BENGALURU: What’s a festival without a lot of food, fun and laughter? Which was exactly the case for communications professional Chaitali Pishay Roy who indulged in festive eating and drinking during the Christmas and New Year week. But come new year, and it’s been a fresh start for Roy, who has started a detox diet plan. And it’s not just Roy, many other Bengalureans too are embracing detox diets to cleanse their systems.
Binge eating led Roy to gaining a few extra pounds, but she is currently working on shedding them. “I have a lot of salads, soups and kadha for immunity. My skin has surely got clearer,” says Roy, adding that she restricts cheat meal days to once a week to ensure this routine is sustainable. “I earlier partied four days a week, and now I keep it to one. I also avoid cocktails because of the sugar content,” she adds.
Unlike a few weeks ago, Deepika Saria’s meals now mostly consists of fruit, veggies and liquids. While she tries to start her day with a homemade breakfast, her lunch is all about salads or smoothies. “My lunch contains a lot of coconut water or smoothies with chia seeds or pine nuts. In the evening, I drink green tea along with some roasted snacks. The diet has resulted in making me feel more energetic,” says the restaurateur.
The practice is not restricted to just New Year, as many try to do this once a year to keep the gut running well. Aditi Misra, an IT professional in the city, tries to follow an Ayurvedic detox plan which cleans her digestive system. “Apart from having regular food, this diet includes a prescribed drink at a particular time, which cleans the colon,” says Misra who follows this detox plan once in six months.
Though many swear by the detox plan, nutritionists say these come with associated risks. “When you say detox, it basically means cleaning the digestive system and kidneys, but it does not have an overnight effect. In these kind of plans, since carbs are eliminated, there’s a calorie deficit, as a result of which there’s immediate weight loss.
But this loss is temporary,” says nutritionist Simrun Chopra, the founder of Nourish with Sim. She agrees that these plans have a good effect on the skin, owing to the high intake of liquids. “When liquid intake is more, it makes a difference to the skin. But consuming enough water should anyway be a part of the daily routine,” she adds, pointing out that any kind of diet is of no use if the body does not get enough sleep, which is often neglected.
Secrets to a happy gut