Often, the term detox is associated with treating the body for alcohol or drug addiction. However, detox also can refer to cleansing the body of environmental and dietary toxins accumulated over time to improve health or to lose weight. Generally, detox dieters will detox once or twice a year. Health practitioners recommend that such short-term cleansing not occur more than three times a year.

A detox diet will minimize the intake of unnecessary chemicals and emphasize such foods that are rich in vitamins and antioxidants that are essential to detoxification. Additionally, these diets emphasize foods that encourage the elimination of toxins through excretion such as high fiber foods and water. Often, water is a key element of any effective detox diet.

For the detox diet novice, health professionals suggest easing into detoxification by following a simple detox diet plan. Basically, this plan involves drinking plenty of water and eating one type of fruit for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The dieter should not mix the types of fruit at each meal. It is best to eat until hunger subsides. Other detoxifications focus on smoothies and juices rather than raw fruits. There are many websites that offer a detox diet recipe for smoothies made of almost any fruit.

Typically, people engage in detox diets to improve overall energy, the skin, digestion and bowel movements, and mental awareness. There are different detox diets aimed at improving the state of different organs such as the skin, kidneys, liver, and lymph system to name a few. Water fasting has become highly associated with detox diets. In fact, many people engage in water fasting for weight loss in addition to cleansing the body.

When water fasting, the dieter drinks water only when he or she is thirsty. One of the main ideas behind the water fasting diet is that there is no energy wasted on the digestive processes of the body. The only energy that the body exerts is to warm cold water to maintain a level body temperature. Because the water diet does not require any foods for several days, the body has more energy to burn in eliminating and releasing toxins. This energy conservation also allows the body to recover from the stresses caused by the digestion of solid foods.

With the recent popularity surge of the detox diet and the water diet, manufactures have begun producing diet water. Many health professionals are skeptical of such a product since water itself contains no calories or nutritional value. However, most diet water contains a natural ingredient known as Super CitriMax, which helps the body suppress feelings of hunger and increases metabolism. When not fasting, many individuals will drink diet water shortly before a meal to control eating habits.