Detox your body in just 5 days with citrus fruits

Detoxification is an alternative medicine approach targeted for the body to get rid of accumulated toxins.

Toxins are harmful chemical substances that exert undesirable effects on an individual’s health.

Detoxification usually includes dietary changes like dieting, fasting, consuming exclusively or avoiding specific foods (such as fats, carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables, juices, herbs or water) or processes like colon cleansing, chelation therapy and others.

A detox diet is a short-term diet, usually 3 to 21 days, focused on removing toxins from the body.

Although detoxification is an ongoing process of the body, toxins and stress prevent us from doing it optimally. This eventually affects other systems in the body as well.

Generalised detox diets not only have numerous health benefits but also leads to drastic (although temporary) weight-loss.

Detoxification concepts can be traced back to the ancient Egyptian and Greek idea of auto-intoxication. Some food items consumed may produce toxins harmful to the body. Biochemistry and microbiology appeared to support the detox theory until the 19th century, but by the early 20th century, detoxification based approaches quickly fell out of favour.

This happened mainly because along with the spread of such diet regimes, people started misusing them for causing ‘weight loss’ rather than body detoxification.

Ideally, a body can be detoxed within five days. During these five days, one has to primarily consume citrus fruits like orange, sweet lime, pineapple, apple, kiwi, grapes, grapefruit, litchi, blueberry, leh berry, strawberry, cherry and others.

Intake of fruits like banana/custard-apple/chikoo/guava/avocado should be limited up to 2 (total) per day. The total weight of the fruits consumed in a day should not exceed 1.5 kg. Two servings of coconut water in a day should also be included.

The body’s reaction to fruit does not stop in the mouth. It continues as the digestive system accepts food rich in enzymes. These enzymes carry out all the functions of digestion, giving the pancreas much-needed rest.

Fruit sugars, compounded with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, are optimally utilised by every cell in the body.

Most fruits do not create mucus, a sure sign of how clean and suited this fuel is, to our metabolic needs. The fibres that are left behind in the colon are moist and act as a cleansing agent. They soften and then remove years of impacted mucus and other stubborn deposits in the intestines.

Before trying any new diet programme such as this one, it is absolutely necessary to have the permission of your physician or a registered medical practitioner. This diet does not cause any long-lasting fat-loss hence it should not be tried for the same.

The diet may involve days of lightheadedness and weakness, which are common symptoms in the fasting phase. Regular exercise regime during the detox diet phase should be avoided.

Only light exercises are advisable.

The duration of workout or the average intensity of the movements should be reduced. For e.g. the speed, counts, weight, or the number of sets can be lessened.

The author is a city-based health and fitness expert