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How to Detox Your Body: 3 Evidence Based Easy Recipes

Heidi Moretti Author circleHeidi Moretti, MS, RD
Clinical Registered Dietitian
Detoxification Expert

Apple Cider Vinegar |  Lemon |  Moringa |  Kombucha |  Green Powders | Fiber |  Protein

In this post I will share 3 quick, safe and effective, evidence based recipes to naturally help cleanse and detox your body.

Spoiler alert: as in many natural cleansing topics, we will talk about digestion. Yes, we’ll also mention bowel movements.

All the recipes we’ll discuss are:

  • Natural, safe, effective and gentle
  • Take under one minute to make, ideal for busy people or while on the go
  • Doesn’t require any blender or other equipment.

Is Detox Really Needed?

Why and how to Detox Your Body

Never before in the human history we were exposed to so many potential toxins from our environment.

Our body can naturally eliminate toxins, but we live in a modern world where very often our exposure to chemicals and toxins exceeds the body’s ability to effectively detoxify. Overtime, toxins continue to accumulate in the body, can damage our cells and impact our overall health.

You may experience low energy or “brain fog”, mood swings, skin rashes, find it hard to lose weight, or in some cases just “feel off”.  On the other hand, accumulative toxins build up doesn’t always cause symptoms; it may take years for symptoms to be present.

How To Detox Your Body?

The Top 3 Guidelines

Intermittent Fasting: Everyday, your body cleanses and eliminates toxins, especially during these times when you do not eat of consume food. So just by shortening the time you eat, such as practicing intermittent fasting, can enhance your body’s ability to detox.

Detox & Nourish: For optimal health, both detoxification and nourishment are needed. Removing toxins from your body is one side of it, but so does providing the nutrients your body needs to heal and repair.

Go Low and Slow: It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Rather than going for the quickest way to detox, look for natural ways you can easily incorporate in your life. These are not only easier to do, but you are less likely to experience a “detox reaction” that can occur when too much toxins are released into the bloodstream.

Find Your Detox Staples

Try the detox recipes below, see our your body responds, and incorporate the ones that agree with you in your daily life, as healthy habits to naturally support and help detox your body.

1: Apple Cider Vinegar – Lemon Detox Drink

Apple Cider Vinegar - Lemon Detox Drink

A gold standard of cleansing drinks and one of the best natural ways to detox your body. Start your day right! Drink this wonderful natural tonic in the morning and during the day (up to three times a day), always on an empty stomach.

What to expect: better digestion, reduced bloating, clearer complexion.

Ingredients

  • ½ lemon:
    Drinking warm water with lemon juice is an ancient Ayurvedic practice known to stimulate digestion and detox the body.
    Multiple studies also shown that citric acid and antioxidants in lemon juice can help prevent kidney stones, regulate liver enzymes, and balance triacylglycerol and lipid peroxidation in the liver.[1,2,3]
  • 1 teaspoon raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar:
    (ACV) on its raw unfiltered unpasteurized form, is well known for its natural ability to cleanse, detox and flush toxins from the body. The cloudy part you usually see at the bottom of the bottle (“the mother”), has naturally occurring acids and good bacteria that can promote healthy digestion and gut health.
    According to research, apple cider vinegar can also support kidneys and liver health.[4]
  • 16 ounces distilled or spring water:
    Hydration is very important, especially when you detox to support the kidneys.

Instructions

  • Shake the apple cider vinegar bottle to mix the cloudy part at the bottom.(“The mother”).
  • Add 1 teaspoon of organic raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar into 16 ounces of distilled or spring water at room temperature.
  • Squeeze the juice of ½ lemon, and add to the drink.
  • Drink in the morning up to three times per day, always on an empty stomach.
  • Since both lemon and ACV are acidic, use a straw to minimize contact with your teeth or gums. Interestingly enough, when consumed, this detox drink actually has an alkaline effect inside the body.

Optional: to sweeten, add a few drops of organic stevia such as vanilla sweetLeaf.

2: Replace Sugary Drinks & Snacks with Green Detox Juices

sugar detox

Sugars are bad news and are linked to many health issues.
When you consume sugars, the pancreas release insulin. High & frequent insulin spikes can cause many of our body’s systems to get out of control including the body’s ability to effectively detox and cleanse.

Sugar Detox: Instead of consuming sugars, harness the power of greens juices. They are light on digestion, low in calories, and can nourish & detox your body.

What to expect: improved energy, concentration, better mood & digestion, weight loss (in some people).

The average American consumes 150 pounds of sugar in one year.
Can you believe it? This means that every week, we are consuming 3 pounds of sugar.

To put things in perspective, two hundred years ago, the average American ate only 2 pounds of sugar a year.[5]

Ok, so we know sugars are bad for us. Stopping to drink sugary beverage or sodas, however, can be challenging to many people.

It is always easier to stop a bad habit, when you have an alternative. Even better, when you have a better alternative you actually like.
When it comes to green detox juices, making green juices or smoothies at home is ideal, but not always doable or realistic.

For example, you are at work, you just had lunch and you are crashing. Normally, you would have a sugary drink, coffee, or an energy bar. What can you drink instead?

To help you get started, below are a few healthy one minute drinks recipes to nourish and detox your body:

Moringa – Kombucha Drink

moringa detox
What to expect: a refreshing fizzy drink that tastes great and can help promote energy, calmness and healthy digestion.

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Add 1 dropperful (1 ml) to a cup of kombucha and enjoy. You can also add directly to the kombucha bottle if you prefer to drink throughout the day.
  • Drink between meals, up to two dropperful or moringa a day.

