Do you frequently feel tired, sluggish and bloated? Does your hair look dull and lifeless, your skin lack sparkle, and is the waistband on your jeans a little too tight?
If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, it could be a sign that your system is in need of a spring clean. Late nights, stress, processed food and too much alcohol can overload the liver, kidneys and digestive tract, which are responsible for removing toxins.
Our 48-hour detox plan doesn’t involve fasting, calorie counting or needing to prepare complicated meals – it’s based around fresh, nutritious, cleansing and restorative foods that are easy to digest.
It’s designed to boost your intake of antioxidants and beneficial gut bacteria, which help combat the damaging effects of toxins and strengthen the immune system.
It’ll leave you feeling cleansed, energised and ready to face life with renewed enthusiasm.
How to make a detox work for you
Schedule your detox for the weekend or over two days when you don’t have any other commitments. Before you start, get organised. Stock up on the ingredients you’ll need and prepare the muesli, fruit compote and soup the day before.
Try to drink at least 1.8 litres of water (eight to 10 glasses) each day to help flush out the kidneys.
If you find it boring, try adding slices of cucumber and some fresh mint, or slices of strawberry with fresh basil. Replace tea and coffee with green, herbal or fruit tea.
The plan includes a little live yoghurt each day to help recolonise the gut bacteria. If you don’t eat dairy products, take a supplement containing acidophilus or bifidus bacteria.
Saturday
On waking: A mug of hot water with 1 slice of fresh lemon and 2 slices of fresh ginger.
Breakfast: Put 3 tbsp sugar-free muesli in a bowl, add 200ml oat or almond milk, cover and chill overnight. To serve, add a coarsely grated apple, a handful of blueberries and 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt.
Mid-morning: 1 apricot and almond bite: blitz 100g almonds, add 90g chopped ready-to-eat apricots, 50g dates, 2 tbsp porridge oats and 3 tbsp peanut butter, and process until the mixture starts to clump together. Roll into small balls and coat with 35g desiccated coconut. Chill for at least 1 hour to firm up.
Lunch: Carrot and peanut salad (see recipe), followed by a pomegranate and kiwifruit salad (peel and slice 1 large kiwifruit; mix with the seeds of 1 pomegranate) and a small pottle of live yoghurt.
Mid-afternoon: 1 tbsp red pepper hummus on 1 rice cake.
Evening: Avocado (is your avocado not ripe yet? Here’s how to ripen it in minutes) and prawn tabbouleh (see recipe), followed by orange slices sprinkled with ½ tsp ground cinnamon.
Dessert: 2 Medjool dates.
Carrot and peanut salad
1 Peel and coarsely grate 1 large carrot.
2 Whisk together 2 tbsp orange juice, ½ tsp balsamic vinegar, 1 crushed small garlic clove and 1 tbsp sesame oil.
3 Roughly chop 25g salted peanuts; mix with the carrot and 2 tbsp chopped fresh chives.
4 Pour over the dressing, toss and serve.
Avocado and prawn tabbouleh
1 Place 40g bulgur wheat in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to stand for 15 minutes.
2 Drain and stir in 90g cooked peeled prawns, 4 halved cherry tomatoes, 2 chopped spring onions, 1 small diced avocado, 1 crushed garlic clove, 2 tbsp each chopped fresh mint and parsley, 1 tbsp olive oil and the juice of ½ lemon.
3 Season with pepper.
Sunday
On waking: A mug of hot water with 1 slice of fresh lemon and 2 slices of fresh ginger.
Breakfast: Spiced fruit compote (see recipe) with a small pottle of live yoghurt.
Mid-morning: Berry smoothie: put 100g frozen summer berries and 200ml oat milk in a blender, and whizz until smooth.
Lunch: Watercress soup (see recipe), followed by melon, kiwifruit and passionfruit salad (slice ½ small melon into cubes and mix with 1 peeled and sliced kiwifruit and the flesh and seeds of 1 passionfruit).
Mid-afternoon: 1 apricot and almond bite (see recipe from Saturday).
Evening: Scrambled eggs (made with 2 medium-sized free-range eggs) with flaked poached salmon (1 small fillet), followed by Greek yoghurt with a handful of fresh raspberries.
Dessert: 2 Medjool dates.
Spiced fruit compote
(Makes 2 servings)
1 Put 125g mixed dried fruit and ½ tsp ground cinnamon in a bowl.
2 Pour over 150ml orange juice and 150ml boiling water. Allow to cool; cover and leave overnight in the fridge.
3 Mix 1 tsp cornflour with water to make a paste. Drain the fruit and put the liquid in a pan, stir in the cornflour, bring to the boil and cook until thickened. Stir back into the fruit.
Watecress soup
1 Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a saucepan, add 1 sliced leek and cook for 5 minutes.
2 Add 1 peeled and diced potato and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add 100g watercress and 400ml vegetable stock.
3 Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft.
4 Allow to cool, then transfer to a blender and whizz until smooth.
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