Healthy New Year's Resolutions: Post-Christmas Detox Plan

After the excesses of the Christmas and New Year holidays, it’s normal to feel tired and bloated from overindulging. What’s important in the days following the festive period is to follow a lighter and healthier diet composed of fresh or steamed vegetables, poached fish, fruits and a lot of water. This will help you to eliminate stored toxins and to reduce the bloating.

While December is a month filled with indulging and partying, the New Year brings the feeling of excitement for new beginnings. January is a great time to focus on improving your health. One of the best ways towards a healthier lifestyle is making an effort and return to good eating habits, exercise 2,3 times per week, get enough sleep, give up (or at least cut down on) cigarettes and alcohol.
A healthy and effective detox plan can help free up enzymes, improve the function of the body’s organs, improve energy levels and help improve overall health.

Here are some basic, essential tips to help you detox your body and get back on a healthy track:

 

Drink Plenty of Water

The very well-known rule of drinking 2 liters or 8 glasses water a day is not a cliche. Test this method for a few weeks to cleanse your system, and you will find yourself feeling refreshed and having improved mood. You might want to add some flavor, such as sliced lemon or cucumber to boost the detox and anti-inflammatory properties even more. This is a healthier alternative for coffee in the morning, especially when you’re tired (and possibly hungover). 
 

Cut Out Sugar

While this is easier said than done, reducing your sugar intake is an important aspect of a heart-healthy lifestyle. The empty calories from the hidden sugar and sweeteners in everything from breakfast cereal, desserts, some drinks, chewing gum, candy, and even salad dressings can lead to weight gain and spikes in blood glucose levels. Getting sugar consumption under control can feel overwhelming, but start taking baby steps. The easiest way of cutting down sugar is to cook from scratch. You can also replace it with honey anytime you need a sweetener.

 

Clear Your Lungs

Even if you're a non-smoker, air pollution causes a build-up of toxins in your lungs. Eat your greens each day. Not only that greens can help to prevent cancer, but they may also help the immune system to clean harmful bacteria from the lungs. A compound found in cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and kale (especially in their raw form) is now being trialed as a treatment for people with lung disease. 

 
Related: BEST FOODS TO DETOXIFY THE BODY
 
 

 

Eat Protein

Many juice-based cleansing diets are deficient in protein, but that’s not the way to go. You may be wondering how does lean protein mostly found in wild-caught, low-mercury fish, brown rice, chickpeas, lentils, turkey, sesame seeds, soy, etc. help in dragging toxins out of the body? Well, the amino acids bind the transformed toxins in the liver so they can be carried out of the body. A diet which is lacking in sufficient protein can lead your body to start drawing on the protein in your liver.

 

Go Low-carb

Carb-heavy products contain refined starch which during the digestion acts in much the same way as sugar. White bread, pasta, and white rice all contain heavily processed white flour — and detoxing means staying away from the processed stuff. If you feel you can’t cut right back on grains, try replacing them with wild rice, quinoa or bulgur wheat.

 

 

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