5 Tips for a Healthy Detox Diet With Long-Lasting Results
We pick the brains of models day in and day out, constantly prying into their medicine cabinets and kitchen cupboards in an attempt to uncover their elusive model secrets. In these endeavors, we hear a lot about eating clean and avoiding sugar, but rarely do we hear diet tips from a model who also happens to have her degree in nutritional science. That's exactly what we found in Alicia Rountree. The Mauritian model (she's got the island hair and bronzed glow to prove it) is also a certified nutritionist and restaurateur (she has to be able to put her knowledge into practice, right?), and today she's sharing her secrets with us.
Photo:
Alicia Rountree
Most detox diets can verge on the extreme—juice cleanses, the master cleanse, or eating only grapefruits might make you lose weight in the short term, but not so much in the long term. Truly detoxing is about changing your eating habits—and leaving those over-the-top cleanses in the dust. While I think it's a great idea to give your system a rest, what happens when you shock or starve you body, like drinking juices for a week, is that either you get so hungry you break your fast or once you get to day seven, when you're "allowed" to eat, you order everything on the menu. This wreaks havoc because your system is so clean from being on a detox that those greasy foods and overeating pollute your system, causing more damage than before you started your cleanse.
Detoxing simply means replacing the bad with the good—no liquid diets here. For a gentle detox with lasting results, keep reading for my five tried-and-true tips.
Make Simple Swaps
Start by making small changes. Replace your milk chocolate with dark chocolate; try cooking with cold-pressed olive oil or coconut oil instead of butter; bake instead of frying. Keep replacing what you eat with higher quality foods and you will see that after a while your body will stop craving "bad" foods. Instead, you'll want to feel nourished by whole foods.
Pen a Grocery List
Make a conscious effort to add superfoods like turmeric, ginger, green tea, berries, garlic, beetroot, and cruciferous vegetables to your diet. These all help with detoxification of the body. There are plenty of delicious recipes containing these ingredients—choose your favorites and learn how to make something new.
Time Your Fruit Intake
If you are going to eat fruit, eat it in the morning and make sure it's the first thing you eat. Fruit doesn't take long to digest, so you want to eat it first and wait 20 minutes before consuming anything else. The reason for this is because other foods take longer to digest. If you eat fruit after, it will sit on top of the other food in your system—that's why eating fruit for dessert isn't the best idea.
Juice in Moderation
Instead of juicing for a week, juice for one day a week and make sure the majority of your juices are mostly vegetables, as the sugar in fruit will be high. You could also swap a single meal for a nourishing smoothie, instead of juicing at all. I love to make a smoothie for breakfast made with banana, a piece of pineapple, maca powder for added energy, almond milk, and a few dates. You can also add your favorite protein powder for that added nutrition. This smoothie sets my morning off right, and I am less likely to eat unhealthy throughout the day.
Drink Up
I can't stress hydration enough! Your body is going through a gentle cleansing process so make sure you drink enough water. I recommend taking in at least two liters or more every day, especially during the summer, so that you can help flush your body of all its toxins. Ultimately, remember to be easy on yourself. If you slip up on your detox one day, know that tomorrow is a new day and you can always make a healthier choice.
Next up, Rountree gives us her insights on the healthiest ingredients out there to keep stocked in your pantry.