Detox at Home

We have several distractions and stress-causing factors which interfere in our daily routine that impacts a healthy metabolism. This results in lowered immunity and makes us more vulnerable to diseases and aging in the quick run.

Due to lack of a fixed routine or time for eating, a lot of us end up skipping meals when hungry. In another case, sometimes we also eat beyond the requirement when not hungry, but have time to eat.

Similarly, most of us have irregular sleep patterns at night. Omission of natural time to sleep according to the bio-rhythm of the body creates an internal physiological imbalance. Being away or irregularity in natural lifestyle results in toxic accumulation which hastens the given opportunity to reset the metabolism.

Here is simplified liquid fasting [fasting has proven benefits in promoting autophagy (self-eating/ auto-cleaning)] which will help us to overcome this crisis.

Every religion has their own fasting method and if we look at this in scientific way, these are closely aligned to seasonal change. Every change in season, our digestion also undergoes a shift from high to low or low to high, depending on the season, geography, an individual’s constitution (i.e vatta, pitta and kapha) and lifestyle.

Since fasting should be done under an expert’s guidance, here we give a simple solution against the backdrop of the current situation. These will help us improve our immunity, guard us against any kind of illness and keeps us prepared to face any kind of adverse happing to our health.

A simple and easy to follow liquid fasting detox

1. Start your day with half-portion of your regular diet by replacing other half to the freshly prepared juices or herbal tea. For example:
• Half breakfast(1 idli or 1 dosa or 100gm steamed salads) mid-morning 250 ml juice (amla juice, pineapple juice, grape juice, orange juice)
• Lunch 75 mg vegetable kichadi.
• Mid evening one bowl of any vegetable soup or herbal teas like ginger tea, liquorice tea, cumin tea, basil tea and turmeric & ginger tea.
• Dinner should be very light could be only steamed veg with dal or a smoothie prepared in coconut milk. Continue this for two days. (3 meals as reduced portion and 3 liquids to meet false hunger)
2. After two days, replace all the solid foods in to liquids (six times or even more according to one’s hunger levels). Smoothies could be twice a day: one in the morning and one during dinner. All other times, stick to only juices or soups or herbal tea.
3. On the fifth day take only fresh juices of amla or orange or coconut milk & honey. If ingredients are not easily available, you can also just take water at room temperature through the day.
4. On sixth and seventh day follow point 2
5. On eighth and ninth day follow point 1

Here are a few helpful recipes which will help

Smoothies:

• Coconut milk+ banana + soaked almond + pumpkin seeds +honey
• Coconut milk + pineapple + ginger
• Almond milk + apple + berries+ chia seeds+ jaggery
• Almond milk + walnut + pistachios + banana + honey
• Apple+ banana+ berries + honey or jaggery

Juices: Any kind of fruit juices as single preparation with pulp ( lemon with honey, amla, orange, grapes, papaya, pineapple, water melon, pomegranate juice) and any kind of vegetable juice as combination, or single preparation with pulp (carrot, beetroot, cucumber or combination of all together)

Soups: Broccoli and almond soup, mix veg soup, parsley soup, drumstick leave soup, beetroot soup, carrot soup

Herbal teas: Ginger tea, cumin tea, turmeric and ginger tea, basil tea, camomile tea, liquorice tea

Specific to meet respiratory related discomfort: Tulsi tea, Liquorice tea, herbal decoction of pepper + ginger + dhaniya

After this detox one could follow simple healthy diet which consists 60% of plant based raw food either as raw salad or steamed salad in every meal by fractioning the main course. The thumb rule is 60% plant based, 40% wholesome cooked food.

On waking-up: Drink one glass(250 ml) of room temperature water OR lemon honey water OR Raisins soaked water OR wheat grass water.

Breakfast: Cut fruits (1 bowl) or steamed mix veg or steamed mix sprouts along with your regular breakfast menu

Mid-morning: Any one fruit or fresh juice

Lunch:
- I bowl soup
- Salad (Raw/steamed/cooked) could be vegetables or sprouts
- Main course
- Herbal tea

Evening snacks: Energy ball made up of Gingely seeds or ground nuts or fruit laddu etc

Dinner:
- Soup (1 bowl)
- Veg salad or 1 dosa & dal or vegetable ghee kichadi