For maximum results, invest in a juicer. Juicing gives you maximum nutrition and enzyme potential with minimal digestive effort. The better juicers are masticating single or double auger types. They extract the juice without injury or excess enzyme-destroying heat and discard the pulp.
One doesn't need to go on a strictly juice fast to gain benefits. Studies have shown juicing three times a week while maintaining a mostly organic solid food diet augments those dietary benefits significantly.
Shop around for masticating auger juicers. They range from $250 and up and usually have long-term warranties.
A few worthy items for spring detox
Dandelion leaves can be used in salads or added to a mixture of other veggies and an apple to offset its bitterness. Organic dandelion leaves can be purchased by the bunch at most decent markets that offer organic foods. Very few have the access to wild harvesting the weeds safely.
Dandelion has been used for ages to detox and fortify the liver. In addition to its proven empirical or anecdotal track record, modern Western studies have confirmed dandelion's efficacy. Its extracts are used in many liver supplements.
Kale is an alkaline-producing leafy green. Some find it rather bitter for using in salads or steaming. Ayurvedic medicine preaches the virtues of adding bitter-tasting foods to our normally sweet and salty conditioned taste buds as a healthy contrast.
But kale can be juiced easily, and adding carrots and an apple with any normally bitter-tasting veggies does soften it up sufficiently. Just make sure the kale is organic or local without agricultural chemical applications.
Artichokes appear on most nutritional spring detox lists. They help digest fats and excite the liver's bile production. They aren't raw food or juicing items, but the prepared and bottled artichokes can be a part of any salad mix you invent.
Raw organic sesame seeds can be sprinkled on salads or cottage cheese to help protect the liver, especially from the ravages of alcohol and acetaminophen OTC (over-the-counter) Tylenol and other generic pain relief versions.
Ayurveda recommends a tablespoon of sesame seeds with an equivalent amount of raisins as a daily treat that also enhances intestinal lining villi repair to improve digestive food absorption and reduce gastrointestinal inflammation of all sorts.
Broccoli sprouts greatly enhance broccoli's benefits. They are rarely sold sprouted, but you can purchase the seeds at some stores or online and sprout your own. Adding those sprouts to salads and sandwiches gives you even more protection against cancer then broccoli provides.
Greens in general should be increased also. Chard, leafy lettuces other than the iceberg variety, and broccoli should be increasingly consumed during springtime. They can all be used raw in a variety of salads to your liking.
Chlorophyl is a vital source of magnesium, the master mineral involved with over 300 cellular metabolic functions. Cellular mitochondria, where energy is produced, crave chlorophyl.
Speaking of chlorophyl, don't forget chlorella. It's not just a supplement. It's a single-celled food that helps detox while providing cellular nutrition.
Add cilantro to your daily three to five grams of chlorella for a great mercury detox combo. Cilantro can be juiced or added raw to prepared foods or salads.
Don't forget to drink more pure water. If it's purified by reverse osmosis, replace lost minerals with a liquid mineral supplement or a pinch of pure sea salt.
