Rosalyn Patrick - Detox: Eating, diet, detox and exercise plans; Natural Remedies

WHAT is a detox? Think of a detox as a spring clean of your body: a serious clear-out of all the junk and toxins youve accumulated over the last few months, or even years.

Follow even a short-term detox plan, the Weekend Refresher for instance, and you will feel instantly lighter, have more energy and look better, just as your house does when you finally get around to hauling your old books down to the charity shop, streamlining your wardrobe and giving every corner a serious dusting down.

What you find when you organize your home is that you want to keep it that way. You find yourself adopting tidier habits and developing a newfound desire to keep everything in order.

The same thing will happen with the detox diet.

Once you start to feel the benefits of weaning yourself from caffeine and junk food, and start to enjoy whole natural foods and moderate regular exercise, not to mention the beautifying effects, you will want to keep things this way.

A detox will improve your well-being in the short term but, if you adopt its lessons of clean living, it could do wonders for your long-term health and fitness too.

If you put the right fuel in your car, it works perfectly. If you put in diesel by mistake, it stops. The same goes for your body. Feed it exactly what it needs and it will do its absolute best by you. Feed it rubbish and it will be too preoccupied trying to digest the latest delivery of refined carbohydrates and sugars to put in any repair and maintenance work.

A proper detox diet doesnt just help the body speed up its waste disposal capabilities, it also provides all the vitamins and nutrients the body needs to repair and strengthen itself.

The liver is of particular importance, being the organ that extracts toxins such as chemical additives, drugs and alcohol from our food and drink and either breaks them down into less harmful substances, stores them or eliminates them.

If it is too busy processing toxic waste, it cannot attend to one of its other main functions releasing energy. Which is why, when youre suffering from a hangover, you feel extremely lethargic, and why a heavy meal leaves you listless.

If the liver ends up having to store too many unusable toxins over too long a period of time, then you risk liver damage a medical condition that will affect your whole bodily system, given how central to your health this major organ is.

So take good care of it. The liver is refreshed by fruit and vegetables, worn out by red wine and slabs of fatty beef. A more detailed account of the liver and its functions can be found later in the book.

The kidneys are also crucial in that they process fluids and flush out toxins. You need to drink at least two litres of water a day, three if you work in an office with air conditioning, have central heating at home or do regular exercise which makes you sweat. The athlete Liz McColgan carries a bottle of water with her all the time, sipping at it every time she remembers. Try to get into the habit of doing this too. If you find water too boring, add a dash of lemon juice or some sugar-free cordial but plain old tap water is best.

Drinking plenty of water can also help to prevent kidney stones, one of the most common renal problems in the UK, affecting more than 40,000 people a year.

Initially, you may find that a detox diet makes you feel even worse!

Those who drink a lot of tea and coffee may experience mild headaches over the first day or two without it. You may also feel quite tired as your body has become so dependent on artificial stimulants, but this will pass quickly too, leaving you with more energy than you had before. Other early symptoms include a coated tongue and bad breath; these are simply manifestations of your bodys cleansing process and are short-lived. You may also feel slightly irritable to begin with, which is why it is always best to begin your detox over a weekend or holiday.

Soon you will begin to feel more energized, less prone to mood swings, and find it easier both to drop off to sleep at night and get up in the morning.

Your bowel movements will also become more regular, thanks to a sufficient intake of fibre and fluid (constipation is often caused by mild dehydration).

Longer term effects include a clearer complexion.

If you are prone to congestion around the nostrils, caused by blocked pores, you may well find that this clears up. Your skin will feel smoother and less dry as your circulation improves, which will also make your hair and nails stronger and healthier.

Detoxing may also help you if you are trying to conceive, as it will get your body into the best possible working order. Smoking and drinking and eating junk food is off limits when you are pregnant and the same applies at the pre-pregnancy stage.