Tips to avoid toxin forming

All through the year, and especially while detoxifying, it's important to follow the ayurvedic eating guidelines for reducing ama.

These include:

1. Do not fast or skip meals during any part of the self-detoxification program.

2. Eat at the same time every day so your agni can "fire up" for the meal.

3. Eat your main meal at noon and lighter meals at breakfast and dinner.

4. Eat while sitting down in a settled atmosphere; paying attention to the food when you eat (no TV, no phones, no reading).

5. Engage in pleasant conversation with friends or family (no business meetings or emotional discussions).

6. Eat only when the previous meal has been digested (no grazing or untimely snacking--this really disrupts digestion. Eat only when you are hungry again.

7. Sit quietly for a minute at the beginning of the meal (saying grace before meals is one way to do this), and wait for a couple of minutes after eating before leaving the table. This gives your digestion a settled start.

8. Leave a little space in your stomach at the end of the meal to give your digestion room to function. Ayurveda recommends that you regularly eat to only 3/4 of your capacity. This last guideline is especially important when you're on a detoxification program. You don't want to overeat when your body is detoxifying.