The 10-day detoxification plan

In the last couple of weeks, I presented the 30-Day Challenge in this column. From responses received, I want to believe it was well accepted. However, a few persons complained about the duration, 30 days! There are shorter plans and I am going to describe a 10-Day Detoxification Plan today. To successfully carry out this detoxification and maintain a change of diet that will follow requires determination and commitment on your part; determination to start, continue and get the right results.

The day before you actually start is your preparation day in which you will have to begin to do away with those kinds of food you should avoid, including drinks and beverages. Begin to drink a lot of water so that the process of elimination of the toxic wastes can commence. Eat light, especially in the evening at dinner, eat only salad vegetables. On waking up the next day, start your day with a glass of water and one of lemonade (squeeze one lemon into a glass and fill it up with water).

Your breakfast for this first day and the next nine days will be fruits only. There are a variety of fruits you can choose from. Three or four different fruits as a fruit salad will do. Make sure you eat fruits that are in season. For optimal effect you should eat fruits all day in the first one or two days for speedy elimination of fecal matter and colon cleansing. Also, the alkalinity of the fruits will neutralize the acidity of the acidic wastes that have accumulated before they are eliminated by the kidneys. On these first two days eat only one kind of fruit all day.

Decide the type of fruit you will like to eat and make sure you have enough at home. Preferable fruits for these two days are water melon (a mild diuretic), apples (contain pectin, a form of fiber for colon cleansing), pineapple (contains bromelin, an enzyme that aids digestion of proteins and speeds up repair of damaged tissue), grapes (they are effective in cleansing the kidneys, liver and intestines) and paw paw ( papaya, they contain the enzyme papain which aids the digestion of protein. It is also a good cleanser of the alimentary tract). Make your choice.

The next five days will see you eating fruits for breakfast, fresh raw vegetables for lunch and more vegetables, either stir fried, steamed or juiced for dinner. Do not forget to start the day with your water and lemonade. Prepare your salad and dress with either Udo’s oil or flax seed oil; avoid the regular salad dressings. There are lots of vegetables you can chose from and do make it different every day so as to get the full benefits of the vitamin, mineral and enzyme contents of all the vegetables.

Beginning from the last couple of days, you can introduce a meal of cooked food like Ofada rice, boiled unripe plantain, the usual soups with wheat or eba and so on and continue thereafter. In other words, your diet after the period of detoxification will consist of fruits for breakfast, vegetables for lunch and a cooked food for dinner. Your meals at lunch and dinner can be interchanged as it suits you. During the period of detoxification and thereafter, you should drink water often and fresh fruit and vegetable juices for your snacks when you feel hungry.

Benefits of the 10-day detoxification plan benefits of this plan include: Improved chances of pregnancy. ü Weight loss. ü Blood sugar regulation and management of type 2 diabetes; blood pressure control; health to each cell of the body with optimal performance; strength and stamina; and anti-ageing.