Welcome spring with a beautiful and healthy YOU

Hello my dear friends,

Spring is just around the corner and finally we will be able to enjoy some warmth after the cold winter months. Let’s open our doors and windows to some bright & gentle sunshine. According to ancient Ayurveda practice, spring is the best time of year to detox. Detoxification purely means the removal of toxins from the body. The trouble is that nowadays we tend to take in too much sugar, caffeine, and eat to many processed foods, whilst having a lot of stress and often little to no exercise. This tends to slow the body’s natural detox abilities, leading to an increased level of toxins. For a simple & successful detox, I recommend you follow these 5 steps, tried and tested by myself for years.

1. Start every day with a glass of warm water with a slice of lemon and keep drinking water throughout the day. Attempt to drink at least 2 litres

2. Avoid any type of gluten, dairy, sugar, red meat, other processed foods and any sort of alcohol for at least 2 weeks

3. Eat a light and early dinner with a portion of any vegetable of your choice

4. Do some deep breathing exercises for 5 minutes each day to detox the mind

5. Try to maintain a regular sleep routine and if you need an extra energy kick, try this simple detox recipe: Make a smoothie with 2 stalks of celery, a cube of ginger, one green apple and a bowl of coconut water. Sip this daily for about 2 weeks and for a brilliant spring clean and toned body.

Chickpea and avocado spread on toast

Shopping list:

250g of organic canned chickpeas

1 large avocado

1 small onion chopped

Lemon juice (1/2 lemon)

A handful of parsley leaves

Salt and pepper to your liking

Olive oil to drizzle

Sourdough or wholemeal bread for toast

 

 

Method: Drain and rinse the chickpeas, place in a bowl. Add 1 large avocado, olive oil, onion, lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper and drizzle some olive oil onto the mixture. Mash with a fork.

Take a slice of toast, and spread the mixture onto the bread. Enjoy with a cup of tea or smoothie of your choice

 

With love,

Vidhi Patel, R&D Consultant & Nutrition Consultant at Minerva Research Labs