With summer in the offing and those comforting layers of coats being hung up for the season, we've all had that moment where we stare critically ins the mirror. Some toss their head and move on, pleased with their reflection, but if you've lingered longer than five minutes and sighed at your pallid complexion and lumpy body, then a detox may be just the thing to perk you up.
I'm trialling the 5 day Urban Detox which aims to promote all over wellbeing through a programme which involves supplements, juice fasting, and colonics.The idea is to spring cleanse your body of of any toxic build up, rejuvenate you and give you more energy, as well as enhance you outlook and clear your skin (with weightloss as a side effect!).
The downside is that you're not allowed any food whatsoever for 5 days, have to take numerous strangely named supplements (acidophilus with your tea m'dear?) and need to have strange lady stick a tube between your legs twice (yes, colonics are part and parcel of this treatment).
It sounds like an extremely tough challenge, and they've warned me that I'll feel physically and emotionally drained along the journey. I'm bravely stepping up the plank though,and will be trialling this detox over the next week.
It's not a cheap programme as a five day plan will set you back £405 but it does include treatment, after care and constant monitoring while you're on the fast, as well as daily delivery of fresh juices to your home or work.
Before you begin you're taken through a very detailed Q&A with their practitioners and explained just what the plan entails. I'll be drinking four juices a day, each which has been tailored to my liking and contains different vitamins and nutrients.
They have a large menu of juice options such as strawberry, apple and ginger and you can select what you'd like to drink to a certain extent- as carrot a beetroot style mixes were forced upon me. That's about all you can choose though as you're meant to start your day with hot water and lemon, moving on to a cleansing drink of bentonite clay (to attract and absorb toxins) and psylliums husks (to cleanse the intestine and remove mucous from the colon) then another juice, then another cleansing drink till you've had four of each. Thin vegetable broth is allowed if you're feeling faint, and every evening you're meant to take a supplement as well which helps maintain a healthy bowel.. Add to this a nightly drink of hot water and linseed seeds, and there's a huge amount of liquid to consume.
There's a lot of preparation and planning involved in this diet- perhaps the idea is that you're so distracted about when you need to make your next drink that you forget you're forgoing anything tasty.
I'm only allowed liquid for the next five days, and all caffeine and alcohol are a strict no no. If my hunger pangs get to intense I'm told to drink herbal tea or sip vegetable broth for some heat.
I'm not 100% sure what I've let myself in for, but I'm hoping the results will prove this challenge worthwhile. I start tomorrow, so check back for my diary of day one!
I'm undertaking the Urban Detox under the strict supervision of the Hydro Healing team.