More people are now periodically opting for detox diets than ever before and, this in fact is essential! You regularly need to detoxify the body to keep it in a state of constant good health. But the problem is, not many are aware of the appropriate diet plans, for the purpose.
It is worth noting that, an improper dietary regimen can actually imperil your health. Then what is the answer? Well, this article will provide you detailed overview of top 10 detox diets, which are safe and hence help you to fully realize your objective.
Table of Contents
- The Leading 10 Detox Diets
The Leading 10 Detox Diets
So, you are now going to start reading about the detox diet plans, the effectiveness of which has very much been tried and tested. By end of the article, you will understand that being in a state of physical well-being is so simple, thanks to the detox diets.
1. The 10 Day Detox Diet
The 10 day detox diet menu, which is designed by Dr. Mark Hyman, is aimed at boosting body’s capacity to burn fat naturally. This detox diet plan will help you to beat inflammation, get rid of abdominal fat, suppress the appetite, combat stress and balance metabolism, among others.
Please do make a careful note of the salient points of this dietary pattern:
- Your diet for the 10 days will be constituted of foods that are low in carbohydrates and sugar.
- You are going to consume plenty of healthy fats and proteins, for the duration.
- Processed foods, caffeine, alcohol and dairy have to be treated as banned items, in this period.
- A rejuvenating detox bath is a vital element of every evening of all the 10 days. The bath includes a blend of baking soda, Epsom salt and lavender oil. This bath enhances blood circulation, makes the body more alkaline, eliminates stress, relaxes your muscles and helps you to get sound sleep.
- These are some of the foods that you can have in the 10-day period: Bell peppers, asparagus, green beans, spinach, tomato, onion, avocado, mushrooms, organic chicken, wild salmon, almond butter, hemp seeds, chia seeds and extra-virgin coconut butter, to name a few.
- Last but not the least; you need to start every day of the detox diet plan with half-hour of low-intensity aerobic exercise such as walking.
The exact diet for the 10 days has to be something similar to this:
Things you need to do:
- Begin the day with a detox smoothie that consists of nuts, seeds and berries (low-sugar variety).
- Couple of hours later, have the morning snack of about 10 walnuts.
- You can get ready for lunch at the usual time. Here, the detox diet menu is comprised of asparagus cream soup and 1 cup of organic turkey.
- Just wait for roughly 3 hours after the lunch and, it will then be the time for your late afternoon/early evening snack. This is constituted of 1 cup of raw vegetable slices and tomato dip (Sun-dried type).
- Finally, you will complete the day with the detox dinner where, you have 1 cup of turkey/chicken or, 2 cups of green salad.
2. Detox Dietary Program of 3 Days
The 3-day detox diet is one more program that every effectively helps you to achieve your objective (of detoxification). The following are the basic aspects of this plan:
- This diet becomes more significant when you consider a key fact. In majority of cases, the intake of carbohydrates is much higher than what the body actually needs. The obvious result of that is; the excess carbohydrates in your body lead to build-up of fat.
- The primary goals of this detox diet plan (other than detoxification) are to eliminate the entire unhealthy carbohydrates from your body and restore normal metabolism.
- The day 1 of the plan has almost total fasting for about ½ day. On the next day, you are going to consume vegetables that are low in carbohydrates. Eventually, the 3rd day is the one on which your diet is made up of both vegetables and also specific protein foods.
- The vegetables included in the diet regimen are beets, asparagus, cauliflower, kale, mushrooms, broccoli, tomatoes, spinach and squash, to name a few.
- Likewise, whole eggs, cod, salmon, turkey, lean beef and lean chicken, etc, are the protein foods of the 3-day detox program.
Day 1
Read on the details of the first day of the 3-day diet plan.
Things you need to do:
- On this day, you can have your usual diet up to a specific time and, from then on you will start the 24 hours of fasting.
- It is advisable that you select a time from 2nd half of the day, as that will be closer to the bedtime. This will help you to spend about 8 hours of the total duration without too much discomfort, during sleep.
- For the 24-hour span, though you can’t have solid foods, yet; you are free to take few liquids as many times as you desire.
- You can consume a glass of water having 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar (ACV). Similarly, there is no restriction on consuming 1 tsp of lemon juice mixed in 1 glass of warm water. Even matcha green tea is a permitted beverage for the duration of your fast.
