‘You’ll feel amazing’: swimming legend Lisa Curry’s guide to detox

Australian swimming legend Lisa Curry says detox is a great path to a better you – and it’s not all about food and drinks.

Swimming champion Lisa Curry loves a good detox – whether it’s nutritional cleansing, cutting out negative people or quitting coffee.

While she has mainly detoxed under the guidance of experts, she says the six weeks she spent in the African jungle for I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here was also a “forced detox”.

“We had no coffee,” she says.

“(Most of us had) pounding headaches and all we could do was drink lots of water and sleep it off.

“The headaches lasted two to three days and then we were all fine.”

She lost 9kg while on the show.

But, Curry says, detoxing isn’t just about what you eat and drink.

Curry says people can also detox from video games by replacing game time with activities such as walking the dog, or detox from negative people by thinking about who they associate with and “slowly backing away” from anyone necessary.

“Misery breeds and loves misery,” she says.

“You don’t need that in your life – find new friends with the same interests as you and watch your health improve.”

Curry is particularly passionate, however, about the nutritional detox.

Although she never did these while training or competing as an Olympian, she has since co-founded Happy Healthy You, which offers detox programs with social media guidance from her team of naturopaths and nutritionists.

“We often see people wanting to start a detox in the month of February, after Christmas, parties, New Year, holidays and Australia Day celebrations,” she says.

I'm a Celebrity, Get me Out of Here! contestant Lisa Curry with partner Mark Tabone after being evicted from the South African jungle in 2018. Picture: Dylan Robinson

THE BENEFITS

Your liver, gut and digestive system will thank you, according to Curry.

“You will be less bloated, lighter, may lose weight, sleep better, your hair, skin and eyes will be clearer,” she says.

“Having a daily vegetable and fruit juice first thing in the morning will help cleanse a sluggish liver.

“The first thing you put into your gut is important.

“The live enzymes from fruits and vegetables floods the system and starts to release toxins into the blood supply.”

THE RISKS

Curry warns first-time detoxers not to rely on “Dr Google” or to push themselves too hard physically while on the diet.

“During a detox you will feel a little lethargic, and your body will respond in various ways – you may get sick, you may be extremely tired, you’ll cough, get headaches, you may vomit or have diarrhoea, your skin may break out, you might get pimples and a snotty nose, you may get an awful coating on your tongue and your breath may not be pleasant, so you can see why you need to detox slowly and with guidance,” she says.

“Emotionally you may feel like you’re on a bit of a rollercoaster but hang in there because you’ll feel amazing on the other side.”

The right length for a detox depends on the program and the individual.

“You can detox for one day, three days, seven days, four weeks – as long as you know what you’re doing, why you are doing it, what outcomes you want and know the consequences,” she says.

Lisa Curry was a legend in the pool.

A STARTING POINT

Happy Healthy You offers a free eight-week guide that starts with a week dedicated to slowly reducing the wrong foods and beverages.

As well as halving coffee, smoking and alcohol and reducing dairy, white bread, sugar, chocolate, soft drinks and takeaways, it recommends:

A glass of room-temperature water with lemon, lime or grapefruit juice to flush your system first thing in the morning.

500ml fresh vegetable juice, which can be split into two 250ml doses – morning and evening. Add fresh turmeric or a small teaspoon of turmeric powder.

Two cups of camomile tea.

100ml of coconut water kefir or Rejuvelac.

A handful of fresh sprouts or grated carrot and beetroot added to every large meal, to add enzymes and improve digestion.

Optional – 10ml of apple cider vinegar in water before meals.

Download the full guide at happyhealthyyou.com.au