60 Day Cleanse for Overweight Children

Child obesity should be taken care of and cured as soon as possible because being overweight, as we all know, is a health problem that could cause other severe imbalances in the body.

A cleansing diet is one that can help enormously to reduce weight in children without robbing them of the essential nutrients they require for normal development, keeping in mind that this is a difficult change to make.  What this diet tries to do is to remove and dislodge toxic and harmful fats that have accumulated in the child, both in the intestines as well as in the blood.  This helps strengthen their liver, reduce body inflammation, clean their blood, and reduce their size.

How to do the cleansing diet

This diet is intended for children over the age of seven and can be used up to adolescence.  We all know that a lot of children and adolescents will not want to renounce certain foods.  This diet should be done slowly, substituting foods little by little.  Remember that you are educating the palate and a life habit.  You should not let yourself consent to the child eating whatever he/she wants.  You need to be firm and most importantly, focused, in order to help cure the child.  You must not allow them to harm themselves.

You should begin the diet on a day of your choice in the following fashion

First day: before breakfast, give the child a glass of warm water with a half lemon, squeezed.  If the child doesn’t want it, you need to be firm (but not hard, without imposing).  Tell them they should drink it because this water will help keep them healthy.  You should wait 20 minutes before giving them anything else to eat.  Then, you should insist that their first food of the day be a piece of fruit or citrus juice, like orange, grapefruit, mandarin, etc.

Do not offer them sugar-sweetened drinks throughout the day.  Instead, offer them fresh water, avoid eating with sweet flavored water or sodas.  If they don’t accept the water because they’re not used to it, dilute their sweetened drink with a bit of water.  Avoid letting the child become accustomed to sugar drinks because sugar is terrible for health and the nervous system; all it does is provoke weight gain.  This will be the only dietary change for the day.

Second day: repeat the first day, but after the fruit or citrus juice and waiting for it to be absorbed in the stomach for a few minutes (without immediately eating any other food), you must give then some sort of breakfast that does not contain any refined sugar.  You could give them toast, but make sure it’s whole grain.

You should also avoid all kinds of packaged foods, they only clog the intestines and block them from working adequately.  Breakfast should contain some sort of vegetable, like avocado, tomato, or lettuce, which is why we recommend a whole grain sandwich with ingredients that are neither fatty nor salty.  It is important that you introduce these new foods slowly because if not, the child will only violently reject them.

For example, if the child is not used to vegetables, you should add a bit of avocado in one day, a little bit of lettuce the next, etc.  Remember that habits are formed little by little.  After breakfast or water to drink in school, offer them green tea with a bit of honey.

Third day: try to keep the same habits suggested for the first few days and slowly reduce the amount of food at lunch and dinner, trying to make sure they are higher in quality than in quantity.  During lunch, offer then soups and vegetable broths.  Include grilled fish and avoid anything that is fried, or fatty meats, like pork and steak.  If your child is very hungry, offer him/her a salad or whole grain rice.  Avoid sugar-sweetened drinks and  try to substitute cow’s milk for almond milk.  Almond milk is rich in calcium, vitamins and minerals, and is also easily digested and does not cause weight gain.

The following days: your child should be establishing the habit of drinking lemon juice before breakfast, citrus juice, and then eating a lighter breakfast.  If they make their own lunch, try to have them choose what to eat according to their own likes.  Offer them different healthy options so they don’t exchange lunch with friends.  You could even invite them to make their own lunch with you, so as to motivate them and so they value what they eat more.  We know that all of these details take patience, time, and a lot of willpower, because the child is cleansing his/her body.  That’s why you need to be patient with his/her insolence or negotiations and try to always reconcile firmly.  Emphasize the importance of health, without corrupting their palate.

For the first 21 days, try to keep the child away from as many white flours and sugar as possible, as well as red meat, packaged or fried foods, cow’s milk, and processed foods.  You should do everything you can to substitute them with other foods like vegetable milks, veggie sausages, honey or molasses, etc.  Make them drink 3 or 4 cups of green tea with honey throughout the day.  Avoid giving them the food with meals, the tea should be drank 20 minutes after having eaten.  Give them water to drink and firmly tell them (even though they may cry or kick) that you are not going to buy them sodas or other products that cause them harm.  Make them see that it is because you love them.  You could negotiate the sodas and sweets by telling them that you will only give them a certain amount and at certain times. Avoid all fast foods and processed foods.  Eating at home is undoubtedly the healthiest of all habits.

Include foods or entire meals throughout the day, such as: Aloe vera juice, grapes, oranges, cereal bars, fresh fruit juices, salads, water with chlorophyll, etc.

Do this for 60 days.  Within those two months the child’s body will have dislodged a large amount of toxins and wastes, and they may have lost a few pounds.  If you keep up this diet, the child will begin to lose weight and recover health, strengthening internal organs.

Revised by: Dra. Loredana Lunadei on 01/02/2018

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