Rather than a weight lose diet, detoxing is simply a very healthy way of eating, combined with retraining yourself to undo bad habits. Although dropping a size is not a primary aim of detoxing, it should lead to a better functioning body that will discard any unnecessary weight if it needs to. People who have tried detoxing say they feel much healthier, have experienced improved blood cholesterol or found their skin has improved, their eyes sparkle and cellulite beginning to disappear.

Your aim is to decongest the intestine and promote a healthy body by following some very simple guidelines. It is recommended that you cut out coffee, tea, dairy products and intense proteins like red meat. It is believed that these foods are acid forming and harmful to good health because the body is mostly alkaline in composition.

You should eat nutrient rich fresh food and ditch processed foods, sugar, salt and additives. The vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibre in fresh food restore your body to peak health, aid digestion and boost your immunity. Detoxing is generally recommended for 28 days at a time, and as long as you stick to a detox plan for 80 per cent of the time, you should get the results you are looking for.

Detoxing made easy!

Ten top tips for detoxing:

1. Organic food reduces your intake of toxins such as pesticide residues. If you cant afford to go fully organic, stick to organic salads or fruit to avoid the pesticides in intensive farming.

2. Keep a healthy treat to hand. This way you will avoid the temptations of naughty snacks like chocolate and crisps.

3. Cook food in bulk, particularly things that can be time consuming like brown rice or veggies curries. Then you can simply reheat it when you come in from work.

4. Water helps flush toxins out of the body, so drink about six to eight glasses a day. Herbal and fruit teas, and fruit juices all count.

5. During an intensive detox, avoid meat, fish, dairy, wheat, sugar, eggs, caffeine or fried foods. But you can eat poultry, fish and low-fat dairy products as part of a healthy eating plan.

 6. Don’t deprive yourself of treats as this could trigger a binge. But do try and limit your consumption. Just one square of chocolate a day should stop your cravings.

7. Eating detox foods will give you a regular supply of vitamins but you can take a daily multivitamin and mineral supplement too. A milk thistle supplement can also help your liver detoxify.

8. Fresh produce is the best for you and seasonal, locally produced food is best for the environment. Shopping little and often gives you a stock of really fresh ingredients.

9. Stick to the 80/20 rule – detoxing for 20 per cent of the time and enjoying other foods for the remaining 20 per cent.

10. Foods such as apples, avocados, beans, lentils, broccoli, carrots, garlic, strawberries and watercress have very useful detox properties thanks to their high levels of antioxidants.

Supplements and herbs mentioned in this article are available to buy online now:

Milk thistle
Multivitamin