Dr. Gillian McKeith has popularised what is essentially a watered-down alkaline diet lifestyle through her TV shows, books and DVDs.  While staying focused upon the  essence of an alkaline lifestyle ( vegetables, greens, sprouts, salads, nuts, essential fatty acids and supplements) - she has made this lifestyle more convenient, easy to understand and simple to follow than many other dietitians.

By adding the occasional white meat or fish, fresh fruit and more cooked meals (including yeast- and gluten-free breads), she has opened up an extremely health lifestyle to a much wider audience.

The basics of a detox following Dr. McKeith's diet include the following principles:

1. Eat as much as you like, as long as they are the right foods prepared in the right way;
2. Do not focus upon your weight - if you follow the plan the weight loss will be an added bonus to all of the other benefits;
3. Do not see this as a once off - see it as the start of a new lifestyle;
4. Try to be creative in the kitchen and passionate about food;
5. You must embrace the change;
6. Be in touch with your emotions.

Essential Guidelines

1. Empty your house of temptation!  You have to consider that getting rid of all of the junk foods in your house is your first step towards a new, healthy life.  Rid your cupboards of fatty foods, sugary foods, refined/processed foods, sweets, junk, foods laden with chemicals and saturated/hydrogenated fats.
2. Keep your kitchen tidy and organised! Without an organised and tidy kitchen it is going to be much harder to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  Cooking meals from scratch is essential to detoxing - but this is far less likely to happen if the kitchen is a disorganised mess!
3. Shop in the right frame of mind! Do not shop when you are hungry as you will be far more likely to succumb to sugary treats and snacks.  Go to the supermarket in the frame of mind that you want to buy fresh, revitalising, life giving fuel for your body and remind yourself of why you are being healthy before, during and after your shop!
4. Change the way you think about snacks! Do not think of snacks as sugary sweets, biscuits and crisps (which play havoc with your blood sugar).  Rather, think of snacks as fresh and delicious energy boosters.  Think of carrot sticks, celery, salads, soups, fresh juices, fruits etc. 
5. Make the most of your fridge and freezer! Nobody wants to spend their life in the kitchen - so make sure you plan properly and use your fridge and freezer to their best capacity!  Make a batch of soup or a giant salad to last today AND tomorrow, freeze your herbs, freeze your meals to have later in the week etc. Fresh is important, so think of your freezer as a natural preservative!
6. Make sure you have the right kit!  Without the right kit you are going to restrict what you can prepare, and even worse preparation of meals can become a drag.  Dr. McKeith recommends having at least the following:
   
   - baking trays
   - a large casserole dish
   - a measuring jug
   - a metal grater
   - a peeler
   - a plastic chopping board for fish
   - scales
   - a set of saucepans
   - a set of good knives
   - a thick wooden chopping board
   - a wok
   - wooden spoons
   - a food processor
   - a blender
   - a juicer
   
7. Do not fear health food shops!  These will be vital to get hold of some of the ingredients that Dr. McKeith recommends!

Foods to Avoid

The following foods should be strictly avoided while detoxing:

- sweets
- chocolate
- ice-cream
- biscuits
- fatty foods (saturated, hydrogenated etc)
- refined 'ready' meals
- microwave meals
- fizzy drinks
- cordials
- shop-bought fruit juice
- meat (aside from occasional fish, chicken or turkey)
- dairy produce
- tobacco
- alcohol
- coffee
- tea (apart from herbal)
- breads
- complex carbohydrates (including white pasta and white rice)

n.b. click here for a full list of acid and alkaline foods

Hints, Tips and Suggestions

Omega Oils are literally 'essential'!  Make sure you get an adequate intake of omega 3 in the correct balance to omega 6 by including flax seeds/flax seed oil, hemp seeds/hemp seed oil or an oil blend in your diet.  A correct intake of the essential fatty acids (omega 3 & 6) will do wonders for your skin, hair, energy, weight and mood.

Hydration - you should aim to consume at least 2-3 litres of good quality water each day.  A great way to start every day is to drink a glass of warm water with lemon or lime juice squeezed in - it invigorates the body, freshens you up and is a great alkaline way to start the morning.

Aim for Raw - try to keep as much of your diet as raw as possible.  Think of salads, raw veggies and homemade hummus, fresh vegetable or fruit juice, lightly steamed broccoli (yes, still raw - raw doesn't mean cold, it just means not overcooked!).  Raw foods still contain all of the important digestive enzymes (essential on a detox) and all of the nutrients that cooking the food normally removes.  Your body will thank you with increased energy levels!

Herbal Teas - can be really important as they are both cleansing and comforting.  Stick to caffeine free varieties and look for ingredients such as ginger, mint, nettle, dandelion, lemon and pau d'arco.

A Typical Day

UPON WAKING

Drink one cup of warm water with freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice.

FOR BREAKFAST

A freshly prepared juice - such as a green vegetable juice (see above), or a fruit smoothie such as mango, banana and blueberry or fruit juice such as apple, pear and strawberry.

FOR LUNCH

Raw soup (see above) or beetroot soup, spinach soup or a miso soup with a mung bean casserole.

FOR DINNER

Baked salmon with steamed vegetables or lettuce and cashew nut wraps.

SNACKS

Blueberries, rice cakes, almonds, carrot sticks, celery sticks, grapes etc

TO DRINK

Herbal tea, vegetable juice, pure water with lemon/lime.

For recipes, recipe ideas and more detail see Gillian McKeith's You Are What You Eat Cookbook

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