When you cleanse the body, there are inevitable highs and lows to the process. You can relish in the excitement of losing five pounds, but you can also experience symptoms of cleansing, including low energy, hunger, withdrawal, and mood swings, to name a few. When you emerge from the tunnel that is cleansing, what are you supposed to do to maintain the progress you made?

Making the decision to cleanse is an essential step towards becoming a healthier version of yourself. We inhale airborne toxins, expose our bodies to chemicals in skin care products, and willingly consume foods that have no nutritional value on a daily basis. In present day, the body intakes more toxins than it can naturally eliminate, and these toxins can inhibit the body from efficiently eliminating waste.

How To Come Off A Cleanse:

There’s a right way to come off a cleanse, and then there’s a wrong way. At the end of a cleanse, the digestive system is functioning smoothly, immune strength is high, your weight is down, and the body is feeling good overall. Despite these positives, a high percentage of people immediately head straight for the bad foods they couldn’t eat during the cleanse. They eventually discover that eating a burger, a pizza, a hot fudge sundae, or an entire bag of chips results in an upset stomach, diarrhea, or vomiting. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the wrong way to come off a cleanse. While a raw vegan, vegan, or vegetarian diet isn’t in the cards for everyone, it is beneficial to stick to plant-based foods post cleanse, avoiding dairy products, meats, processed foods, refined sugars & carbs, and fried foods.

Post Cleanse Tip #1: Avoid The Big Three

A high percentage of the world’s population is sensitive or intolerant to dairy, gluten, and sugar. It is wise to avoid these three foods post cleanse because the goal is to maintain your health long after the cleanse is over. The refined ingredients, added hormones and antibiotics, and other processed ingredients can throw the body out of whack. Should you decide to eat one of these foods, pay attention to how the body responds. You may notice a skin rash or poor digestive function. Don’t ignore those signs because your body is signaling that these foods do not agree with you.

Post Cleanse Tip #2: Drink Lemon Water Every Morning

Keeping the body properly hydrated can assist with waste elimination, proper organ function, and cell nourishment. Mix the juice of half a lemon in 16 ounces of water and drink it every morning. This can promote natural energy, open eliminative channels, and stimulate the liver’s natural enzymes for toxin elimination.

Post Cleanse Tip #3: Don’t Forget About Greens

While you don’t have to take wheatgrass shots every day (although there’s nothing with that), consuming green vegetables every day helps supply the body with essential vitamins and minerals, antioxidants and phytonutrients. The best way to ensure that you start your day with greens is by drinking a green smoothie for breakfast, especially in the immediate days following your cleanse. Try to limit the amount of fruit you put in the smoothie because you don’t want to overdo it on an excessive amount of natural sugars. Add things like spinach, kale, cucumber, celery, or cilantro to smoothies and include mixed greens, cabbage, bell pepper, zucchini noodles, snap peas, and parsley to salads.

Post Cleanse Tip #4: Eat Probiotic-Rich Foods

Your gut has a huge influence on the overall health of the body. The goal is to have beneficial bacteria outnumber the bad bacteria in your microbiome. This leads to stronger immune function and healthy, regular waste elimination. If the gut is not continually replenished with nutritious, plant-based foods and beneficial bacteria, the digestive system can suffer. Probiotics contain bacteria that support gut health, but they also encourage healthy liver function. Eat foods like kimchi, kombucha, sauerkraut, kefir, and fermented vegetables to obtain probiotics.

Post Cleanse Tip #5: Meals

The best meals to consume once you finish cleansing are vegetable soups, vegetable purees, smoothies, and vegetable-based bowls. The goal is to eat foods that the body can easily digest. For instance, eat a bowl of quinoa and roasted sweet potatoes topped with avocado, cherry tomatoes, hummus, cucumber slices, and lemon-marinated kale. You can also make a vegetable soup with leeks, mushrooms, turmeric, bok choy, miso paste, carrots, onions, and garlic. The possibilities are endless!