Day 2
The fasting that you began the previous day will go on today, until the 24 hours get completed. The chief objective now is to provide nutrients to your body, so that you can quickly recover from effects of the fast.
Things you need to do:
- You can break the fasting with any of the aforementioned vegetables (with low carbohydrates).
- There is no restriction on the total quantity that you can consume.
- You can either have the vegetables raw or boil/microwave them. There is the choice of adding a bit of olive oil (extra virgin type only) to the veggies.
- The apple cider vinegar, matcha green tea and warm lemon water you had the previous day can be continued even today, as well.
Day 3
So, you have now come to the last day of the detox diet. Today, you are going to have a diet that combines vegetables and protein foods. Want to know more details? Just continue reading.
Things you need to do:
- You should have a total of 4 meals in the day, making sure that a uniform time gap separates one meal from the other.
- Out of those 4 meals, 2 should be comprised of protein foods, while the remaining ones are focused on vegetables. In fact, if the first meal is of proteins then the immediately succeeding one must be of only vegetables. You can again go on to include protein food in your third meal.
- Each protein meal consists of 1 cup of any of the foods suggested like turkey, lean chicken and whole eggs, to name a few.
- Similarly, you can consume 3 cups having boiled slices of specified vegetables. The veggies can be taken even in raw form, if you want so.
- There is no check on the ACV and lemon beverages and, the matcha green tea that you consumed during preceding 2 days.
3. Detox Diet with Smoothies
The article on top 10 detox diets will be incomplete if it does not include details of the detox diet with smoothies. Just like the previous diet plan, even the smoothie detox diet program is of 3 days. Note down the key points:
- As suggested by the name, here, you are going to consume only smoothies, for all the 3 days.
- Your breakfast, lunch and dinner for whole of the 3-day period are the same.
- The foods that you require for the diet plan are: spinach, low-sugar Greek yogurt, blueberries, almonds and red onion.
- You are free to have the lemon and ACV drinks, along with matcha green tea, even for this regimen.
Now, understand about the diet to be taken, during the course of 3 days.
Things you need to do:
- For breakfast, take 1 cup each of Greek yogurt, spinach and blueberries and, 2 cups of water. Blend all these items well till you notice that the consistency is smooth. Now, go ahead and have the lovely detox breakfast smoothie.
- When it is time for lunch, take 1 cup of Greek yogurt and put it in a bowl. Now, add 1 cup of blueberries, ½ cup almonds and 1 cinnamon stick, in this bowl. The wonderful detox lunch is now ready to be served.
- The dinner menu is as follows. Take 3 cups of spinach, 1 cup blueberries and ½ cup almonds and, put them in 1 bowl. Then, add ½ cup of red onion slices and 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar in the bowl and, mix properly. End the day with this healthy smoothie.
4. Lemon Detox Diet
When your quest is for the best detox diet, along with other options, you will invariably come across the lemon juice detox plan, too. This plan is also called as the Beyonce detox diet, as Beyonce Knowles had shed about 20 pounds following this diet program!
As a matter of fact, there is no dearth for people who have benefited from this form of detox and, they will vouch for its effectiveness. These are some basic features of this detox diet plan:
- This diet cleanses the gastrointestinal tract to a significant extent.
- Apart from detoxification, the program helps you to lose weight as well.
- It is a very simple plan accessible to everyone, as the only 4 ingredients are required for it: Fresh lemon juice, cayenne pepper, organic maple syrup and clean water.
- The most rigid and effective pattern of the plan necessitates total avoidance of solid food, for 7-10 days. Instead, you are going to have just around 6 glasses of the liquid prepared from the above ingredients, throughout the day.
- A slightly relaxed variant of the lemonade detox diet permits a normal lunch constituting of solid foods for the duration (7-10 days). And, for breakfast and dinner, you need to go with only the lemon drink.
- There is another type of the plan, which is a mix of the preceding 2 versions: The “only lemon drink” schedule for initial 3 days and, the next 3 days being “lemon drinks breakfast and dinner.”
Now, you will be informed on how to prepare the lemon drink. The number of times that you can consume this in a day depends on the version of the diet plan that you have chosen. Kindly note the steps carefully.
Things you need:
- Freshly extracted lemon juice- 4 tsp
- Organic maple syrup- 4 tsp
- Cayenne pepper- ¼ tsp
- Clean water- 2 cups
Things you need to do:
- Take 4 tsp each of freshly extracted lemon juice and organic maple syrup.
