go without cleaning the house for very long, and you shouldn’t go very long without cleaning out the body, either.

Here are three delicious recipes for detox diets.  Give them a try if you want to help cleanse your system and/or lose some weight:

1) Veggie Broth

•    A head of fresh broccoli
•    A cup of fresh spinach leaves
•    A of celery
•    A pot full of distilled water

Simply cut up the vegetables into very small pieces. Put them in the pot of water, cover, and bring them to a full boil. Then, reduce the heat to a simmer and let all those nutrients seep out of those vegetables into the water. After about thirty minutes, drain the mixture. Discard the vegetables, and drink the broth. Yummy and a good colon cleanser!

2) Tomato-based Hearty Detox Soup

•    A pot of purified water
•    A head of green cabbage
•    Two medium green bell peppers (or one large and one small)
•    An onion
•    Three stalks of celery
•    Three carrots
•    One-third to one-half of a pound of fresh or frozen green beans
•    One or two cans of diced tomatoes or tomato sauce

Slice the cabbage into strips.  Chop the peppers into bite-size pieces or smaller if you prefer.  Cut up the onion, celery, and carrots into pieces of the same size.  Prepare the green beans.

Some folks will say to ad the ingredients to the water a little at a time, beginning with the “hardest” vegetables first. I find that unnecessary. Just throw all the vegetables into the pot of water, cover, and bring to a boil. Then, lower the heat and allow the soup to simmer for several hours. Enjoy!

3) Lemon and Citrus “Tea” Detox Recipes

Lemon is quickly becoming a popular detox ingredient, probably because of its high citric acid content, vitamin C density, and abundance of bioflavonoids. Besides for all these benefits, there is something that is generally pleasing about the lemon, don’t you think? Lemon furniture polish still b rings back childhood memories of helping my mom dust the living room furniture, my dishwashing detergent is lemon-scented, and lemonade on a hot day – are you kidding? It gets no better than that.

•    A glass of grapefruit juice
•    The juice of one large lemon
•    Two teaspoons of olive oil
•    One to two teaspoons of flaxseed oil
•    Optional – a clove of crushed garlic
•    Optional – split the juices to half a glass of grapefruit and half glass of orange
•    A scoop of your favorite protein powder from the nutrition store

Simply combine the above ingredients in your blender and drink. Try to drink it on an empty stomach; perhaps the first thing in the morning, and be prepared to be cleaned out.

Recipes for detox diets are a sure and fast way to help clean your digestive system out as a whole. However, it is important for you to follow the directions carefully and only use for the length of time that is appropriate.

Colon cleansing diets have the aim of refreshing and cleaning out your colon and other parts of your insides. The positive effect this has on your body is measured in several different ways.

1st. You’ll find yourself having more energy. As all that horrible debris is cleared from your body it makes you feel amazingly energized.

2nd. You will notice your skin looking clearer and more alive. You will have your loved ones asking you what you have done with yourself.

3rd. You will reduce the bloating in your lower belly area. In fact that new pair of tight jeans will go on easier and look better.

4th. You will lose weight fast.

This is the flow on effect from cleansing your colon.

Colon cleansing may be undertaken through a thorough cleansing action, such as pills or an enema. In addition you can accomplish this through dieting. The second option is much less intrusive than the first and often; more effective. Meanwhile, while dieting you will be treating your entire body, mind and inner being to a healthier you.

There are some important things to remember when going on a homemade colon cleansing diet. These include:

- Drink at least 8 (8oz), preferably more, glasses of water per day. Spring or filtered water is better than tap water.
- Drinking fruit and vegetable shakes is a great way to stave off hunger.
- Eliminate dairy products – they are something to avoid when cleansing the body.
- Cut out red meat entirely or reduce your intake to 6 oz. or less. Meat is the major factor in the build up of toxins in the body. A good substitute for the red meat is chicken or fish.

Steamed vegetables and fruit ideally should make up 90% of your colon cleansing diet. Steamed vegetables retain more nutrients than other ways of cooking vegetables which can often cook out the goodness. Raw vegetables are however the best, although sometimes not the tastiest, way to consume vegetables.

So what other symptoms can colon cleansing assist with? You may be surprised to learn about how many minor symptoms are caused by matter built up in the colon. This may include:

• Headaches
• Tiredness
• Back ache
• Constipation
• Abdominal pain
• Bloating
• Depression
• Weight gain or loss
• Insomnia
• Acne

All of the above symptoms can benefit from a homemade colon cleansing diet.

Today’s dietary trend of high fat foods is rather different to what humans were eating 100 years ago, but our bodies have not changed. This results in the body rejecting much of the food we eat and excessive build up in the colon is one negative result of this.

After completing your homemade colon cleansing diet you must stick to a permanently healthy diet to retain colon and digestive health. As always when implementing a new change to your body it is always best to check with your medical doctor prior to taking the action.

This article is for informational purposes only. It should not be used as medical advise or as a substitute for madical advice.