Your Healthier Options ....

If you're feeling generally under the weather, physical and emotional toxins maybe to blame. Amanda Hamilton and Sandy Newbigging, authors of Life Detox, share their tips to get you started

1. Avoid eating wheat

This means cutting out biscuits, bread, cakes and pasta and checking the labels on the food you buy, because wheat is found in many processed foods. Even if you are not intolerant to wheat, it remains one of the most difficult foods to digest. Instead, eat oatcakes, rice cakes, rye bread, wheat-free bread, rice, quinoa, buckwheat and spelt.


2. Avoid dairy

That means milk, cheese, ice cream and cream. Don't worry about your calcium intake; you get more calcium from green vegetables! Small amounts of butter and eggs are fine. Instead of cow's milk drink soya milk, rice milk, quinoa milk, oat milk or almond milk and eat soya yoghurts. Goat's products, such as feta cheese, can still be eaten in moderation.



One of the ways in which animals remove toxins is through their milk, which is why dairy products contain toxins. The average cow is given chemicals designed to make it gain weight faster. The toxic cocktail includes steroids and antibiotics as well as pesticide residues.



3. Choose organic

Organic produce is free from pesticides and harmful addictives. It is also cultivated according to the principles that ensure it contains more vitamins and minerals than non-organically farmed food.



4. Avoid additives

Do not consume food or drink that contains artificial sweeteners, colouring, flavouring and preservatives. This is 'fake' food that the body does not recognise and it therefore becomes toxic.



5. Read the label

If packaged food includes hydrogenated fats, do not eat it. Trans-fats, the dangerous by-product of the chemical process to create hydrogenated fats, are found in most processed foods yet have been deemed so dangerous that some countries (and, at the time of writing, the city of New York) are banning their use. They are deemed to be carcinogenic (cancer forming) and can promote heart disease.



6. Cut down on meat

If you choose to eat meat then buy the absolute best you can afford by opting for organic. Bacon tends to contain a lot of salt, so be careful to eat it only very occasionally. As an alternative, try beans, peas and lentils and tofu. They are cheap and easy to cook. Be inspired by some of the Life Detox recipes.