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Topics Covered

• How to begin to reintroduce foods after your 21 Day Clean Program is complete
• How to deal with emotional attachment to foods
• Toxic triggers and how to address them
• Practical alternatives to foods that cause toxic triggers

Friend up Dhrumil and friend up John on my.cleanprogram.com

When the Whole Body Action Plan began, Dr. Alejandro Junger, an integrative physician at the Eleven Eleven Wellness Center, shared a detox plan that attempts to change the way we look, feel, and think about food.

Cleansing and detoxing is a powerful tool; when used wisely, it can help you return to a state of well-being. We are living in toxic times, where the air, water, food, and other products we consume are loaded with toxic chemicals that can cause disease.

Dr. Junger’s detox program consists of a designated period when one eats and behaves in a way that maximizes the work of the body’s detox systems and provides the nutrients necessary to support their cleansing work.

So how do you keep your newly cleansed body in tip-top shape?

Avoid Toxic Triggers
Once you’ve completed a detox regimen, you will discover what your “toxic triggers” are as you reintroduce these foods to your diet. Gluten, bread, milk, coffee, processed sugar, and alcohol are common culprits; you will notice that they now cause you discomfort — such as foggy thinking, infrequent bowel movements, stomach aches, bloating, or puffy skin. Items that cause mild or no reaction can be introduced and reintegrated into the diet as foods you eat occasionally; items that cause a moderate to major reaction should be eliminated from the diet.

Eat Real Foods
Stay away from “food-like products” — if your great great grandparents would not recognize an item as food, don’t eat it. Try to fill at least 50 percent of your diet with raw and uncooked fruits, nuts, seeds, and sprouts. Grow as much of your own food as possible and pick organic items at the store. Remember: Nothing tastes as good as being healthy feels.

You’ve probably heard about intense detoxification regimens that demand much in the way of discipline without offering much in the way of taste or satisfaction.

Detox doesn’t have to be that way, says Dr. Alejandro Junger, author of “Clean” and creator of the detox program for our Whole Body Action Plan. True, you do need to limit your diet and forego certain indulgences before and during your detox. (Get a list of foods to include and avoid.) Our program calls for four days of light lunches and liquid breakfasts and dinners, which allow your digestive system to focus on driving out toxins.

However, there’s no reason those nutrients can’t come in a fresh, flavorful package. For liquid meals, try a Mango Smoothie or Fennel and Apple Juice, as prepared on “The Martha Stewart Show” by Martha and Dr. Junger. For lunch, see our detox-friendly lunch recipes.

Robert Thurman is an influential and prolific American Buddhist writer and academic who has authored, edited or translated many books on Tibetan Buddhism.

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