How to do a liquid diet

Going on a liquid diet for a period of time is a good way to give your body time to heal. It must be a healthy diet of liquids that are easily digestible.

A diet of water, fresh juices, smoothies, herbal teas and other pure liquids has many benefits for your health and longevity.

A good liqiud diet could be considered a modified fast. It is safer and more doable than fasting for many people, because of the less drastic side effects of detox. Basically what you are doing is giving your digestive system a break, while at the same time nourishing it with the vitamins it needs to speed up the healing process.

Your body immediately starts flushing out toxins and waste that has been deposited and might be building up in your digestive system and colon. Depending on the state of your health, this process can take a short or long time - anywhere from days to months. Many people choose to do a liquid "fast" for 7 days to 30 days. You could keep up this diet for many months without any harmful effects (as long as you are drinking the right things).

A liquiddiet is not recommended for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, and talk to your doctor if you have serious health conditions which might be a concern.


It is important to do your liquid diet properly and no what kind of liquids you should and should not consume.

Drinking the wrong fluids could do your body more harm than good.


Drink

• Freshly pressed fruit and vegetable juices (ones that you have made yourself, or ordered at a fresh juice bar)

• Raw smoothies from only raw fruits, vegetables, their juices, cold-pressed oils, seed and nut milks (for ease of digestion and faster results)

Supplements such as an antioxidant blend, herbal medicine, spirulina etc may be added to the smoothie. Don't add protein powder to your smoothie on a liquid diet. A study found that people who consumed protein drinks on a liquid diet damaged their systems instead of healing.

• Kombucha tea - this is a raw fermented tea which has a sweet, vinegary taste and a light carbonation. Usually available at health food stores or whole food markets.

• Herbal tisanes, infusions and decoctions.

• Pure water (do not drink tap water!) Optimally drink spring water (Find your local spring and gather it for free!), or water that has been filtered through a high quality filter.

• Apple cider vinegar and honey drink - mix one tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar and 1 tbsp raw unpasteurized honey in a mug of warm water and drink. If you find this too sour, add only 1 tsp of each.

• Supplements in capsule or tablet form with your water or juice. This may include herbal medicines, vegetable, herb and/or antioxidant powder blends, spirulina/chlorella, any other pure super food or supplement *(please check the ingredients to make sure there are no preservatives, sugar, or artificial additives). Choose vegetarian capsules when you can, as gelatine capsules can be more difficult for your body to digest.



Liquids to avoid

• Coffee, tea, or any caffeinated drink

• Protein shakes

• Energy drinks

• Any form of alcohol (I hope this one is obvious!)

• Processed drinks of any kind, such as store bought fruit juice or any boxed and bottled drinks

• Any liquified food that is not plant based such as: eggs, cooked grains, milk, ice cream, pudding, canned soup, etc.



Coming off the Liquid Diet.

Come off the liquid diet gently. Be careful, because what you eat afterwards could undo many days and weeks of cleansing and healing.

Choose easily absorbed and digestible foods, the following would be great choices:

• Raw fruits, leafy greens and sprouts

• Steamed vegetables

• Cooked whole grains (brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat)

• Cooked squash and root vegetables (butternut squash, pumpkin, sweet potato, beets, carrots, turnip, etc.)

• Avocados, they help the digestion and apsorption of food.

• Foods rich in probiotics, such as kefir, live yogurt, fermented foods (sauerkraut, kombucha, miso, cultured vegetables)

Try raw ginger as a remedy for eating the wrong food after a liquid diet.

Myths about the Liquid Diet.

1. Green Tea is a healthy choice for a liquid diet. False. Green tea contains beneficial antioxidants, which is good to drink with meals, in moderation. On its own it has too much caffeine which dehydrates the body and is a harsh stimulant.

2. Citrus and grapefruit for a liquid diet. False. Pasteurized orange juice and grapefruit juice is not your healthiest choice for a liquid diet. Both are much lower in nutrients than their fresh counterparts. The citric acids can eat away at the lining of your intestines and kill the good bacteria - leaving you feeling hungry and sick.

3. A liquid diet is a guaranteed way to lose weight fast, and keep it off. False. If you do a fad liquid diet, you starve yourself of calories, and can lose weight fast in a short period of time. Unfortunatley, it's your health that pays the price. Your metabolism is out of whack, your hormones are out of balance

4. A liquid diet should consist of any type of liquids. False. Any diet can technically be a "liquid diet", but that doesn't' necessarily make it healthy or even safe. When consuming only liquids and sparing your body of digestion work, it is vulnerable to absorb more. Naturally, you want it to absorb beneficial nutrients, not toxins or products that create waste. Many people consciously choose a liquid diet for ease of digestion, as a medical recommendation. It's counterintuitive then to choose foods that won't be easily digested, and that will actually keep building up and adding to the blockage in your intestines and colon.