So you're probably wondering .. and then what happened. Did the detox swallow Anita whole?
The honest truth? After a week, the detox state of mind became beautifully normal. I was so into it, and things were going so well I'd nothing extra to say except : whoa!
No longer did I feel like I "needed" to balance my food, think about "making" a choice.. it all started to become quite natural to leave out dairy and bread, get excited about vegetables again, cook more often, switch to brown rice - which now that it's coming out of Asia tastes WAY better than the variety grown anywhere else. I was returning to a way of eating I'd cultivated many years ago, but appeared to have drastically moved away from. All of this just made me feel so, so much better.
One of the main reasons I agreed to Detox in the City (apart from not appearing like a wuss on national radio) was the sudden presence of allergies six months prior, to which I'd found no solid answers or relief from.
I'd made vague associations with food - bread and soft cheese seemed a likely culprit, and milk definitely seemed to thicken my saliva. Another little niggling thing: almonds and cashews were suddenly making my lips itch. I'd been suffering like crazy - waking up each and every day with a runny, itchy nose at 8am and sneezing without relief till at least 12 noon and sometimes, till 3pm.
As a child, I'd been diagnosed with a skin allergy resulting from dairy products, nuts and.. coke. Yes, Coke. Yet I'd grown up loving dairy products, specifically cheese, without much fuss to my digestion, and the skin allergies had disappeared. As I've got older however, it appears these very same foods are causing issues again.
What did I have to lose by coincidence of Detox in the City's simple elimination of known food allergens?
It took about 4 or 5 days but I promise you, my morning nightmare literally disappeared. Without my daily dose of bread - always for breakfast and as a snack or two during the day, without the slightest whiff of cheese or milk - no more sniffles. No more sneezing. No more dry, sore throat. No more waking up in the middle of the night coughing.
The other interesting fact: I felt calmer. Probably because I wasn't going through 200 tissues in public places .. but I am more than convinced of the link between certain foods and emotional wellbeing - some things just make some of us feel really "off" and you will only know when they're no longer in your system.
For example: I've never really enjoyed the way sugar makes me feel, hence not being much of a dessert or chocolate sorta gal. I can't drink white wine for the same reason, nor red wine which makes me physically sick after two glasses.
Apart from this, I loved how the absence of carbohydrate sugar in my body feels, which I'd previously received mainly from brown bread and some white rice, and how I wasn't craving tea as I thought I would. I still like carbohydrates, but I am going to choose mine from the complex range from now on: brown rice, quinoa pasta if I can find it, and so on.
My body skin feels lighter and less "weighed down" - that's the only way I can explain it. I'm sleeping much better too and I have far more energy - which, with the work week I've just had and will continue to for the next few months, is an absolute blessing out of the blue.
Another really specific thing. Every time I put something into my body that doesn't need to be there: I get a tiny headache which develops after about an hour or so, or I feel physically sick or strangely full.
But the biggest lesson I've learnt in the 10 days I've been on this detox? I am taking in way, way less fibre - soluble and insoluble - that I assumed. This is what's shocked me the most.
So, I'm investing in psyllium husk (easily available on the shelves of Mohd Mustafa, actually ;-)) now that I know what NOT to do with it (see Adventures With Fibre story?) and in vegetables that meet both my soluble and insoluble fibre needs. And! I've rediscovered the joy of green moong dhal that I now eat by the bowl full, which is an easily digested energy food like no other I've ever had.
Green moong (green bean) is a wonder foods that's often forgotten.... or boiled to death in local dessert soups. In Ayurveda green moong dhal is considered tridosha - meaning it's the one food that can balance all the doshas. It's also the perfect food for anyone convalescing because it's exceptionally nourishing. Boil till it splits, mash it up, toss in some onions and spices fried in a little ghee and you have a meal that's akin to an Eveready Battery - keeps you going and going and going...
The only challenge that remains: what do I eat for breakfast that I'll still enjoy? Oats gets old after a while, and eggs are no fun without bread. I need a great breakfast to wake my brain up.
Stay tuned for days 11 and 12.
Anita
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I very much like the way you have provided some extremely useful information about Ankita Kapoors detox diary. Thanks for sharing some extremely useful and effective information. By the way let me share my personal experience regarding a product which I recently came across in course of my weight loss journey. The product named "The Red Tea Detox" is said to be extremely beneficial in reducing weight and many people have claimed to have reduced 14 pounds in 14 days. it’s a detox diet that uses a special tea recipe to help accelerate fat loss. That’s really amazing isn’t it?
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