Diwali Detox: Are You Ready To Eat Your Way Back to Shape?

These six foods will help you whip your butt back to shape.

(This story was first published on 14 November 2015 and is being republished from The Quint’s archives on the occasion of Diwali.)

A bite of chakli, a handful of chiwda and mouthfuls of laddoos. Diwali might be over but binging on Diwali snacks continues unabated.

Sure, this festival of lights has lit up our homes and lives – but it has definitely thrown our fitness regime out of gear. If you are finding it difficult to fit into your old jeans and are already dreading the weighing scales, then it’s time to take stock and eat smart.

Don’t punish yourself with crash diets or insanity workouts (much as you might be tempted to do) – just read on to find out how you can get through this festival season with no pangs of guilt!

Keep the Doctor Away

Are you as tired as I am of hearing that good ol’ adage – “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”? Well in an extreme post-Diwali detox syndrome, an apple a day would definitely keep all the accumulated toxins in your body away.

Packed with fibre, apples help wash down toxins from your intestinal tract and clear it of all the undigested food. Thus, including an apple daily in your diet would maximise detoxification.

Add Garlic to Your Dal

Foods with high sulphur content not only help in toning skin and making hair lustrous – they also fire up the detoxification process. Garlic is rich in sulphur and hence, helps the liver in neutralising toxins. This makes it even more mandatory to include garlic cloves in your diet.

If you cringe at the thought of having raw garlic, you could add burnt garlic to your lady finger bhaji or have it as a part of dal tadka. The burnt garlic lifts the flavour of the dish, thus, making it richer in taste. Three cloves per meal should do you good.

Drink Lime With Water

Are you one of the many that’s sighed when people said, having lukewarm water with lemon helps you lose weight? They weren’t far off the truth.

Lemons are high on Vitamin C and anti-oxidants that help absorb toxins and aid in digestion. Lemons stimulate the production of bile – which in turn, helps your liver to function – and this, simultaneously accelerates digestion.

So the next time you’ve binged on too much biryani or oily food, don’t forget to add some fresh lime juice to water and drink it up after your meal. Try this every day in the mornings and watch it work wonders on your body!

Redden That Salad

People often forget to include beets in their regular salads. But in doing so, they’re missing out on some vital vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants.

Beetroot contains Vitamins A, B and C – as well as iron, potassium and folic acid – all of which help ward off any liver problems that you may have. Beetroot contains betalains that promote repair and regeneration of the liver – so if you were looking for something to fast-track the detox process, look no further than the humble beet.

Added bonus? Your salads are going to look so much livelier!

Sip Green Tea

Green tea has become a style statement these days with more and more people opting for this over regular chai. And why ever not? The green tea (as you’ve no doubt heard Kareena Kapoor parrot on TV) is rich in antioxidants that help fight ailments. The caffeine in it acts as a diuretic that helps the body get rid of unwanted water and salts and alleviates bloating.

Now you know what to replace your post-Diwali sweet cuppa with.

Try the Humble Broccoli

Of all the healthiest foods that play their part in internal cleansing and detoxification, the humble broccoli takes the cake.

This leafy green vegetable converts bad oestrogens into good ones – thus preventing weight gain, PMS and cancer. Ladies, you get my drift?

Also, the next time you feel like binging on a pizza or chunks of leftover Diwali snacks – don’t. Grab some broccoli instead and start munching. You could include it as a part of salads or sides, or even add it to rice to make a healthier version of your pulao.

(A freelance food blogger, Pranjali Bhonde Pethe aims at getting people and their favourite food closer through her blog moipalate. Email her at [e-mail] or follow her on @moipalate.)