Moringa, the Tree of Life

Moringa Detox
This edible tree is known as “the tree of life” or “the miracle tree” for a reason. With over 90 different vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients, moringa is one of the most nutrient-dense plants in the world.[6]

In addition to its superior nutritional profile, moringa is a potent natural detoxifier. In fact, it is studied for its ability to remove heavy metals from the body, and to reduce oxidative stress.[7]

How to use moringa to detox your body:
Always organic, ideally in a liquid extract such as Dr. Group Moringa extract drops. The liquid makes it easier to use on the go. Just place one dropperful (1 ml) in your mouth or add to water, kombucha or other drinks. Unlike moringa powders which have a bitter unpleasant taste, the drops have a mild gentle flavor.

Kombucha: Gut Health in a Bottle

kombucha detox

Kombucha is a fermented tea originated in Asia for centuries prized for its healing properties. Modern science has shown that this traditional drink is loaded with probiotics that can promote gut health as well as antioxidants that may help support our body’s ability to combat oxidative stress.

But there’s more. The healthy bacteria found in kombucha and other fermented foods can bind to toxic metals in the gut helping the body to eliminate these with the stool.

How to use:  Luckily for us, kombucha is very popular and you can easily find many different types in stores. With that said, always go for organic kombucha from a reputable source. Watch for the added ingredients or added sugars.

Green Detox Powders

green powder detox

Another popular option to detox on the go is green powders.

To clarify a common misconception: green powders do not replace whole fresh fruits and vegetables. On the other hand, what should you do when you are stuck in the office on a typical busy day, or on the go, and don’t have time to eat fresh greens and vegetables?

This is where green powders may help. Loaded with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants but still low in calories, a high quality green powder can make a difference. Just mix one or more scoops with your water or protein powder, and you get a quick and easy to digest source of nutrients.

Always look for a certified organic green powder from a reputable source, ideally with a combination of low sugar greens and algae.
Watch for the added sugars. There’s should be none.

A good option is the Hawaiian Medicinal Foods Living Greens.
You will get easy to digest fermented greens and algae such as wheatgrass and chlorella that have proven detoxification abilities, probiotics, live enzymes and medicinal herbs such as green tea extract (antioxidants, energy), milk thistle (liver health) and others.

The powder is very low in sugar (1 gram of sugar) and has a mild naturally pleasant flavor.

How to Detox Your Body Green Detox Powder

3: Fiber: A Potent Detoxifier

Only 5% of the population meets the daily recommendation of fiber, which ranges from 19 grams to 38 grams per day, depending on gender and age.[8]

The science clearly supports that fiber is essential to our health, including its ability to detox your body. Fiber can actually bind and absorb certain fat-soluble toxins and promote digestion, so the toxins are eliminated with the stool.

Getting enough fiber is a common challenge with modern diets, so to help you, here’s healthy easy detox recipe that provides you with about 30% of your daily fiber, along with protein, vitamins and minerals.

Chia – Hemp – Green Pudding

Chia - Hemp - Green Pudding

Nutritional Highlights

  • Fiber – 13 grams (33%)
  • Net carbs: Less than 4 grams, sugars: less than 1 grams.
  • Protein – 16 grams
  • Omega 3 – 8 grams
  • Omega 6 – 9 grams
  • Over 65% of: vitamin K, calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese and phosphorus.

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Mix the living greens in a bowl with 1 cup of almond milk or water. You can also use a shaker bottle or a wide mouth mason jar.
  • Mix with the chia and hemp seeds.
  • Wait for 5 minutes, and mix again.
  • Let sit for 10 more min. You can also place in the refrigerator overnight.
  • Enjoy! If you like the hemp seeds texture, you can also add them right before serving. The soaking is only needed for the chia seeds.

4: Protein, A Forgotten Detox Pillar

protein detox shake

Many people make the mistake of following a juice or vegetable fast for a cleanse for several weeks and as a result, do not eat enough protein.

Your body however, needs enough amino acids to heal and repair. This includes all tissues in the body including your muscles, skin, hair, even your gut.
Specifically to detoxification, certain amino acids such as glutathione play a key role in the body’s ability to detox and cleanse.

Best protein to detox your body while on the go

Finding high quality protein when you eat out or on the go is a common challenge. There are just many important factors, especially with animal proteins. Is the source of the protein free of chemicals, antibiotics or hormones? How fresh is the meat? Does the fish contain mercury? and many more.

Here are a few healthy alternatives:

Protein Green Detox Shake

Mix plant-based protein such as rice protein, pea protein or hemp protein with water or unsweetened nut milk. Add 1 scoop of Hawaiian Medicinal Foods Living Greens.

If you plan to use plant based proteins on an ongoing basis, it is always best to combine a few sources for a more diverse and rich nutritional and amino acids profile. A popular blend is pea, rice and hemp proteins.

Natural Protein Snacks for Detox

Natural Protein Snacks for detox

A discussion about proteins to detox your body will never be complete without mentioning one of the most potent parasite cleansing proteins, pumpkin seeds!

A chinese study used a combination of pumpkin seed and areca nut extract to treat the taeniasis tapeworm infections. The study found that 91 people out of 115 suspected taeniasis cases, were able to release whole tapeworms [9].

Pumpkin seeds are also very nutritious, especially in protein and essential minerals. When you eat just 2 oz of pumpkin seeds, you get your recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of:

  • 17 grams protein.
  • 63% iron.
  • Over 70% of copper, magnesium, manganese, and phosphorus.
  • 40% zinc.

Read Next

  • Detox Foods: 8 Most Powerful Options For The Best Body Cleanse.

 

Heidi Moretti, MS, RD
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One Reply to “How to Detox Your Body: 3 Evidence Based Easy Recipes”

  1. Thanks for this information, I am a beginner, so I think I will start with the ACV and lemon with water every day before meals
    Maria

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