By Michelle Schoffro Cook for Care2.com

When it comes to cleansing your body of harmful toxins, food really is the best medicine. You’ll be amazed to learn that many of your favorite foods also cleanse the body’s detoxification organs like the liver, intestines, kidneys, and skin, preventing harmful toxic buildup. Help ward off the harmful effects of pollution, food additives, second-hand smoke, and other toxins with delicious fruits, vegetables, nuts, oils, and beans.

Apples. Because apples are high in pectin, a type of fiber that binds to cholesterol and heavy metals in the body, they help eliminate toxic build up and to cleanse the intestines.

Avocados. We rarely think of avocados as a cleansing food but these nutritional powerhouses lower cholesterol and dilate blood vessels while blocking artery-destroying toxicity. Avocados contain a nutrient called glutathione, which blocks at least thirty different carcinogens while helping the liver detoxify synthetic chemicals.
Read Full Post >

Fresh fruit and vegetable juicing is certainly not a new idea for the raw foods community, however it is growing in popularity as a mainstream method for weight loss and detoxification.

Unlike conventional juices that are often processed with a lot of added sugar, fresh juicing involves creating nutrient-rich juices out of your favorite fruits and vegetables.

“Before you begin any juice regiment, it’s important to understand why juice is  important for your health,” said Cherie Calbom, MS, author of The Juice Lady’s Turbo Diet and Juicing for Life.  “When you understand the many health benefits of fresh juice, you’ll be much more inclined to take the time to make fresh juice.”

Read Full Post >

Mary Hartley, RD, MPH, is the director of nutrition for Calorie Count, providing domain expertise on issues related to nutrition, weight loss and health. She creates original content for weekly blogs and newsletters, for the Calorie Count library, and for her popular daily Question-and-Answer section, Ask Mary. Ms. Hartley also furnishes direction for the site features and for product development.

Calorie Counters want to know whether or not it is wise to cleanse the system with a detox diet. Here are a few of the readers’ favorite “Ask Mary Q+As” about spring cleaning.

Should I fast to prepare my system for a change?

Fasting is unnecessary. Your system does not need to prepare for change. In a fast lasting longer than a day or two, the body starts to breakdown some of its muscles and organs to generate fuel for the central nervous system. Because muscle is a major calorie burner, less muscle could lead to lowering overall calorie requirements, which could make it more difficult to lose weight in the future. And then, due to feast-or-famine thinking, food deprivation could lead to overeating when food becomes available again. Instead of fasting, it’s best to just go ahead and begin to eat a balanced diet of wholesome food at a lower calorie level.

Read Full Post >

My three step health system is a rather basic, but effective way to get the results and success you have always dreamed of.

Step 1: Set Goals & Prepare (1 week):

Goal setting is one of the best ways to prepare you both physically and mentally for what it is that you wish to accomplish. I recommend setting an immediate goal, a mid-term goal you can achieve 6 months from now, and a long-term goal for about 1-5 years from now. By doing this, you will prepare and organize your life for what is to come. The preparation phase allows you to buy whatever it is that you will need to be successful (groceries, workout clothes, books, music, personal trainer, etc) and plan or set-up a time or times that you can exercise without being interrupted.

Read Full Post >

Sugar – The other white powder that as some might argue is just as addictive as illegal drugs. As Americans, our diet contains way too much of it.

Sugar has been linked to the obesity, diabetes, and heart disease epidemics. A study published in the Journal of  The American Medical Association showed that women who consume excess sugar have a greater prevalence of chronic inflammation, lower levels of good cholesterol and higher levels of triglycerides.

The average American consumes 22 teaspoons of sugar every day. That’s a lot of sweetness. While the dental and sugar cane industries are booming as a result of our love for sugar, our physical and mental health could benefit from a sugar detox.

If you want to cut back on your sugar habit, follow these three simple steps. Notice, we didn’t say “easy.” Sugar, as many scientific studies have shown, has a strong addictive quality to it. But like salt, sugar is an acquired taste. So by following a few simple steps, you can retrain your taste-buds and your mind to desensitize its affinity towards it.
Read Full Post >