Being a teenager is mostly an awkward and uncomfortable stage of life in many ways. The physical changes cause outbursts of acne, pubic hair and voice breaking situations that can be a very embarrassing time. That is why peer acceptance is essential as a back up for a teenager’s esteem. To be in with the crowd of their choice may take some shaping up physically, not just to tone muscles but for general overall health reasons, a total body cleanse may be the answer.

Purely for physical health reasons, a cleanse can help a young adult overcome several of the problems that target that age group. They must be willing to follow the program designed for them and any fasting periods need supervising by a responsible adult. Care must be taken to not let any bulimia episodes occur, which teenagers may mistakenly believe helps lose weight.

The teenager will have to abide to the rules and these should be made clear before any attempt at starting it begins. A commitment is needed from them to follow the guidelines set down and to complete the course. Communication needs to be open and honest as it does involve their physical well being. The monitoring of the fast should not be an intrusive experience for them and if everything goes well, the guardian - child relationship will grow in trust.

The menu can consist of pure vegetable soups, herbal teas, only a piece of fresh fruit if they really can’t stand to not eat at all. Oranges or banana smoothies will suffice. Eight liters of water per day is the target and a potassium and sodium supplement will assist in the rejuvenation of the cells during the fast. Chewable Vitamin C is also recommended to help replenish nutrients missed from not eating.

As they grow older, let them have more control over the project. It can become as simple to supervise as adults fast with just a check in on how they are coping with not eating and if they are experiencing anything unusual. Symptoms to be wary of are light headiness, dizzy or faint attacks, feelings of nausea and vomiting. A medical professional should be consulted straight away if they are recurring or unaccountable to anything but the detox or fast.

As most teens will eat everything and anything, keeping the diet interesting with new tastes and food that is presented well gives and incentive to keep on it. Lovely fruit platters, dried fruits, smoothies, juices, a variety of salads, all of these will please the palate. Staying away from foods, a person is used to is the hardest test. Soup without bread means the stomach is not getting the usual full type feeling associated with eating that food. This is why the original commitment should be kept in mind to help get past those trying times.

A few things they can learn along the way include tips for their general well being. When to take a fast and ensuring they have supervision and what simple remedies, herbal and other items available at the local pharmacy, can assist to heal or cure certain conditions such as bad breath and acne. This is a perfect learning condition for the teenager to gain wisdom of their bodies through their own life experiences, all done with a little help from mom and dad.

Finally the weeklong natural body cleanse will be over. If they only did a couple of days then they have had a sample of what it takes and maybe can try it again a bit further down the track. No matter what stage of the body cleansing they made it to, they were successful in understanding the level of involvement it takes and learned the physical do’s and don’ts of dieting.