Be your Glowing best...

This festive season pamper yourself and feel rejuvenated with a pre-Diwali detox. ROSHANI SHINDE speaks to experts about the same.

Diwali is just around the corner, and the entire country is already engaged in festive preparations. Every nook and corner of the city is decked up with lights, colourful lanterns, heaps of rangoli and lanes flooded with people out shopping and every household having already started pre-Diwali cleaning and decoration. While it is important for the house to look neat, clean and decked up during the festival, let’s not forget to care for ourselves and our body. Let’s be a little kind, and while we are in the process of de-cluttering our house, let us also detoxify our body – after all, who wouldn’t want to look her/his glowing best during Diwali. So, before we start bingeing on Diwali snacks and sweets, let’s take a little time and focus on pre-Diwali detox. Detoxifying is cleaning our body from all the toxins.

Dr Prakash Kondekar, Consultant Naturopath and Yoga Bowen Therapist recommends two therapies – Hydrotherapy and Juice therapy. He says, “Kapha, Pitta and Vatta, that is, cough, acidity and gas, when these are imbalanced, toxins are increased. Toxins should be quickly eliminated in order to maintain the balance.” He highly suggests Hydrotherapy, in which detoxification is done by the use of water. It is an 11-12 day plan which starts with eliminative diet of fruits, vegetables, sprouts (for seven days) to enhance immunity, then curative diet of natural and cooked food for five days and preventive diet in the end to avoid relapsing.

Dr Amita Dhar, Health Department, Chief Dietician, Seven Hills Hospital (Marol) dismisses short term detox plans, which some people prefer to adopt. “A detox has to be of minimum one to two weeks. High consumption of water, soups and fruits is the hoodwink,” says Dr Dhar.

Concentrating only on food intake is not enough. Tehzeeb Lalani, Proprietor of a health and wellness consultancy service, Scale Beyond Scale, says, “For long-term good health and fitness, both a structured meal routine and a consistent exercise schedule are essential.”

Yogasana, Pranayam and brisk walking are advised by our other experts. The Director of Shammi’s Yogalaya while echoing the same shares, “Pranayam to regularise breathing, Shankhaprakshalana the master cleansing process – drinking salty water to flush out toxins the next day and Vaman – drinking saline water to vomit it out are the effective cleansing processes we practise.”

After cleansing, nourishing the body through balanced diet completes the course. “This is beneficial not only for physical health but for a positive mind as well. Toxins encourage pessimistic thoughts to enter in our bodies. Detoxification eliminates those negative thoughts as well,” shares the Yoga expert. While Dr Prakash Kondekar says, our energy levels rise and our digestive system becomes more efficient. Good health, sound mind, smooth blood circulation, healthy skin and hair are the other benefits.

Does our body show any signs to opt for detox? “Weight gain, hyper acidity, acne, hair fall are few of the symptoms which signals us to clear out our system,” tells Dr. Amita Dhar. Benefits of Hydrotherapy can be enjoyed for a year, says Dr. Prakash Kondekar. But he also adds that the detox and diet plans change from person to person and also according to climatic conditions. Sleep patterns should also be taken into consideration. Yoga therapist Shammi, shares “Vaman every fortnight, Shankhaprakshalana once in a month and Suryanamaskar everyday should be practised to maintain the balance.”

Before randomly adopting any of the detox plans, one should also be aware of the myths associated with detox. Tehzeeb Lalani of Scale Beyond Scale finds the whole process falsifying. “Detox is a myth, a word we use to make ourselves feel better. Our body organs (kidneys, liver, skin and lungs) detox our system daily. We need to love our bodies enough to care for it every day as opposed to go overboard for 10 days with the hope that we can cleanse our system after Diwali or any similar event,” assertively states Tehzeeb. “Some successfully complete the detox and immediately hog on heavy food, which deepens the damage. A day before detox and even post it only light food should be consumed to allow it to relax,” shares Shammi Gupta. While Dr. Amita of Seven Hills Hospital advises to consult an expert rather than randomly selecting a detox plan to avoid any dilemma or fiascos.

Amidst all the excitement, bingeing and firework do not forget to connect with your loved ones. Moreover do connect with yourself – your body and mind.

“A DETOX HAS TO BE OF MINIMUM ONE TO TWO WEEKS. HIGH CONSUMPTION OF WATER, SOUPS AND FRUITS IS THE HOODWINK.” Dr Amita Dhar, Health Department, Chief Dietician, Seven Hills Hospital