- Add both the things to 2 cups of clean water.
- Mix well.
- Now put ¼ tsp of cayenne pepper in the water.
- Again stir it properly.
- Drink the healthy and detoxifying lemon drink.
5. Diet for Sugar Detox
Latest medical research clearly points out that excess consumption of sugar is as hazardous as tobacco smoking, if not more. This becomes more disturbing, when you see that in the USA, the quantity of sugar intake is thrice more than the limit that the American Heart Association has specified.
The preceding paragraph, by itself, is sufficient to focus on the importance of the sugar detox diet. And, that is precisely what you will now be reading.
First and foremost, as against the earlier diets discussed here, this is not a plan for any fixed duration. On the contrary, you are urged to incorporate it in your life permanently or at least, for as long as possible.
- The primary objective of this detox diet plan is to make your diet fully free of added sugars.
- The diet encourages people to choose foods such as fresh fruits that come with natural sugars and avoid foods like cookies and cakes, which have processed and artificial sugars.
- Also, you are necessitated to avoid beverages that include artificial sweeteners.
- Provided you strictly adhere to the guidelines, this detox dietary program boosts your energy in no time.
The following are the diet related tips of this detox plan:
Things you need to do:
- You can have 1 bowl of oatmeal (unsweetened) for breakfast. If you are missing the sweet taste, you can very well include some fruit slices, which is always a better choice than added sugar.
- For lunch, the menu is comprised of 1 cup of grilled chicken 2 cups of vegetable salad.
- You should be prepared to face the fatigue during late afternoons that can break your resolve. Thus at roughly 3 pm, you must have ½ cup of nuts (any type you prefer) or 1 cup of vegetable slices.
- Finally, it is dinner time. Notwithstanding the fact that sugar is a prohibited substance, yet; foods with whole wheat carbohydrates are absolutely permissible. And, this is what the nighttime meal will provide you. Have 1 bowl of pasta (whole-wheat variety) that contains vegetable slices and chicken, too.
6. Diet to Detoxify Your Liver
The liver is among the most vital organs of human body and which carries out several pivotal functions. But unfortunately, a major chunk of the modern-day foods are the ones seriously impeding working of the liver. Over a period of time, this increases your vulnerability to many bodily conditions.
How to resolve this issue? Just relax! The liver detox diet is here to take care of things for you.
- The actual dietary schedule for liver detox is for only 1 day. But, you need to get ready for this single day, a week in advance. This preparation includes confining yourself only to cruciferous and green leafy vegetables and, foods like onion, garlic etc, that have plenty of sulfur in them.
- On the detox day, you have to consume only the juice that you will be specially preparing for the purpose on hand.
- Immediately after the day of detox, you have 3 more days of dietary modifications where, you focus on consuming probiotic food items. For each of these 3 days, you have to take minimum 2 tbsp ox bile extract.
- Even after you are through with the entire process of this detox diet, you will be better off sticking to a liver-friendly diet, as far as possible.
Now, it is time for you to know about the juice that actually performs the crucial detoxification. The juice has to be prepared on the day before you go for the actual detox.
Things you need:
- Water- 1 bowl
- Cranberry juice (unsweetened) – 1 cup
- Ground ginger- 1 tsp
- Ground nutmeg- 1 tsp
- Ground cinnamon- 1 tsp
- Orange juice- 1 cup
- Lemon juice- 1 cup
Things you need to do:
- Take 1 bowl of water and 1 cup cranberry juice (unsweetened).
- Add the juice in this water.
- Heat the water for about 7 minutes.
- Then put 1 tsp each of ground ginger, ground nutmeg and ground cinnamon in water.
- Mix it properly.
- Now take 1 cup each of orange juice and lemon juice and put them in the water.
- Once again mix well.
- Keep the preparation in your fridge overnight.
- Next morning, consume 1 cup of this juice, soon on waking up.
- Wait for 1 hour and drink 1 cup water.
- Again consume 1 cup of juice, 1 hour later.
- In the same way, keep alternating between the juice and water, until you use the entire preparation.
7. Water Detox Diet
This is undoubtedly the simplest of all the detox diet recipes, for the only ingredient that you need for it is clean water. Owing to this uncomplicated approach, do not commit the mistake of questioning the efficacy of the diet plan!
These points will clearly convey to you the fundamentals of this detox method:
- The main aspect of this detox diet plan is that, you should consume roughly 2 liters of water in a day, which comes to 8-9 cups.
