Periodic body cleanses are certainly a staple of a well-balanced lifestyle but what about eliminating the factors that necessitate such cleanses? While the majority of Americans have awful diets full of saturated fats and processed supplements, there are those of us that want to clean up our dietary lifestyle for the long term. Obviously, a person who makes healthier food choices on a daily basis is going to be far less toxic, and thus require fewer periodic cleanses. But how?
It always seems like such an insurmountable task to “eat healthy” or “go on a diet,” right? Even the phrase itself gives you shudders because you imagine getting sick of salads for dinner all the time and avoiding everything that you love to eat. But, I assure you, there are subtle changes you can make to your lifestyle and eating habits that will have a large impact on your overall health without leaving you feeling deprived.
1. Commit to three vegetarian dinners per week.
Meat is very dense substance that takes our bodies a lot of effort to break down and digest. Certain proteins in most meats have a tendency to cause build-up in the colon.
2. Use lighter, fat free salad dressing.
3. Add fruit to your cereal.
4. Switch to skim or fat free milk & dairy.
5. Drink a glass of pure, organic 100% juice three times a week.
6. Replace one beef or pork entrée with fish.
Fish is easier on the digestive tract and has helpful Omega-3 fatty acids that other meat does not.
7. Replace fried foods with something baked or grilled.
Greasy fried food is accountable for a large percent of the trans fats and heavy toxins in the modern diet. Try to replace 2 portions of fried food per week for starters.
8. Drink 6-8 glasses of water per day.
Getting more water through your body helps in the digestion process and keeps your muscles and joints lubricated and working at peak performance. Water is essential to any body cleanse as well.
9. Eat Wheat bread instead of its bleached White counterpart.
10. Eliminate that second cup of coffee or that soda refill.
Caffeine is a drug that does several physiological things to your system. The excitation of the nerves is the desired effect but the crash afterward is the body running low on essential nutrients burned up in the caffeine rush.
Some of these will seem harder to do than others but they are all relatively easy ways to reduce your toxic intake. Instead of a full multi-day body cleanse, consider implementing a small step to improve your health. Whenever you think of it, check the list and keep one of the points in mind for the next couple days. These subtle changes to your diet will have lasting impacts on your health and longevity.
