There always seem to be new diets appearing and disappearing again almost every day of the week. But one that's certainly making people sit up and take notice is the detox diet. Detox is short for detoxification, which is the basic idea behind this diet plan.

Your body is designed to neutralize and remove the toxins that you take in from various sources, including food. This is a very sensible system, because it means your body has a way of eliminating harmful substances that could make you ill or damage parts of your body. Even if the offending substance is only converted to something less harmful, it still benefits your body.

Some toxins are external chemicals, such as pesticides and household cleaners. Often these are ingested without us even knowing about it. But there are other toxins we willingly put into our bodies, including drugs, food additives, cigarettes and harmful food materials. There are some toxins that are also produced internally, such as the ammonia released when the digestive systems breaks down proteins. All of these toxins need to be eliminated, and the body is usually very efficient at removing them through the natural waste processes of the body.

Originally, a detox diet was used when treating people who were addicted to drugs or alcohol. Nowadays, however, the term is used for any type of diet plan that assists the detoxifying process occurring naturally in the body.

There are two main areas that the detox diet focuses on. Firstly, you need to ensure that the foods you eat contain plenty of healthy vitamins and nutrients, including chemicals like antioxidants. That way, you give your body as much help as possible in detoxifying itself. Secondly, you need to reduce the amount of harmful chemicals you do eat. Often, the easiest way to do this is to eat organic foods, so that you can avoid pesticides and other chemical residue.

Another good way of improving your body's detoxifying abilities is to eat plenty of food high in fiber, as well as drink lots of water.

Many people find they get a lot of headaches when they first start on a detox diet. This is quite normal, and it's been suggested that the headache is basically a withdrawal symptom. Your body is used to ingesting harmful chemicals, and reacts badly when they're no longer being eaten. Some people also find they suffer from diarrhea, so keeping hydrated is very important. Drinking lots of water also helps you to avoid becoming constipated.

Although a detox diet can be a great way to eliminate toxins from your body, it's not recommended if you suffer from diabetes, heart disease or anemia. It's also not for people with health problems including:

• Liver disease
• Kidney problems
• Ulcers
• Being underweight
• Low blood pressure
• Low immunity
• Epilepsy
• Hypothyroidism

Eliminating toxins from your body is a great way to improve your general level of health. Interestingly, simply by developing healthier eating patterns, many people also find they lose weight as a bonus. So give your body a health boost, and start a detox diet plan.