Back in 2004 my health was bottoming out and I was feeling completely out of it virtually all the time. I'd spent a lot of time with doctors and consultants, but each time was told that there was nothing medically wrong with me.

Over dinner one evening a herbalist friend of mine advised me that I should look into doing a detox, and generally learning about how to detox the body and see how toxins accumulate in my body and impact my wellbeing and energy levels. It looked like detoxing had a lot of health benefits, so I decided to learn all about it, and get to grips with what is really involved and why the natural health industry advocate healthy detox diets and recommend starting with the 1 week detox so strongly.

Another thing she suggested to me was to try a detox foot patches. I have a foot spa two or three times a week now, if I have the time, but as a suitable alternative, the foot detox patches can do just as good a job - but doing it this way you miss out on the relaxing foot massage at the same time

Here's what I learnt to detox your body.

Make sure you drink plenty of water

Making sure you take in plenty of fluids is very important while you are following a detox diet as it will prevent the build up of toxins and man made chemicals in your body. There's lots of other health reasons to drink water as it helps prevent constipation, improves concentration, and improves your complexion. On a normal day try to drink about 2 liters of water, and a good bit more in hot weather or on your exercise days.

A general pointer is to increase your water intake by about half a liter for each hour of exercise. The best water to drink is home filtered tap water, or boiled water which has cooled, or bottled water. Ideally drink water that is at room temperature. Herbal teas are a great alternative in helping your reach your daily quote - loose leaf is better than tea bags as it hasn't been processed as much. Green tea, horsetail, camomile and roibosch (or redbush) are particularly good as their essential oils help the detox process. Roibosch and green tea is also beneficial as it is rich in antioxidants.

That Seems Like A Lot of Water

Although drinking 8 big glasses of water a day seems hard, here's a few tips that will help. Prepare a glass with some fresh lime or lemon juice as soon as you get up - this is great for kick-starting your metabolism and bowel then have more water whenever you take a coffee break.

Aim to have a glass whenever you eat, have a couple of herbal teas during the day, another during the evening and one more glass when you're getting ready for bed. Don't be afraid to "spice up" the water with a little lemon juice.

Try To Eat Food Which Is As Fresh As Possible

You should be looking to buy your food in as fresh a condition as possible and either juice them or eat them raw, in salads or as snacks or appetizers. Raw fruits and veg are still full of all their natural enzymes, vitamins and minerals. If the food stays in the fridge or on the shelf for long periods, or if it has been cooked or processed in any way, it loses a lot of its nutritional value.

If at all possible buy from local farms or producers, preferably at farms and markets in your area- imported produce is usually harvested under ripe (before it has developed its full vitamin quota) and will have a longer time to lose nutrients on it's trip to the supermarkets.