Liver Cleansing Menu / Detox

LIVER CLEANSING and DETOX DIET MENU

Why Detox 
This diet is designed to  give your organs and digestive track a rest and recuperate by removing all the things that make it work hard.  Given our highly processed, high fat, salt and sugar diet and compromised food chains, it is good to do this once or twice a year to get your body back to basics. Some people lose weight on this, especially if on it more than two weeks, but it isn't especially low fat.  It is however full of all the right fats. 

The theory is that if your organs and digestion is in good shape then good fats (and even a moderate level of highly processed and fatty foods on occasion) are processed effectively out of the body. But if your digestion and organs are already clogged then the body is not as efficient and instead of being eliminated it ends up as fat deposits on your body or in your arteries.  That's not to mention all of the other health problems additives like artificial sweeteners and preservatives can do, so flushing your system puts our organs and digestive track back in better working order.

If you have a particularly bad diet then this should be followed as an 8 week program and hopefully will create new habits and tastes leading to a long term better eating lifestyle. 

General Rules

* to really boost this diet take a total detox supplement (liver, gall bladder, kidney etc) but ask a private naturopath or a qualified naturopath at a reputable chemist which supplement system to take - some can actually poison you if not gentle enough!  If you just want to liver cleanse, take Dr Sandra Cabot's formula.

• 1/2  lemon juice in a glass of water first thing in morning to start daily cleanse and start to alkalise digestive PH
• Carrot, celery, beetroot and parsley juice each morning after lemon juice (add apple or pineapple to sweeten if needed)
• 40% of daily food intake  should be raw  (salads, fruit, raw nuts and seeds etc - note nuts should be raw and not roasted)
• 2 litres of water and or green tea
• no dairy    
• no red meat    
• no wheat  (be careful of cereals, breads, pastas and flours.  Substitutes are available but read labels carefully)           
• no deep fried foods or processed foods with lots of additives - stay as natural as possible. 
• use olive oil, safflower oil or any other cold pressed oil for dressings and drizzling.  Use Organic coconut oil for stir frying. Poaching in stock or coconut milk/cream is a good cooking alternative to frying in oil or deep frying.
• no artificial colours, flavours, sweeteners or preservatives (minimise HVP - Hydrolysed Vegetable Protein)
• no refined sugar   (honey, xylitol, stevia all good - xylitol is very difficult to distinguish from sugar and has no aftertaste.  It can be used measure for measure as sugar in baking.  Most cost effective to buy by the scoop/s from Mrs Flannery )       
• wholemeal over more refined  e.g unhulled tahini, brown rice     
• a small amount of a good quality pot set plain yogurt is OK but not a whole tub   
• no more than 2 cups coffee/day made from grounds,  not instant.  If decaf,  make sure  it is water extracted/filtered
• preferably no alcohol but not more than 4 glasses of wine or white spirit/week (not all at once) 
• Organic and free range wherever possible.  (read my page on "Why organic and free range")
• Check labels on EVERYTHING!!!!
• For every time you break the diet in a major way you need to add two days e.g having 3 or more alcoholic drinks in one day or having a McDonald's meal or a big fried meal.  A dollop of sour cream, extra cup of coffee or a square of chocolate because you think you're going to die is permissible if it means you won't throw the whole diet in.  But try not to make it a daily habit - it can be a slippery slope!

This is based on a 4 week diet - could be hard for some families. However, use ordinary bread and pasta in place of the modified versions.  If BBQ for dinner you can feed the rest of family any meat or sausage. 

If four weeks is too hard yakka, modify to a minimum of two weeks  twice a year.
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Anything you don't like just substitute with another option- I don't eat canned tuna but that is a great substitute if you do.

Make a conventional and health food shop shopping list.  Mrs Flannery is a great store for everything.  Coles and Woolworths now also have good organic ranges in the health food isle and also in canned goods - beans, tomatoes, corn etc

If take away or restaurant ask for as little oil as possible.  Not ideal because some rules will be broken but unavoidable if you have a life!  Thai, Greek or Lebanese are easiest for eating out. e.g  Lebanese or Greek vegetarian platter with chicken shish kebabs will work or any coconut curry like a massaman curry is fine or chicken pad Thai.  Avoid the Lebanese bread and spring rolls!

** I am currently typing up and uploading all the recipes for the dinners in the below menu.  Keep checking the Recipes sub-section under the Health & Well Being tab on this blog.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
Breakfast	Muesli or rolled oats & Soy milk (rice milk is OK. avoid brands with added cane sugar)	Fruit & rice bread toast with avocado / peanut butter/vegimite & soy milk latte	Baked beans on rice bread toast (coles organic baked beans are good)
Lunch	Mediterranean Chicken  salad with antipasto marinated veggies * most Woolworths sell a BBQ free range chicken	Vietnamese chicken & veggie rice rolls	Chicken / prawn sushi or Vietnamese rice rolls
Dinner	Chicken,  & rattitoui  vegetable pasta (soyaroni or gluten free/rice pasta)	Grilled fish in foil on BBQ or oven baked.  Mix up a chermoulta of fresh parsley, coriander, garlic and lemon juice and spoon over fish before closing the foil firmly)	Thai chicken curry (Valcom thai green curry paste & Woolworths organic light coconut cream - follow directions on jar). used steamed brown rice or Basmati
Snacks	Home made carrot cake or muffin made on buckwheat flour or flour less orange and almond cake	baba ganoush dip and raw veggies (buy fresh from a Lebanes shop or a preservative free eggplant dip in deli or supermarket)	Home made carrot cake or muffin made on buckwheat flour or flour less orange and almond cake
	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Breakfast	Boiled or poached egg and rice bread toast (drizzle with olive oil instead of butter	Pan sauteed mushrooms in drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette on rice bread toast	Buckwheat Pancakes with strawberries & maple syrup
Lunch	Felafel and chicken salad (if from kebab shop ask for it as a salad ) * Coles sell a frozen felafel brand with no junk ingredients and in the pre -packaged deli meat section Woolworths sell a brand called "Bite me".	Corn cakes (organic available in supermarket cracker section) with avocado, chicken, tomato & capsicum with no flat bread - small amount of yogurt dressing or sauce is OK)	Three bean, champion and mushroom hot dish with salad
Dinner	Chicken enchilada/nachos filling with plain yogurt and salsa - have a few plain organic corn chips!	BBQ Atlantic Salmon & steamed Vegetables(preferably real Atlantic and not Tasmanian salmon which is contaminated.  Frozen fillets only source available in Aust - check box for country of origin.  Aldi's is from Norway)	Chicken Casserole of any type with approved ingredients and smashed potatoes
Snacks	Hummus and raw veggie sticks	Fruit and nut bar	raw nuts & seeds
	Sunday
Breakfast	2 egg omelette with mushroom, capsicum, tomato & wilted spinach
Lunch	Crunchy Asian salad with chicken
Dinner	Roast Chicken Dinner with roasted veggies. * make gravy from a gluten free/wheat free gravy mix from health food isle.
Snacks	Fruit, raw nuts