You’re in luck: I’ve put together a comprehensive guide to the best, tastiest, and most effective drinks around.
What Is a Detox Drink?
There’s nothing supernatural about a detox drink – it is just a drink with ingredients that have detoxification properties. It can be juice, tea, a smoothie, or even water made with herbs, fruits, vegetables, vitamins, and minerals that help remove toxins from the body. For best results, they should be made with all organic ingredients and should have no added sugar. The good news is that most are quick and simple to make and they can improve your overall health and wellness.
Different ingredients work better for detoxing your liver, kidneys, digestive system, and whole body, and I will reveal which homemade drinks work best for different organ systems. I will also recommend some homemade do-it-yourself (DIY) drinks for cleansing toxic metals from your body and for weight loss.
Do Detox Drinks Work?
Drinks made for detoxifying your body can have a positive impact on your health, depending on how you use them. But, keep in mind they are not a magic bullet. Whether you drink a tangy green juice every morning or try a diet for a specific period to cleanse your body of toxins, detox drinks are just one tool to support your health journey. You can drink them along with other foods, or you can do a juice or water only fast.
Depending on your goals, and how often you consume them, detox drinks can do the following:
- Reduce fatigue
- Improve digestion
- Reduce occasional constipation
- Boost your immune system
- Flush out toxins
- Promote weight loss
- Improve overall health
- Nourish your body
Popular Detox Drinks
Whether smoothies, green juices, teas or the ever-popular master cleanse lemonade drink, there are a variety of popular ones that you may have heard of. Learn more below.
Teas
Many different teas can help you detoxify, including turmeric, lemongrass, marshmallow root, and milk thistle. Avoid herbal laxative teas like senna and cascara, which are harsh and may not be safe for the digestive system.
Two ingredients I recommend for detoxification are dandelion root and green tea leaves. You can make your own tea by buying bulk supplies from a natural health food store, or buy one that is already sold in teabags.
Dandelion Root Tea
Dandelion root has been used for centuries in Traditional Chinese medicine and ancient Indian medicine (Ayurveda) to support liver and gallbladder health. Modern science has shown dandelion roots help relieve liver stress in laboratory animals. It also promotes the production of bile and stomach acid, so it should be avoided by people with gallstones or ulcers. You can buy dandelion tea online or at a nearby natural health store. You can buy several varieties of premade detox tea that contains dandelion root, but some natural health food stores sell dandelion root and dandelion leaf in bulk so you can make tea. Combine it with marshmallow root plus chamomile flower for a sweet flavor.
Green Tea
Green tea is known for its antioxidant properties. Antioxidants work to counter any damage to cells caused by toxins and pathogens, so drinking a tea or juice with high antioxidant properties helps your body detoxify. Studies have found that green tea lowers (LDL) cholesterol and blood pressure as well. Matcha green tea powder has 100 times more antioxidants than plain green tea: While green tea is an infusion from the tea leaves, matcha powder is a drink made from ground up young green tea leaves, resulting in more detoxifying antioxidants in your drink. Matcha has been found to have positive effects on the kidney and liver.
Master Cleanse Lemonade
Lemons have many powerful properties that assist the body in detoxing. Lemons help with cleansing the liver, kidneys, and colon. One of the most popular detox diets, the Master Cleanse, is lemonade made with cayenne pepper, organic lemons, and pure maple syrup. You can make the lemonade in single glasses, or in a large pitcher– but add the cayenne in each glass, or it will make the drink bitter.
Use two tablespoons of organic lemon juice, two tablespoons organic grade B maple syrup (not the fake stuff), ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper, and 10 ounces of Love H2O. This is a juice-only cleanse; drink only this lemonade for ten days. Afterward, you transition off by drinking fresh-squeezed organic orange juice for one day, followed by two days on a homemade vegan soup. For the full effect, most Master Cleanse participants flush the body with sea salt water, which must be consumed on an empty stomach, first thing in the morning. Add two teaspoons of sea salt (not iodized table salt) to 1 quart of warm water. After about 30-45 minutes, be near a bathroom.
Green Juices
Green juice is all the rage among health enthusiasts. This healthy drink can start your day off with a shot of antioxidants and nutrients – power for a positive day! I drink a delicious green juice almost every morning. I change it up based on what I have in the refrigerator, but a favorite involves apples, lemon, parsley, celery, kale, cucumbers, fresh ginger, and romaine lettuce. Drink it down in a couple of minutes for a super-boost of energy.
Juicing concentrates the fresh, raw nutrients in the fruits and vegetables, giving you a quick shot of nutrition – far more than you could consume in the same period. Apples provide an all-natural sweetener, especially if you are not yet accustomed to the piquant taste of a pure all-vegetable green juice. Lemon juice also balances out flavors and provides excellent benefits for digestion, weight loss, and detoxifying the kidneys.
Making homemade juice is most convenient with a store-bought juicer. Although juicers can be a bit expensive, they are an excellent investment for your health.
Smoothies
Some people wonder why they should waste all the pulp that comes from the fruits and vegetables when you juice. If you do not want to throw away all the veggie and fruit pulp, you may opt for smoothies instead. Smoothies have the added advantage of retaining the fiber packed into most veggies and fruits. However, you can do both! I like to save the pulp left from juicing, pack it into ice cube trays, and add these frozen vegetable pulp ice cubes to my smoothie recipes. If you are making smoothies for detoxing, do not add sugar. Instead use fruits to sweeten your smoothie, like bananas or berries.
What’s the Best Detox Drink?
If you want to cut to the chase and find out the best drink, read on. In a nutshell, water is the best way to detox, but there are a few ways to add flavor and cleansing properties to your water.
Pure Love H2O Water
Truly, the best drink for detoxing is always structured alkalizing mineral water!!
To keep all your body’s organ systems working at top notch, I recommend that you drink at least eight glasses per day – especially if you are trying to detox. If you want to take it to the next level, try water fasting.
Kidney Cleanse Detox
I recommend drinking a four-day kidney cleanse that uses two drinks, a homemade kidney cleanse beverage and a lemon-ACV drink.
How to Make Lemon-ACV Water Drink
- Take a second gallon of Love H2O and pour out 6 ounces (¾ cup).
- Add 2 tablespoons of Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar to the water.
- Add ½ cup of fresh squeezed organic lemon juice.
Drink this for snacks, during meals, and between meals when thirsty. Drink as much as you like throughout the day. The more you drink, the more successful your kidney cleanse will be. When you finish this mix, make another gallon and continue to drink as needed.
