By: Vasavdatta Gandhi, Director at Millennium Herbal Care
From traditional costumes to ethnic art forms and food preparations, you are in for a treat during the festive season. From namkeen snacks to plates full of mithais, to appetizers to alcohol, people have indulged in them all. As the festive celebrations come to an end so the festive food and it is time to get back to your usual diet and also look at starting a detox diet. It is recommended to check your weight as well as your cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
Detoxifying helps you to cleanse your system and eliminate toxins absorbed from all the calorie-laden foods you had in the festive season. Simplifying your diet allows your body to redirect its energies to mobilizing and releasing accumulated toxins. Ayurveda recommends various therapeutic measures and diet regimes to clear the channels in your body of toxins (ama) that may have built up over time. The detoxify diet involves eating or restricting certain foods based on your dosha, or body type, which is claimed to speed up your metabolism and enhance your overall health.
Here are a few Detox tips:
1. Hydrate Well
Drink warm water frequently to flush out all the toxins from your body
2. Daily routine – Dinacharya
Start your day with tongue scraping, oil pulling, dry brushing and Abhyanga (Body massage).
Following morning Dinacharya: all assist in detoxification, pH balance, lymph/blood circulation and deep nourishment.
3. Detoxifying Diet or Anti-Ama Diet
Eat more pungent, bitter, astringent flavours of diet. Consume fresh fruits, veggies and dry nuts. Choose foods like khichdi, porridge, soups and salads which are light on your digestive system. Avoid foods which are loaded with fat, sugar, hydrogenated oils, salt, and a large number of calories.
4. Yoga Detox
Yoga poses helps to stoke digestive fire, support the body’s seven channels of elimination (skin, liver, kidney, colon, blood, lymphatic system and lungs) and helps to increase cellular metabolism.
5. Therapeutic Herbs
Ayurveda reverse a surprising number of herbs and spices for their ability to digest and eliminate Ama. Herbs like Bhumyamalaki, Kutki, Neem and Guduchi and spices like Turmeric, Ginger, Cinnamon, Balck Pepper enhance our bodies own ability to detoxify. Loaded with antioxidants these medicinal herbs also promote cellular defense and protect your body from various disease aliments. Incorporating colon cleansing herbs like Amlaki, Haritaki, Bibhitaki and Trivrita helps in removing all the toxins from the colon and strengthening the digestive system.
The practice of cleansing is considered a vital part of an Ayurvedic lifestyle. It provides an important means of clearing accumulated waste and toxicity from the mind and the tissues, encouraging optimal health. Having said, Ayurveda does not subscribe to over-doing your work-outs, regularity and sustained over a period of time along with the goodness of this ancient science can ensure your holistic health and fitness without burning out. With these tips included in your regime, you can now optimally achieve your fitness targets.