- This 8-9 cups water intake has to be uniformly spread throughout and the day.
- Every meal of the day compulsorily has to be preceded by 1 cup of water.
- To get the most out of this plan, you must consume the water slowly rather than finishing it in a single gulp.
- You are advised to make the water diet a permanent element of your everyday life.
- The water detox can be of real help to you only if you combine it with daily physical exercise and a sensible diet.
- Drastically cut down the consumption of fatty and processed foods and, have lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Confine yourselves to lean protein foods like skinless turkey, chicken (skinless), fish, egg white and lean pork, to cite a few.
Read on to know as to how exactly you have to drink water, in this plan.
Things you need to do:
- You need to start soon as you are awake in the morning. Take 1 lemon and cut into 2 halves and, squeeze the juice of 1 half into a cup of water. Directly drink the water to begin the day on a positive note.
- Again, drink 2 cups of water just half-hour prior to breakfast.
- Have at least 1 cup during the time gap between breakfast and lunch.
- Once more, drink 2 cups as lunchtime approaches. Wait for 30 minutes and then go ahead and take your lunch.
- Stick to the same pattern of having water for all remaining meals of the day.
- On the whole, ensure that your intake of water for the day is not less than 8 cups.
Here, it is worth mentioning that this plan is also one of the top detox diets for weight loss! Hence, you will be benefited by it in 2 ways! So why not give it a try?
8. Detox Diet- Raw Foods
For people who are on lookout for a completely natural method to detoxify, there are few options as effective as the raw food detox diet.
- This is a program where you restrict your diet only to raw vegetables and fruits. You can also include dried fruits, raw seeds and nuts, avocado and coconut, in the schedule.
- As is the case with all detox diets, even here canned foods, red meat, processed foods, dairy, etc, need to be fully avoided.
- Cooking invariably kills the enzymes in foods that otherwise would have acted as strong detoxifying agents. And, this will not be the case when you rely on raw foods!
- In the regimen, few foods can be fermented/moderately steamed, too.
- If you dislike the idea of going with this diet of raw foods daily, even then there is no problem! Just adhere to the plan for 5-7 days, go back to your usual diet and repeat it once every 2 months or so.
Now, look in detail about the dietary stipulations for this detoxification process.
Things you need to do:
- Begin the day with breakfast, which has 2 cups of fruit slices and 2 stalks of celery. In place of the fruit, you have a choice to take 1 cup of slices of avocado, as well. The breakfast will energize you to keep going until it is time for lunch.
- For lunch, the detox diet menu is made up of 2 cups of vegetable salad followed by ½ glass of lemon juice (fresh).
- After 2-3 hours, the evening snack can be taken where, the menu includes ½ cup dried fruits/nuts and 1 carrot (raw).
- The day will conclude with the dinner. In this nighttime meal, you are going to consume 1 cup of chicken (organic and roasted) and, 1 cup of vegetable slices that are mildly steamed.
9. Detoxify with Fruits and vegetables
Details regarding another simple detox diet plan will now be provided to you. There will be no hassles in following this program, which is going to be for a period of 3 days. Here, the diet is comprised predominantly of fruits and vegetables.
- Calorie-rich fruits such as banana and mango are best avoided, for the diet program.
- Focus chiefly on vegetables that come with plenty of antioxidants in them.
- Make it a point to drink plenty of water for the total duration. If you can have herbal/green tea, as well, it will further help your cause.
The dietary schedule for the plan should be more or less similar to this:
Things you need to do:
- Soon as you wake up early in the morning, consume 1 glass of fresh lime juice.
- Get ready for your breakfast, roughly 2 hours later. The item here is 1 glass having juice of any vegetable that you prefer.
- Just await 2 more hours and you will then be allowed to have the pre-lunch snack where, you will take 1 bowl of fruit slices. You can opt for any fruit other than the high-calorie ones mentioned above.
- The time for lunch is around 1 pm. In this afternoon meal, you will enjoy 1 bowl of mixed vegetable soup, to which even 1 tsp apple cider vinegar can be added. Instead of soup, 1 bowl of slightly steamed vegetable slices can be included, too.
- A bowl of fruit/vegetable salad will be your early evening snack, at roughly 4 pm.
- At 6 pm, take 1 bowl of sprouts that have been slightly steamed and, follow it up with 1 cup of herbal/green tea.
