Spring back to health the Mediterranean way
We've all suffered this winter with freezing temperatures, heavy snowfall and icy conditions but finally spring has arrived and it’s time to shake off the ‘hangover’ of winter.
Our bodies are waking up to the extra sunlight and are urging us to eat different foods and detox for the summer months
Although we in the UK tend to consider detoxing as a post New Year activity, our resolutions soon fail because our bodies simply resist. The season dictates that it is time to hibernate, not detox, and the people of the Mediterranean have known this for centuries. Aware of how the Earth’s changing position profoundly affects them, they respond by detoxing at the major seasonal shifts of spring to summer and autumn to winter rather than at the turn of the year, in deepest winter, as we often try to do.
As evidence for the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet continues to gather, here is another piece of the jigsaw in helping us understand why those who live round the Med seem to live longer and healthier lives than us, as well as looking better whilst doing it!
Toxins enter our body via our food, air, water and products we apply our skin. The greater the toxic load, the greater the stress on the liver which is charged with converting toxins into forms that can be eliminated from the body. An overload of toxins and/or a diet deficient in certain nutrients will impair this natural detox process and these poisons are known to accumulate in body tissues, especially our fat cells. This ‘cumulative load’ of toxins has been linked to various illnesses including emotional imbalance, impaired immune function, weight gain and inefficient metabolism, to name but a few.
All detox programmes aim to reverse this toxin build up but the traditional Mediterranean seasonal approach works with the forces of nature and focuses on three key elements:
1. Reducing the amount of food you consume in order to give the digestive system a rest and allow energy to be diverted to cleansing rather than digesting.
2. Introducing extra greens to provide the important additional nutrients needed to help quell the accumulated winter toxins being thrown from the cells
3. Taking a traditional herbal recipe every day for a few weeks to encourage and support this natural, seasonal detoxification process.
The ‘Spring Shaper pack’ from Simply Vital contains three products which together will help you detox, and shape up for summer the Mediterranean way. And for 20 days, the regime couldn't be easier to follow:
VitalDETOX is based on the Mediterranean herbal detox recipe and was developed by an Italian Naturopathic physician using very gentle methods of extraction of the herbs found around the Mediterranean. Some such as Milk Thistle and Artichoke are already known here in the UK, others are popular in Italy, such as Rosemary and Boldo and help prepare the body for summer. Easy to use, just before dinner, simply add water, ice and lemon juice to vitalDETOX for the healthiest Mediterranean aperitif ever!
Two other products are found in the 'Spring Shaper Pack', which, using powerful natural active ingredients, work alongside vitalDETOX to help get your body ready for summer...
At breakfast add a sprinkle of vitalLIFE to your OJ. The nutrient dense flakes of Klamath blue-green algae provide a rich spectrum of vital anti-oxidants, (particularly carotenoids), minerals and amino acids nourish and prepare the skin for extra sunlight, protecting it and enabling a richer colour to develop. The high concentration of chlorophyll helps detoxify and cleanse the blood, and the presence of phycocyanin – a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory molecule protects the body during the detox process.
At lunch, take a capsule of vitalSHAPE, to help you develop a flatter tummy! The digestive enzymes and high quality probiotics help to digest food and bring the digestive system back to health, an important factor to help neutralise and remove harmful toxins out of the body. VitalSHAPE E also quells acid reflux, relieves indigestion, prevents bloating and IBS, and calms colitis/diarrhoea.
The ‘Spring Shaper pack’ retails at £45.75 and contains 4 bottles of vitalDETOX, 1 of vitalSHAPE and 1 of vitalLIFE. All products can also be bought separately - for more details and to buy visit: simplyvital.com
