Our bodies have a built in natural detox system all of their own, but it never hurts to help detox your body with foods that will also promote your health. I've compiled a list of the top ten body detox foods which you can use to create recipes for your detox diet. You can eat them as part of a raw food detox diet, or juice them for a range of delicious detox drinks.

When buying fruit and vegetables, organic produce is always better for you that non organic if your budget can stretch that far. If not, non organic will be OK, as these foods can be used for a very healthy 7 day detox program and as part of your ongoing detoxification regime.

1. The Power of Apples

Here's something you may not know - scientists in the Ukraine have used apples to purify the area around Chernobyl after the nuclear leak in 1986. So they must be good. Apples contain vitamin C and quercetin - an antioxidant nutrient that lowers fat and cholesterol levels.

Another useful nutrient we get from apples is pectin, which is a soluble dietary fiber. Pectin is known to bind to heavy metals in the colon to help our body excrete them. It also has properties which help our body eliminate other toxins and food additives like tartrazine which has been linked with asthma and hyperactivity in children.

2. Avocados

Apart from anything else I think avos taste great - the fact that they are good for you is even better. Avocados contain a nutrient called gluthathione, which is a powerful antioxidant. It combines with fat soluble toxins, particularly alcohol, and makes them water soluble.

The natural levels of gluthathione in our bodies decrease as we get older, which is one reason why hangovers get worse as we age. Studies of "older people" have shown that those who had higher levels of glutathione were healthier than those with lower levels. The higher level group were also less likely to suffer from arthritis, which many experts believe is a condition aggravated by excess toxicity in our bodies.

3. Artichokes for Liver Detox

Artichokes help increase the production of bile in the liver. Bile is used to transport toxins to the bowel where they are excreted. So greater bile production helps eliminate more toxins. Research shows that eating artichokes can increase the amount of bile produced by up to 127% within as little as 30 minutes of eating it.

Artichokes are also full of antioxidant nutrients, and play an important role in liver detox. Studies in Germany have shown that liver damage, caused by free radicals, is dramatically reduced when artichoke extracts are present within the body.

4. Beetroot

Beetroot is another fat-free vegetable, with very low calorific content and very high fiber content. Throughout Europe, beetroot is seen as a powerful anti-carcinogen, and can help increase the amount of oxygen our bodies can absorb by up to 400%.

You can eat beetroot as part of a raw food detox diet, though personally I prefer to juice them with carrots, apples and oranges. It has a low GL so it is digested and converted into "useable energy" very slowly which helps to stabilize your blood sugar levels.

5. Cruciferous or Brassica Vegetables

Cruciferous Vegetables are a powerful group of plants that offer powerful cancer fighting benefits. Many studies have shown that these vegetables contain a phytochemical compound called isothiocyanates. Isothiocyanates encourage our bodies to attack and destroy many carcinogenic compounds. They do this by preventing normal healthy cells from transforming into cancerous cells.

These vegetables contain a nutrient called glucosinolates, which help the liver to produce vital enzymes.