How to recover from the “nutritional abuses” of Christmas Holidays

What follows is the translation of the original Italian article by Paola Salgarelli, biologist nutritionist, specialist in Food Science:

January is typically the month of good intentions, in particular for what concerns fitness, because of guilt feelings following the Christmas period. Now, consuming food with a detox effect can help.

First of all, to effectively purify the organism we should not miss food with diuretic effects: in fact it can happen that during the Holidays we eat too much salty food and that can cause water retention. It will be important to introduce the correct quantity of water, at least two liters per day, and prefer food rich in potassium, mineral which favors the draining of excessive liquid. Potassium can be found in many food, for example bananas, legumes, dried fruit, spinach and, in particular, fennel, the ultimate detox food. In fact, this vegetables are very low calories (only 9 kcal per 100 grams) and rich in water and mineral salts. They help to contrast the water retention and to eliminate the “bloated belly”.

A goof detox effect can be obtained also purifying the intestine. Useful food in this case are the ones with a high content of fibers, both hydrosoluble and insoluble. Fruit, vegetables, dried fruit, legumes and whole cereals are rich in fibers, particularly for what concerns oats (present in BIVO) and buckwheat, that it is actually not a cereal because botanically it is part of the rhubarb family. It is super rich in fibers which not only ehnance satiety, but also contribute to lower cholesterol and sugars in the blood. Moreover, it is naturally “biologic” because its cultivation do not require any fungicidal nor pesticides.

A good help for purifying the intestine can be given in particular by the hydrosoluble fiber pectin, which in our colon is able to link with heavy metals, like mercury and lead, favoring their elimination. It is contained in fruit, in particular in the apple.

Moreover, food that helps our guts contains magnesium and zinc which helps the intestinal motility and the vitality of intestinal bacterial flora. Many food are rich of these minerals, as for example spinach, that contains carotenoids, precursor of vitamin A, essential to hydrate and tone up our skin (that after the Christmas period can be a little dull) and vitamin C, fondamental to fight the damages cause by free radicals.

Finally, do not forget that an effective detox has to have an effect on the liver, the main emunctory of our organism (it means that is one of the organs which have the function of eliminating waste substances). A “clean” liver will work better and filter more the waste. To purify it it is necessary to eat food rich in vitamin C (like the fruit of the citrus family), polyphenoles (like berries), cynarin (substance that stimulates the gall-bladder and that can be found in artichokes) and sylimarin (molecol which helps the liver and can be found in milk thistle). The purifying and protective properties for the liver of milk thistle are so excellent that it is used also to cure the severe poisoning cases caused by alcohol, hepatitis, drugs. In is mainly thanks to sylimarin that blocks the production of free radicals and in general the inflammation (sylimarin is used also to cure mushroom poisoning).

Really useful for purifying the liver are also bitter herbs like for example radicchio which is able to stimulate the production of gall and has a diuretic effect (and slightly laxative). For whom has exagerated with sweets and refined carbs, it is useful to eat raw red radicchio before starting the meal: it lowers the suger levels in our blood thanks to the high content of the soluble fiber inulin.

To sustain the natural process of cleansing of the liver, it is necessary to add in our diet also cruciferous plants (which means cabbage, savoy cabbage, broccoli, and brussels sprout). In particular, brussels sprout contains a lot of sulfur (the broccoli too). This mineral has powerful properties: it increases the speed of the detox process in our body, accelerating the apoptosis (which means the death) of the carcinogenic cells and it is a bactericide.

We should specifically mention glutathione, one of the most powerful antioxidant, naturally produced by our organism. It can be found mainly in the liver where, in the present of selenium, protects the organism linking with toxic substances. But if the concentration of toxins is high, the quantity of glutathione lowers because it does not have enough time to regenerate. Therefore it is a good idea to integrate our diet with food rich in glutathione (like the avocado) in association with food rich in selenium (like salmon).

To conclude, it is useful to know that very effective to purify our body are also herbal teas and detox drinks, like the following:

• herbal tea with green tea and ginger. To prepare it, boil the water, pour it in a cup with a spoon of green tea and a little piece of ginger (it is even better to grate the ginger from a fresh root), cover the cup with a plate and let the tea to wait for 3 minutes, then filter it.
• herbal tea with fennel and star anise. Mix up fennel seeds and star anise in the same quantity (1 spoon). Boil the water and pour the fennel seeds and anise in it. Let it wait for 15 minutes and then filter it.
• extracted juice of red beetroot. This vegetable, thanks to the action of a substance called betaine, included in it, has a detox and cardioprotective function. In particular, it extracted  juice stimulate diuresis, contrast hypertension, favors the draining of blood and helps the digestion.
• drink based on apple vinegard. It is about drinking, every morning before eating, a glass of water with a spoon of biologic apple vinegar in it. Biologic unpasteurized apple vinegar contains acetobacters, responsible for its acidification. They are very good with our body bacterial flora and work to regenerate and detox our intestine, with similar effects of those of the lactis fements. It is not ok for people who suffer with gastric hypersecretion, ulcer or gastritis.
• drink base on lemon juice and maple syrup. Every morning drink a full glass of water with lemon juice and a spoon of biologic maple syrup. The ascorbic acid (vitamin C) of the lemon effectively purify the liver, while the maple syrup is a diuretic, emollient, refreshing, antioxidant and remineralizing. Be careful anyway: because of the high quantity of sucrose of the maple syrup, this drink is not suggested for whom suffers of diabetes.

Paola Salgarelli, Biologist Nutritionist, specialist in Food Science