The Detox4Life Diet is designed to give your body a rest, keep it well nourished and make digestion and elimination simple and effective whilst undertaking a detoxification program. 

We are all different – in body shape and type, gender, levels of exercise etc – and we all require a different amount of protein, carbohydrate etc. Nobody knows your body’s requirements better than you do; so therefore you are responsible for yourself and the Detox4Life Diet is an open common sense eating regime.  Start experimenting and see what feels right for you and your body’s requirements.

All of my detoxification programs involve the taking of herbal medicine – by far the most powerful way of cleansing our bodies! You may like to start with this Diet by itself at first, along with colloidal minerals and Spirulina, particularly if this is radically different from your ‘norm’.  Taking colloidal minerals every morning will make your Diet a whole lot easier, as they take cravings away from the foods you will be leaving behind.

This Diet may be a detox unto itself, depending on what you have previously been eating!   Too many changes all at once, particularly if you eat vast quantities of red meat, processed foods and drink coffee/caffeine tea and/or alcohol regularly, may be too much for your body to assimilate.

The amount of toxicity arising from the depths of your tissues may overload you, rendering you straight into a ‘healing crisis’.  Take it easy; be gentle with yourself.  But also challenge yourself beyond your normal eating habits/stuck lifestyle patterns.

The Detox4Life Diet is designed with a busy person in mind, whether working or studying full-time, or perhaps you are a busy Mum, studying and working!  Therefore I am presuming you have not the time to sprout all your own grains before eating, (soaking will do), to grow or pick your own organic vegetables, or to sprout your own wheat grass.

There are numerous books available on this subject, from sprouting to permeculture, so if you do have the time and inclination, great, go for it!  And yes of course it is relevant for a detox Diet.

But if you are like the rest of us, I hope you find Detox4Life guidelines useful and simple to follow.   I do not recommend the exclusively raw diet for long periods, (although for short periods it can often be beneficial), as there have been no traditional diets in existence containing entirely raw foods; and over a period of time this style of diet can seriously be depleting.

Anything ‘light’, fat reduced or refined is not great for your over-all health and needs to be avoided whenever possible.  As a general rule, the less ‘mucked about with’, the fresher and closer to nature, the better it is for our health whether undertaking a detox program, or just embarking on a healthy lifestyle.  Look for products that state they contain no genetically engineered foods.

Eat according to the seasons, in other words more salads in the summer and more cooked foods in the winter such as soups, casseroles and cooked vegetables.

The best way to detox our body is to consume only food and drinks that are free of toxins. 

Town water contains a number of chemical toxins such as chlorines, chloramines, fluorides, and a myriad of other chemical components that are used in town water to kill bacteria and algae blooms.

Depending on varying factors, such as climate, physical activity and diet, people’s water needs vary considerably.  Not drinking enough water can lead to kidney damage or failure, constipation and heat symptoms, such as inflammations and fevers, can be greatly exacerbated.

As soon as we add something to water, even if it is just a piece of lemon, it has to go through the whole digestive process.  Gandhi taught, “Chew your water and drink your food.”

By this he meant to hold and swish the water around in our mouths – water is then able to pass straight through the mucous membranes of the mouth and digestive tract, into the blood stream and straight into our cells.  (Pure water is able to bypass the liver.)

Excess tea, even herbal teas can cause dehydration, if not accompanied by enough pure drinking water.

Chlorinated water has been closely linked with vascular disease.  Chlorinated water when regularly ingested destroys vitamin E in the body and destroys beneficial flora in the intestines.  It is important to drink as much pure or purified water, as your body requires.

“Eat when hungry, drink when thirsty.”  Zen maxim

It is much better for us to drink room temperature water, rather than ice-cold.  Cold water when ingested uses up the body’s energy reserve – the body has to expend energy warming the water back up.  The Chinese believe that cold water depletes spleen energy.

No you don’t have to give it up, however to effectively cleanse your body you should avoid coffee and any other drinks with caffeine whilst on a cleansing program. 

After your detox is complete, you can drink occasional coffee, however Detox4Life recommends limiting your intake and even better never having another cup ever again!

See article Coffee Craze

There are many reasons for eating organic food.  It makes sense that the environment within us and the environment within nature exist in a more radiant and healthy state without the use of chemicals.  

By eating organic we are protecting our children and our water quality, as well as supporting small farmers, not to mention the immensely improved taste!  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if food was priced according to the amount of chemicals used whilst producing it?  That would make organic food the cheapest!

The Detox4Life family eat organic food 80-90% of the time, however I realise it is not always possible for everyone so do the best you can.

Organic food is coming into our supermarkets here in Australia in the way of fresh fruit and vegetables, grains, pasta, flour and canned foods and I know organic food is already prevalent in the supermarkets and farmer’s markets in England and other parts of Europe.

Look out for ‘pesticide free’ fruit and vegetables at the markets as these are often just as good, and a lot cheaper.  Our health will not only improve but so will that of the environment.  After all we are an extension, a microcosm of our environment, our world, our macrocosm.

