Reduce inflammation and enhance detoxification in your body with these simple detox recipes! These healthy meals include smoothies, wraps and salads that will help your body detox properly on a daily basis!
We are constantly bombarded by substances with detrimental effects on our health. Every day we breathe in fine particulate matter and various gases contributing to air pollution. Not to mention tobacco smoke. Our food more often than not contains pesticides, preservatives, antibiotics, heavy metals, and other harmful ingredients.
Aaaaand good morning to you too! That’s the motivation we needed.
Well, I’ve got good news too. Because our bodies can eliminate these unfriendly substances through a highly refined process involving the kidneys, liver, skin, lungs, and digestive system. It’s pretty amazing what the human body can do without us even thinking about it.
However, we do have a small task. Because we do need to eat better, for these detoxification systems to work properly, otherwise they can get overwhelmed. And everything goes downhill from there. We need the essential nutrients and we need some extra phytochemicals that can activate detoxifying liver enzymes. Those enzymes transform harmful substances into not-so-harmful molecules our body can easily eliminate.
Don’t get me wrong, the detox foods don’t do the elimination of toxins on their own. The body does that. However, the foods we eat supply the external nutrients required for this process.
So how can you help? Well, detox recipes like the ones below are a great place to start! These detox meals include nutritious smoothies, salads and wraps. Those will fuel your body with essential nutrients to keep everything going at full speed. At the same time, these recipes tend to be very ‘clean’ regarding harmful components, making them an excellent start for a less toxin-loaded lifestyle.
Detoxifying Foods
To help your body detoxify, consume more foods high in antioxidants, prebiotics, and sulfur. Those will improve your gut health and activate phase-II enzymes in the liver. As mentioned, those liver enzymes help transform carcinogens and other harmful molecules into non-toxic substances. Here are some great examples of detox foods:
- kale
- broccoli
- garlic
- onion
- radishes
- arugula
- asparagus
- cauliflower
- cabbage
- spinach
- green tea
- rosemary
- turmeric
In addition to enjoying more of these foods, make sure you reduce your intake of alcohol, processed foods, and added sugar. At the same time, make it a priority to drink more water, exercise, and get enough sleep.
The remarkable purification system of your body will do the rest. Here are 12 easy recipes to help detox your body every day.
1. 8-Minute High-Fiber Salad
This tasty salad is first on the list of detox recipes, because it’s ready in eight (!) minutes and packs a ton of fiber, protein, antioxidants and vital detox ingredients like garlic, onion, lemon, and cabbage. Their nutritional profile makes them a valuable helping hand for your liver in the task of eliminating toxins.
2. Quinoa Bean Lettuce Wraps
These light nutritious wraps are filled with fresh vegetables, a kidney bean dip, avocado sauce, and cooked quinoa. This recipe is super flavorful and great for lunch or dinner.
3. The Best Green Smoothie Recipe
This green smoothie is full of antioxidants, fiber, and omega-3s. It’s made with anti-inflammatory foods like spinach and ginger and tastes great because of the addition of sweet banana and peach.
4. Tomato, Avocado, and Arugula Salad
Fresh and light this summer salad with tomato, avocado, and arugula will become one of your favorite recipes for detox. It’s loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats!
5. Broccoli and Red Lentil Detox Soup
This cozy soup will warm you up and load your body with essential nutrients! You’ll need some red lentils, broccoli and spices like turmeric and ginger.
6. Curried Chickpea Lettuce Wraps
These lettuce wraps are filled with curried chickpeas and a flavorful avocado mash. They make an excellent light and healthy lunch idea. You’ll need cooked chickpeas, lettuce, avocado and spices like cumin, chili, turmeric, and mint.
7. Detox Vegan Quinoa Salad With Avocado & Herbs
Once upon a time, when Hippocrates said, ‘Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food,’ he must have had this salad in mind. Made with avocado, quinoa, arugula, basil and tomatoes, this dish is packed with antioxidants, vitamins, and fiber to aid the body’s natural detox process.
8. Clean Eating Salmon Lettuce Wraps
Salmon, lots of vegetables, flaxseed, and sunflower seed “cheese” are wrapped in lettuce leaves to create a dish full of colors, flavor, and nutrients. The detox recipe calls for asparagus, so enjoy it in spring when the green stalks are in season, or sub for broccoli when not in season.
9. Detox Kale Smoothie
Kale definitely has a strong flavor, which some find hard to get used to, but it’s a great source of glucosinolates. These molecules play an important role in detoxification.
And when you combine kale with cinnamon, ginger, flax oil, banana, and pear to make the smoothie, you can make it a LOT more enjoyable. Make sure to vary the amount of fruit and kale according to your taste.
10. Radish Salad
This simple salad is a great recipe to make during spring! You’ll love the yummy crunch and light tanginess of the radishes in combination with the avocado’s creaminess and olives’ saltiness.
11. Detox Water For Skin And Gut Health
Staying hydrated is important for your overall health, but if you’re fed up with plain water, try this easy idea with lemon and grated ginger. All in all, the easiest detox recipe, this infused water is excellent for your skin and gut health.
12. 5-Minute Anti-Inflammatory Smoothie
If a green smoothie with kale is not your thing, don’t worry you’ll get there eventually. In the meantime, try this inflammation-fighting berry smoothie using banana, lemon, flaxseed, ginger, and cinnamon. Besides its amazing color, this smoothie will bring numerous health benefits to your day because it contains antioxidants, prebiotics, potassium, omega-3s, and other nutrients.
13. Gut Health Salad
Add some probiotics and prebiotics to your diet with this easy gut healthy salad recipe! It’s packed with raw vegetables and a good amount of sauerkraut to help improve your gut microbiome.
14. Vitamin Salad
If you feel like you need a vitamin boost, this is the salad you make! It looks like a blood bath in there, but it’s actually the beets. They might be super messy, but they also provide a good amount of potassium, folate, fiber and iron.
15. Easy Lentil Vegetable Soup
This one’s a hearty detox recipe! It’s filling, nutritious and a great way to use up the vegetables you didn’t get to eat during the workweek. And it’s packed with flavor too!
16. Easy Mashed Avocado Chicken Salad
You never knew you needed this healthy chicken salad recipe in your life! It’s creamy, but it’s light and perfectly packed with flavor. You’ll need avocado, cooked chicken, tomato, peppers, dill, olives and garlic among other things! It takes 10 minutes to make.