The Best Cleansing Diets

The human body is its own natural cleanser. There are many internal devices that absorb nutrients from food and remove waste products. That being said, over many years there may be some extra cleaning that the body needs to do. Here are a few different cleansing diets that may help you clear out some clutter. Consult your doctor before drastically changing your diet.

The Famous Cleanse

The Master Cleanse or Lemonade Diet has been made famous by stars like Beyonce who have used it to lose weight. Ease yourself in over the course of three days by eating just fruits and vegetables, then fruit and veggie juice, then just orange juice mixed with water and maple syrup. The Lemonade Diet portion of the cleanse involves drinking a mixture of 2 tbsp. organic lemon juice, 2 tbsp. organic Grade B maple syrup, 2 pinches cayenne pepper and 10 oz. purified water per serving whenever you are hungry or thirsty. It also consists of a salt water flush in either the morning or the evening, which means that you drink 2 tsps. uniodized sea salt in 32 oz. lukewarm water. You drink the salt water flush because the "lemonade" will not create a bowel movement, so you must create a bowel movement manually. You may also use an herbal laxative tea with Senna to create additional bowel movements. Do not stay on this cleanse for more than two weeks at a time. To exit the cleanse, ease your way out with orange juice the first day out, fruit juices the second, and fruit and vegetables the third.

The Raw Food Diet

The raw food diet is an eating plan where you eat only food that has never been heated or processed above 116 degrees Fahrenheit. In theory, the eating of only raw food keeps the enzymes in the food alive, which makes the foods mostly digest themselves. Since your body does not need to put the energy toward digestion, it can spend it on detoxification and extra mental and physical energy. You should join a raw food group or visit a raw food restaurant to begin getting ideas for recipes. Fruit salads and vegetable salads full of raw nuts and seasoned with lemon juice or apple cider vinegar are good starts to base your meals on. Buy plenty of fruits that you enjoy snacking on, like bananas and apples, and drink at least eight glasses of water every day.

The Herbal Cleanse

There are many herbs that can help you to detoxify different parts of your body. Take each of these herbs separately or together to begin detoxification. Milk thistle has the active ingredient Silymarin, which has been used to detoxify and heal the liver from alcohol and other damage. Dandelion is an herb that helps both the liver and the kidneys with its mild laxative properties. Aloe vera juice can be taken internally to heal mucous membranes and improve digestion, and it may have colon cleansing abilities as well. This may be the gentlest cleanse of the three since there are no specific eating requirements involved, but it would be a good idea to remove processed and high sugar foods from your diet while you are using these herbs for cleansing. As with the raw food diet, increase your water intake to about eight glasses per day.