The following detox superfoods can really boost your body’s in-house detox system. Try to eat at least five of them every day.

1. Garlic: contains nutrients that help your liver’s detoxification system. It also helps eliminate harmful bacteria and yeasts from your intestines. Try adding a handful of raw garlic to salad dressing. If you’d rather (or as well) you can take garlic in capsules, a good one I use in the clinic is Kyolic aged garlic also available as a liquid (good for sore throats or yeast in the mouth).
2. Asparagus: Lightly boil some asparagus until it is tender, drizzle with a little olive oil and squeeze over some lemon juice. This makes a fantastic starter packed with an amino acid called asparagine which, along with potassium, makes it a diuretic and a cleanser. It helps your kidneys flush out toxins and is great for easing bloating.
3. Beetroot: This cleansing food contains the antioxidant betacyanin which gives it its vivid colour and revs up your liver’s detoxifying process. Beetroot tastes great if roasted in olive oil and served in a little balsamic vinegar, but to preserve all its vitamins eat it raw and grated on a salad.
4. Broccoli: High in vitamin C, broccoli is known for its cancer fighting properties. It’s also packed with glucosinolates like sulforaphane which help your liver to process toxins. Dip florets of raw broccoli into hummus, add to stir fries or lightly steam and serve with fish. As well as being a good source of detoxifying and cleansing fibre, leafy greens, like broccoli and cabbage, contain abundant supplies of chlorophyll, one of nature’s best cleansers and detoxifiers. Chlorophyll is often taken as a dietary supplement for its ability to combine with gut toxins and remove them from the body. It is also sometimes used as a breath deodorant.
5. Cabbage: Red, white, green or pak choi cabbage are all great detox foods. They are high in substances called indol-3-carbinol which help to prevent oestrogen from being absorbed in the body while at the same time encouraging its elimination. They are also packed with antioxidants and sulphur-like substances that protect your liver and help it process chemicals. Shred and use in salads or stir fries.
6. Lemons: The yellow colour of lemons comes from their high antioxidant bioflavonoid content. They are great for supporting liver function and help to wash away toxins. The high potassium content of lemons will boost circulation. Potassium also acts as a diuretic and encourages the elimination of nitrogenous waste and chlorides. Squeeze half a lemon into warm water and drink immediately after rising in the morning or juice along with grapefruit (another great detox food) for a refreshing smoothie.
7. Linseeds/flaxseeds: As well as being a good source of essential fats linseeds are a good source of cleansing fibre because they absorb water and expand in the colon, allowing toxins and mucus to be removed. Some people find that a tablespoon of soaked linseeds in a glass of water are an effective remedy for constipation. If you can’t stand the taste add them to fresh fruit or make a smoothie and sprinkle ground seeds over smoothies or salads.
8. Peppers: Peppers are packed with detoxifying antioxidants. The active compound capsaicin found in peppers helps to boost circulation and aid digestion. You should make sure you eat as many brightly coloured foods as possible so you get a wide range of antioxidants.
9. Papaya and pineapple: Papaya contains papain, an enzyme that encourages the release of waste products and is very soothing to the stomach and digestive tract. Pineapple is also a mild diuretic. Slice them both together and have for breakfast or dessert. Or mix with garlic, chillies, spring onions, cucumber, tomatoes, coriander and lime to make a tasty salsa for steamed fish.
10. Watercress: Another great source of glucosinolates which help to stimulate the liver’s detox enzymes. It’s also packed with magnesium and calcium so it’s a good bone booster. Whip up some watercress soup or use as an alternative to lettuce. You can also blanch watercress and eat as a green vegetable sprinkled with lightly roasted sunflower seeds.

Christmas is a time of Good Cheer, plenty of socialising, high alcohol intake, lots of cake, mince pies, chocolate, sugar and not much exercise. It is no wonder that after Christmas we feel bloated, fat, run down and generally very sluggish.

The New Year brings a new start with many new resolutions to lose weight and to get fit. But how can you make sure it really works this time?

Your body is very clever and given the right tools it can detox efficiently on its own. Your gut stops bacteria and lots of other toxins from entering your body and if anything nasty does get through your liver will combine it with its own special chemicals to make a water soluble compound that your kidneys can flush away in your urine or through your skin as sweat.

But putting yourself on a strict fast or juice-only diet for a whole day to flush things out will cause your blood sugars to sink really low which means you crave stodgy foods and feel extra tired and sluggish. Plus you’ll be missing out on essential energy boosting nutrients like B vitamins and proteins. It’s much better to eat cleansing natural foods and just cut out the bad stuff.

The key is to load up on foods that support your body’s natural detox system. You need to be eating foods packed with antioxidant nutrients and sulphur to boost your liver function and to eliminate foods and drinks that tax it, such as alcohol, caffeine, fatty foods and sugar. There really is no need to follow a strict detox if you don’t want to — these simple solutions are dead easy (and the results will speak for themselves!).

• Hydrate your body: The first and most important rule is to drink more water. Start each day with a cup of hot water and a squeeze of lemon. It cleanses and helps rehydrate your liver. Then make sure you drink at least two litres of water throughout the day. If you think you might forget, try having a glass of water on the hour, every hour. A herbal tea counts towards your water intake but regular tea and coffee don’t as they are dehydrating.
• Eat fresh: Choose fresh, natural, cleansing foods and avoid nutrient scarce ready meals, sugary and fatty foods and refined products like white bread which can all bombard your liver with chemicals, additives and lots of dehydrating salt. Have green vegetables with every meal and avoid snacking from anything that hasn’t been plucked off a tree or raised from the soil. If you can go organic it will really help as organic produce usually contains more of the most valuable nutrients. It’s also grown and reared without pesticides, antibiotics and other chemicals so your liver won’t get bogged down. (See also the detox superfoods article).
• Swap your fats: Your no effort detox plan is about giving your body what it needs but only if it tastes great. This means stocking up on hormone balancing essential fats (the ones that keep your skin and joints healthy and protect your heart) and cutting down on liver clogging saturated fats. So use olive or sunflower oil instead of butter, or mashed avocado on rye or wholemeal bread – instead of margarine on white. Use oils like flax or hemp for salads instead of dressings.
• Cook light: You don’t have to eat raw food all the time as you may find it hard to digest and it can cause bloating. So just steam, stir fry or grill instead. The shorter time you cook your vegetables the more vital detoxing nutrients they retain.
• Go herbal: Fennel, nettle and ginger tea are all great cleansers and unlike tea and coffee don’t contain chemicals that make extra work for your liver. If you don’t want to quit your daily cuppa at least cut down your intake of caffeine by a few cups a day or try green tea which is lower in caffeine or redbush tea. And take a break from alcohol too as it’s one of the most poisonous chemicals you can put into your body. Avoid it completely for a few days to give your body a chance to recover and then no more than one or two drinks a day.
• Sweat it out: Like the liver and lungs, your skin excretes great amounts of metabolic wastes and pollutants making it one of the body’s best waste disposal organs. Encouraging perspiration with regular aerobic exercise is therefore an excellent way of removing nasty toxins and pollutants.
• Do it with herbs: Many herbs can help you detox but one that is known to have particular detoxifying properties is milk thistle. Also known as wild artichoke it has been used for centuries to protect the liver against damaging disease and toxins. And more recent research shows that it contains flavoligans that protect the liver from damage due to toxic substances such as pesticides and herbicides.