Detox Diet Plan - What To Eat

When you look at going on a detox diet plan, there are a lot of strategies you can choose from. Phil and I have tried many different cleanses, although we didn't always see them as cleanses at the time.

Some of these diets can be good as a cleanse and also long term to maintain health, while others are best kept in their place as a shorter term cleanse. The more changes you make to go on a detox diet plan, the more changes you will see in yourself as a result. That doesn't mean drastic changes are necessary, though - even mild changes will give you mild results.

Simplified Diet

Simplifying your diet for a short period can have some great benefits as a cleanse. Stick to fresh fruits and vegetables (raw or lightly cooked by steaming or baking without oil), whole grains (sprouted and/or cooked), raw or sprouted seeds, and legumes (sprouted and/or cooked).

Avoid everything on the elimination list from last week, as well as breads, baked goods and nuts. Avoid combining too many different types of foods together, particularly proteins with starches or fats, or fruits with anything but leafy greens.

Vegan Diet Plan

A vegan diet plan can make a great detox, although it still needs to follow the rule of eliminating processed and refined foods. Many of those unhealthy foods are vegan, but are still quite toxic to your body. As a cleanse, emphasize fresh vegetables and fruit. If you already follow a vegetarian diet plan, try eliminating dairy for a few days or a week.

You might be surprised at the lightness you feel and the symptoms you can eliminate by taking a break from dairy.

Mono-diet

The term mono-diet is usually used to refer to a diet of strictly one food, like only apples all day. Some people take a mono-diet in a macrobiotic direction, sticking to just brown rice, sometimes along with some vegetable or miso soups.

Raw Food

You could also do a detox with all raw foods, or all green vegetables, or all fruits. These aren't technically mono-diets, but follow a similar strategy of drastically simplifying the diet. Raw foods include lots of fresh produce, raw and/or sprouted seeds, legumes and nuts.

Liquid Diet

Some people take a detox approach of having only liquid foods, like smoothies all day, or lots of pureed vegetable soup. These are slightly different than a juice fast, since you're getting the fiber and bulk of the whole foods.

Alkalinity

One thing that these detox diet plans have in common is that they focus on foods that are alkalizing to the body. Since a Western diet is high in acidifying foods (dairy, meat, grains), it makes sense that our most popular detoxes involve reducing that acidity. Alkalinity in foods happens to coincide with the foods that are most detoxifying and least congesting.

When you start a detox diet plan, no matter which route you choose, the important point is to set your rules ahead of time. It makes sticking to them through the process much easier, since you don't have to think about whether or not you're allowed a certain thing. You should still follow the rule of waiting for your stomach to grumble before eating, since it means that your digestive system is ready for more food.

Oh, and if you really want to know more about detox diet plans and other health-related issues, check out the free '7 Vital Lessons For Success On A Healthy Diet Plan '.

Heather Nauta is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist who helps women (and men) get on and stay on a healthy diet and healthy weight loss plan. She shows you how to make simple, fast, incredibly delicious, nutritionally-balanced meals that leave you and your family satisfied and full of energy.

The Best Detox Diet Plan For Fasting

Fasting, although often thought of as a detox, is very different from the simple detox diet plans we've gone through so far. A fast involves little or no actual nourishment for your body, and is much more intense in unleashing stored toxins.

Fasting can be done with juices or broths, or simply water. The best time for fasting is to transition to or from warm weather, like spring or autumn.

Phil and I did a one-day water fast once, with a day or two of green smoothies on either side. I love green smoothie cleanses, and I liked the water fast for most of the day. When it got to the end of the day though, I was totally tapped of energy and decided to have an apple. It was amazing how quickly I got energized from that apple!

By far the most popular fast is the Master Cleanse, which is a drink of lemon, cayenne, ginger and maple syrup several times during the day. I've known a lot of people who have done this cleanse, and they all struggle through it.

I've never tried it myself, but it does have some things going for it. Lemon, cayenne and ginger are all highly cleansing for the blood, and stimulate the digestive system to process whatever might be hanging around in your stomach or colon. One thing to note, though, is that lemonade from a can or a jar is not the stuff to use here. Fresh lemons, or pure lemon juice, is the only way to do this properly.

Some other ways to fast are drinking only herbal teas, drinking only a mineral-rich vegetable broth, or drinking just water. They go a step beyond a detox diet plan in that they have no fiber and barely any calories.

Although fasting can be very effective at pulling toxins from wherever it's stored in your body, there are some good reasons not too fast. If done improperly, fasting can actually make you sick by releasing toxins, but not clearing them from the body.

