Day 6 - Detox diary COUNTDOWN

Go against the grainTaking out wheat and gluten from the diet is not as easy as it would at first seem. There are traces of gluten in everything from oats to cous cous. Google it – you'll be surprised! And gluten sensitivity is not something that only coeliacs are prone to – it has been estimated that 15-20 per cent of us, while not having coeliac disease per se, are allergic to gluten to some degree.In my experience, gluten intolerance is responsible for the bloating and overweight that a large proportion of us suffers from. And once we have taken it out of our diets, we'll often see that excess weight just fall away!Like a lot of those things that we are intolerant to, however, a lot of us crave a big chunk of bread. And often with a big slab of cheese on it... now you're talking! More often than not, this is because we're intolerant to both. The body sets up a chemical reaction – a bit like the 'fight or flight' feeling of adrenalin racing round your body. We can confuse this low-level allergic reaction with a positive feeling like excitement - and this will fuel our craving. The reality, however is that this food is really setting up chemical reactions in our body that are disturbing our chemical balance and we'd be better off avoiding it!If you're one of those people (like me!) that loves a slab of granary bread once in a while, support yourself by always having a bread-alternative – rice cakes, oatcakes or a healthy crispbread - on hand, with humus or a favourite spread. The craving will go after a couple of weeks – and you'll start to feel so much better (and you'll probably start to look forward to eating that rice cake – especially when you've become an aficionado at creating delicious natural spreads and toppings to crown it with!) The avocado dip on the detox recipe page is an easy and delectable one to start with.Tomorrow, we junk the sugar