Singaporebrides | Beauty

March 2015

Healthy Ways to Detox For Your Wedding

By Audrie Soh

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Achieving a svelte and toned physique is on the top of every bride’s to-do list for the wedding, but exercise and dieting aren’t the only ways to lose the bulge, especially if you’ve hit a fitness plateau and can’t seem to drop that last few kilograms. Going on a detox might be the extra push brides-to-be need for that flat and toned midriff they’re aiming for. In this article, we introduce 5 healthy ways to detox that you can easily incorporate into your daily life, including the immensely popular juice cleanse.

What is A Detox?

Before we delve into the healthy ways of detoxing, let’s talk about what happens when we embark on one. When we go on a detox, we are ridding our bodies of toxins and contaminants in a bid to improve our bodies’ natural processes. By toxins and contaminants, I’m referring to any substance that we’ve over-consumed over the course of our daily lives. Although our body is fully capable of detoxing itself, our daily lifestyle and eating habits may inhibit and slow down the body’s natural processes, causing us to feel lethargic, bloated and unmotivated. To lighten the burden and to restore the balance in our body, we go on a detox diet in an attempt to cut down bad habits.

Juice Cleanses and Tea-toxes

These days, when we talk about going on a detox, we think immediately of going on a juice cleanse or tea-tox. A juice cleanse involves participants going on a 1, 3 or 5-day program, where they’ll consume only 6 bottles of fruit and vegetable juices that have gone through cold press juicing to eliminate contaminants and rest the body’s system. Not as widely popular as juice cleanses are tea-toxes, a 2-step tea-drinking program that lasts from a week to a month, depending on how long an individual wishes to detox for. It usually contains tea leaves and selective herbs to curb appetite, bloating, and promote metabolism rate and natural purging.

It is easy to see why this seemingly easy and beneficial detox trend is so enticing and popular among the ladies. It claims to give you a flatter midriff, better skin and improved metabolism rate without having you go through a comparatively tougher routine of cardio and ab workouts. But despite its popularity and positive reviews, controversies soon arose as many health professionals across the world started to raise doubts on whether this new detox, especially the juice cleanse fad, actually delivers the health and beauty benefits they claim, and if its truly a healthy way for individuals to embark on in the long run.

Why A Juice Cleanse May Not Be The Best Idea In The Long Run

An increased and lasting energy, a lightness in the body and balanced weight, naturally glowing skin, improved digestion, increased natural motivation, and decreased cravings for sugar and junk food are some of the benefits juice cleanses claim to result in.

But health professionals have pointed out that the reality may not be so, as denying your body of its daily required amount of calories and protein over a period of days may send it into starvation mode, where it stores fats, carbohydrates and protein instead of releasing them to conserve energy, resulting in a more listless and sluggish you. Without the daily required amount of protein to build healthy immune cells and to regenerate muscles after a workout, you may find yourself with a lower muscle mass and hence, a slower metabolism rate, setting your weight loss plans back.

While it may not seem like the best way to achieving a thinner self in the long run, juice cleanses could be seen as an alternative to unhealthy caffeinated and sweetened drinks such as coffee and soda and as a way to introduce vegetables and fruits into our diets.

Other Ways To Detox

Stay Hydrated

We’ve all been advised to drink a minimum of eight glasses of water a day to keep ourselves hydrated and its important to heed that advice if you are embarking on a detox diet. Water easily and naturally detoxes your body by flushing out impurities when you drink enough of it. Proper water intake can contribute to clearer skin, properly functioning organs, and better digestion, so make sure you drink more than eight glasses of water a day to keep those toxins out of your body.

Sweat It Out

Working yourself into a sweat is a great natural way to rid your body of toxins that are building up. Following an exercise regime, be it running or yoga, is a great way to sweat out the toxins stored in your body fat and tone up for the wedding. Another way of flushing the toxins via perspiration is to go for a sauna. Spend 10 to 15 minutes in a sauna once or twice a week to get the toxins out through perspiration. Do take precaution when you go for a sauna. Listen to what your body is telling you; if you feel faint or unwell after entering one, don’t persist in staying longer and exit the sauna, especially for anyone with a lung or heart medical condition, low blood pressure or tends to get light-headed easily.

Whether you choose to sweat it out through exercise or a sauna, do aim to perspire for at least 15 minutes a day to rid your body of toxins. Remember to also hydrate yourself adequately after perspiring to replenish the water in your body.

Eat Clean

Every successful detox diet begins with a change in eating habits. Processed foods and foods made of simple carbohydrates, white sugar and flour are easy to eat, tasty and relatively cheap. But they are not the best kinds of food for a healthy and svelte body. Processed foods are usually loaded with preservatives and chemicals, which can build up in your intestines as toxins over a period of time, slowing your body’s natural detoxification process down. They are also usually higher in fat and calories, which may be counter-productive for your weight loss plans. Sweet and sugary foods such as cakes, cookies, sweets, and fried food should be avoided in a detox diet as well, as they have little to no nutritional value and contributes only to the burgeoning of your waistline.

Instead, opt for food that come from the earth and are naturally produced, like whole grains, fruits and vegetables to avoid consuming unnecessary preservatives. These also introduce fiber into your system, aiding your digestion and clearing the digestive tract of excess toxins and waste, keeping it healthy and in proper working condition. Try to introduce super foods such as salmon, tuna, avocado, unsalted walnuts and almonds and berries into your diet as well. Rich in antioxidants and important nutrients, these foods help fight off harmful toxins and substances that may compromise our immune system and overall health.

Get Sufficient Sleep

A well rested individual is more likely to shed weight than one who is not getting sufficient sleep. When our body doesn’t get enough rest, we are more likely to give in to temptations and make unhealthy food choices. It also makes us less energetic, which means we may skip planned workout sessions, hindering any weight loss plans.

Therefore, it is important to get at least 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep for our body to rest properly and prepare for the next day’s activities. It also keeps our immune system healthy by allowing our system to cleanse naturally and regularly.

Drink Apple Cider Vinegar

If you google for apple cider vinegar on the Internet, you’ll see a slew of results listing the benefits of drinking or using apple cider vinegar, one of them being weight loss. It is said that drinking a glass of water mixed with one or two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and one (or more) tablespoon of honey over time will result in weight loss gradually. The enzymes and acids in the apple cider vinegar suppresses appetite, resulting in lesser eating and fewer calories consumed. It also contains probiotics that burns fat more quickly by upping your metabolism rate. Aside from weight loss, drinking apple cider vinegar regularly also improves your immune system and digestion, boosts energy and reduces bloat.

For the best results, drink organic, unpasteurised and unfiltered apple cider vinegar with the “mother”, strand-like enzymes of connected protein molecules, present, twice a day, in the morning and evening before meals. Always mix your apple cider vinegar with water or add honey to sweeten the drink as the acidity of the apple cider vinegar may be too strong for some individual and may damage the enamel of your tooth.

But, like the any detox diet, you should not rely on apple cider vinegar to help you lose weight over a short period of time. It is important to understand that the primary objective of any detox is to rid the body of excess and external toxins and chemicals that are introduced into the body through our lifestyle and eating habits. And as a result of changing these habits, individuals may observe a loss in weight or experience an increase in energy due to a more active lifestyle and healthier meal choices. Therefore, brides should look to a detox diet only as a supplement to their current exercise regime and as an extra boost for their weight loss plans.

Credits:
Feature Image: Gayle and Marc’s Bohemian Backyard Wedding at Wheeler’s Estate
6-Pack Juice Cleanse: Hic’Juice’s Facebook

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