One of the most common cleansing diets is a detox diet. This is a diet that will release the toxins in the body that have been stored in the fat cells and will allow the body to excrete them and cleanse your body.

Why use a cleansing diet? This is used to eliminate toxins and other contaminants from the body. The main purposes of doing this is to:

Improve health
Feel more energetic
Improve immunity
Improve your mental condition
Aid in digestion
Help with weight loss

There are various ways to do this.

You can do a complete fast. This would entail not eating or drinking at all.

Just drink water. This would be not eating or drinking anything but water.

Just drink water and juice-the same as above accept you would be adding juice.

Eat certain foods-some diets will consist of just vegetables and fruits others will be just liquids. There are many variations on this.

Use herbs: Herbal cleansing has been used since ancient times. Certain herbs are used as cleansing medicines to release and excrete toxins from the body.

Reduce calories: Some cleansing diets are used to reduce calories and aid in weight loss.

The most common diet is one composed mainly of fruits and vegetables. Preferably these should be raw, unmodified and unprocessed. More water is recommended and complete absence of alcohol.

However cleansing diets are not without side effects. If done rapidly the toxins can be released into the bloodstream more quickly than the body can get rid of them. This condition is known as Herxheimer reaction.

This can result in:
· Headaches
· Muscle pain
· Weakness
· Insomnia
· Irritability
Herxheimer reaction: this is the name given to the body’s condition when detoxification is occurring too rapidly and the body is not being given enough time to excrete the toxins. Some detox diets will produce this effect. This often leads to people abandoning their cleansing diets thinking that the diet is making them more sick. In actual fact if they continue with their diet the symptoms diminish and they will feel healthier.

Here are some ways that people have tried to lessen the symptoms of Herxheimer reaction:

· Drinking as much pure water as they can-this in effect will help the body flush out any toxins.

· Taking more exercise-this will improve circulation and help the body work more efficiently. This could help the body work more efficiently and excrete the toxins faster.

· Getting more sunlight

· Detox baths

· Excessive sweating-with saunas, baths and use of herbs

· Avoiding refined processed foods and toxic environmental chemicals

· Aromatherapy oils are used to help aches and pains brought on by rapid detoxification

Cleansing diets have been used from ancient times and can often help you to improve your health and make you feel better. Some people do these diets on a regular basis others more seldom. However you want to do these diets you should exercise care and possibly consult your doctor before commencing on one as sometimes side effects can be severe. If you have any underlying disease especially metabolic ones such as diabetes then it is very necessary to consult your Doctor before trying any type of cleansing diets.

Newspapers have reported on the drawbacks of having a diet high in fat. High-fat diet has been linked to high cholesterol and ultimately to heart attacks. Hence, people have started avoiding beef and eggs. But cholesterol is not bad. Our body needs it to protect nerves and build new cells and hormones. It is only when we include foods like pizzas, burgers, ice creams, steaks or any food containing animal product that the problem starts. Excess cholesterol settles along the walls of the arteries and can clog them thus, restricting blood flow. This gives rise to angina, heart attack or stroke. It has also been shown that high cholesterol leads to gallstones. There are two types of cholesterol called good cholesterol or HDL and bad cholesterol or LDL. LDL is the cholesterol that clogs the arteries and should be lower while HDL scours the artery walls and removes the harmful LDL and should be higher.

Doctors recommend reducing and avoiding high-fat diets containing meat, eggs and dairy products. But you can use the following home remedies for treatment:

• Increase the intake of Vitamin E: It is advised to increase your intake of Vitamin E to 400 international units to prevent the oxidation of bad cholesterol where the cholesterol hardens into the arterial plaque thus giving rise to heart attack. It also raises the level of HDL. You can include Vitamin E as dietary sources or include vegetable oils, nuts or grains in your diet.

• Eat your breakfast: People who skip the breakfast have higher cholesterol levels than those who have breakfast everyday. This is because they tend to eat unhealthy foods which are high in fats.

• Eat small meals frequently: Large meals have been shown to release a large amount of insulin, which in turn stimulates the production of the enzymes that increases cholesterol production by the liver. But eating small frequent meals without increasing the total calories will limit the insulin production and thus controls the cholesterol and in turn heart diseases.

• Add Vitamin C to your diet: Though other vitamins and minerals play an important role in the cholesterol production, Vitamin C is the most crucial vitamin for cholesterol control. It increases HDL levels and is very beneficial if you get it from fruits and vegetables, since they have a special fiber called pectin. It surrounds the cholesterol and flushes it out of the digestive system before it gets into the blood. Include fruits like citrus fruits, tomatoes, potatoes, strawberries, apples and spinach which are rich in vitamin C and pectin.

• Increase garlic intake: Taking seven cloves of garlic a day will reduce cholesterol levels significantly. If you cannot stand the normal garlic, then you can opt for odorless garlic pills, which are available in local health stores.

• Skip decaf: Avoid decaffeinated coffee since it has been shown to raise LDL levels. This is because the beans used for decaf are far stronger than the normal beans.

• Munch grapes: Grapes and their products have a compound which lowers cholesterol significantly. So you can increase your intake of grapes, grape juice and wine to decrease your cholesterol level.

• Have grapefruit: Grapefruit contains pectin which reduces cholesterol significantly. Hence, people who consume grapefruits show a marked decline of cholesterol over 7 percent after two months of consumption.

• Eat beans: Lima beans, kidney beans, navy beans, soybeans and other legumes have been shown to lower cholesterol as they have a high amount of pectin. Research has shown that people who consume about 11/2 cup of cooked beans a day have decreased their cholesterol levels by 20 percent within three weeks.

• Splurge on carrots: Carrots have plenty of pectin, the most useful type of fiber for lowering cholesterol. Having about 2 to 3 carrots a day will reduce cholesterol levels by 10 to 20 percent.