It’s March and the traditional month for spring cleaning, and I have been looking at natural ways to detox to spring clean the body.

There are so many products and methods on the market it’s hard to know what is right. In the end, one of the natural ways to detox that seem to make the most sense is a fasting and detox diet.

Now I must say that fasting conjures up images of sitting miserably at home with a glass of water and thinking of food but in fact, water only is not recommended for a fasting detox as it will release toxins too quickly.

And if natural ways to detox are done sensibly, you could gain a lot of anti-aging health benefits from it, such as lose weight, get more energy and look much better. What a fast does is to give your body a chance to get rid of all the waste and toxins without adding more to the system. Your immune system can therefore zero in on getting rid of the bad stuff and not get distracted with all the new toxins coming in.

A fast could be one or ten days. The longer you do it (up to ten days), the better your body will heal itself and keep diseases at bay. A three to five day fast is quite common as it cleanse the blood, gets rid of toxins and rebuild the immune system.

With that out of the way – here is the game plan for natural ways to detox:

Two days before, eat only fresh fruits and vegetables to prepare body for detox fasting. Avoid all caffeine, sugar, salt, processed foods and alcohol. Drink lots of water, especially first thing in the morning.

Drink herbal tea that will cleanse the digestive system. Teas such as peppermint, rose hip and burdock are good.

Get ready to be irritable, bad tempered and suffering from migraines and headaches as your body gets rid of toxins. Also prepare to experience bad breathe, body odor, skin eruptions and diarrhea. It won’t last long but probably best to do this detox fast on a quiet weekend or when there are a few days holidays.

The Juice Fasting detox

On day or days of fasting, drink only fresh fruit and vegetable juices mixed in with pure distilled water (about half juice, half water). Do not mix fruit and vegetable together except for apple. Fruits such as apple, watermelon and lemon; and vegetable such as carrot, cabbage and celery are great for detoxing.

Add raw garlic and/or spirulina powder to your drinks to get rid of intestinal bacteria and to give yourself some added green nutrients. Drink herbal teas.

Don’t chew gum or take fiber supplements.

Phone up friends and moan about how terrible it all is but feel secretly pleased with yourself for going through it.

After the fasting period, don’t rush out and eat the biggest steak/burger/cow you can find. Introduce back the fresh fruits and vegetables (like the two days prior to fasting) for a day or preferably two. Continue with the water and herb tea.

Slowly integrate cooked foods after that in small potions spread out more frequently during the day.

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Once you see the great benefits of detox fasting and you have gone through the motion of doing it the first time, you will want to integrate a fasting detox schedule to your life. A small fast (1-3 days) once a month is a good start with a longer period (7-10 days) once or twice a year will give lots of health benefits – the most important of which is to cleanse your system and keep diseases away.

If you need a little extra help for colon cleansing and detoxing, try :
Health Plus Colon Cleanse Regular
Health Plus Colon Cleanse Tea
Cellular Research Formulas – Dual-Action Cleanse – 60 Tabs Total Body Purifier + 90 Tabs Colon Clear

Related articles for Natural Ways to Detox:

• WATCH: Detoxing From Today’s Modern Diet (huffingtonpost.com)