May 25, 2016 · Written by Foodtolive Team
Best Detox Foods for Vegans: Enjoy Cleansing Your Body
Toxins are dangerous, everyone knows this, which is the reason why detox programs are so popular. Maintaining a healthy vegan or vegetarian diet reduces the number of dangerous chemicals in your body, by default. However, everyone would benefit from an occasional ‘cleansing’. Filling your meal plan for the next week with the best detox foods will do the trick and improve your well-being greatly.
Note that you shouldn’t try for ‘harsh’ detoxification programs as they can be as dangerous as starvations diets. Therefore, avoid any unhealthy meal plans and potentially dangerous supplements. A well-balanced plant-based diet gives your body enough strength to resist and remove toxins rather efficiently. Therefore, simply building your meals around the ‘detoxifying’ ingredients for about a week will provide sufficient cleansing results. Including them in your diet on a regular basis will prevent toxin buildup altogether.
9 Best Detox Foods You Can Eat Every Day
Artichokes for Improved Liver Function
Eating artichokes as often as you can is a must, not only because they are delicious and packed with diet fiber and some very important nutrients. Their biggest advantage is their potent positive effect on the liver.
Artichokes stimulate the process of bile production, literally ‘encouraging’ the liver to cleanse itself. Considering the fact that this particular organ is your body’s natural filter, it suffers the most damage from toxins.
Improved bile production has a significant effect on your health as a whole because bile is the element that breaks down foods in your digestive tract and allows you to extract nutrients from them. Therefore, artichokes are not only detoxifying but also a dietary food, so they should be included in all weight loss programs.
Almonds for Liver Cancer Prevention
Almonds deserved their place on ‘the best detox foods’ list due to their effect on the liver. Unlike artichokes, they don’t really affect its function much. However, they are one of the best sources of vitamin E.
According to the study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute almonds, packed with vitamins as they are, reduce the risk of developing liver cancer. The numbers indicated in the research are quite impressive, the reduction is 40% if a person consumes about 15 nuts daily, when compared to those who consume less.
Bringing on almonds during the party season when you are sure to overindulge in alcohol is a great idea, as this will help protect your liver from dangerous toxins. This will also allow you to get all the amazing benefits these nuts have to offer.
A vegan should always have a stock of these nuts, but be sure to learn how to store raw almonds first. This way, you can save money by buying in bulk.
Asparagus for Anti-Aging
Asparagus is a delicious vegetable, it also rates as one of the best detox foods, which makes including it in your diet is a must. The veggie is literally packed with potent and easy-to-absorb antioxidants. Therefore, it’s impossible to measure its positive contribution to your health and beauty.
Eating asparagus regularly helps every system in your body as well as assists with normalizing liver drainage. A study published in the Journal of Food Science claims that the effect of this particular vegetable on liver cells is so potent that it can reduce the detrimental effects of alcohol. In simple terms, eating asparagus with your drink can prevent a hangover.
Beets for the Best Cleansing
What makes beets stand out among other detox foods is their ability to actually remove dangerous chemicals from your body. They may not have as ‘concentrated’ of an effect as almonds or artichokes, but they are a vital part of any detoxification program.
The power of beets lies in their flushing ability. They prevent dangerous chemicals removed from your liver and kidneys from ‘sticking’ to some other part of your body on their way through the digestive system.
In addition to flushing toxins, beets are also full of antioxidants, so they help protect your body from detrimental effects of free radicals.
Broccoli Sprouts for Detox Enzymes Production
The biggest challenge of detoxification is to ‘motivate’ your organs to part with the toxins lodged in their cells. This process is triggered by specific enzymes, and broccoli joins the list of the best detox foods due to its ability to stimulate the production of these particular enzymes.
Note that broccoli sprouts are the healthiest ‘type’ of broccoli for detox due to the fact that they contain concentrated amounts of phytochemicals that cause this particular reaction. As the plant matures, the number of these chemicals is reduced, but even cooked mature broccoli contains some of them as well as a host of other important nutrients.
All in all, broccoli is one of the healthiest foods you can find. It’s also one of the best for those who are struggling with losing weight because it provides you with a huge nutrition boost and lots of dietary fiber at the cost of very few calories.
Ginger for a Thorough Liver Cleanse
If you are suffering from a ‘fatty liver’ (condition caused by overindulgence in alcohol and junk foods), you can take the advice of ancient Chinese doctors and chew on some ginger root. Though, putting a few pieces of it in your drinking water or tea will be effective as well.
Ginger is one of the best detox foods because it boosts liver function as well as your immune system, thereby protecting your body from the detrimental influence of toxins. Its effect on the immune system is so strong that drinking ginger tea during the cold season should help you avoid getting sick.
Green and White Tea for Fat Breakdown and Hydration
Tea is one of the healthiest drinks in existence, especially its white and green varieties. You can indulge in them as much as you want during your detox program as it’s essential to stay hydrated throughout the cleansing process. Note that you may need to up your regular water intake for this period because many detox foods have a potent diuretic effect, so they make your body lose moisture faster.
Both types of tea are packed with antioxidants, so they are great for your general health and beauty. However, green tea is also rich in catechins, elements that promote healthy liver function. White tea is one of the best detox foods for those trying to lose weight, because it helps burn fat faster.
A study published in the Nutrition and Metabolism indicates that the chemicals contained in white tea promote lipolysis (the process of fat breakdown) and block adipogenesis (the process of fat formation).
Sea Veggies for Effective Toxin Removal
All sea vegetables are great for you because they are packed with essential nutrients, minerals in particular. Including them in your diet allows you to get a nutrition boost compared only with taking supplements, but you also get the benefits of dietary fiber and antioxidants.
The detox power of sea veggies lies in the alginic acid, an element that absorbs toxins, facilitating their removal from your body with waste. The fact that seaweed is delicious and can be a great addition to a variety of salads is a great help in popularizing this food. If you’ve tried it once and didn’t like it, test recipes with other seasonings. There is a great sea veggie flavor for everyone; you may just need to spend more time to find it.
Lemons for Starting Your Day Right
Regardless of your meal plan for the day, you should set it in the ‘detoxifying’ mode from the very beginning by drinking a glass of lemon water. Lemons are one of the best detox foods because they kick-start the digestive tract and stimulate liver function. Therefore, this glass of liquid fuel in the morning will make your body start on removing toxins even before you get down to eating your special detox meals.
Note that all citrus fruits possess this effect to some degree, and the majority of ‘liver stimulants’ is contained in the peel. If your major goal is weight loss, you should eat grapefruits as not only do they fire up your liver, they also provide the rest of your organs with loads of nutrients, which allows you to reduce the intake of more ‘solid’ foods without affecting a healthy nutrition plan.