When toxins are stored, they don't cause any symptoms but if they're released they will wreak havoc and need to be eliminated from the body quickly. There's no fiber to push the toxins out of the colon during a fast, so many people opt for colon hydrotherapy to clean out the bowels.

Also, since the body is cleansing without a maintenance level of nutrients, you can deplete your body of essential nutrients if you fast for too long. As long as you're aware of that and work to replenish your system after a fast, it's not a problem. If it's not taken into account in your fasting plan, it can cause long-term health problems.

Fasting in itself is not a solution for weight loss, since it's too short-term. If carried on for too long, a lack of calories will actually stall your metabolism and prevent you from losing weight. A long-term weight loss diet plan strategy needs to incorporate a moderate diet with restricted - but not eliminated - caloric intake along with exercise.

Fasting can be part of the plan, and is great to use as a kick start or as a periodic cleanse, but starvation is not a long-term strategy for healthy weight loss.

Fasting is not an appropriate solution for people who are malnourished or have nutritional deficiencies. This can mean either people who are underweight, or people who are overweight but are under-nourished with a lack of nutrients.

Other situations where fasting is not recommended include:

Pregnant or lactating

Weak heart, arrhythmias

Low blood pressure

Low immunity

Mental Illness

Pre- and post-surgery

Cold weather

Cancer

Chronic fatigue

Fasts definitely have benefits, and are appropriate in certain situations, but should only be done with supervision and with a proper plan. For those who just want to do a light cleanse on their own, a detox diet plan rather than a fast is a great choice.

The Low Down on Lithium and Alzheimer's Disease

Some readers may already be aware that lithium is a very useful treatment for certain mental illnesses. However very few of them may know that there are different types of lithium compounds available and that the prescribed type is just one of them.

The lithium salts that this article will deal with are used in very small doses and their effects have been linked with slowing the progression of Parkinson's disease, senile dementia and more importantly Alzheimer's disease.

Lithium has three important roles to play in protecting the brain. Firstly, studies have shown that it can actually increase the size of the brain (this counteracts the natural shrinkage that occurs with age) by slowing cell death and degeneration and also by promoting cell growth. Secondly it offers protection against toxins that are known to cause cell damage and nerve misfiring and thirdly helps form proteins that act as a shield further protecting the brain.

However, with Alzheimer's sufferers lithium's role becomes even more important!

It has a role in preventing the build up of amyloid proteins that form the plaques which are the signature of Alzheimer's disease. It also chelates heavy metals (particularly aluminium) so that they can be more easily removed from the body. In fact one researcher believes that lithium remains one of the most potent chelators that we have at our disposal for removing aluminium from the body.

So, with lithium available pharmaceutically, from health shops and over the Internet - which ones would I suggest you consider?

The lithium salts I recommend are far more easily absorbed by the cells of the body than those prescribed pharmaceutically and because of this they are needed in far smaller doses. These supplements are lithium orotate or lithium aspartate (usually orotate) and the dosage I suggest patients take is to start off on 5mg a day and then to build it up to no more than 20mg over several weeks.At dosages of 20mg per day there are very rarely any side effects (as this is 10-20 times lower than the pharmaceutical dose) and a lot to gain - making lithium one of my more highly recommended supplements.

Dr. Steffan H. Abel D.C. has been involved in Chiropractic and healthcare research for over 20 years.

What is Alzheimer's Disease

Through Alzheimer's Disease healthy neurons are destroyed in the brain. This is caused by so-called neuritic plaques (or senile plaques) and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. These can be found in the brain tissue in autopsy. Neuritic plaques consist of worsening neuronal material surrounding deposits of a sticky protein called beta-amyloid.

These abnormalities particles tend to settle in the memory (the brain areas that control the ability to learn a new fact and remember it 30 minutes, or a day later).

This disease can't be stopped and there is no treatment available or natural way to any kind of reversing of the process. In fact it progresses in time.

How Does Someone Get Alzheimer's Disease?

Heredity

There are known cases of heredity. These concern about 5 percent of all Alzheimer's suffering people. Most of these cases are characterized by at least half of the family members developing Alzheimer's at a certain age. Providentially this occurs in very few number of families.

Sporadic

All of the other Alzheimer's disease cases are sporadic. All kinds studies have been conducted to the causes of the disease. Until now there is no relation found to specific eating habits, professional groups, or personality types that should be responsible for the development of Alzheimer's disease.

Risk Factors

If you follow the newspapers, actuality on TV or through the Internet, you'll have seen messages about the newest "risk factors" that have been identified.