- Eventually, you are going to call it a day with dinner, which is at about 8 pm. The mixed vegetable soup you had for lunch will be there even for this last meal of the day. Additionally, there is the option of having 2 cups of green salad.
10. The Detox Diet of 8 Weeks
This detox diet plan of 8 weeks has been designed by Dr. Sandra Cabbot, about 2 decades back. And since then, countless people are being benefited by following this dietary schedule.
- The plan is based on the principle that improper functioning of liver is what that is responsible for accumulation of toxins as well as inappropriate body metabolism. Therefore, the detox diet menu in the program contains foods that contribute to health of liver in no uncertain terms.
- The 8 weeks of this diet are divided into 3 stages. This is to ensure that the dieters can first get comfortably acclimatized to the plan and thus can progress well.
- You will consume plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, fiber-rich foods, etc, as a part of the diet. Likewise, you stay away from processed foods, high-fat foods, smoked foods and red meat, among others.
- During the 1st and 3rd stages of the plan, organic chicken and organic eggs are permitted. Similarly, organic whites are there for 2nd phase of the detox schedule.
- For each day of the entire 8 weeks, the intake of tea should be limited to 2 cups. In the same way, you must not have more than 1 cup of coffee (per day).
- Do not get excessively concerned about calories, while adhering to this detox diet. Though most of the foods of this plan do not make you put on extra pounds, yet; the chief objective here is to detox the liver.
- Right from the day 1 of the diet, you need to drink minimum 10 glasses of water daily.
So, those are the basic details of this diet and, now you need to know about the 3 phases and the precise dietary pattern for each of those.
Phase 1 (Week 1 and 2)
This is the phase encompassing the initial 2 weeks where, the dieters are gradually eased into the schedule. Hence, it is not as stringent as the next 2 stages. Your typical menu here must not be dissimilar to this:
Things you need to do:
- For breakfast, have 1 boiled egg and a glass of carrot juice that also has ginger in it. In place of that, 1 bowl of oatmeal with few berries can be included.
- The pre-lunch snack can be had after around 2 hours where, it is 1 cup of organic yogurt (unsweetened type) and 1 apple of medium size. Along with that, even ½ cup almonds (unsalted ones) can be consumed.
- In your lunch, the items are 1 cup of organic chicken and another cup of vegetable slices. If you want, 1 cup spinach salad can be taken, too.
- The detox diet plan accommodates evening snack, as well. Here, few broccoli spears and ½ cup of sunflower seeds can be consumed.
- The phase 1 dinner menu of the diet provides for 1 soybean burger and 2 cups of mixed green salad.
Phase 2 (Weeks 3, 4, 5 and 6)
The 2nd stage covers the next 4 weeks of the liver detox diet plan. As expected, the dietary guidelines here get slightly rigid, in comparison with the starting phase. In the stage, you need to totally avoid egg yolks and chicken.
Things you need to do:
- A smoothie of pineapple and spinach will be your breakfast, for all the 4 weeks of this phase.
- The snack before lunch comprises of 1 orange of medium size and 1 cup of cauliflower spears.
- For lunch, consume 1 bowl of fried rice that includes vegetables and egg whites. Here, you have the flexibility of adding even a raspberry ice-cream to the lunch items.
- Take 1 cup of wheat crackers along with some cottage cheese, as your evening snack.
- Dinner of the phase 2 is made up of 2 cups of beetroot salad accompanied by a bowl of lentil soup.
Phase 3 (Weeks 7 and 8)
So you have reached the final stage of the detox diet and, its regimen is not as strict as the previous phase. Here, you bring back the eggs and chicken that was eliminated between weeks 3 and 6.
Things you need to do:
- The day begins with breakfast that has a slice of whole wheat toast, 2 eggs and 1 glass grapefruit juice.
- Your snack that follows breakfast and precedes lunch gives you 1 cup sardines and 1 cup lemon juice.
- After that, your wait till lunchtime will be worth it, as you are going to have the yummy chicken soup! Consume 1 bowl of this soup as well as a baked apple that includes also nutmeg.
- Have 1 cup of peas/beans as the evening snack.
- For dinner, it is going to be ½ bowl of mixed green salad and same quantity (1/2 bowl) of sliced chicken breast.
So those are the top 10 detox diets for you. Select the one that you feel is most suitable for your requirement and, go ahead with it! And, just see the positive difference that that makes to your health! Please send across a few words on how this article has helped you.