Before beginning a cleanse, you can get your body in a cleansing mode gently by eating fruits and vegetables. For how long? Depends on (a) how toxic you are, (b) how long you plan to fast. I would recommend at least a week, three days MINIMUM... for my long fast last summer I did 30 days as follows:
For breakfast, a big bowl of fresh fruit with natural yogurt (no sugar, good culture). Whiz as a smoothie if you like
Lunch, big fresh salad with healthy dressing made of good oil like flax or olive, fresh lemon juice, fresh garlic,
Sea Salt .
Dinner, all the homemade vegetarian vegetable soup you like, same stuff you break with. Yumm! Add cayenne for extra cleansing.
NO bread, crackers, noodles, sugar, caffeine etc. -- just the above. If you are a serious coffee addict, taper off over a week or so. Coffee is a #1 cause of first week detox crisis.
Drink LOTS of fresh water, and all the FRESH fruit/veg juices you like (buy a juicer!), fruit in the am when your body is naturally cleansing, veg in the pm when you are rebuilding.
POST FAST:
Same diet as above after your standard break with the OJ etc. ... I continued on this diet with the addition of small quantities of chicken breast and fresh fish, whole grains and seeds, beans and continued to feel clean and high!
And of course, exercise is part of the prescription. Continue to do moderate exercise, even while you fast (unless you are having a crisis of course)... exercise is as important as diet!
Best to all,
Somer