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Detoxification or detox is a process that aims to rid your body of all negative effects of the environment such as additives in food, secondary smoke, pollutants, heavy metals and industrial chemicals. Apart from these, your body is put through way too much stress because of the lifestyle that today’s world demands. Eating out, fast food, consumption of caffeine and alcohol, lack of exercise and work-related stress eventually manifests in the forms of health conditions. Detoxification helps in the removal of toxins and cleansing of the kidneys and colon. The benefits of doing this, is that your immune system gets stimulated, your hormonal system gets enhanced, and your dependency on caffeine, alcohol, sugar and nicotine is reduced.

There are long-term as well as short-term methods of detoxification. Long-term methods are mainly lifestyle changes that include dietary changes like avoiding meats, foods high in carbohydrates and carbonated drinks and sweeteners. Your new diet should include vegetables and fruits, foods cooked in minimum oil, low-fat foods and drinking lots of healthy fluids.

Short-term detoxification are usually quick fixes, it does help but only for a short period of time. The best thing is that they are low-budget with simple home remedies for detox. It is however advised that you consult your doctor before beginning any short-term detoxification. Whole body detoxification can initially come with withdrawal symptoms like feeling dizzy, weak or sick; it is therefore recommended that you stay at home during the process. These diets are not to be done frequently or regularly, and always consult your physician before you start a detox program. Let us look at some detox methods that you can carry out at home:

• Cabbage Soup Diet: This form of detoxification is known as the cabbage soup diet. Apart from being good for detoxification, it is also helpful for weight loss. Soup made from cabbage, green peppers, mushrooms, onions, carrots and tomatoes, is to be consumed along with sufficient amounts of water for 7 days. You can eat as much soup as you want and drink as much water during this period but are not supposed to have anything else.

• Master Cleanse: Or popularly known as the ‘lemonade diet’ has been in existence since the 1940s. It is cleanses your body of toxins, cleanses the kidneys and digestive system, removes hardened material and waste from the joints and muscles, purifies the glands and cells, and alleviates pressure in the arteries, nerves and blood vessels. It is a 10 day program and for this you will need to drink an herbal laxative tea every evening and perform salt water flush the next day. For a saltwater flush, you need to drink a warm glass of mineral water mixed with sea salt. After which, during the day you need to consume six to eight glasses of lemonade. This special lemonade is made with 60 oz of distilled water, 12 tablespoons of organic maple syrup, 12 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice, and a little over half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. This diet is not for the faint hearted and is quite difficult to follow, given how addicted to food we are.
• Juicing: A juice fast involves a short-term intake of fresh fruit and raw vegetable juice, and water. It should only be done for a maximum of three days and recommended it be done in summer. You should consume at least 32 to 64 ounces of juice per day. Juices of celery, carrot, kale, cabbage, apple, pineapple, cranberry, beet, spinach and greens should be had. A variation of this detox diet can include one solid meal a day.

There are also many other detox methods where your body can go through internal cleansing at home.