Under Holi Hangover? Here’s How One Can Detox After An Enjoyable Yet Tiresome Celebration

Whether it’s Holi or any other festival across the country, festivals always bind people and community together. Celebrations are incomplete without food and drinks as they are an expression of love and care. Many people across the country relish thandai, gujia, kheer, kulfi, pakoras, pani puri’s, chaat and not to forget desserts with a slight hint of bhaang. Along with music, dance and lots of fun, we relish these foods and drinks. Thandai is often consumed during this season as fennel seeds, poppy seeds in thandai reduce indigestion, rose petals and rose syrup reduces body temperature, peppercorns and cinnamon helps in boosting immunity, and it is an elixir to health.

So now that we have heard of several benefits of thandai, we also eat various snacks with thandai or while playing with colours. Detox not only helps in losing weight, but it is also a great way to let your body repair.

The Concept of Fasting

When we fast our body detoxifies, repairs rejuvenates. Our digestive system is much more relaxed during this period, and our body uses energies to heal. It is up to a person how they wish to fast. Some people do an Intermediate fast – where they do not consume anything up to 12-16 hours from their last meal except water or dry fast- when they consume no water and food for 12- 20 hours from their last meal, or some people practise eating fruits and vegetables or do no salt during fast. Fasting doesn’t mean eating fried foods like sabudana or cutlets or fried potatoes. This isn’t fast. You can do a weekly – 1 day fast or fast 4 days in a month.

Also Read: Grandma's Kitchen Rules: Top Rules One Should Follow For Better Health, Explains Dr Swati Bathwal

Use Detox Water

This works wonder. Water is a great medium how toxins gets excreted from our system, especially through sweat and urine. If you add or infuse your water with certain herbs and fruits, they not only add taste or flavour to the water, but it also helps in adding nutrients. I often add orange slices with a pinch of Srilankan Ceylon cinnamon or mint leaves or fresh coriander leaves or beetroot or spinach leaves to the water.

Oil Pulling

Our ancestors never had access to mouth wash. They used natural oils like sesame oil or extra virgin or pure coconut oil as a mouth cleanser. Use one tablespoon of this oil early in the morning, swish your mouth with oil for about 5 mins – 20 mins and spit it out. Do not consume this oil. This practise helps in eliminating toxins which build in our body overnight, it also keeps our gut healthy and improves our oral health. Swati Bathwal, Accredited Practising Dietitian, Accredited Sports Dietitian 2 As we practise this technique every day, removing toxins helps improve our skin as well. Skin is the largest organ of our body, after all.

Replace One Of Your Meals With Fruits

Replace one of your meals with fruits during detox days and add some nuts and herbs to your fruit salad for a crunch. I always add an apple, guava, strawberries with mints and a few walnuts or almonds for a crunch.

Use Fresh Vegetable Juice

Instead of using fruit juices, which are high in fructose which are fruit sugars, consume vegetable juice. I prefer to eat them raw, but vegetable juices works wonder as a snack. I often use carrots and beetroot mixed with a herb like ginger or turmeric. Adding ginger or black pepper helps in digesting juice better.

Also, one can opt for smoothies like these:

Also Read: Cook Yourself A Healthy Meal With These 2 Simple Recipes By Dr Bathwal 

Sleep well

Did you know when you sleep, your body repairs its cells. It is not about the number of hours you sleep; it all depends on how sound your sleep is. When we sleep well, our body expels a lot of toxins. Our liver regenerates while we sleep, our lymphatic system works efficiently in removing the toxins, our skin repairs and our hair grows. About 6.5 hours - 7 hours of sound sleep is good enough for this process.

On detox, days try to relax and remember it is about mental and physical health. Do some yoga, Pranayam and chants on detox days. Wish you all a Happy Holi and welcome to summers.

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