Tired? Sleepy? Non-stop yawning? Bloated? Sluggish? Constipated?

Well, once again its the time of the year to go for a free of toxic weekend lifestyle, which means going for plenty of fresh natural raw foods and drinking plenty of fluids, cutting out all those junk foods,sugar, caffeine, canned foods and processed foods! Oh dear, do I hear the “oh oh’s” and “argh argh’s” but there’s also the guilty conscious lingering somewhere in the back of your mind… ?

If you are done with all those merry making, this weekend would be a good time to do the simplest body detox, nothing too drastic. It is better than not doing at all, right? I don’t think it would make much difference missing all those toxic foods just for 48 hours.

So, we’ll start the weekend taking it real easy.
On Saturday and Sunday morning, drink about 400ml of filtered tepid water upon waking up. It would be ideal if you could squeeze some lemon juice in the water to your acceptable taste, no sugar added. Fluids help to eliminate the toxins that have been accumulated over the holidays and at the same time this will give your digestive tract and organs a well -needed rest.
You could start doing some light exercises after that like stretching, breathing, any of yourfavourites as long as they are not strenuous. After 45 minutes or so, munch on your favourite fruit like apples, pears, bananas, etc

For lunch, prepare a salad of your favourite fresh raw vegetables and sprinkle some chopped up nuts and olive oil.

At the same time, some fluids or if you prefer your favourite herbal teas like rooibos, crysanthemum, mint, green tea, etc would be great, and they do not contain caffeine.

Fresh and natural whole foods contain the important different nutrients, fiber and enzymes. They are known to nourish the body cells and at the same fight free radicals. If your budget permits get all your stuff organic.

In the later part of the day, you should include juicing of fresh fruits and vegetables like apple, cabbage, carrot, cranberry, celery, pineapple and spinach for effective cleansing process.
Take 30 minutes and go for a walk in the open for some fresh air as this would help to clear the ‘cobwebs’ on your mind.

For dinner, you could make some vegetable broth, munch some more fresh fruits and drink more fluids of filtered tepid water or herbal tea.

Lastly, before you end the day with a shower, do some skin brushing as it removes old skin cells, stimulates the lymph system and draws out toxins through the skin. Skin brushing is also a gentle way of detoxing and a dry skin brush made of soft vegetable bristles is highly recommended.

By Monday morning, you will be able to feel much better, feeling more healthy and have higher energy levels. Your body will thank you for your efforts to change to a healthy way of life.
Now, it is not that hard is it?

There are many ways to detox the body. I always believe it’s up to individuals to customize what suits their lifestyle and preference because no one is the same.
Remember, we are not on prescription but if you do have any health concerns, it is better to consult your physician first!

This is the third day of 2008 and so I guess by now everyone is trying to sober up and come down to earth after all that havoc on eating and drinking over the holidays.
Feeling like a zombie? I am relishing with glee at those who are still trying to get rid of their hangovers tsk! tsk!

Did you experience those common symptoms like headaches, dizziness, nausea, fatigue and thirst when you woke up? Well, that means your body is in dehydration mode because alcohol is a diurectic. As we all know a diurectic would reduce the amount of water in the body through urination. Of course, the severity and number of symptoms varies from person to person and the more alcohol a drinker consumes, the worse the hangover will be.

Alcohol does contain toxins because of the way they are fermented. The toxins known as congeners are from the by-products of distillation and fermentation. There are more toxins in darker drinks like brandy, red wine and port when compared to lighter drinks like champagne, whiskey, white wine. About twenty percent of alcohol would be absorbed in the stomach and the rest goes to the small intestines and several factors depend on how fast alcohol enters the blood stream like whether its consumed either on an empty or full stomach, the concentration of alcohol and the type of beverages. Alcohol will then leave the body through the three main organs: the liver by oxidation, exhalation by the lungs and urination by the kidneys.

Therefore, to try to get your body system in order again, the main key here is to drink plenty of fluids like water, fruit and vegetable juices so as to dilute the alcohol in your blood stream. Besides that, fruit and vegetables juices are high in antioxidant and water. Other solutions are taking Vitamin C tablets for it helps to break down the alcohol content. Eat bananas for it is a rich source of potassium. If you are still feeling nauseous, chew thinly sliced fresh ginger! It is also said that munching on chocolates also helps because the sugar content helps to break down the alcohol.

Lastly, consider having a light diet for the next two to three days to give your poor body the chance to recover fully.