By Deena Hamza

As promised, here is Dr. Gillian’s one-day detox diet!

Taken from Dr. Gillian McKeith’s YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT: The Plan That Will Change Your Life. For the detoxification process to work properly, you should not starve yourself. You will simply give your organs a holiday from what you normally eat. You will cut out the naughty foods, add lots of good foods that cleanse your organs and facilitate the expulsion of toxins from your body. And as a result you will brim with vitality and energy.

7:00 am WARM LEMON WATER

Squeeze some fresh lemon into warm water as desired. Warm water with lemon allows a gentle start to the day, as it goes straight through to the bowels, helping to expel fecal matter from the day before, (Cold water, first thing in the morning, shocks and stops at the tummy, thus creating gas or bloating.)

7:30 am LINSEED

Choose from:

• Place 2 heaped teaspoons of organic linseeds in a large glass of filtered water.
• Soak 1 tablespoon of linseeds in a cup of boiling water the night before. Drink only the liquid in the morning.

8:00 am BREAKFAST

Choose from:

• Fruit. Your breakfast fruit should be served at room temperature. Eat enough so that you are not hungry and chew it really well. Avoid oranges or orange juice as they are too acidic. If you opt for grapes, don’t mix them with anything else, chooses from: apples, pears, papayas, pineapples, cherries, peaches, plums, watermelons, apricots, berries.
• Miso soup
• Vegetable juice, made up of 1 cucumber, ¼ piece of root ginger (peeled), 4 celery stalks, ½ cup alfalfa sprouts, 3 sprigs of parsley, and carrot (peeled)

9:30 am TEA BREAK: DRINK A CUP OR TWO OF HERBAL TEA

During this Detox Day, we will take several tea breaks. After all, what would we do without our tea breaks? So this day is no different. I have built in a number of them for your sipping pleasure. Nutritionally speaking, though, my tea breaks will be nourishing, healing and will enhance the detox. You will need to choose from the list of teas that I tell you, You cannot drink your caffeine-laden black tea, but you can drink: nettle, dandelion, camomile, sage, or Echinacea teas.

10:00 am FRUIT JUICE BREAK

Choose seasonal fruit, freshly squeezed or pressed with your juicer, if it’s winter and/or you feel chilly, and then add some boiling hot water to the juice. If you are getting rather hungry mid-morning, then please make more juices for yourself.

12:30 pm LUNCH

You’ve made it so far. And i bet you’re doing just fine.

• Now here’s lunch.
• Choose from the following:
• Raw salad with sprouts
• Raw Mint Cucumber soup (juice of 3 cucumbers and 2 celery sticks, ¼ cup chopped mint leaves, ¼ fresh chopped parsley, ¼ leek finely chopped)
• Raw sauerkraut

Grain such as millet, quinoa, rice, amaranth – After cooking the grain add one or more of the following raw herbs to mix with it: dill, chives, chervil, or dandelion leaves. Serve with a side dish or broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, cucumber, dark green lettuce leaves, celery or Brussels sprouts.

2:00 pm HERBAL TEA BREAK

2:30 pm DR.MCKEITH’S VEGGIE DETOX JUICE

COOL CARROTMANIA

This is delightful and very nourishing to the liver.

6 carrots, 2 celery stalks and 1 apple.

(Try a version without apple too.)

BEETROOT BLAST

½ beetroot, 2 carrots, 1 celery stalk, ½ small cucumber

COOL CUCUMBER

2 whole cucumbers, ¼ – ½ beetroot, a dill sprig

CUCUMBER MEDLEY

2 cucumbers, 4 celery stalks, ¼ piece of root ginger (optional), sprig of basil or coriander

This is my favourite

GREENS TO GO

A handful of parsley, 1 kale leaf, 5 carrots and a tiny piece of root ginger

CELERY ENERGY

2 celery stalks, a handful of parsley, 1 garlic clove, 5 carrots, ½ cup alfalfa sprouts (optional but great if you do)

3:00 pm HERBAL TEA BREAK

3:30 PM IT’S SNACK TIME!

• Snack on sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and/or raw sauerkraut.
• 4:00 pm DR.GILLIAN’S DELECTABLE VEGGIE SMOOTHIE
• 6 carrots (with tops if possible)
• 1 soft avocado
• 10 basil leaves
• 1 apple
• 1 lemon slice

Juice the carrots and apple through a juicer. Add to other ingredients and blend in a blender or food processor. Squeeze a dash of lemon into the drink.

5:30 pm DINNER

You are almost finished for the day. You can now eat a hearty raw salad with a handful of raw sprouts. Plus, add a small amount of grain if feeling really hungry,

6:30 pm POTASSIUM BROTH BREAK

You are doing very well, keep it up.

Ingredients:

• 2 large potatoes
• 2 carrots
• 1 cup red beets (optional)
• 4 celery stalks with leaves
• 1 cup parsley
• 1 cup turnips
• A pinch of cayenne, to taste

Fill saucepan with approximately 1.8 L of water. Slice vegetables directly into water, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat. Cover and cook on a low temperature (a very light simmer) for 2 hours or so. Strain the vegetables and drink only the broth.

7:30 pm WARM WATER WITH LEMON BREAK

Just squeeze fresh lemon into a teacup with warm or hot water and drink.

8:15 pm DRY SKIN BRUSH

Using a dry skin brush [like a loofah, see earlier article on hygiene] smoothly brush the soles of feet, working your way up the legs, then up the arms and down the back. Brush in long sweeping movements towards your heart, as it increases circulation and improves skin tone and texture. Always brush lightly and gently, and avoid broken skin, thread veins and varicose veins

8:30 pm YOUR REWARD: MINERAL BATH

You made it this far; you deserve an accolade. An amazing bath is your reward. Once the bath is filled with water, add the following (all available from health food stores):

• 2 teaspoons flax oil
• Some liquid minerals
• 1 teaspoon liquid silica
• 2 teaspoons aloe vera
• 3 or 4 drops each of essential oils of frankincense and myrrh

9:00 pm THOSE LATE-NIGHT MUNCHIES

Munch on lettuce and celery stalks before bedtime. (Celery is loaded with the mineral magnesium, one of the most calming nutrients.) Go to bed early (between 9:30 pm and 10:30 pm) if you can.

Give it a try, you’ve got nothing to lose.