Q: I feel quite heavy and bloated after Christmas. How do I restore my energy?

DR: The Festive season can be heavy on the body. It can get overloaded with toxins which leads to health problems such as weight gain, headaches, dull skin, bloating, fatigue, lowered immunity, aches & pains. Detoxifying helps to remove toxins from the body with the aim of improving our body resistance & achieving optimum health. Follow a cleansing diet for 15 days to support the main organs involved in detoxification. This plan can include:

•    Drinking at least 1.5 L of water every day, starting the day with a cup of warm water, lemon and fresh grated ginger.

•    Eat fresh fruit & vegetables as they contain sulphur, amino-acids and specific antioxidants all important for detoxification. Make vegetable juices and add a little bit of barley grass, which is very alkaline and cleansing.

•    Eat fibre-rich foods such as beans, lentils, chickpeas and whole grains. Try to limit, or avoid, sugary foods, sweet drinks, fried foods, cheese & fatty meat such as pork, beef and lamb and rather go for organic free-range chicken in stews.

•    Avoid Alcohol as it does not only dehydrate your body but also puts a strain on your liver and depletes B vitamins, essential for liver detoxification.

•    Reduce caffeine & try herbal teas such as Rooibos, dandelion tea, fennel tea and detox teas. Caffeine is dehydrating and also places a burden on your body’s cleansing processes.

•    Support your system with aloe vera juice, milk thistle, vitamin C as well as MSM, which is a form of sulphur used to help detoxify and improve skin, hair and nails.

Remember that with detox programmes you may experience side effects which are usually the wear-off symptoms (tiredness, headaches), however we recommend that you consult a qualified nutritional therapist or your GP before embarking on any nutritional plan and supplement programme.

Q:  How can a Nutritional Therapist help me?

DR: Nutritional therapy is a holistic approach, aimed at treating the body as a whole, by addressing the root cause of the problem rather than treating the symptoms. At MediClinic our Nutritional Therapist believes in individualised programmes to suit everyone’s unique biochemistry, age, sex and current lifestyle situation.