Google – “Dirty Dozen and Clean Green” with the current year.  Then you can avoid the fruit and vegetables with the most pesticides and eat them organic.

No.  Dr Andrew Rochford from Channel 9’s ‘What’s Good for you’ (Australia) ate 4 eggs per day for 2 weeks.  By the end of his egg challenge his cholesterol had substantially reduced!

Brisbane cardiologist Dr Karam Kostner, states that ‘people who eat a lot of eggs actually shut down their bodies production of cholesterol.  So the more eggs somebody eats, the less cholesterol our body produces.

So that’s why a lot of people who eat a lot of eggs don’t get heart disease necessarily.’

Eggs are perfect for a Detox4Life program.  Soft boil or poach them and in that way you retain the essential fatty acids and the iron contained in the egg yolk.  Eggs of course are another wonderful source of protein.

The Detox4Life family eat 4-6 eggs per week each person.

No.  Canning has no effect on proteins, carbohydrates and fats. 

Therefore if you are a vegetarian, or embarking on a semi-vegetarian Diet, such as the Detox4Life Diet, it is perfect to consume chickpeas, butterbeans, kidney beans, lentils etc from cans.

Look out for the organic varieties from the supermarket.  You need then to get your vitamins, minerals and enzymes from fresh fruit and vegetables, colloidal minerals and green food, such as Spirulina.

Coconut really is a super food!  It is anti-bacterial, so it is useful in the case of ulcers, throat infections, gum disease, respiratory infections, and urinary tract infections.  

Coconut is also anti-fungal so useful in destroying Candida, ringworm, athlete’s foot, thrush etc.  Coconut improves insulin secretion and utilization of blood glucose and elevates stress on the pancreas and is useful in diabetes.

Coconut supports tissue healing and repair and protects the body from breast, colon and prostate cancer.  Coconut oil is heart friendly and improves cholesterol ratio.  It helps prevent obesity.

Coconut does not form harmful by-products when heated to normal cooking temperature like other vegetable oils do.  The Detox4Life family primarily uses coconut oil and ghee (clarified butter) in cooking.

Butter and ghee contain the vitamins A, E K, and D and are rich in trace minerals – especially the antioxidant selenium. 

Vitamin A is necessary for the thyroid and adrenal glands, the functioning of the heart, cardiovascular and immune systems.  Butter also contains fatty acids that protect against gastrointestinal infections.  Organic butter is available at the markets and in supermarkets.

Margarine and anything containing hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils should be avoided at all times whether undertaking a detox program or not.   Paneer is a cheese and available in supermarkets, it is a great protein and very easy to digest.

Cottage cheese, quark and fetta cheese is also relatively easy to digest, good fat as well as protein.  Goat’s milk and its products are more easily tolerated and digestible than cow’s milk and its products.

It also contains higher amounts of minerals, including fluorine which helps build healthy bones and teeth, great for infants and young children.  Goat’s yoghurt is a wholesome tonic used for convalescing and is used for nervous exhaustion and anaemia.

My daughter and I prefer the flavour and texture of goat’s milk yoghurt; we find it to be a nurturing and nourishing dessert.  Not everyone can tolerate dairy however, and it may be well to give your body a break from it for a few weeks per year – that tied into a Detox4Life Program would be very effective.

Again it depends on individual requirements and how deep a person wants to go during a detox program.   Avoiding dairy altogether would definitely enhance any program you decide to go on.  We do however need fat in order to survive, so do not deprived yourself!

Try and look for foods that are not overly-processed and include some of the foods recommended in the Detox4Life Diet. 

Vegetarian dishes from Indians, Thai, Chinese, and Vietnamese restaurants could be the way to go.

There are many foods that will provide an alternative source of protein to red meat. Foods such as eggs, chick peas, kidney beans, butter beans, tofu, paneer cheese can all be used.

There are also vegetarian options available through most supermarkets put out by companies such as Quorn and Sanitarium. These include a large range and are quick easy to cook.

A vegetarian Diet however may not be suitable for everyone however, and fish and organic chicken make a nourishing alternative to red meat, providing essential proteins needed to get through your day.

If your job is extremely physical and you find you are getting too tired throughout the day and/or are losing too much weight, then eat lean red meat once or twice per week.

These foods are all members of the deadly nightshade family.  

Sweet potato is not a member of this family and fine to eat on a detox program. Capsicum is known as pepper in the UK and eggplant is known as aubergine.

The nightshade family is high in an alkaloid called solanine.  Solanine blocks calcium and promotes arthritic and asthmatic conditions.

The Chinese do not use these vegetables in their cooking, as they see them as extremely yin, so depleting in fact that they regard them energetically as quite debilitating.

Many people say, especially if they have eaten white potato and tomato every day of their lives, that they have much more mental and physical energy, after they give them a break for a week or longer.

Some studies also suggest that deadly nightshades speed the heart rate, slow digestion and block Vitamin B absorption.  If you do not feel you have an issue with the deadly nightshade family, are not addicted to them, do not eat them very much anyway, do not suffer from asthma or arthritis, then you may ignore the complete removal of them from your diet.