Keeping your body working normally and efficiently so that you can live a vibrant, energetic life is important to us all. But how do you cultivate an optimally-functioning body? One way is to rid the body of toxins that slow it down by eating better! While we recommend good eating habits all year round, there are some short-term specific-food detoxes that work by eliminating bad foods and replacing them with generous amounts of healthful foods.

So if you want to go beyond just eating healthy but you can’t stomach a fasting detox, chelation, or colonics, there are some detox diets that can help you cleanse naturally with food. These detox diets involve the elimination of certain types of foods and a corresponding increase in intake of detoxifying foods. There are several types of diet detoxes recommended by natural health practitioners of all types. Here are a few:

• Fruit detox: A fruit detox (sometimes called the Fruit Flush) is ideal for the newbie to detoxing. Rather than going through a severe fasting-type detox, a fruit cleanse will involve the elimination of all foods but fruit, which is usually eaten raw. Fruits are high in fiber as well as vitamins and minerals and can provide all the nutrition you need in the short term. They also have their own detoxifying properties, allowing your body to get rid of the build-up of poisons in your system.
• Raw food detox diet: Like the fruit detox, the raw food detox diet involves eliminating all food except those that can be eaten raw, including fruits, vegetables, some grains (sprouted), dried fruit, herbs, spices, nuts, seeds, and the like. There are some Raw Food advocates who recommend that you can cook these foods up to a temperature of 118º F, but no higher, as doing so kills the live enzymes in the foods.
• Liver cleanse: This diet is similar to the raw food diet in that all foods are eaten raw, although they’re not necessarily blended. Most who promote this detox also recommend that you take special liver cleansing supplements.
• Vegetarian detox diet: Eating meat weights heavily on your digestive functions, especially if you’re eating conventionally-produced meats that are full of pesticides/fertilizers (from the animal feed), hormones, and other chemical toxins. Animal protein is difficult for your body to digest, whereas your digestive system can easily process plant-based proteins. Additionally meat can putrefy in your body, causing illness and toxicity. The vegetarian detox diet is yet another method for detoxing the body naturally through healthy eating.
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These are the most popular food-based detox diets around, each with their own challenges and benefits. Which diet is right for you will depend largely on the ailments you’re trying to overcome and how much time and energy have to dedicate to the process.