More About Risk Factors

We'll give you some examples we collected in spring 2011:

Metabolic Syndrome Increases Risk of Memory Loss Risk in Elderly(February 3, 2011):

Research has proven an increasing risk for memory loss to older people with larger waistlines, high blood pressure and other risk factors that make up metabolic syndrome (having three or more of the following risk factors: high blood pressure, excess belly fat, higher than normal triglycerides - a type of fat found in the blood -, high blood sugar and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, or "good" cholesterol).

Everyone Can Minimize His or Her Risk of Dementia (February 21, 2011):

According to Swedish scientist Laura Fratiglionias one gets older cognitive functioning can be influenced by factors from blood pressure and weight to the degree of physical and mental activity.

Studies find possible new genetic risk factors for Alzheimer's disease (April 4, 2011):

Scientists have confirmed one gene variant and have identified several others that may be risk factors for late-onset Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of this type of dementia.

The gene variant, Apolipoprotein E-e4 (APOE-e4), has been confirmed as an important inheritance risk for the common form of late-onset Alzheimer's disease.

The last few years researchers found additional gene variants of CR1, CLU and PICALM as possible risk factors for late-onset Alzheimer's.

The latest research identified that the gene variants, BIN 1, EPHA 1, MS4A, CD2AP, and CD33 also affect development of late-onset Alzheimer's.

Differences In Brain Anatomy Predict Alzheimer's Disease Risk (April 17, 2011):

Analysis of MRI scans from two separate study groups, have led to the conclusion that, among individuals in whom specific brain structures were thinnest, the risk of developing Alzheimer's was three times higher than in those with above average thickness.

Stress may increase risk for Alzheimer's disease (May 27, 2011):

Together with colleagues at the University of Minho in Braga, Portugal, researchers form the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich have now shown that stress, and the hormones released during stress, can accelerate the development of Alzheimer disease-like biochemical and behavioral pathology. They discovered that the increased release of stress hormones in rats leads to generation of abnormally phosphorylated tau protein in the brain and ultimately, memory loss.

Reliability of These Conclusions

As you probably concluded yourself most of these possible risk factors still are not for sure. Aspects found in rats are an indication but not the prove of the same effects in humans.

We surely will learn more about the disease and the causes after years of studies in which large numbers of individuals are followed from an early age to the age at which probable Alzheimers disease develops.

It still is hard to determine the diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease. Frequently there are tidings about mis-diagnosis of the disease. A really 100% certainty can be established through a post-mortem (thus after the patient is passed away).

How to Avoid Alzheimer's Disease and Senior Care

Alzheimer's disease is a devastating disease - it impairs your ability to reason and judge, remember and record, and carry out even the most routine of daily activities. If you begin to notice symptoms in yourself or a loved one, you may need constant care from a senior care service. Senior care placement can help a lot, but if you are still young, or you notice the beginnings of the disease, you may be able to prolong its effects or avoid it altogether. Here's how:

1. Diet: Folate is apparently a great contributor to a healthy lifestyle, especially in terms of decreasing the risk of Alzheimer's. This B-vitamin is found in green leafy veggies, bananas, oranges, and legumes. But folate is just an example of the benefits of eating more fruits and vegetables;changing your diet will improve your health in other ways too.

2. General Health: Moderation is important. When it comes to healthy living, you can't expect to smoke a pack a day and be healthy. Similarly, drinking to excess isn't good either.

3. Exercise: This tip may conjure visions of the gym, but a quiet walk is all you need to exercise better. Studies show that walking for 45 minutes three times a week for six months may drastically improve your overall health. In a clinical study, those who lifted weights and stretched didn't have any lesser dementia, but the walkers did.

4. Brain exercise: Keeping your brain busy is an important way to maintain mental health. It doesn't have to be calculus - simple things like conversation, playing cards, and going to the movies can lessen your risk of Alzheimer's.

5. Injuries: If you played football when you were younger, chances are you're more likely to have Alzheimer's. Serious injuries that result from not wearing helmets on bikes and motorcycles, your seat belt in the car, or any other protective gear, are closely linked with this ugly disease.

6. Don't Worry, Be Happy: If you often feel sad, anxious, or depressed your chances for Alzheimer's double, studies show. What to do about it? Relax, and if you are depressed, talk to your doctor about medication.

7. Genetics: Don't blame your parents; only about 25% of your genes account for Alzheimer's disease. Diabetes can make you significantly more liable, though.

To prevent Alzheimer's, all it really takes is a healthy lifestyle. Eat well, walk around, read a lot, sleep, relax, and take care of yourself. You may have to make some minor (or major) lifestyle tweaks, but it's never too late to start. And if you see signs of Alzheimer's in your body or a loved one's, you can see a doctor for medical care, and senior care for tips on how to live with your disease.